Category Archives: Literary Studies

Goodbyeee!

Alas, and thrice woe (from my point of view anyway), this is my last ever blog for the Cambridge Library Collection. I now slip away into the sunset, leaving others to ramble on (or, even better, write snappily and coherently) … Continue reading

Posted in Archaeology, Astronomy, Biography, Cambridge, Classics, Earth Sciences, Fiction and poetry, Gardening, History, Language and Linguistics, Life Science, Literary Studies, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Sciences, Printing and Publishing History, Travel and Exploration | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Wit and Wisdom of the Rev. Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith is described in his ODNB entry as ‘author and wit’, which somewhat overlooks the day job as a clergyman. In the two-volume ‘life and letters’ published in 1855 by his daughter Saba (a name he invented himself), she … Continue reading

Posted in Biography, English Men of Letters, Literary Studies | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

A Child’s History of England

The paths of the Cambridge Library Collection and Charles Dickens have crossed several times – remarkable, given that Dickens is (of course) one of Britain’s greatest novelists, and we don’t publish much fiction. But of the short experimental (for us) … Continue reading

Posted in Clements Markham, Education, Egyptology, Fiction and poetry, Gardening, History, Linguistics, Literary Studies, Printing and Publishing History, Religious Studies | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

The Diary of John Evelyn

One of my vital tools as a scribbler of blogs on books is a little pack of those things – I don’t even know what they are called – which you can stick on to a page to mark a … Continue reading

Posted in Art and architecture, Biography, English Men of Letters, Gardening, History, Literary Studies, Travel and Exploration | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

St Valentine’s Day

The estimable John Brand informs us that ‘It is a ceremony, says Bourne, never omitted among the vulgar, to draw lots, which they term Valentines, on the eve before Valentine Day. The names of a select number of one sex … Continue reading

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