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Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks
Paperback
Publisher Price: $18.95
ISBN13: 9780393349726
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: Oct 20 2014
Pages: 352
Weight: 0.60
Height: 1.00 Width: 5.40 Depth: 8.00
Language: English
Whether investigating the asterisk (*) and dagger (+)--which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible--or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on myriad sources to chart the life and times of these enigmatic squiggles, both exotic ( ) and everyday (&).
From the Library of Alexandria to the halls of Bell Labs, figures as diverse as Charlemagne, Vladimir Nabokov, and George W. Bush cross paths with marks as obscure as the interrobang (?) and as divisive as the dash (--). Ancient Roman graffiti, Venetian trading shorthand, Cold War double agents, and Madison Avenue round out an ever more diverse set of episodes, characters, and artifacts.
Richly illustrated, ranging across time, typographies, and countries, Shady Characters will delight and entertain all who cherish the unpredictable and surprising in the writing life.
2 different editions
Also available
Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks
Houston, Keith
Audio Book
Shady Characters: The Secret Life of Punctuation, Symbols, and Other Typographical Marks
Houston, Keith
Audio Book
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