#abecedary

[nemfrog]

W. ABC book. 1923. C.B. Falls, arrtist.

Internet Archive

[mrkoppa]

10 March 2025 | Der Klubhaus

Pre-binding: Collating the folios that will become a tiny abecedarium for Birmingham 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 titled Baskerville for Brummies.

[uwmspeccoll]

INAUGURAL SUNDAY FUNDAY

For our first ever Sunday Funday we are sharing this delightful find from our Historical Curriculum Collection, A Child’s Bestiary by John Gardner in collaboration with his children! John Gardner was a novelist and literary professor with an interest in mythology, he also wrote a retelling of Beowulf from the monster’s point of view, Grendel.  Gardner included poems by Eugene Rudzewicz and Gardner’s daughter Lucy, while the drawings were done by the whole Gardner family, John, his wife Joan, and his kids Lucy and Joel.

This book comes out of the medieval tradition of bestiary manuscripts, which were compendiums of beasts with Christian moral meanings. But he also finds inspiration from the early modern abecedarium, so that all the beasts are arranged alphabetically.

Kirkus Review  praised A Child’s Bestiary, published in 1977 by Knopf and distributed by Random House,  for the satire in its morals, especially when paired with the alternately childish and skilled illustrations. Today we are only showing you the ‘A’ animals; The African Wild Dog, The Alligator and The Armadillo. Look forward to the following weeks of Sunday Funday to see more animals as we travel through the Alphabet to Z!

Go here to see our other bestiary posts

Go here to see our other ABC posts

-- Claire, Special Collections Graduate Intern

[questafiamma]

The CAT doth play and after slay.

THE NEW ENGLAND PRIMER, 1727

[edwardgoreyelephanthouse]

The Nursery Frieze was published by Edward Gorey through his Fantod Press in 1964 in a limited edition of 500 copies. Here are all 96 words being muttered by the animals parading in single file in the book, along with their definitions. Bear in mind some words have more than one meaning. 

Archipelago - Any large body of water with a chain of islands cardamon - Aromatic seeds used as a spice or condiment obloquy - Damning or censure of a person or thing by the general public tacks - A short, sharp pointed nail, usually with a rounded head Ignavia - Idleness or sloth samisen - Japanese musical instrument with a long neck and three strings, played with a plectrum bandages - A strip of cloth or other material used to bind a wound wax - A solid, yellowish substance secreted by bees gavelkind - Equal division of land among the heirs of the holder tumeric - A powdered plant rhizome used as a yellow dye or condiment, as in curry powder imbat - A cooling etesian wind in the Levant (as in Cyprus) cedilla - A mark (¸) placed under a consonant letter, as under c in French, in Portuguese, and formerly in Spanish, to indicate that it is pronounced (s), under c and s in Turkish to indicate that they are pronounced, respectively, (ch) and (sh), or under t and s in Romanian to indicate that they are pronounced, respectively, (ts) and (sh). Cassation - An annulment, cancellation, or reversal. Also, an 18th Century instrumental musical suite intended for outdoor performance hendiadys - A figure in which a complex idea is expressed by two words connected by a copulative conjunction: “to look with eyes and envy” instead of “with envious eyes.” quincunx - An arrangement of five objects, such as trees, in a square with one at each corner and the fifth in the center vanilla - Extract from an orchid pod, used in flavoring food Corposant - A corona discharge in the air caused by atmospheric electricitycausing a luminous region that sometimes appears around church spires, the masts of ships, etc. madrepore - any stony coral forming reefs or islands in tropical seas ophicleide - a musical wind instrument consisting of a conical metal tube bent double paste - A mixture of flour and water used to bind two objects together Jequirity - A poisonous scarlet colored pea used for making necklaces and rosaries tombola - British lotto or bingo played with paper and pencil as a gambling game. sphagnum - Any soft moss found in bogs, used in floral arrangements and for dressing wounds distaste - disinclination or dislike Aceldema - The land near Jerusalem purchased with the bribe Judas took for betraying Jesus lunistice - The farthest point of the moon's northing and southing, in itsmonthly revolution yarlborough - A hand in Bridge or Whist containing no honor cards cranium - The part of the skull that encloses the brain Febrifuge - A serving of medicine to dispel or reduce fever ampersand - A symbol to represent "and" hubris - Excessive pride or self-confidence geranium - Common garden flower. Also, a tone of the color red Opoanax - A semitransparent resin used in incense thunder - a loud noise produced by the explosive expansion of air heated by a lightning discharge dismemberment - To remove limbs baize - A soft green fabric resembling felt, used chiefly for the tops of billiard tables Hellebore - Any of several plants of the buttercup family, the Christmas rose obelus - A mark (− or ÷) used in ancient manuscripts to point out spurious, corrupt, doubtful, or superfluous words or passages cartilage - A firm, elastic, flexible type of connective tissue of a translucent whitish or yellowish color; gristle maze - A confusing network of intercommunicating paths or passages; labyrinth Anitgropelos - Waterproof leggings piacle -A sacrificial offering occamy - A metallic alloy that simulates the precious metals silver and gold. (Side Note: In the world of Harry Potter, an Occamy is a winged serpentine beast found in Asia whose eggs have shells made of silver. The Occamy can grow or shrink to fill any space. Perhaps J. K. Rowling has a copy of The Nursery Frieze herself.) whistle - To make a musical sound by expelling air through a small space made by contracting the lips Maremma - A marshy region near the seashore accismus - The feigned refusal of something earnestly desired badigeon - A composition for patching surface defects in carpentry or masonry epistle - A letter, especially a formal or didactic one Quodlibet - A subtle or elaborate argument or point of debate, usually on a theological or scholastic subject. catafalque - A raised structure on which the body of a deceased person lies or is carried in state hiccup - The condition of having spasms remorse - A strong feeling of sadness and regret about something wrong that you have done. Idioticon - A dictionary of dialect gibus - Another name for an opera hat botargo - A relish consisting of the roe of mullet or tunny, salted and pressed into rolls divorce - The formal ending of a marriage by law Phylactery - Something worn as a talisman or charm gegenschein - A diffuse faint light, sometimes visible almost directly opposite the sun in the night sky clavicle - Collarbone sago - A white substance obtained from the trunks of palm trees used for making sweet puddings. Bellonion - An early 19th Century mechanical musical instrument consisting of twenty-four trumpets and two kettle drums thurible - A censer for burning incense aphthong - A letter or combination of letters used in spelling a word but not pronounced., eg "gh" in "knight" plumbago - Graphite Amaranth - An imaginary flower that never fades or dies rhoncus - A whistling or snoring sound of the chest when the air channels are partly obstructed pantehnicon - A furniture removal van drawn by horses hymn - A religious song that Christians sing in church Diaeresis - A pause in a line of verse occurring when the end of a foot coincides with the end of a word purlicue - The flourish at the end of a pen stroke sparadrap - A sticking plaster whim - A sudden wish to do or have something that seems to have no serious reason or purpose Cicatrix - A scar salsify - An edible plant whose root tastes like oysters palindrome - A word, line, verse, number, or sentence that reads the same backward as forward Bosphorus - A strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Marmara. Narthex - A porch or portico at the west end of a church reserved for penitents and others not admitted to the church itself betrayal - To deliver or expose to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty chalcedony - A translucent variety of quartz, often milky or grayish phosphorus - a poisonous yellowish-white chemical element that glows slightly, and burns when air touches it Ligament - A band of tissue serving to connect bones exequies - A funeral procession spandrel - The area between two adjoining arches, or between the head of a window on one level and the sill of a window immediately above chandoo - An extract or preparation of opium that is smoked Gehenna - Any place of extreme torment or suffering, but specifically the valley of Hinnom, near Jerusalem, where propitiatory sacrifices were made to Moloch etui - A small case, especially for needles anamorphosis - A drawing presenting a distorted image that appears in natural form under certain conditions, as when viewed at a raking angle or reflected from a curved mirror glue - A protein gelatin boiled in water, that when melted or diluted is a strong adhesive Wapentake - A subdivision of a shire or county corresponding to a hundred orrery - A mechanical apparatus for representing the positions, motions, and phases of the planets, satellites, etc., in the solar system aspic - A savory jelly usually made with meat or fish stock and gelatin mistrust - To regard with suspicion or doubt Ichor - An ethereal fluid flowing in the veins of the gods. ALSO: An acrid, watery discharge, as from an ulcer or wound. ganosis - A process of toning down the glare of marble as practiced by sculptors in classical antiquity, especially on nude parts of a sculpture velleity - A mere wish, but without the conviction to act upon it dust - A cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter in the air.

• http://www.finedictionary.com/frieze.html

[abecedarycomic]

abecedary A. adj. 1. Of or according to the alphabet; alphabetic; marked with the alphabet; arranged in alphabetical order. 2. Engaged with or needing to learn the alphabet; illiterate.

“There is a kind of Abecedarie ignorance preceding science: another doctorall following science.” — Michel de Montaigne, 'The essayes, or morall, politike, and millitarie discourses of Lord Michaell de Montaigne' (transl. John Florio), 1603

[asfaltics]

moss, to be more, 3

  lilac     Inquire about the operation lily     Inquire about the proceeds   linden     An inquiry into ivy     Advisable to hypothecate   hornbeam     A fair exchange rue     Surprised at the operation   sage     Telegraphed abecedary     And did he (she or they)   rye     Owing to symptoms of acacia     And will he (she or they)   oleander     Oppose the experiment potato     Recommend the operation

—

ex W. S. Wetmore, compiler, General Commercial Telegraphic Code (Shanghai 1875) notes

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[claudioarango]

idea para un abecedario