Letter Perfect
The Marvelous History of Our Alphabet From A to Z
Published on 3. August 2004
Book
Paperback/Softback
416 pages
978-0-7679-1173-3 (ISBN)
Description
A fun, lively, and learned excursion into the alphabet-and cultural history.
Letters are tangible language. Joining together in endless combinations to actually show speech, letters convey our messages and tell our stories. While we encounter these tiny shapes hundreds of times a day, we take for granted the long, fascinating history behind one of the most fundamental of human inventions: the alphabet.
The heart of the book is the 26 fact-filled "biographies" of letters A through Z, each one identifying the letter's particular significance for modern readers, tracing its development from ancient forms, and discussing its noteworthy role in literature and other media. We learn, for example, why the letter X has a sinister and sexual aura, how B came to signify second best, why the word "mother" in many languages starts with M, and what is the story of O.
Packed with information and lavishly illustrated, Letter Perfect is accessible, entertaining, and essential to the appreciation of our own language.
Letters are tangible language. Joining together in endless combinations to actually show speech, letters convey our messages and tell our stories. While we encounter these tiny shapes hundreds of times a day, we take for granted the long, fascinating history behind one of the most fundamental of human inventions: the alphabet.
The heart of the book is the 26 fact-filled "biographies" of letters A through Z, each one identifying the letter's particular significance for modern readers, tracing its development from ancient forms, and discussing its noteworthy role in literature and other media. We learn, for example, why the letter X has a sinister and sexual aura, how B came to signify second best, why the word "mother" in many languages starts with M, and what is the story of O.
Packed with information and lavishly illustrated, Letter Perfect is accessible, entertaining, and essential to the appreciation of our own language.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Broadway Books (A Division of Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group Inc)
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Dimensions
Height: 211 mm
Width: 141 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
495 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-7679-1173-3 (9780767911733)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
12/2007
1st Edition
Crown
€14.99
Available for download
Person
DAVID SACKS is author of the Encyclopedia of the Ancient Greek World. His articles mainly on cultural topics have appeared in the New York Times Book Review, the Wall Street Journal, the Ottawa Citizen, and dozens of magazines. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario.