Bibliotheca Abscondita
Via Maud Newton, I found the Invisible Library, "a collection of books that only appear in other books." At last there’s a library for The Murder of Gonzago (the play-within-a-play in Hamlet), the novels from Calvino’s If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, the complete monographs of Sherlock Holmes, and all the imaginary books in Borges’ stories: The Garden of Forking Paths by T’sui Pen, Don Quixote by Pierre Menard, the novels of Herbert Quain, and the First Encyclopedia of Tlön.*
I especially like the fact that the site includes a an early example of the imaginary-book list, Sir Thomas Browne’s "Bibliotheca Abscondita" (1683). But the invented books also called to mind John Ashbery’s poem "Title Search," which is composed entirely of imaginary (plus a few real) titles. Here are the first two stanzas:
Voices of Spring. Vienna Bonbons.
Morning Papers. Visiting Firemen. Mourning Polka.Symphonie en ut dièse majeur. Fog-soaked Extremities.
Agrippa. Agrippine. Nelly and All. The Day
the Coast Came to Our House.Hocus Focus. Unnatural Dreams. The Book of Five-Dollar Poems.
Oaks and Craters. Robert, a Rhapsody. Cecilia Valdés.
The Jewish Child. Mandarin Sorcerers. The Reader’s Digest
Book of Posh Assignations. The Penguin Book of Thwarted Lovers.
The American Screwball Comedy.(from And the Stars Were Shining)
I heard Terry Castle read this poem at an MLA session entitled "MLA Members Read Their Favorite Poems" in D.C. a few years ago. She said it reminded her of "orphaned books" sitting unread on guest-room bookshelves. (Would it be inappropriate for me to confess having a bit of a critic-crush on Ms. Castle? In the way that one can have crushes on people one only knows through their written work or their conference presentations? I just think her work on lesbian diva-worship** is the coolest thing ever. Or does that make me seem too much like a giggling schoolgirl?)
* Borges not only invented imaginary books, he reviewed them. And he’s inspired others to do likewise.
** On which topic, see this article for a general overview and bibliography.
Stanislaw Lem has also written reviews of, and introductions to, imaginary books. See here.
I read Browne for the first time this week. Still on the love-sick school girl crush over the 17th century and sadly said good-bye to that class, even with my countdown til the end of the semester. I think everything relevant in life can be found in that century.
Ben, I’ll have to check that out — The Futurological Congress (which I very much enjoyed) is the only one of Lem’s books that I’ve read so far. Another for the to-read list.
“I think everything relevant in life can be found in that century.”
Michelle, exactly. Best. Century. Ever. (Though, if pressed, I’d also lump in the eighteenth century, for the music and the beginnings of the novel.)