The Bodleian Library

These uncanny stories feature secret rooms, spinning wheels, phantom carriages, haunted portraits, hidden messages, unsolved murders and thwarted love affairs. Set in Scotland, Cornwall and Spain, each is told by an eyewitness narrator, including a gardener, a tutor and a governess, but the identity of the author remains a mystery. The collection starts with a macabre house party and ends with a haunting on New Year's Eve. First published in 1886 and reprinted here with a bewitching introduction by Kirsty Logan, the spooky tales in this little book are guaranteed to send a tingle down your spine. Whatever you do, don't read them after midnight!

Don’t steal this Book if you do I will Beat your Brains Out Have you ever wanted to protect your books from forgetful borrowers, merciless page-folders or outright thieves? Perhaps you have even wished harm on those who have damaged your books, but would you threaten them with hellfire, hanging or the plague? This book contains a collection of some of the most ferocious and humorous book curses ever inscribed, from fearsome threats discovered emblazoned on stone monuments from the ancient Near East, to elaborate manuscript maledictions and chilling warnings scribbled in printed books. Book curses are entertaining writings in themselves, but they also offer a tantalising insight into how passionately texts and books have been valued by their owners and readers over the centuries. Here you will find an engaging introduction to the history and development of the book curse and perhaps some inspiration to pen a few of your own.

A haunting anthology of supernatural stories and the macabre. First published in 1898, The Eerie Book is a chilling anthology featuring classic gothic authors like Edgar Allan Poe, Mary Shelley, Thomas de Quincey, and Hans Christian Andersen alongside well-known, influential fairy tales and folklore. All the macabre stories and extracts from longer works have hints of the supernatural and many include malevolent spirits and grotesque murders. Yet this varied selection also features melancholy hauntings and poignant memoirs in a fascinating mix of gothic horror and disturbing legend. In this new compendium, each story is illustrated with a striking engraving by art nouveau artist W.B. Macdougall. Beautifully produced, carefully curated, and timeless, The Eerie Book is the perfect gift for anyone who likes to be haunted by ghost stories. Read it if you dare.

‘Everybody who possibly can ought to grow potatoes…’ First published towards the end of the First World War, this charming little book is a love letter to the potato, from its origins in South America, to Sir Francis Drake’s travels, the Irish potato famine and the great potato boom of 1903 when the ‘Eldorado’ changed hands at eye-watering prices. Filled with practical advice which, much of which still holds true today, The Potato Book was written to advocate growing potatoes as a cheap and effective crop against a background of spiralling costs and food shortages. Chapters cover soil preparation, methods of propagating, chitting, planting, earthing-up and recommended varieties from King Edward to Kerr’s Pink. It also describes, with handy diagrams, how to guard against common pests and diseases. With a witty and wonderful introduction by Kathy Clugston, this is the perfect gift for vegetable growers, allotment enthusiasts or anyone with enduring affection for the humble spud.

Marley's ghost, Bob Cratchit's slide down icy Cornhill, Mr and Mrs Fezziwig's dance, and of course Ebenezer Scrooge himself, are all exquisitely illustrated in this luxury collector's edition of Charles Dickens's perennial seasonal favourite. Arthur Rackham's colour wash drawings and silhouettes, first published during the First World War, bring a threatening and haunting atmosphere to Scrooge's story, which contrasts wonderfully with the gifts and games of Belle's household. Rackham was a leading illustrator in the golden age of book illustration, when groundbreaking techniques for colour printing were developing fast.He illustrated over sixty books and specialized in children's classics and fairy tales. This landmark edition helped to consolidate the idea of the Dickensian Christmas and the tradition of the Christmas gift book. It is a beautiful version of a classic story, which never ceases to be relevant to our times.

A fascinating miscellany of the stories behind our weights and measures. How long is an ell? How big is the largest champagne bottle? How do you measure the heat of a chili pepper? Why is the depth of water measured in fathoms? And what, exactly, is a cubit? The Curious History of Weights & Measures tells the story of how we have come to quantify the world around us. Looking at everything from carats, pecks, and pennyweights, to firkins, baker’s dozens, and modern science-based standards such as kilograms and kilometers, this book considers both what sparked the creation of measures and why there were so many efforts to usher in standardization. Full of handy conversion charts and beautiful illustrations, The Curious History of Weights & Measures is a treasure trove of fun facts and intriguing stories about the calculations we use every day.

A collection of 366 facts about language to enliven each day of the year. In this ingenious and diverse collection of 366 stories, events, and facts about language, David Crystal presents a selection of insights from literary and linguistic writers, poets, and global institutions, together with the weird and wonderful creations of language enthusiasts to enliven each day of the year. This day-by-day treatment illustrates the extraordinary, the weird, and the wonderful creations of language, covering everything from holidays like “Morse Code Day” and “Talk Like William Shatner Day” to the forensic phonetics used to catch serial killers. The book covers writers from many different eras and cultures, including William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Emily Dickinson, Toni Morrison, R. K. Narayan, Wole Soyinka, and many more. Some days focus on pronunciation, orthography, grammar, or vocabulary. Others focus on the way language is used in science, religion, politics, broadcasting, publishing, the arts, and the Internet. Some days acknowledge the achievements of language study, such as in language teaching, speech therapy, deaf education, and forensic science, as well as technological progress, from the humble pencil to digital software. Several days celebrate individual languages, including those spoken in small language communities. A celebration of creativity and change, this book will inspire readers to make a daily date with language.

A humorous advice book, offering tips on bedroom manners. Have you ever needed tips on how to sleep next to a snoring spouse? How to convalesce in style? Have you pondered the etiquette of staying in a haunted house? Better Bed Manners, originally published in the 1930s, has the answers you seek. This amusing guide was originally written for married couples, poking fun at both wives and husbands. Better Bed Manners offers a witty glimpse of middle-class life in a bygone era, but it also dispenses some universal advice that still rings true today. “Choose bedside books for their soporific qualities,” or “one whisky-and-soda on retiring . . . makes the average man forget the dullest dinner and sends him to bed in a glow of goodwill.” With sections on hot-water bottles, robes de nuit, breakfast in bed, the best kind of pillow, sneaking home late, and night-time reading, this is the perfect self-improvement gift for your favorite bedfellow.

Close-up photos of plump apricots, juicy mangoes, crisp lettuce ... these are familiar to us all through cookery books and garden guides. But seeing fruit and vegetables as detailed art, viewed through eighteenth-century eyes, is something very different - and more interesting. Thanks to intrepid explorers and plant-hunters, Britain and the rest of Europe have long enjoyed a wide and wonderful array of fruit and vegetables. Some wealthy households even created orangeries and glasshouses for tender exotics and special pits in which to raise pineapples, while tomatoes, sweetcorn and runner beans from the New World expanded the culinary repertoire. This wealth of choice attracted interest beyond the kitchen and garden. In the 1730s, a prosperous Bavarian apothecary produced the first volume of a comprehensive A to Z of all available plants, meticulously documented, and lavishly illustrated by botanical artists. 'A Cornucopia of Fruit & Vegetables' is a glimpse into his world. It features exquisite illustrations of the edible plants in his historic treasury, allowing us to enjoy the sight of swan-necked gourds and horned lemons, smile at silkworms hovering over mulberries and delight at the quirkiness of 'strawberry spinach' ... a delicious medley of garden produce and exotics that will capture the imagination of gardeners and art-lovers alike.

The punctuation marks, mathematical symbols and glyphs which haunt the edges of our keyboards have evolved over many hundreds of years. They shape our understanding of texts, calculations and online interactions. Without these symbols all texts would run in endless unbroken lines of letters and numbers. Many hands and minds have created, refined and promulgated the symbols which give form to our written communication. Through individual entries discussing the story behind each example, 'Hyphens & Hashtags' reveals the long road many of these special characters have taken on their way into general use. In the digital age of communication, some symbols have gained an additional meaning or a new lease of life - the colon now doubles up as the eyes of a smiling face emoticon and the hashtag has travelled from obscurity to an essential component of social media. Alongside historical roots, this book also considers ever-evolving modern usage and uncovers those symbols which have now fallen out of fashion. 'Hyphens & Hashtags' casts a well-deserved spot-light on these stalwarts of typography whose handy knack for summing up a command or concept in simple shorthand marshals our sentences, clarifies a calculation or adds some much-needed emotion to our online interactions.

This lavishly illustrated book showcases the highlights of the Tolkien archives held at the Bodleian Library. From J.R.R. Tolkien's childhood in the Midlands and his experience of the First World War to his studies at school and university; his exquisite illustrations for The Silmarillion, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings and his creation of intricate and beautiful maps showing the topography of Middle-earth - the land he invented - this stunning book is a perfect introduction to Tolkien's creative imagination, giving a unique insight into the life of this extraordinary writer, artist and scholar.

This richly illustrated book explores the huge creative endeavour behind Tolkien's enduring popularity. Lavishly illustrated with over 300 images of his manuscripts, drawings, maps and letters, the book traces the creative process behind his most famous literary works - 'The Hobbit', 'The Lord of the Rings' and 'The Silmarillion' and reproduces personal photographs and private papers,some of which have never been seen before in print. Tolkien drew on his deep knowledge of medieval literature and language to inform his literary imagination. Six introductory essays cover some of the main themes in Tolkien's life and work including the influence of northern languages and legends on the creation of his own legendarium; his concept of `Faerie' as a literary construct; the central importance of his invented languages in his fantasy writing; his visual imagination and its emergence in his artwork; and the encouragement he derived from the literary group known as the Inklings. This book brings together the largest collection of original Tolkien material ever assembled in a single volume. Drawing on the archives of the Tolkien collections at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford, and Marquette University, Milwaukee, as well as private collections, this exquisitely produced catalogue draws together the worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien - scholarly, literary, creative and domestic - offering a rich and detailed understanding and appreciation of this extraordinary author.

The First World War was unique in being fought largely in trenches. Men ate, slept, fought, played, sang, prayed, and died in the trenches. This book brings together a collection of postcards which portray this strange subterranean world in its various manifestations. The cards have been selected to show how life progressed from day to day in and out of the trenches. We see wounded men smiling obligingly for the camera; others appear to be suffering from the onslaught of boredom. Some take part in a mock party with very meagre provisions. One image shows a group of men kneeling to receive communion before going into battle. The tone of postcards encompasses the range of human experience, from sombre realism to light-hearted humour. There is also the soldier's good-natured lightly smutty card. This is a fascinating insight into the everyday lives and behaviour of the men who fought one of the most gruesome wars in history.