The latest catalogue (no. 133) from Bennett & Kerr Books, which I have posted about before, has lots of little gems to get your excited. I nearly lost my head when I saw Christopher Baswell's Virgil in Medieval England (Cambridge: CUP, 1995) and rang straight away hoping it wasn't gone. It wasn't. I'm happy. But of course the crisis was really all of the other books I wanted. A couple of examples: facsimiles of MSS Tanner 346 and Bodley 638, two important Chaucer manuscripts, for a very good £50 each, and the Hengwrt facsimile for £85. Two other little gems: Patrick Boyde's latest two fine studies, Human Vices and Human Worth in Dante's Comedy (CUP 2000), and Perception and Passion in Dante's Comedy (CUP, 1993), both for a very competitive £20 each. Panofsky's Early Netherlandish Painting, 2 vols (Icon, 1971, orig. 1953), only £30. These are the things that my shelf feels bare without but which I cannot afford right now (maybe I could do a fast for a while...). These are great works that should have good homes, or else donated to me!
3 comments:
now. take a deep breath. take one of the little round pills, and then follow that up quickly with a splash of cold water. Then say to your bookshelf, loudly and clearly: "you are not talking to me. You are not empty. You are not incomplete. You are not going to tell me to go out there and binge-buy new books, and then tell me in another fortnight that you're feeling empty again. If you have the bookshelf equivalent of an eating disorder, that's your problem. Now, I'm going online to read about the demise of TomKat. Don't disturb me again."
Repeat as required.
Sigh. I know. I mean, it's ok and everything. I did ring about the Baswell book but I've had a library copy since I came up to Oxford - I swear! I'm not going out there again, don't worry. Besides, impending poverty will soon be the best diet of all - i.e. post September funding limbo...
I really like the new blog by the way.
ooh thanks! I'm trying again...we'll see how it goes.
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