I was searching the Latin/Greek section of a used bookstore for some ~aesthetic~ antique Latin books, and I came across this beautiful 1889 tome:
This is going to look great on my “look at me I’m a pretentious twat” bookshelf.
But then… the first few sentences read:
“In 1875 delegates of the Oxford University Press proposed to me that I should undertake the compilation of a new Latin-English Lexicon, of something the same compass as the Greek-English Lexicon of Liddell and Scott. I acceded to the proposal in the expectation, for which I had at the time what appeared to be good grounds, that I should obtain adequate assistance in the work. My hopes were, however, disappointed.”
Ouch.
He goes on to detail how he spent 12 years working on A all by himself. Then the university asked him to publish what he had, so he threw together the rest of the book, clearly caring less and less the further he got in the alphabet – the entire Q section has four entries – and published… this.
Obviously this is going straight onto my pretentious twat shelf as a goofy conversation starter, but it is interesting and potentially useful if obscure Latin words are your thing. (Did you know “ramen” is a hapax legomenon meaning “a small chip or shaving”?)
So if you ever come across a really obscure Latin word or name that you can’t find anywhere, hmu… but only if it starts with A.
idk who’s responsible for this suddenly getting hundreds of notes overnight months after it was posted, but I’m glad you guys are enjoying it. Makes me feel less like my dad was right to go “you’re spending 25 quid on that?”
Anyway, who wants to see a photo of the place I bought it, which is pretty much the most perfect bookstore on the planet?
Spiral staircase? Book loft? Stained glass windows? Obviously a repurposed church? Book stacks like a set out of Harry Potter? A pile of actual literal scrolls? A wood-burning stove? OK, that one is maybe not so great since it’s in Inverness aka the cold-ass Scottish highlands, but lack of central heating is a sacrifice I’m very willing to make.
Since so many people in the comments and tags are asking:
1. The book is Contributions to Latin Lexicography by Henry Nettleship. I don’t know where you can get a physical copy, but if you just want to read it there’s a scan available online.
2. The four words starting with Q are quaestuarius, qualitas, qualitativus, and quattuorvir.
