Another proper book

Having noticed a proper book, an ex-library book, the other day, yesterday, having taken a considerable luncheon, I thought to have a go at the 'Tale of a Tub', which has been sitting unread in our front room bookcase for some years. Although it has made cull candidate on several occasions.

Another full-on ex-library book, this one from Surrey Libraries, complete with all the library paraphernalia, complete once again with the ticket. And a County Library book plate in the front. Defaced to the extent of the librarian having taken a slice off the inside of the dust jacket to make way for the ticket. A book which was bought in 1958 and spent quite a lot of its active life in somewhere called the Redhill Information Library, this being deduced from the second slip underneath the one that can be seen in the snap above. The last occasion on which it was actually taken out appears to have been 1984, more than 35 years ago.

Printed on substantial paper, we get lvvvii pages of introduction in XII sections, followed by 210 pages of the book itself, then two more short books, then 6 appendices - and lastly a modest index of a modest 14 pages.

The book itself appears to be an elaborate take-off of various important disputes, mostly theological, of the day, a day when, I suppose, disputes between the various sects and factions of Christians still ran hot, even in London, by then becoming commercial. We will see how far I get in, with this morning's plan being to read the introduction properly, the one prepared by the people at Oxford that is, rather than the rather longer ones provided by Swift himself.

One item of interest so far, on page 43, a few pages into the preface, in which Swift dilates on the possibility of the reader recreating that which the author had in mind when he wrote something. Of the need, perhaps, to work oneself into something like his circumstances and frame of mind at the time. Starting off with the observation that 'nothing is so very tender as a Modern Piece of Wit, and which is apt to suffer so much in the Carriage'. And along the way he had much sport with his use of italics and capital letters. A matter which is very much in my mind at the moment with regard to the translation of Dr. Zhivago that I am reading. For example, on the proper way to deal with the name of a probably obscure variety of Russian apple. A problem that I believe Simenon would have avoided by not using such a word; he kept things simple for the convenience of both reader and translator. The last episode of the Zhivago story being at reference 4 and the next due to follow shortly.

I am left wondering who on earth would read a book like this now. Students of late 17th century English Literature at Cambridge? Retired civil servants living on the fringes of London? Disputatious low church parsons with time on their hands?

PS: this publisher uses a mixture of upper and lower case letters for its Latin numbers, despite the remarks on that subject at reference 3.

Reference 1: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/11/a-proper-book.html.

Reference 2: A Tale of a Tub - Jonathan Swift - 1704. With my second edition from Oxford being from 1958, a substantially revised and reset version of the first edition of 1920. 

Reference 3: http://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/11/on-numerals.html.

Reference 4: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/11/dr-z-part-3-clerks.html.