The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical: A Cabinet for the CuriousStauffer, Frank H.
History
The Queer, the Quaint and the Quizzical: A Cabinet for the Curious
Stauffer, Frank H.
Literary curiosa
This book is a precious object to the virtuoso. It was the work of Queen
Catherine Parr, and was enclosed in solid gold. It hung by a gold chain
at her side, and was the frequent companion of the "Virgin Queen." In
her own handwriting, at the beginning of the volume, the following
quaint lines appear—
"I walke many times into the pleasaunt fieldes of the Holie Scriptures,
where I plucke up the goodliesome herbes of sentences by pruning; eate
them by readinge; chawe them by musing; and laye them up at length in ye
state of memorie by gathering them together; that so, having tasted
their sweetness, I may the lesse perceave the bitterness of this
miserable life."
This was penned by the Queen, probably while she was in captivity at
Woodstock, as the spirit it breathed affords a singular contrast to the
towering haughtiness of her ordinary deportment.
_Eliot's Indian Bible._
At the age of 42, John Eliot, pastor of a church at Roxbury, Mass.,
began the study of the Natick Indian dialect, with a view of translating
the Bible into that language. He completed the translation in 1658,
after a labor of eight years, and the book was issued in 1663. Upwards
of one thousand copies were printed, of which twenty copies were
dedicated to King Charles. The latter copies are so rare that one of
them was sold in the U. S., in 1862, for $1000, and six years later for
$1150. Among the many points of interest which Eliot's Indian Bible
possesses, not the least is the fact that it is the language of a nation
no longer in existence, and is almost the only monument of the race;
another, that it is the first edition of the Bible published in this
country.
_Silver Book._
In the library of Upsal, in Sweden, there is preserved a translation of
the four Gospels, printed with metal type upon violet-colored vellum.
The letters are silver, and hence it has received the name of _Codex
Argenteus_. The initial letters are in gold. It is supposed that the
whole was printed in the same manner as book-binders letter the titles
of books on the back. It was a very near approach to the art of
printing, but it is not known how old it is.
_Huge Copy of the Koran._
D'Israeli mentions a huge copy of the Koran—probably without a
parallel, as to its _size_, in the annals of _letters_. The characters
are described as three inches long; the book itself is a foot in
thickness, and its other dimensions five feet by three.
_A Lost Book._
Celsus wrote a book against the Magi, which was not preserved. He was an
Epicurian philosopher, and lived in the second century. Much regret has
been expressed over the loss of the work. He is mentioned with respect
by Lucian, who derived from him the account which he gives of Alexander
the imposter. Even Origen treated him with consideration.
_Book of Riddles._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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