Great Linguistics Movies and Their Famous Lines—Part II—The SpecGram Editorial Board SpecGram Vol CLXXII, No 4 Contents Συυιτχεροο—Βῆτα—Ἔλλειψις Ἀστερίσκος and Ἔλλειψις Ἀπόστροφος

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Xerus & Ratufa

Xerus & Ratufa, mongers and purveyors of master works of scholarship both classic and contemporary, once again invite the better sort of reader to share in the treasures of our amassed wealth of back titles.

From the New Frontiers in Mathematical Linguistics Series

Aviva Khataltul Kahane, The Proper Naming of Cats: A Mathematical Study (1998). Many researchers have professed themselves balked by the methodological difficulties involved in determining the proper name of a cat; as one noted scholar put it, it’s “effin’ ineffable” (Eliot 1939). However, the lack of advance in previous investigations is due to taking an anthrocentric approach to the matter, as if cats cared what we called them. Instead, we must study cat communication in situ to discover how cats name themselves in their social context. Kahane synthesizes decades of instrumental studies of cat challenge yowls and years of mass spectrographic analyses of cat sprays to obtain the basic elements of cat autonominalization; to this the cutting-edge techniques of modern multivariate kabbalah are applied to unlock for the first time the naming practices of our feline betters. Originally $699.95, now only $14.99 + P&H.

From the Studies in Premodern and Preterhistoric Political Science Series

Frank Tenney Smithywallop, The Rise, Flourishing, and Senescence of the Narnian City State (1958). Beginning as the city-state of Nequinum that was conquered and colonized by the Romans in 299 BC, Narnia, in present-day Umbria, is known to mainstream historians and the broader-trained sort of art historian primarily as the birthplace of the emperor Nerva and of the great condottiere Erasmo da Narni, the Calico Cat (Gattamelata). At the same time, a massive body of legend, myth, and self-serving lies has grown up around the city that makes separating fact from fiction a formidable task. After a critical analysis of the chronicles commissioned by the royal house, Smithywallop dissects all other extant sources to present a fascinating history of bitter struggles between Romans and barbarians ending in the triumph of the Pevensies, the descendants of the Lombard duke Pepin or Pefin, whose Christianization of the totemic Carrion Lion (As-Leon) that sacrificed itself for its followers exemplifies the syncretism of early medieval western Christianity. Originally $249.99, now only $19.95 + P&H.

“I have never read such a breathtaking...congeries...from a major scholarly publisher...in my life.” —Henry Toothsome-Vestry, Speculum

“The originals were bad enough, a fusion of unimaginative children’s stories and a bastardized Christian doctrine of the sort to offend every imaginable sect, and some heresies even a much better author couldn’t dream up. This goes so far beyond the original as to...make amusing bedtime reading for...the less discriminating fan of...Sellar or, alas, Sellers...or as a gift for a newly-minted medievalist (but only after passing his exams!).” —Laura Bax-Sacksdale, Annales d’histoire économique et sociale

“Move over, Margaret Murray, you’ve got serious competition!” —Solange Parterre, Speculative Medievalist

Frank Tenney Smithywallop, The Political History and Structure of Archenland, Vol. I: A Critical Review of the Sources (1961); Vol. II: The King and His Court (1963); Vol. III: Economy and Military Institutions (1966); Vol. IV: Diplomatic History (1971). Originally $349.99 for the set, now only $19.95 + P&H.

“The best straight-faced political analysis of a fictional realm since Giucciardini’s Storia d’Italia or the Athenaion Politeia.” —Gerard Welch, West Virginia Philological Review

Frank Tenney Smithywallop & Solange Parterre (eds.), Monumenta historiae narnicae praetercanonicae (3rd ed., 1973). A seven-volume historiographical tour de force collecting all extant monuments of Narnian history, most of which survive only in the mimeographs and pamphlets of the Societas Oxfordensis Joculatorum Praeterhistoriae. From the Chronicles of Officina Ferraria Percolopatoris to the Anecdota of Solatium of Hortus Humi, every non-canonical source of Narnian history discovered before 1973 is included. Originally $59.99 per volume, now only $19.95 + P&H for the set.

“God, these guys just keep pumping it out, don’t they?” —Fest Ring-Soares, Studies in Noncanonical History

“Inspiring.” —Kirill Yeskov (attributed)

“Super pistricem saluerunt.” —Donatio Fresco, Studiae historiarum aliorum mundorum

From the Modern Tales for Modern Children Series

Felix Withnall (ed.), Critical Essays on Adelaide Pate’s Bridge to Terebinthia (2011). Pate’s novel of a gang of seven introverted children who create a private world in which they try to build a bridge from Cair Paravel to Terebinthia, only to die grotesquely, alone, and usually in the rain, has been heralded as a masterpiece of neo-medieval neo-noir hard-boiled morality tales by such authors as Cormac McCarthy. The twelve critical essays discuss the medieval background of the story, the textual tradition of the seven deadly sins, precursors in the works of Jim Thompson and Edward Gorey, and proper pedagogical and disciplinary uses of the novel. Originally $79.99, now only $9.95 + P&H.

Billie Suslik Burrows, Bedtime Stories for the Modern Child (1992). There have been many collections of bedtime stories for children. Unfortunately, most of them are sentimental claptrap unsuited to the modern world. This collection reprints a pair of important yet unheralded collections of stories, Hubert Crackanthorpe’s Wreckage and H.D. Lowry’s Women’s Tragedies, and a full novel, George Moore’s Vain Fortune, in a richly-illustrated edition. Originally $89.99, now only $9.95 + P&H.

“The hardest thing to impress upon a child in our debased age is that we can’t all be president. Every child will realize this truth after absorbing this volume.” —Eccles Throckmorton, Blue Serge Suit with a Belt in the Back: A Review of and for True Culture in a Deluded and Denuded Age

Assorted Flotsam and Jetsam

To clear space on our older shelves at the behest of the fire safety inspectors, the following volume is now completely free with any and every book purchase. (This offer is compulsory.)

Great Linguistics Movies and Their Famous Lines—Part II—The SpecGram Editorial Board
Συυιτχεροο—Βῆτα—Ἔλλειψις Ἀστερίσκος and Ἔλλειψις Ἀπόστροφος
SpecGram Vol CLXXII, No 4 Contents