Absolutely Fun and True Fact #2
I am currently reading The Life of Samuel Johnson for my exam lists, and enjoying it fairly, even though it only has a claim on my Interest and Approbation rather than upon my Heart’s feelings. I received the Book in a nice hardcover edition from Amazon, and have just come upon two pages in the middle that are literally uncut. I cannot read them without fetching a knife. I have never had to cut open pages in my life, and I cannot tell you how much it delights me to do so with a book written in the 18th Century.
Cutting pages is a complete pain. I’ve been slowly accumulating James Branch Cabell’s Storisende Edition of The Life of Manuel (18 volumes published around 1930, every book signed by the author, can be sometimes found for $10-$15 each since Cabell’s rep has so declined) and some of them have all of their pages uncut. Reading with a knife feels like you’re continually awaiting pirate attack or something, and the pages don’t always cut well, especially since for gold-topped hardcover books these have rather cheap paper.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure it was just having to cut one of the pages that made it fun.