Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of reviews that the author is calling “coffee shop friendly,” meaning the books can be thoroughly enjoyed while sipping one cup of your favorite coffee drink. All volumes in this series will be available for browsing at the Paw.
By Bob Tedder • What, pray tell, is an abcdarian? Well, it’s as simple as ABC – literally. According to Merriam-Webster, the term’s Late Latin ancestor, abecedarius (which meant “of the alphabet”), was created as a combination of the letters A, B, C and D, plus the adjective suffix -arius; you can hear the echo of that origin in the pronunciation of the English term (think “ABC-darian”). In its oldest documented English uses in the early 1600s, abecedarian was a noun meaning “one learning the rudiments of something”; it specifically referred to someone who was learning the alphabet. The adjective began appearing in English texts around 1665. This in turn raises the question, “Why would any literate, English-speaking adult want to read Eric Sloane’s ‘ABC Book of Early Americana: A Sketchbook of Antiquities and American Firsts’?”
Foremost, it matches the above-mentioned definition of “coffee shop friendly.” Its 59 pages are heavily illustrated with pen and ink drawings. Its subject matter, true to its title, is formatted in an A is for …, B is for …, etc., traditional layout. However, Sloane sets the tone for why his book is different in an expository introduction. His alphabetic examples are all items drawn from American history and are items or thoughts which originated in America. Sloane does include Native American firsts, (See “P is for Popcorn”) or an explanation from the Siouan for why “T is for Teepee.” Each letter has multiple entries and many describe either novel or archaic items.
So if you are in the mood to hop on your “V is for Velocipe” and hurry to the wedding reception, you might arrive in time to callithump the newlyweds with the “D is for Devil’s Fiddle.” For me and mine, we will stay at home. Carroll is wielding her “P is for Pie-Peel” while I repose in the “J is for Jouncing Seat” and handcraft her a new “N is for Niddy Noddy.” So next time you’re in the Paw, thumb through this delightful children’s primer and perhaps you can get out an “A is for Almanack” and help the proprietors locate their “N is for Noon Mark.”