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How did the Honorable Miss E. St. Leger become a Freemason? Did
Lord Byron meet a hippopotamus, or was it only a tapir? Whence the
popular prejudice against redheads? These were among the topics
discussed in the pages of Notes and Queries, a weekly magazine
founded in London in 1849 as "a medium of inter-communication for
literary men, artists, antiquaries, genealogists, etc." Its motto
was "When found, make a note of" a saying of Captain Cuttle, the
hook-handed old salt of Dickens's Dombey and Son. Some subscribers
to Notes and Queries contributed brief notes on curious facts they
had uncovered; others sent in arcane queries to be answered. The
result was rather like an erudite Internet discussion board,
complete with its flame wars and trolls. This book anthologizes the
most interesting exchanges from the First Series of Notes and
Queries (1849 55). Here, ordered by subject with judicious
footnotes, of course are delightfully pedantic remarks on the daily
life and amusements of olden times, the doings of faeries,
revolting folk remedies, strange forgotten, poetry good and bad,
and oddities of natural history, among many other things. Also
included is a selection of advertisements from the magazine, for
such products as Grosjean's Celebrated Trowsers, Rimmel's Toilet
Vinegar (good for several purposes), and the Rev. Edmund Saul
Dixon's treatise on Ornamental and Domestic Poultry: Their History
and Management. Original drawings add an extra touch of humor
throughout, and a lively introduction describes the history and
workings of Notes and Queries. Full of useless information and
Victorian fustiness, Captain Cuttle's Mailbag will fascinate trivia
buffs and time travelers alike.
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