The Printed Book by Harry G. Aldis

The Printed Book by Harry G. Aldis

I started to read this book just before my interview. It’s a short, yet quite detailed, history of the printed book in Europe. It looks at the early printers, what they printed, and what contributions they made to the development of printing. It is quite interesting and talks about a lot of fascinating books I will have to search for on the catalogue at King’s. It looks at developments in Europe and Britain, and how Britain deferred from the continent. One thing I thought was quite interesting was the majority of things published in Britain were pamphlets, not books, which is something I hadn’t known before. It contained lots of nice illustrations of the different books, bindings, and typeface. (In fact the last chapter is set out in different typefaces and descriptions of each). After the history of printing it looks at binding of books and then handling of books. The copy I have is the second edition printed in 1941 and “updated” to include modern books. It’s a good overview. The author’s opinions make for an enjoyable read.

De Quincy Confessions

At Whitby in the 2nd hand bookshop I found a 1886 copy of “Confessions of an English Opium Eater” by Thomas de Quincy. It was a fantastic little copy with some uncut pages, and also contained “Levena” and “Our lady of Sorrows” from his Suspira de Profundis as well as some other later excerpts on Opium, an essay on the history of the Rosicrucian and the Freemasons, and some translations of Kant. All in all most delightful.

I enjoyed the book no end. It seemed more fantastical that autobiographical. But I loved the writing style and the descriptions. The dreams themselves did not give as lasting an impression of the descriptions of starving on Oxford Street. Even with the fall into death and despair it did sound very lovely. One of my professors pointed out that de Quincy was not in fact taking pure opium but rather laudanum that made the experience different to that of an opium smoker. But I greatly enjoyed the story of the young classical scholar and his use of drugs. I liked that for a long time he was able to use them in a reasonable way, but that it was (or he claimed it was) in treating illness that he finally succumbed to using the drugs habitually. I wish he’d gone into more detail on a number of occasions and stayed with the time a little longer, rather than going into the delirium that happened later. The nightmares didn’t seem all that terrifying (especially because of the odd orientalist confusions they seemed to be) but I suppose it’s hard to get the same fear from another person. I did find the later confessions, including the diary of his daily doses when he was trying to quit, to be really interesting. It was a fascinating look into the past in a way that you normally don’t get to see.

The part I enjoyed the most however, was not the confessions rather it was “Our Lady of Sorrows” which was some of the most stunning prose I’d read in ages. It reminded me of Dunsany at his best and was just beautiful beyond words. To give a taste I’ll quote from the speech at the end of the story, by Our Lady of Sighs,

Lo! Here he is, whom in childhood I dedicated to my altars. This is he that once I made my darling. Him I led astray, him I beguiled, and from heaven I stole away his young heart to mine. Through me did he become idolatrous; and through me it was, by languishing desires, that he worshiped the worm, and prayed to the wormy grave. Holy was the grave to him; lovely was its darkness; saintly its corruption…”

Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

Nights at the Circus was the bibliogoth book for October and on the whole it was met with some rather negative reviews, most people hadn’t finished it. On the whole I didn’t really like it all that much. I don’t really like books about circuses, there are only 2 exceptions Geek Love and the Caligari Carnival. I found the style did not appeal to me. It was a book where a lot was happening; I just didn’t care enough about the characters to make it worth it. It was oddly feminist, there were MANY references to penises, there were lots of ex-prostitutes, and the women all had back-stories explaining who they were, and none of the men did. It felt rather disjointed and uneven, but it did get better the more I read. There were some quite nice bits; I particularly liked the women’s prison and the nice Russian lesbian. (It may not be a coincidence that all the parts I liked involved lesbians). But on the whole I found it rather disappointing. I do enjoy the re-writing of fairy tales and think perhaps we should have read Jane Yolen’s Briar Rose of Sherri S. Tepper’s Beauty instead, both of which I remember as being very good.

倒贴“福”字

中国古代风俗故事 倒贴“幅“字

每到春节的时候，中国人往往就在自己家的门上到着贴上一个“福”字。你知道这是什么？

据说在明朝的时候，有一个木匠师傅，他的手艺非常好。他的活儿不仅结实耐用，而且还喜欢在木头上刻出各种各样美丽的花儿。那些花儿呀，就像是真的一样。因为他的手艺高超，所以人们都尊敬的称他为“泰山”，意思是他建造的房子像泰山那么坚固，他的技术也是同行中出类拔萃的“泰山”。谁家要是能请来泰山给造房子，那简直是这家天大的喜事，他们要杀猪宰羊，拿出最好的酒菜来招待泰山和他的徒弟们。

有一次，一个商人像开一家新的商店，好不容易请到了泰山和他的徒弟们为他造房子。泰山他们日夜加干活儿，只用了几天的时间就把商店盖起来了。商人夷看，真是气派：高高的躯顶，粗粗的柱子，上面刻着漂亮的图案。他从来没有见过这么漂亮的房子。邻居们看了，也纷纷过来表示祝贺。商人高兴极了，他把家里的几头肥猪杀掉，做了漫漫几大桌酒菜，热情地招待泰山和前来祝贺的客人们。

杀猪的时候，主人怕外面的客人把好吃的东西一下子都吃光，泰山师傅吃不上，就把好吃的猪心，猪肝，猪腰都留了下来。魏防止这些东西变味，又放在游里炸了一下儿，然后用纸包了起来，准备给泰山他们带着路上吃。

可是泰山他们不知道主人的想法，它们等啊等啊，直到所有的客人都吃完走了，也没有看见这些猪肝，猪心什么的。泰山气极了，他决定要给这个商人一点儿颜色看看。

夜深了，人们都已经入睡了，一切都静悄悄的。泰山和他的徒弟们却没有睡，他偷偷得让徒弟们到新盖好的商店里，把支撑房子的柱子都到了过来，因为据说这样会使商店的生意非常不好。

第二天早上，泰山他们就像什么也没发生一样，吃完早饭，就离开了商人的家。临行前，主人送给他们一大包路上吃的东西。

泰山一边走，一边还在生商人的气。不知不觉已经走了很远的路，一个徒弟累了，就对泰山说：“师傅，我们休息一会儿，做下来吃点儿东西吧。”

泰山他们打开商人送的包裹，大吃一惊，原来里面除了馒头以外，还有满满一包轧好的]猪心、猪肝和猪腰。泰山这才知道是自己错怪了主人，心里惭愧极了，他急忙教过徒弟，对他们说：“我写几个字给你们，赶紧带回去贴到商店的柱子上。”说着，他从自己的包里拿出几张红纸，在上面写了个“福”字，交给了徒弟，嘱咐他们一定要到着贴，还要让别人大声念：“福到了！”

徒弟们敢到商店的时候，正赶上商人在庆祝开业，他们连忙把“福”字倒贴在柱子上。人们都很奇怪，问他们：“为什么要到着贴呢？”徒弟们说：“这可不是倒贴，这是福到了。你们要是多说几句“福到了”，就会发财的！”后来，这家商店的老板的发了大财。

从此以后，人们就把这个习惯用在过年中。所以，现在一般商店开业或者过春节，往往都在门上倒贴一个“福”字，意思是福到了。