Thursday, October 8, 2015

John Selden and His Table Talk

Robert Waters - John Selden and His Table Talk (1899)

Open Library direct link
Open Library main page

As a follow up to the last post on ana here's perhaps the best-known, or at least at one time most discussed, English-language example.  Rather than a straight collection of Selden this book has the advantage of a brief biography, an overview of the genre and some notes.

It's hard to say that Selden is ready for rediscovery.  Though much of his pieces seem fairly reasonable and decently done he doesn't have Dr. Johnson's knack for memorable phrasing (Johnson praised Selden, by the way).