Learned Spider's Epitaph

A Learned Spider’s Epitaph

“Here laid down, a small spider, caught resting between the lines of a long night’s lessons, now like a curious letterform…” For nearly two centuries, it’s possible this little insect has been buried here, in the second edition of Edward Everett’s translation of Buttmann’s Greek grammar. Everett, the Greek scholar, United States congressman, pastor, professor, diplomat (the list goes on) is remembered as one of the great American orators of his time.

Harvey's Grammar Cookbook

Adjectives, Doughnuts in Rhyme, and Excellent White Bread

I recently stumbled across an unusual copy of Thomas Wadleigh Harvey’s Elementary Grammar and Composition.The book has been almost entirely repurposed, with the text obscured by newspaper clippings of recipes and remedies that look to be mostly late 19th century. Recipes for all your old favorites can be found in its pages—mush, corn pone, doughnuts in rhyme, Philadelphia puffs, cod balls, and of course, excellent white bread.