To Relish

Yesterday, I bought three books from my favourite second-hand bookshop¹ on subjects of particular interest to me: maps, Ancient Greece and the Romanticists. I was especially pleased with the atlas²—to date, the second in my possession—which shall be a source of endless fascination (I wrote about my love for atlases in “This October”³.)

To Research

Presently, I am reading Modern Art and the Death of a Culture by H. R. Rookmaaker, which gives a Christian perspective on modern art. Though I am an atheist, I find it most insightful. After I have finished it, I shall read The First Poets: Lives of the Ancient Greek Poets—writers from a culture I hold in the highest esteem—by Michael Schmidt.

To Recite

Wordsworth is the finest Romantic poet. Whilst I own several digital copies and one softcover of selections of his works, Wordsworth: Poetical Works “contains every piece of original verse … published by the poet himself, or of which he can be shown to have authorized the posthumous publication”⁴—a treasure to a Wordsworth devotee!

1. Quirk & Leopard in the seaside town of Hermanus in the Western Cape province of South Africa; all hardcovers, for less than 400 ZAR (South African rands, approximately 24 USD, 21 EUR or 19 GBP)—a steal.
2. The Times’ Concise Atlas of the World: Ninth Edition.
3. In the “I bought an atlas” section.
4. An extract from the front flap of the dust jacket.