From the Archives: Burn, Beowulf, Burn

This week's archival tidbits come from Cocktail Party Cheat Sheets: Only a single original manuscript of Beowulf survives, and it was severely damaged in a fire in 1731 while in storage at a place called the "Ashburnham House." Just goes to show you that one ought not store a priceless, one-of-a-kind epic poem at a joint containing both the words "ash" and "burn" in its... READ ON

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From the Archives: No, Virginia, sorry about that

With the holiday party season starting up in earnest, you'd better get ready "“ and we don't mean by putting on some fancy earrings and a Christmas sweater. You'll also need some intellectual ammunition, some tidbits and bon mots to dispense over champagne and cookies. So all month long, we'll be bringing you daily factlets for just such use, plucked from our collection of books, magazines, and other stuff. Today's archival tidbit comes from, appropriately, Cocktail... READ ON