JUST IN A Place for Everything Book History Alphabet Linguistics Language Nonfic

A Place for Everything: The Curious History of Alphabetical Order by Judith Flanders Hardcover Book History Alphabet Linguistics Language Nonfiction From the cover: “Alphabetical order seems like an organizational Stonehenge: something that has always been, and always will be. So much so that few of us ever stop to consider it after we first learn to sing the alphabet song as children. Yet it is alphabetical order—its role in organizing our world-that allows us to access centuries of poetry, literature, scientific discovery, and humanity's most profound ideas. Without this innovative system, all such knowledge would lie in great unsorted stacks of books—unfindable, unread, unknown. And yet, remarkably, A Place for Everything is the first-ever history of alphabetization, from the Library of Alexandria to our phon contacts. Alphabetical order and its story have been shaped by some of history's most compelling characters, such as enthusiastic early adopter Samuel Pepys and dedicated alphabet champion Denis Diderot. George Washington was also a proponent, though many other Americans clung to older, less equal forms of classification: Yale listed its students by their family's social status until 1886. Today, the order of the alphabet rules…” Book is in great to excellent condition (dusty, spine intact, normal page discoloration)—see photos.