Description

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An amusing and possibly informative anthology of Notes and Queries, the Victorian magazine for which no subject was too odd or obscure. Recommended for history, literature, and trivia buffs.

How did the Honorable Miss E. St. Leger become a Freemason? Did Lord Byron meet a hippopotamus, or was it only a tapir? Whence the popular prejudice against redheads?



These were among the topics discussed in the pages of Notes and Queries, a weekly magazine founded in London in 1849 as "a medium of inter-communication for literary men, artists, antiquaries, genealogists, etc." Its motto was "When found, make a note of"—a saying of Captain Cuttle, the hook-handed old salt of Dickens's Dombey and Son. Some subscribers to Notes and Queries contributed brief notes on curious facts they had uncovered; other sent in arcane queries to be answered. The result was rather like an erudite Internet discussion board, complete with its flame wars and trolls.



This book anthologizes the most interesting exchanges from the First Series of Notes and Queries (1849–55). Here, ordered by subject—with judicious footnotes, of course—are delightfully pedantic remarks on the daily life and amusements of olden times, the doings of faeries, revolting folk remedies, strange forgotten, poetry good and bad, and oddities of natural history, among many other things. Also included is a selection of advertisements from the magazine, for such products as Grosjean's Celebrated Trowsers, Rimmel's Toilet Vinegar (good for several purposes), and the Rev. Edmund Saul Dixon's treatise on Ornamental and Domestic Poultry: Their History and Management.



Original drawings add an extra touch of humor throughout, and a lively introduction describes the history and workings of Notes and Queries. Full of useless information and Victorian fustiness, Captain Cuttle's Mailbag will fascinate trivia buffs and time travelers alike.

About the Author

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Edward Welch is a writer and editor living in Philadelphia. A recovering academic, he has also played the recorder in several early-music ensembles.

Praise For…

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On offer here are reflections on witches and bogards, immoral literary works, the use of mice as medicine, anecdotes of old times, the insatiability of the hedgehog—signs of a charmingly curious world not so readily seen when merely regarding the grandiosity of Victorian progress. Captain Cuttle's Mailbag is a delight.

— Times Literary Supplement

It is an ideal book for the bedside table, or perhaps the smallest room of the house for those who like to linger there. I found it to be a delightful book to take on public transport journeys and read in short instalments. There is a wealth of amusement to be had, and no shortage of obscure facts and anecdotes that impinge on the mind for future use in conversation. . . . Captain Cuttle's Mailbag is a very mixed bag indeed. And I loved going through it. I think you would too.

— Magonia Review