Status Updates From Index, A History of the: A ...

In an endnote: "The index to Ralph Walker's introduction to Immanuel Kant includes 'happiness, 137, 151, 152, 156-8,' 'masturbation, 158, 190' and 'wig-making, 158.' Walker's text is exemplary, but page 158 will always be more delightful in the mind than it is in real life."

Sherlock instructing Watson to bring him a volume of his personally compiled index:

"Make a long arm, Watson, and see what V has to say."

Grinding my way through this.

Not as engaging as "The Library" (Pettegree) or "The Adventure of English" (Bragg.) While there are fun insights about the historical evolution of the index, the varied stories about the uses to which its been put are academic and a bit pedantic: once you've got the principle the details are repetitive. For a scholar, this is probably a treasure trove of research. Duncan's writing is pedestrian; not beautiful.

"‘Qui scit ubi sit scientia habenti est proximus’: ‘He who knows where knowledge may be had is close to having it.’"

"The [Index] depicts a student seeking for information at the index post, which points to the three roads of Science, Literature, and Art’. …numerous things to note here, the physical metaphor of the fingerpost, the index literally pointing the way…study as a journey is a rich one, and the image chimes visually with Migne’s rhapsodies of mountains levelled and paths straightened by the power of a good index."

"The [Index] depicts a student seeking for information at the index post, which points to the three roads of Science, Literature, and Art’. …numerous things to note here, the physical metaphor of the fingerpost, the index literally pointing the way…study as a journey is a rich one, and the image chimes visually with Migne’s rhapsodies of mountains levelled and paths straightened by the power of a good index."