You know what really freaked me out? When you had to look up something in the “H” volume of the encyclopedia, you had to be careful not to see the entry for “human,” because it was a series of transparent pages that layer the skin, muscles, tissue, etc. on the human skeleton, and that last page — with just the skeleton with the eyeballs? Forget it. That freaked me out. I’d have to throw the book across the room immediately before it hypnotized me.
While we’re on the subject on encyclopedias, I’m so glad my parents spent their hard-earned, hard-to-part with money on a set of encyclopedias. They really served me well and have stayed relevant. Thanks, thanks a lot encyclopedia salesman.
I still have the Bicentennial edition of Encyclopedia Britannica bequeathed to me by my mom. I must confess the only time I ever touch it is to use a volume as a pillow substitute when I have a migraine. (It really works, kids!) But I can’t bring myself to part with it, even though we could definitely use the bookshelf space.
Speaking of encyclopedias, I was in Bar & Books a few years ago and pulled an ancient encyclopedia off the wall. It was from 1941, and the owner had stamped his name on the inside cover – Joseph Heller! What are the odds?!
was the Bicentennial edition red leather? the cheaper blue edition? we got the latter, which was rough b/c i lived with my cousins and they could afford the pricier, glamorous set.
i don’t understand the pillow part — doesn’t that make your head yet so far from your neck? unless you’re using a slim volume like the “h.”
i think i randomly used my encyclopedia for school reports, like on ronald reagan or zimbabwe, but i used to look up random stuff, much like what i use wikipedia or imdb.com now. it hink there’d be random entries like “hair” and it was written in the p.o.v. of an adult talking down to a kid. check yours out.
joseph heller! that’s cool. where is bar & books! i’ve only been to the library bar in the west village and got to see james gandolfini very close by! which was both cool but also ruined my drink, as famous people make me overclepmpt
I wore out the “D” from my Encyclopedia set because I liked to study all the pictures of the different breeds of dogs. PS Not to sound old fogey, but do kids even crack open a reference book anymore?
nnk, i doubt it. why crack open a book when it’s all on the internet? i bet there is an online britannica. but it’s not the same experience as a treasured “d” volume. was there an entry on candy? THAT would have been my fav if there was but i can’t recall.
Damn, I didn’t know there was a fancy red leather edition of the bicentennial E.B. I am dismayed to note that I own the “cheap” blue edition which I formerly believed was fancy.
I can’t explain why a volume of E.B. helps cure migraines, but try it sometime and you’ll understand.
oh shoot, i’m sorry. i think it’s all how you look at it. as children, we probably saw the red leather as fancy. as adults, we can now prize the blue as more valuable…i don’t konw….the confederate army color, or were they in gray