A library is, at its most essential, a space that holds a collection of books.  A dedicated room or building is not technically necessary.  In his Book of Book Lists, author Alex Johnson offers examples of portable libraries—“sturdy wooden cases” of books and magazines that “were passed between lighthouses around the United States,” for instance.  He includes the library Robert Falcon Scott took on board the Discovery in 1901, when the ship left for Antarctica, with a catalogue that specified which cabin a volume could be found in.  Napoleon, he writes, had a traveling collection of French classics that was ported with him to war.  It included five volumes of Voltaire’s plays and Montesquieu’s work on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and Their Decline.  But whatever form a library takes, someone had to have chosen the books in it, which reveal the secrets of heart and mind—their cares, their greeds, their enthusiasms, their obsessions.  Libraries, writes Stuart Kells, a historian of the book trade, are “human places . . . full of stories.”  Kells’s book, The Library: A Catalogue of Wonders, offers a history that begins before the written word and follows the development of book collections through the digital age.  At times, he takes a lofty view.  “What exactly are libraries for?” he asks, after touching on the Library of Alexandria, medieval monasteries, erotic collections, the Vatican’s closed stacks, private collections, and university libraries, along with writers’ libraries, library fauna, and other curiosities.  He takes a few stabs the answer.  “Libraries are an attempt to impose order in a world of chaos,” he writes.  “They are places of redemption.”  At his home in France, Alberto Manguel, author of Packing My Library, kept 35,000 books in a tower library attached to a 15th-century barn and surrounded by a walled garden.  But an imagined library has a life of its own.  Manguel quotes his Latin teacher when he writes, “We must be grateful that we don’t know what the great books were that perished in Alexandria, because if we knew what they were we’d be inconsolable.”  The memories of a library can be almost as powerful as the real thing.  As Borges understood, imagining the true, unknowable depths of libraries’ secrets is the key to their attraction.  Sarah Laskow  See pictures at https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/books-about-libraries-history

Feckless by Maeve Maddox   Feckless derives from feck, a dialect word possibly formed by a linguistic process called aphaeresis:  “omission of one or more sounds or letters from the beginning of a word.”  Examples of aphaeresis include:  squire from esquire and coon from raccoon.  Feck, which is documented as early as the 14th century, is probably a shortening of the noun effect.  Feck is “energy and gumption.”  A person with feck gets things done.  When used to refer to a thing, the adjective feckless means, “valueless, futile, or feeble.”  Used to refer to a person or a person’s actions, feckless means, “lacking energy; weak, helpless.”  In modern usage, feckless is used chiefly as a synonym for irresponsible or shiftless.  https://www.dailywritingtips.com/feckless/ 

feckful  adjective  1.  Scottish, British dialect  Powerful, effective, efficient, vigorous.  2.  humorous Responsible; not feckless.  Origin:  Mid 16th century from feck + -ful.  https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/feckful  

In 1688, around 175 French Huguenots, who were Protestants persecuted under Catholic rule, fled to what is now South Africa with aid from the Dutch East India Company.  The imperial merchant power had founded Cape Town just three decades earlier as a supply station for its ships headed farther east.  It sought experienced emigrant farmers to cultivate the land of the Western Cape province, where Khoikhoi pastoralists had grazed their herds prior to the arrival of the Dutch colonists.  The Company supported the French Huguenots partly because of their shared Protestant beliefs, but also because it needed emigres with expertise in viticulture to supply its ships with wine.  The Huguenot families settled in the Cape Winelands area, where they put their winemaking experience to use.  (The region’s Franschhoek valley, which is full of vineyards, means “French Corner” in Afrikaans.)  During the harvest season, they made mosbolletjies, buttery, brioche-like buns leavened with the fermenting must—a mixture of pressed grape juice, seeds, skins and stems—produced during the early stages of winemaking.  These “must buns” are traditionally flavored with whole anise seed.  They’re typically served with butter and moskonfyt, a jam also made from must.  Outside of the grape harvest, when there’s no must available, bakers can substitute a liquid made by fermenting raisins, or use plain grape juice and regular yeast.  https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/mosbolletjies-south-african-must-buns 

Spaghetti is a great pantry staple—always ready and waiting on the shelf, and easy to prepare in 30 minutes at most.  When you cook it, be sure to make extra to have on hand for another meal.  Then take whatever little tidbits of stuff you have loitering around your kitchen waiting for a renewed purpose in life:  meats, vegetables, and/or cheeses.  Mix them with the spaghetti for a great way to use up scraps, instead of continuing to have a stare-down with them every time you open the refrigerator.  Mary Bilyeu  Find recipe at https://www.toledoblade.com/a-e/2020/12/13/From-the-Pantry-Baked-Spaghetti/stories/20201213001 

Welcome to Julie's Library  A podcast for families starring Julie Andrews and Emma Walton Hamilton  https://www.julieslibraryshow.org/  Julie and her daughter, children’s author and educator Emma Walton Hamilton, invite you into their library to read their favorite children’s books.  Every story comes to life with sound, music and activities.  Authors, kids and other special guests chime in, too!  It’s a show that will inspire lively conversations and a lifelong love of reading.  Produced by American Public Media.  https://julieandrewscollection.com/julies-library 

John le Carré, author of The Spy Who Came In From The Cold and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy died on December 12, 2020.  Fellow authors paid tribute, with Stephen King calling him "a literary giant and a humanitarian spirit".  Historical fiction writer Robert Harris said le Carré, who chronicled the world of Cold War spies, was "one of the great post-war British novelists".  Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood tweeted that his novels featuring spymaster George Smiley--described by le Carré as an "antidote" to James Bond--were the "key to understanding the mid-20th Century".   Historian and novelist Simon Sebag Montefiore described le Carré as "the titan of English literature" and said he was "heartbroken".   Born as David Cornwell in Poole, Dorset, in 1931, he wrote under the pseudonym of John le Carré.  He studied at the University of Bern in Switzerland, and then Oxford, before entering a career in undercover intelligence.  After teaching at Eton for two years he joined the Foreign Office, and was initially based at the British Embassy in Bonn.  During his time there he worked in the intelligence records department, giving him access to files with insights into the workings of the secret service.  He also wrote his first novel, Call For The Dead, which was published in 1961.  This meant the need for a pen name as Foreign Office officials were not allowed to publish books under their own name.  https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-55297558 

This year’s inductees into the National Film Registry include a record number of female directors and filmmakers of color as well as a new crop of movies ranging from a silent short film thriller, classic musicals and an acclaimed Batman film.  The Library of Congress announced December 14, 2020 that films including “The Dark Knight,” “Suspense,” musicals “Grease” and “The Blues Brothers” along with Sidney Poitier’s Oscar-winning performance in “Lilies of the Field” are among the 25 movies tapped for preservation this year.  Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress, and film historian Jacqueline Stewart will discuss the new selections in a television special on Turner Classic Movies on Tuesday, December 15 at 8 p.m. EST.  Jonathan Landrum Jr.  See list at https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-movies-sidney-poitier-f7d5ebafe96fec04be45cbd2dd078c91

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2297  December 14, 2020