Stacks in the London Library
Books are a major part of my life. I am grateful that I discovered a love for books before all the digital simulacra have taken over the minds of the populace. Therefore I was delighted to discover this passage in a piece by Charles Lamb entitled “Oxford in the Vacation” in his Essays of Elia (1823). The word “Bodleians” is a reference to the libraries of Oxford University, about which more can be found by clicking here.
What a place to be in is an old library! It seems as though all the souls of all the writers, that have bequeathed their labours to these Bodleians, were reposing here, as in some dormitory, or middle state. I do not want to handle, to profane the leaves, their winding sheets. I could as soon dislodge a shade. I seem to inhale learning, walking amid their foliage; and the odour of their old moth-scented coverings is fragrant as the first bloom of those sciential apples which grew amid the happy orchard.
I will keep these words in mind as I take the train downtown tomorrow to Los Angeles’s Central Library, which is celebrating this year its centennial at its present location.
Not that I surprised that you used the term correctly but I still looked it up.
Sciential is an adjective that means having knowledge, or relating to science, learning, and the systematic pursuit of understanding. [1, 2, 3]
Definition and Origin
Literary Usage
While derived from knowledge and science, the word has frequently appeared in poetry and classic literature rather than technical papers. [1]
The term comes from Charles Lamb, who frequently throws in a few humdingers in his Essays of Elia.
Not that I:m surprised … . Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer