This first experience in the rare books room was very
exciting for me! I have had an interest
in history ever since I can remember, and being inside that room full of
history was really neat. I felt so young
and insignificant in the room because of how old and historical everything
is. I also felt young when reading
something from 1858. The room itself was
very quiet and did not have many distractions besides all of the history. Silence is very important to me personally
for reading and the only way I can comprehend the material. The room felt full of knowledge that could
have been lost forever, but was preserved and I am very thankful that I was
able to handle such pieces of history. I
found myself wishing that I could take all of the knowledge in without
exploding my brain.
The only article
I read was titled Awful Warning to
Bachelors published March 27,
1858. The Household Words book
itself had a quarter leather cover with very thin pages. Once again I also felt quite young reading
something that was from 1858! The article was very funny and was almost a
Victorian version of “Hitch.” It talked about how marital etiquette for men
was not for the author. They said that
men must stay an arm’s length away from their wife and family at all times! The
men must also never show emotion when the woman is sad, but can only be happy
when she is happy. Her slightest wish
must be law and men must show no appreciation of time, distance, or fatigue for
them. I really enjoyed this article; therefore I did not get to read any
others. However, I did look at many of
the titles of other articles and they were extremely random. Some of the titles were The Devil’s Mark, Turkeys, Really Dangerous Classes, and My Long Lost
Chee-Yld. These titles were very funny names and I really enjoyed myself
reading through the Household Words.
At the end of the experience I was
very thankful to have been given the opportunity to read and handle such
historical artifacts. It really is amazing
that our school’s library has all of these old and almost lost pieces of
history to show to us. Reading the
actual copies helped bring me into the Victorian era. Every day I feel more and more sucked into
the Victorian lifestyle.
Nathan Fuller
No comments:
Post a Comment