Updated the library

[jducoeur]

Yes, while I've mainly been de-accessioning stuff, I have bought a *few* more books over the past couple of years. (Kate's rule is that I'm allowed to get a new book for every 100 I get rid of.)

I know that Jane's spirit would frown at me if I didn't keep it all properly catalogued, so I've just finished updating the LibraryThing listing -- I believe that that's in order by newest-added-first, if you're curious, and these are the newest 20 or so in that list. The bulk of the books come from Mac and Moore's going out of business sale a couple of years ago, so the recent stuff is very heavy on transcriptions of primary sources; there are also the obligatory newer translations of period cookbooks, which I keep getting from Poison Pen. Items likely to be of particular interest to my friends include:

• A 1925 Primer of Medieval Latin.
• A 2-volume set of The Chester Plays.
• Annals of the Caliphs' Kitchens, a huge paperback Baghdadi cookbook.
• The Cartulary of the Knights of St. John.
• Scully's translation of Chiquart's Du Fait de Cuisine (one of the classic period cookbooks, particularly entertaining for its descriptions of subtleties).
• Castelvetro's Fruits, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy
• The Chronology of History, a delightfully useful book from 1833 (or thereabouts -- hard to be sure which edition this is), which is all about time and how its has been measured throughout the ages, including sections such as: the definitions of various historical "epochs"; long tables reckoning Easter and Good Friday and such; a chronological list of the major Church Councils; a listing of Saint's Days; and a glossary of the meaning of various date-related terms. The book is a bit delicate, but looks to be hugely useful for miscellaneous research.

And the prize of the bunch, for which I spent far too much money: A 1671 two-volume set of the Historiae Augustae Scriptores. I believe I mentioned this one at the time -- it's a fascinatingly strange pre-medieval history of the Roman emperors, some of which is semi-accurate and elsewhere wanders off into the weird and ahistorical. (And kind of reads like Talmud: over 2/3 of the book is endless footnotes, and arguments between the supposed authors.) The whole thing is available online, and there is an English translation, but there's nothing like having an original 350-year-old copy of it, in surprisingly good condition. It's one of a number of reasons why, if I ever find myself with the money and inclination to retire, I'm likely to teach myself Latin more properly, so I can read it.

Anyway, feel free to poke around. Since these are new, they're not boxed up; if you'd like to see any of them, drop me a note...