Dictionary of Cat Lovers

by Christabel Aberconway

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

466 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Lady Christabel Mary Melville Macnaghten McLaren, Baroness Aberconway
Christabel McLaren

Reviews

[Matthew Gatheringwater]

My only complaint about this diverting book is that it should really have been called A French/English Dictionary of Cat Lovers as large sections of it were published in untranslated French. Which, alas, I do not read or speak. Still, there are so many wonderful bits in English that I enjoyed this collection of biographical sketches of famous and eccentric people who loved cats. Or didn't. Part of what makes this book so charming are Aberconway's editorial comments about the sympathies of her subjects, such as, "Byron was probably not a true cat lover, though he was greatly amused by cats."

Most of the entries, however, profile true cat lovers, such as historian Charles Robert Leslie Fletcher (1857-1934):

Punctually at nine o'clock in the morning he would come into Hall, perch himself on 'high table' with his cat and deliver to us those lectures which are known to the world as his History of England. Excellent as are the published volumes, they do not contain his comments to his cat which formed no small part of the pleasure which his lectures gave us. While his master stroked him, the cat, with admiring and appreciative gaze, would listen to such remarks as:
'Ah, Puss, Henry the Eighth, beside whom I look upon Nero as an impassioned philanthropist,' or: 'Let no man deceive you, Puss, Elizabeth founded a new Church.'On this latter occasion a man got up and walked out. When the door closed behind him, Fletcher turned to his cat and said, 'From Keble, I presume, Puss, don't you?'

This book has earned a place on my ideal bookshelf of bedside books. I am not yet convinced that I should look for a companion dictionary of dog lovers, supposing dogs have inspired a dictionary, which I doubt. Dogs tell you everything you need to know about them and more but I can see how cats, aloof and mysterious, might require reference books.

[Ginny Messina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you so much to Matthew for making this book available to me. It’s a gem! I’d love to find it for my own library since it is definitely a book to dip into—-wonderful stories about cat lovers/owners plus observations and poems about cats. Some great photos, too. I especially loved Mike the cat, who guarded the British Museum in the earlier part of last century.

A big chunk of this book is in French so I guess I missed many fascinating observations. But what I was able to read was wonderful!

[F Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially, this is the same story as The African Witch. One assumes that he was dissatisfied with this version, so rewrote it. I'll read the last two of his African novels before addressing his apparent views on race and the African colonies.