Schott's Original Miscellany

by Ben Schott

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

031.02

Publication

Bloomsbury USA (2003), Edition: 1, Hardcover, 144 pages

Description

Schott's Original Miscellany makes few claims to be exhaustive or even practical. It does, however, claim to be essential. It will afford you great wisdom in the morning, several conversational bon mots for the afternoon, and many an enlightened smile after dark. Where else can you find, packed on to one page, the 13 principles of witchcraft, the structure of military hierarchy, all of the clothing care symbols, a list of the countries where you drive on the left, and a nursery rhyme about sneezing? Where else, but Schott's Miscellany, will you stumble across John Lennon's cat, the supplier of bagpipes to the Queen, and the brutal methods of murder encountered by Miss Marple? A book like no other, Schott's Miscellany is entertaining, informative, unpredictable and utterly addictive.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Excalibur

This book is a wonderful collection of random information. Much of the information is totally useless but fascinating. Tidbits of useful information can also be found

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LibraryThing member cinesnail88

This miscellany was discovered by me several years ago, and I was instantly fascinated! The organization smacks of some age-old publication, but the information within encompasses both the old and the new, and is endlessly entertaining and interesting.

LibraryThing member auntieknickers

Full of fascinating and sometimes useful information, from how to make a Bloody Mary to the U.S. Presidential succession.

LibraryThing member Harmless_Dilettante

I received this book as a gift from two different people, which probably makes me a card carrying pencil necked geek. However, I truly enjoyed this slim volume of nonessential and charming trivia. Bonus points if you have the gilt Smythson version bound in fine leather. Useless, entertaining, and

absurdly over priced: always a sure formula for success.

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LibraryThing member Pepys

I read this book over a 2-year's period. Needless to say I cannot remember much of what I found there. Sometimes interesting and unexpected things or quotations, sometimes full pages without great significance. Rather uneven finally.

LibraryThing member JBD1

A great little compilation of totally useless facts.

LibraryThing member gaskella

This entertaining little book lives in our loo!

LibraryThing member vasquirrel

I love, love, love this book. It is the most RANDOM collection of reference information I have ever seen, in such a small package. Don't go into it thinking that you'll find everything about anything. What you'll find is....chat room acronyms, the service for Princess Diana, a list of the

provisions on the Titanic, Ivy League Fight songs, blood group compatibility, and MORE. I read it cover to cover for fun. A good gift for the trivia freak or lover of random facts in your life.

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LibraryThing member Alirob

Interesting in parts,but some errors.

LibraryThing member kencf0618

A hoot, yet surprisingly useful.

LibraryThing member MiaCulpa

Who could have guessed that when I received "Schott's Original Miscellany" as a xmas gift more than a decade ago, that "Schott's would becom a media behemoth, spawning sequels, almanacs and many an imitator? Well, not me, for one.

"Schott's ..." is a wonderful little pot pourri of factoids and

trivia that will thrill many a fact tragic with its entries like "UK Christmas No. 1 hits" sharing a page with temperature conversion, knitting abbreviations and a discussion of the word "Abracadabra", to pick one page at random.

A very worthwhile perusal, this one.

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LibraryThing member pussreboots

Entertaining but it drags after awhile. Read it in small doses.

LibraryThing member leslie.98

This is really a book for dipping into rather than reading but I did enjoy my journey through it. The miscellany included often provoked a laugh such as the entry listing some of Anatole's meals (Anatole is the chef of Bertie Wooster's Aunt Dahlia, in case you are not a Wodehouse aficionado). If

you have any taste for trivia, this is worth browsing!

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LibraryThing member TheDivineOomba

I found this book in the discard books for sale at the local library. And, there's a reason for it being discarded - this edition was published in 2003. Some of the information is outdated, especially pertaining to history (list of American presidents, for example). However, that does not detract

from the book - Its one of the best trivia books I've read. Organization is great, subject matter is interesting, timely, and serious. There is no fluff to this book.

Highly recommended, but I suspect a more recent edition will be better.

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LibraryThing member murderbydeath

I love these types of books. I picked it up on a whim at a neighborhood tag sale, and when I got home, and opened it, I was giddy with the eccentric variety of useful facts contained within.

A page of English Public School plan, the solution to the Hampton Court Maze, English/Continental glove size

conversions … all on two facing pages. Then there’s seriously useful stuff, like the molecular structure of caffeine, the Glasgow coma scale, and how to read Hazmat warning plates. And the generally useful stuff, like an egg sizes scales (both traditional and modern), clothing care symbols, and clothing/shoe size conversions between British, American and European standards.

MT and I laughed at some of the silly things it includes too, like Scottish clan war cries, WWII Postal Acronyms and the degrees of Freemasonry.

I delight in collections of useful and less-than-useful information; as this book has a bit of both, it’s a gem of a find for me and my personal library. And of course, I’m curious about whether or not there’s an updated edition.

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LibraryThing member jemmatcf

Really, really eclectic but wonderful collection of trivia and facts. I love this kind of information, like the secret language of knitting my wife is using to crochet blankets and gifts. Or an exhaustive chart on garment care symbols or should I happen to mosey past a lost cow, I'll know who owns

it if it is branded with a set of symbols, so that also assumes I have the book with me because I'll never remember this stuff. Lots of fun for lovers of collections of random knowledge.

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