Possibly my favourite Christmas present so far...

[venta]

The great thing about having (a) friends scattered across the country and (b) a deep distrust of the post office is that you get to go on giving and receiving Christmas presents well into January.

Yesterday I was given a copy of Schott's Original Miscellany.
It's a book of useless information.

Actually, no, it's a book of useful, but extremely random and varied, information.

The kind of book you can allow to fall open and find...well, let's demonstrate:

<opens book at random>

The names of the degrees of Freemasonry, the names of the seven dwarves, a list of test match special nicknames, roman numerals, the names of the apostles, and a list of -ocracies to describe different government systems.

I'm determined not to read it all the way through, but to keep opening it at different pages and seeing what I find. Gems so far have been a description of the 18th century Hat Tax, a list of peculiar deaths of Burmese monarchs, a description of rhetorical techniques with Churchillian examples, classification of icebergs, the menu for the last meal on the Titanic...

And it includes a spec of itself (paper type, type faces used, number of mentions of the word ptarmigan...). addedentry and jiggerypokery, I'm prepared to lay folding money that you'd love it :)

Comments

[bateleur.livejournal.com]

"classification of icebergs, the menu for the last meal on the Titanic..."

On the same page ? I know which of the two the captain was reading ! <grin>

Schott by both sides

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

You win your wager. In fact j4 has already won by providing it for Christmas. Your reading technique is different from mine: I took the blurb's claim that it's impossible to read in a single sitting as a challenge. Given the sheer breadth and variety of the contents, this is equivalent to random dipping.

The odd thing is that, extended over 1,000 pages, it becomes Whitaker's Almanack, no longer a gift but a librarian's staple. A book that lists Scottish clan chiefs, hallmarks and the Royal Household and even has an annual quiz to demonstrate the fine line between reference and trivia.

Re: Schott by both sides

[venta.livejournal.com]

I hadn't noticed the challenge to read it at one sitting - but I'd agree, I don't think it's impossible. My policy of dipping was more to preserve undiscovered stuff in it for longer - certainly it still seems to have plenty of surprises left for me.

Does Whitaker's Almanac include tide tables and things like that ? I have vague memories of having encountered one once...

Re: Schott by both sides

[addedentry.livejournal.com]

That's the badger. Very thick, impossible to navigate. (Like custard.)

By describing the Miscellany as a 'gift' I don't mean to sniff: it was ideal because I wanted it badly but could never justify buying it for myself. The Schott site offers a monthly email if you can't get enough.

Re: Schott by both sides

[venta.livejournal.com]

A monthly does of trivia sounds entertaining, but I do hope they don't bring out another Miscellany.

I wouldn't mind the existing one being extended/revised, but a sequel just wouldn't be *right*. Probably be profitable, though :(

Re: Schott by both sides

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

I took the blurb's claim that it's impossible to read in a single sitting as a challenge.

You sad man. ;-) (Read: "'nuff respect".)

Does sound like a larf and a half. I shall have to investigate and see whether the local lending library can provide it.

I dare say that there could be specialised miscellanies whih would be sufficiently distinctive yet miscellaneous in its own right. I'd like to see a sporting miscellany. Heck, I'd like to write a sporting miscellany!

The Golden Schott

[jiggery-pokery.livejournal.com]

Schott has an agreement with Bloomsbury to produce a series of these books of miscellany. The second will be Schott's Original Food and Drink Miscellany, in which the author plans to include useful tips on how to sharpen carving knives, varieties and potencies of laxatives, as well as the cultural history of absinthe. There are also plans for a Schott's Sports Miscellany.

From http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,854715,00.html . Yay!