Scribbles in the Margins
by Daniel Gray
I have just fallen in love! The man I’m in love with is called Daniel Gray and I have never met him, but I have read his book, Scribbles in the Margin: 50 Eternal Delights of Books and I know he is absolutely a man after my own heart. I have only two complaints about his book – it is not long enough, and it comes to an end. I just wanted to keep reading, saying YES, YES, that’s just how I feel, I totally agree, as I did so. Read more
A book plate (sometimes known as an ‘ex libris’, from the Latin for ‘from the books of…’) is a small decorative label pasted inside a book. Usually a book plate bears a name, a motto, coat-of-arms or badge that relates to the owner of the book. They illustrate pride in ownership of the book, and also evince their owner’s desire to be able to prove that the book belongs to him, should it go missing or be claimed by someone else. Book plates can really help a book make its way back to the rightful owner. Read more
Leigh Hunt
Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!)
Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace,
And saw, within the moonlight in his room,
Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom,
An angel writing in a book of gold:—
Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold,
And to the presence in the room he said,
“What writest thou?”—The vision raised its head,
And with a look made of all sweet accord,
Answered, “The names of those who love the Lord.”
“And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,”
Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low,
But cheerly still; and said, “I pray thee, then,
Write me as one that loves his fellow men.”
The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night
It came again with a great wakening light,
And showed the names whom love of God had blest,
And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest.
An engraving of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, published in Eclectic Magazine
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of being and ideal grace.
I love thee to the level of every day’s
Most quiet need, by sun and candle-light.
I love thee freely, as men strive for right.
I love thee purely, as they turn from praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood’s faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life; and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.
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I have just finished reading the last of Donna Leon’s series of crime novels set in Venice. For years now there has always been another book featuring the delightful Guido Brunetti and his family to look forward to, but now I’ve read the most recent and will have to wait for Donna Leon to write more (the next one, The Temptation of Forgiveness is due out next year). Read more
Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca is a novel with two heroines, though one is nameless and the other is only a memory. It’s a novel which has a hero who is a murderer. It has a haunting opening sentence which has become justly famous, and since its publication in 1938 Rebecca has enthralled readers and remained Daphne du Maurier’s most popular book.
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For as long as there have been books, readers have felt a need to mark their place so that they know exactly where to start when they next pick it up. Bookmarks are therefore almost as old as books themselves. It is thought that bookmarks were used in 1stC AD codices. The oldest surviving bookmark dates from the 6thC AD. Made of leather and vellum, it was attached to a Coptic codex. Early bookmarks, it seems, were firmly attached to a volume. Detached bookmarks have not survived from early times, but no doubt readers used scraps of paper, bits of fabric, or anything that came to hand, much as many readers do today. Read more
In the lectures I give, I love to provide background to a novel or poem by telling my audience something about the life of its author. I find it fascinating to know about the man or woman behind the work, to discover how they came to write, what their love lives were like, what interesting quirks of personality they displayed. I read many literary biographies as part of my research for lectures, but also for pleasure. And in my view the best biographer alive today is Claire Tomalin, so I was delighted to see that she has just written a memoir which is a biography of herself, called A Life of My Own. Read more
Quinquireme of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine. Read more
Have you read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman? It is her first novel and is quirky, different and both comic and tragic. I found it absorbing and touching and can recommend it. I hope the author writes more books. One of the things I liked about Eleanor is that she turns to the classics for consolation, inspiration and entertainment. Do you? Read more
I am fascinated by the 18thC. It was bawdy, raucous and rough – the age of Hogarth and Fielding. Yet it was also the Age of Enlightenment, when ‘Reason’ and ‘Civilisation’ became all important. And it was the century that saw the start of the English novel. (The image above is from Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe which is often credited as marking the beginning of realistic fiction as a literary genre.) Read more
