TGIF...

My granddaughter-in-law Medea and I were talking t'other day about how written matter has changed since the creation of the 6th century stela on display at the National Gallery of Art's Byzantine Art exhibit (last day, March 2, 2014).  The thrifty 6th century lithographer (the root of that word is someone who carves words in stone (an early printing plate?) left no spaces between the words.  itwasallruntogetherlikethis.  My friend Cathy had said "I tell my students that spaces between words were the first attempts at punctuation!!) Anyway, this led thoughts on the wonderful videoclip Medea had sent me of Lennox's dad reading an infant's board book to him and now publishing has been transformed over the centuries, especially the last. 

In case other grandparents out there haven't noticed, the little board books available now for infants now have little gadgets to allow the wee fingers to pick open a window on a page to see a picture of, e.g., a dog.  Lennox, my great-grandson, has one, and they sent me a videoclip of his dad reading it to him.  Where a it says "D O G," a flap or "window" behind it shows a cute little dog.  Lennox's cousin Jack in Scotland prefers to poke at his mother's iPad rather than look at a whole raft of toys under the tree.  Of course, I sent Lennox and Jack each a long, complicated book with splendid illustrations--David MacCauley's Built to Last, but nothing MOVES!  Nothing lights up!  And their parents will fall asleep trying to read it.  Well, later, maybe.  MUCH later.  I know, I know...lighten up.  You think it's been easy to be an editor? 

Oh, well.  My mother had been a school teacher, and she taught me how to read by the time I was 3 years old.  She would prop me up on my elbows on the couch with the book in front of me, and I'd read stories aloud by myself so she could continue her chores.  My youngest brother, Gene, and I started using phonics with my oldest niece Susan, when she came along a few years later.  Susan could read the newspaper by the time she was ready for kindergarten and her mother wanted her to skip kindergarten and start right in first grade.  Susan has worked as a librarian for years, and like me, she adores books and literature. 

Back to the 6th century (and later) and the transformation of written works....I was telling Medea that one of the reasons why I loved studying Medieval Latin was because they no longer omitted spaces between words, but they abbreviated often. If you're writing a whole book like the Bible by hand, you get tired of making every single letter all the time, and you find shortcuts or abbreviations for well-known phrases.  E.G., crucifixes often have a little sign on them that reads "I N R I."  That was a shortcut for "Iesus Nazarenus, Rex Iudaeorum."  That process--not the thought--is a precursor for "TGIF"!  (Probably can't put that on a crucifix!!)  It's the same thing as all the modern acronyms for people who are texting or emailing.  Shortcuts!  WTF???  WTHN??  TTYL!!