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Shady characters : the secret life of punctuation, symbols, & other typographical marks / Keith Houston.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: New York ; London : W.W. Norton & Company, [2013]Edition: First editionDescription: 340 pages ; 22 cmISBN:
  • 9780393064421
  • 0393064425
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 411 HOU
Contents:
The pilcrow -- The interrobang -- The octothorpe -- The ampersand -- The @ symbol -- The asterisk and dagger -- The hyphen -- The dash -- The manicule -- Quotation marks -- Irony and sarcasm. Irony in history ; Ironics ; Digital sarcasm.
Summary: Revealing the secret history of punctuation, this tour of two thousand years of the written word, from ancient Greece to the Internet, explores the parallel histories of language and typography throughout the world and across time.
Holdings
Item type Current library Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode
Standard Loan LSAD Library Main Collection 411 HOU (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 39002100582601

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography.

Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (+)--which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible--or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on myriad sources to chart the life and times of these enigmatic squiggles, both exotic (¶) and everyday (&).

From the Library of Alexandria to the halls of Bell Labs, figures as diverse as Charlemagne, Vladimir Nabokov, and George W. Bush cross paths with marks as obscure as the interrobang (?) and as divisive as the dash (--). Ancient Roman graffiti, Venetian trading shorthand, Cold War double agents, and Madison Avenue round out an ever more diverse set of episodes, characters, and artifacts.

Richly illustrated, ranging across time, typographies, and countries, Shady Characters will delight and entertain all who cherish the unpredictable and surprising in the writing life.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The pilcrow -- The interrobang -- The octothorpe -- The ampersand -- The @ symbol -- The asterisk and dagger -- The hyphen -- The dash -- The manicule -- Quotation marks -- Irony and sarcasm. Irony in history ; Ironics ; Digital sarcasm.

Revealing the secret history of punctuation, this tour of two thousand years of the written word, from ancient Greece to the Internet, explores the parallel histories of language and typography throughout the world and across time.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

  • Preface (p. ix)
  • How to Read this Book (p. xii)
  • 1 The Pilcrow (p. 3)
  • 2 The Interrobang (p. 25)
  • 3 The Octothorpe (p. 41)
  • 4 The Ampersand (p. 59)
  • 5 The @ Symbol (p. 79)
  • 6 The Asterisk and Dagger (p. 97)
  • 7 The Hyphen (p. 121)
  • 8 The Dash (p. 145)
  • 9 The Manicule (p. 167)
  • 10 Quotation Marks (p. 187)
  • 11 Irony and Sarcasm (p. 211)
  • 1 Irony in History (p. 212)
  • 2 Ironies (p. 223)
  • 3 Digital Sarcasm (p. 229)
  • Afterword (p. 245)
  • Further Reading (p. 247)
  • Acknowledgments (p. 249)
  • Notes (p. 251)
  • Illustration Credits (p. 321)
  • Index (p. 325)

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Keith Houston is the author of Shady Characters and The Book . His writing has appeared in the New York Times , the Wall Street Journal , the Financial Times , Mental Floss , BBC Culture , and on Time.com. He lives in Birmingham, England.

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