Gary wrote:

(and your publisher won't even consider a revised edition
until the first one sells out -- which is NEVER, because there are
only a hundred of us in the world who crave such a book)

Print-on-demand was invented to solve the problem.
I believe there are a few publishers with this service around.

Martin S
--
Old time cookery and brewing:
theoldecookerybook.com

--
Posted via NewsDemon.com - Premium Uncensored Newsgroup Service
-------http://www.NewsDemon.com------
Unlimited Access, Anonymous Accounts, Uncensored Broadband Access

Gary wrote:
Sure, but then one would have to find every relevant entry. Not
quite the same as having some source that lists the earliest known
occurrences of such names/concepts.

Jean,

Sounds like you should write that book!

Be warned, however -- it will take years to research and write, and
the day after it's published hordes of scholars will suddenly appear,
bearing countless examples of earlier references to virtually every
entry in it (and your publisher won't even consider a revised edition
until the first one sells out -- which is NEVER, because there are
only a hundred of us in the world who crave such a book).

Do you think that might be the reason you can't find that book now?

Gary

-----------------------------------
Gary Allen
On the Table http://www.hvinet.com/gallen

The Resource Guide for Food Writers;
The Herbalist in the Kitchen;
The Business of Food: Encyclopedia of the Food and Drink Industries
(with Ken Albala);
Human Cuisine (with Ken Albala)


Heh. Well, my little pea-sized brain was thinking of writing a
book, but right now I am too busy collecting material (fun!) and
also gearing up for a move. I may still write one, but yeah,
there is that risk. At least with a site, you can change things,
even invite folks to try to find precedents.

--
Jean B.

Martin S wrote:
Gary wrote:

(and your publisher won't even consider a revised edition
until the first one sells out -- which is NEVER, because there are
only a hundred of us in the world who crave such a book)

Print-on-demand was invented to solve the problem.
I believe there are a few publishers with this service around.

Martin S

Hmmm. Would that allow for constant revisions? That's an
interesting thought.

--
Jean B.

"Jean B." wrote:

Martin S wrote:
Gary wrote:

(and your publisher won't even consider a revised edition
until the first one sells out -- which is NEVER, because there are
only a hundred of us in the world who crave such a book)

Print-on-demand was invented to solve the problem.
I believe there are a few publishers with this service around.

Martin S

Hmmm. Would that allow for constant revisions? That's an
interesting thought.

--
Jean B.

Used to work for academic publishers. Wouldn't need constant revisions
as such. Once a year is sufficient, since relatively few copies would be
published/sold each round.

On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:00:55 -0400, "Jean B." wrote:

snipped

Sure, but then one would have to find every relevant entry. Not
quite the same as having some source that lists the earliest known
occurrences of such names/concepts.

I can't see how anybody could begin to compete with the online Oxford
English Dictionary and its battalions of readers that haved searched
for occurrences over the last 150 years.

I am unsure what you mean by the problem of having to 'find every
relevant entry'. You type in the word, up comes the list of earliest
known occurrences, together with changes in meaning over the
centuries.

Take just one entry - the favourite English dessert 'Spotted Dick' -
How long would it take you to do the reading that went into this
single entry?

OED defines it as a ' suet pudding made with currants or raisins'.

Among the citations a

1849 A. SOYER Modern Housewife 350 Plum Bolster, or *Spotted Dick. -
Roll out two pounds of paste.., have some Smyrna raisins well washed
[etc.].

1892 Pall Mall G. 15 Dec. 2/3 The Kilburn Sisters..daily satisfy
hundreds of dockers with soup and Spotted Dick.

1854 C. M. SMITH Working-Men's Way in World xii. 288 For supper come
smoking sheep's-heads..and ‘*spotted dog’, a very marly species of
plum-pudding.

a1936 KIPLING Something of Myself (1937) i. 18 An enormous currant
roly-poly - a ‘spotted dog’ a foot long.

1974 Country Life 25 Apr. 990/1 The other hound..reminded me of a
spotted dog pudding at school.

All I can say is 'the best of luck' if you tried to compete with the
OED.

Richard

Richard Wright wrote:
On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:00:55 -0400, "Jean B." wrote:

snipped
Sure, but then one would have to find every relevant entry. Not
quite the same as having some source that lists the earliest known
occurrences of such names/concepts.

I can't see how anybody could begin to compete with the online Oxford
English Dictionary and its battalions of readers that haved searched
for occurrences over the last 150 years.

I am unsure what you mean by the problem of having to 'find every
relevant entry'. You type in the word, up comes the list of earliest
known occurrences, together with changes in meaning over the
centuries.

Take just one entry - the favourite English dessert 'Spotted Dick' -
How long would it take you to do the reading that went into this
single entry?

OED defines it as a ' suet pudding made with currants or raisins'.

Among the citations a

1849 A. SOYER Modern Housewife 350 Plum Bolster, or *Spotted Dick. -
Roll out two pounds of paste.., have some Smyrna raisins well washed
[etc.].

1892 Pall Mall G. 15 Dec. 2/3 The Kilburn Sisters..daily satisfy
hundreds of dockers with soup and Spotted Dick.

1854 C. M. SMITH Working-Men's Way in World xii. 288 For supper come
smoking sheep's-heads..and ‘*spotted dog’, a very marly species of
plum-pudding.

a1936 KIPLING Something of Myself (1937) i. 18 An enormous currant
roly-poly - a ‘spotted dog’ a foot long.

1974 Country Life 25 Apr. 990/1 The other hound..reminded me of a
spotted dog pudding at school.

All I can say is 'the best of luck' if you tried to compete with the
OED.

Richard

Yes, but you have to have something in mind to type it in. I
think it would be a great challenge to look for earlier
occurrences of relevant food terms. A list would facilitate that.
:-)

--
Jean B.

On Sat, 27 Sep 2008 18:15:28 -0400, "Jean B." wrote:

Richard Wright wrote:
On Thu, 25 Sep 2008 08:00:55 -0400, "Jean B." wrote:

snipped
Sure, but then one would have to find every relevant entry. Not
quite the same as having some source that lists the earliest known
occurrences of such names/concepts.

I can't see how anybody could begin to compete with the online Oxford
English Dictionary and its battalions of readers that haved searched
for occurrences over the last 150 years.

I am unsure what you mean by the problem of having to 'find every
relevant entry'. You type in the word, up comes the list of earliest
known occurrences, together with changes in meaning over the
centuries.

Take just one entry - the favourite English dessert 'Spotted Dick' -
How long would it take you to do the reading that went into this
single entry?

OED defines it as a ' suet pudding made with currants or raisins'.

Among the citations a

1849 A. SOYER Modern Housewife 350 Plum Bolster, or *Spotted Dick. -
Roll out two pounds of paste.., have some Smyrna raisins well washed
[etc.].

1892 Pall Mall G. 15 Dec. 2/3 The Kilburn Sisters..daily satisfy
hundreds of dockers with soup and Spotted Dick.

1854 C. M. SMITH Working-Men's Way in World xii. 288 For supper come
smoking sheep's-heads..and ‘*spotted dog’, a very marly species of
plum-pudding.

a1936 KIPLING Something of Myself (1937) i. 18 An enormous currant
roly-poly - a ‘spotted dog’ a foot long.

1974 Country Life 25 Apr. 990/1 The other hound..reminded me of a
spotted dog pudding at school.

All I can say is 'the best of luck' if you tried to compete with the
OED.

Richard

Yes, but you have to have something in mind to type it in. I
think it would be a great challenge to look for earlier
occurrences of relevant food terms. A list would facilitate that.
:-)

OK. It would be nice to have the best of both worlds. :=)

Richard