Published by Michael O'Mara
Publication date - 28 March 2024
Source - review copy
How much do you know about the Victorian novelist who outsold Dickens? Or the woman who became the first published poet in America? Do you know what connects Homer's Iliad to Aesop's Fables?
The Secret Library explores these intriguing morsels of lesser-known history, along with the familiar literary heavyweights we know and love. Bringing together an eclectic literary mix of novels, plays, travel books, science books and joke books, author Oliver Tearle explores how the history of the Western World has intersected with all kinds of books over the last 3,000 years.
Now I love books about books so when I heard about The Secret Library it was one I was keen to read.
In The Secret Library, author Oliver Tearle takes the reader through a short snapshot of the history of books and the written word, from Plato and Pliny the Elder to the very first book bought from Amazon.
The book is divided into chapters that start in The Classical World and works it's way through history, visiting the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Enlightenment, Romanticism, of course the Victorians and the modern day, by way of Ancient Greece, Rome, Europe and a founding United States.
Each musing leads onto another, the segue sometimes clearer than others but all of it is written in an entertaining and easy to read manner. There's little snippets and facts, with lesser known names from the annals of history rubbing shoulders with more household names.
The entomology of words is often discussed, when a word was first written down that are now in everyday use. And it turns out it's not just Shakespeare who gave use many well known phrases. There are also little facts dotted around the book such as Mark Twain invented one of the first bra straps, Jules Verne is the most translated French author ever(and second most author in the world after Agatha Christie) and Edgar Allen Poe's best selling book in his life time was about molluscs.
Whilst some of the chapters are longer than others, the book does not feel overly long. It's written in a style that's convivial and flows easily.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this tour through the history of books, coming across familiar anecdotes and learning about book lovers from the past. A lovely addition to any bibliophile's secret or not so secret library.
You can buy a copy of the book here.
(This is an affiliate link. You can also purchase The Secret Library from your local independent bookshop.)
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