Portland Public Library

A place for everything, the curious history of alphabetical order, Judith Flanders

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-299) and index

illustrationsplates

index present

non fiction

A place for everything

bibliography

1143631587

Judith Flanders

the curious history of alphabetical order

Provides a history of alphabetization, from the Library of Alexandria to Wikipedia. The story of alphabetical order has been shaped by some of history's most compelling characters, such as industrious and enthusiastic early adopter Samuel Pepys and dedicated alphabet champion Denis Diderot. But though even George Washington was a proponent, many others stuck to older forms of classification -- Yale listed its students by their family's social status until 1886. And yet, while the order of the alphabet now rules -- libraries, phone books, reference books, even the order of entry for the teams at the Olympic Games -- it has remained curiously invisible. Flanders traces the triumph of alphabetical order and offers a compendium of Western knowledge, from A to Z. --From publisher description

general

Curious history of alphabetical order