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#18 Stafford Terrace #19th century British History #20th century British History #Aesthetic Movement #Judith Flanders #Linley Sambourne #Marion Samborune #Punch Magazine #Sambourne House #social history #The Victorian House #William Morris

Currently reading: Christmas - A biography by Judith Flanders

#christmas #christmas a biography #judith flanders #currently reading #booklr #tbr

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Unlike speaking in prose, however, alphabetical order took a while to catch on. This is partly because, even before we get to a standardized order of letters, the very idea of an alphabetical writing system is surprisingly unintuitive. In the logographic writing systems that preceded the alphabet and survive in some languages today, each character bears some inherent meaning, representing a word or smaller semantic unit. The letters of the alphabet, on the other hand, represent sounds without meanings of their own. Flanders compares this innovation to the invention of money in the sixth century BC. Coins and characters alike became detached, fungible signifiers. There is a kind of pure, mathematical beauty to this abstraction. With just twenty or so symbols, alphabetical writing achieves a range of expression stretching as far as language itself. But this simplicity belies a leap in underlying conceptual complexity. The idea of writing itself was already hard enough for humanity to get its head around – writing is thought to have been independently invented just three times in human history. But alphabetical writing is so novel, so abstracted, that it was apparently invented only once: “in the Western Desert of Upper Egypt, somewhere between the cities of Thebes and Abydos”, in around 2050 BC. To our knowledge, “every alphabetic script derives from this single source”, attested in rock inscriptions left by traders and mercenaries. Alphabetical sequencing, on the other hand, “looked like resistance, even rebellion, against the order of divine creation”. The gradual acceptance of alphabetical order was, Flanders reckons, evidence of a broader historical shift towards conceptual abstraction. As alphabetical writing detached letters from meaning, and alphabetical order detached books from the world they described, so it was with double-entry bookkeeping, accurate clocks and searchable library catalogues: debit and credit became abstracted from specific transactions, time from the sun and seasons, and books from particular rooms or shelves. At times, this narrative is presented slightly too teleologically, as a largely medieval shift. In fact, the question of whether language is innate or arbitrary, for example, has been perennial among philosophers since at least Plato’s Socratic dialogue on the “correctness of names”, written in the fifth century BC.

“Accident of initial letters” from Times Literary Supplement

#reading list #times literary supplement #a place for everything #judith flanders #alphabetical order #history

There are supposed to be endorphins or whatever that make you feel great when you exercise. I don't think I have any because I only feel great when I'm lying on the sofa reading a book, possibly while simultaneously eating biscuits.

A Murder of Magpies by Judith Flanders, page 48

10/31 Book Deals

Happy Halloween!

Hey guys, I hope you’re having a great week! It’s been a super stressful one for me, but it’s Halloween so I’m hoping to try to relax and get into the spirit! Quick update: Thanks to everyone for the kind words and concern yesterday--the evacuation orders at my house were lifted last night and I don’t think more than two structures were damaged (which is still awful, but it could have been a lot worse) and firefighters are basically angels.

Anyway, there are some awesome books on sale today (I’m assuming because it’s Halloween), so be sure to have a look! Has anyone read Jordanna Max Brodksy’s The Immortals? I loved The Wolf in the Whale by her and am really curious to try out more from her! Have a spooky day, everyone!

Find past book deals here–many of which are still on sale!

Today’s Deals:

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco - https://amzn.to/2ouHaHw

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio - https://amzn.to/2BVrGj5

Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt - https://amzn.to/2C4X26F

The Invention of Murder: How the Victorians Revelled in Death and Detection and Created Modern Crime by Judith Flanders - https://amzn.to/2Nsimsf

Jar of Hearts by Jennifer Hillier - https://amzn.to/2WAigD1

The Immortals by Jordanna Max Brodsky - https://amzn.to/2qccbQV

Rocket Men by Robert Kurson - https://amzn.to/2C1Cxry

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones - https://amzn.to/2BVSyzk

In Her Skin by Kim Savage - https://amzn.to/2WvShgb

An Evil Guest by Gene Wolfe - https://amzn.to/337DV84

The Scarlet Gospels by Clive Barker - https://amzn.to/2BWR4F2

13 Minutes by Sarah Pinborough - https://amzn.to/2qcjYOE

NOTE: I am categorizing these book deals posts under the tag #bookdeals, so if you don’t want to see them then just block that tag and you should be good. I am an Amazon affiliate in addition to a Book Depository affiliate and will receive a small (but very much needed!) commission on any purchase made through these links.