CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
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Abecedarian personal effects of 'a mad genius'
A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 1,638 posts tagged ‘book’

The Right Word – May 28, 2019 (permalink)

"It was a boojum."  From The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll and illustrated Henry Holiday, 1876.
> read more from The Right Word . . .
#vintage illustration #vintage book #book #lewis carroll #buoy #boojum
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Yearbook Weirdness – May 28, 2019 (permalink)

A pathway of books leads to the castle.  From Eastern Nazarene's 1927 yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #castle #books #vintage yearbook #yearbook #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 27, 2019 (permalink)

In the unlikely event you needed proofs of the spirit world, here they are.  From Proofs of the Spirit World by Léon Chevreuil, 1920.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #spirit world #spiritualism #vintage book #book #pig
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Old News – May 23, 2019 (permalink)

Of Drinking in Remembrance of the Dead by Peter Browne, 1713.  See also this collection of 112 cocktail recipes to be drunk in remembrance of the dead: Of Drinking in Remembrance of the Dead.
> read more from Old News . . .
#vintage book #book #vintage headline #a toast #remembrance #headline
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Yearbook Weirdness – May 15, 2019 (permalink)

From Mansfield's 1933 yearbook.
> read more from Yearbook Weirdness . . .
#vintage illustration #wizard #king #vintage yearbook #yearbook #big book #1930s #library
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 5, 2019 (permalink)

From At Fault by Hawley Smart, 1883.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #title page #old book #yellowed paper #at fault #aged paper #vintage paper
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Go Out in a Blaze of Glory – May 4, 2019 (permalink)

Previously, while staying in a Los Angeles hotel casita, we were surprised to find our dictionary of one-letter words sitting atop a Red Letter Teacher's Edition Bible.  
(Is it an ironic pairing of a best-seller with a non-starter?  Or is it a visual joke, like "Alpha[bet] and Omega?)  We recall Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair (with its charming, time-bending solution to the true authorship of the Shakespeare plays) in which a motel drawer features a Gideon Bible, the teachings of Buddha, Thoughts Of St. Zvlkx, and the complete works of the Bard (among other things).
> read more from Go Out in a Blaze of Glory . . .
#bible #dictionary #one-letter words #alpha and omega #ironic pairing
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 3, 2019 (permalink)

"We never sleep."  The cover of The Somnambulist and the Detective, The Murderer and the Fortune Teller by Allan Pinkerton, 1874.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#insomnia #vintage book #book #eye #1870s #old book #vigilance #can't sleep #never sleep #stay awake
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The Right Word – May 1, 2019 (permalink)

Here's an entry from The Dictionary of Ugly Words, a book attributed to us.
> read more from The Right Word . . .
#dictionary #gargoyle #ugly word
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 26, 2019 (permalink)

From Maliar, 1906.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #owl #books
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 20, 2019 (permalink)

From Shut, 1907.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #demon #reading #book
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought – April 17, 2019 (permalink)

"With its stars of ink the book is a universe in motion which our eyes fix." —Edmond Jabès, "Counter Test" (via Gary Barwin).
> read more from I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought . . .
#reading #universe #stars #book #Edmond JabeÌ€s #Edmond Jabe?s #Edmond Jabès
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Go Out in a Blaze of Glory – April 6, 2019 (permalink)

It's been said that avid readers always have books at their fingertips, but the real die-hards have books on their fingertips.  Our champion on the other side of the world just snagged five of our publications.  That one pictured at the bottom left is extraordinarily rare, and we frankly can't imaging how he got it: Armchair Time Travel: How to Alter History, Today.  He also got The Care & Feeding of a Spirit Board, A Snowball's Chance in Hell, If a Chessman Were a Word: A Chess-Calvino Dictionary, and the little-known Six Degrees of Jubilation (a.k.a. Posted Chestnuts).

> read more from Go Out in a Blaze of Glory . . .
#books
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The Right Word – April 2, 2019 (permalink)

What words make you want to die?  Here's one, in an entry from The Dictionary of Ugly Words, a book attributed to us.
> read more from The Right Word . . .
#dictionary #panties #ugly word
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 1, 2019 (permalink)

From Plamia, 1905.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #owl #book #red eyes
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 31, 2019 (permalink)

They Lived With Me by Helen Zenna Smith.  (Book cover via 54mge.)
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #giant #mystery novel #vintage book #book #illustration
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 28, 2019 (permalink)

From Yermah the Dorado by Frona Eunice Wait, 1897.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#occult #vintage book #book #atlantic
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I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought – March 23, 2019 (permalink)

You don't get to the fruit until Book II of Cherry Ripe! (1878).
> read more from I Found a Penny Today, So Here's a Thought . . .
#old book #cherry
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 17, 2019 (permalink)

There's an ironic subliminal message in this book cover — the middle of the word "exposed," "pos," is highlghted by the box behind it, suggesting "positive."  Spirit Rapping Exposed by John Henry Anderson, 1860.  See Seance Parlor Feng Shui.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#demon #imp #necromancy #magic #spiritualism #seance #vintage book #book #spirit rapping
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 14, 2019 (permalink)

From Le Régiment, 1913.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #edible book #eating a book #devouring a book
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