Diverse Interests

     This week's find on the used book floor reminds us booksellers, yet again, that the interests of readers are vast, diverse, and unpredictable (which is excellent!).  Illustrating this point for us is the combination of this week's find with the subject matter of the used book it was tucked in.

     We discovered a transcript from a 1985 Ken Burns non-fiction television documentary that aired on PBS - only his second one out of the now nearly 30 that the famed Emmy and Peabody award winner (and New Hampshire resident) has created.  This transcript was of Burns' one hour look into the culture of the Shakers and how they put their "hands to work and hearts to God" in the creation of their fine furniture, as well as their belief in pacifism, simplicity and perfection.  The 32 year-old document also states that the narrator of the documentary was none other than David McCullough, who is now one of America's most celebrated historical non-fiction authors and winner of two Pulitzer Prizes.  In 1985, the transcript was purchased by and sent to a Nashua, New Hampshire, resident for a grand total of only $3.00. 

     So, you might be thinking that we found this transcript in a book about furniture making, maybe, or something related to spiritual growth and living a life of simplicity.  Well, let’s just say that if we were playing the "hot/cold" game where hot means you are getting close and cold means the opposite, such a guess would fall somewhere in the realms of the arctic.  The transcript was actually discovered in the pages of a 1963 third edition reprint of the book, "A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue".  Yes, there is a dictionary of English slang and this is it!  Even more surprising is that while this sounds like a modern-day creation, the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue was actually first published in 1785 - not long after the Dictionary of the English Language was originally released.

     How, exactly, does one compile and create the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue?  Believe it or not, the author, Captain Francis Grose, cruised countless waterholes "eating, boozing, and listening" as research for this slang dictionary.  While a great amount of the slang originally recorded over 225 years ago remains in our speech today, (to "kick the bucket" is to die, being "flush in the pocket" denotes one of wealth) many slang words and phrases may have been lost long ago without Grose and his Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue (oh, no!). 

     See what we mean about vast and diverse interests?  Does one find the urge to flip through the Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue while reading the documentary transcript all about the life of the Shakers?  One never knows.  What we do know is that the dictionary can be purchased here at Bayswater for the price of $20.00 and the transcript is all yours, as well.  You can catch up with our previous finds of the week from the used book floor at bayswaterbooks.com and on facebook.  Better yet, stop by our store in Center Harbor and check out the used book floor for yourself!