Schott's Original Miscellany

I love these types of books. I picked it up on a whim at a neighborhood tag sale, and when I got home, and opened it, I was giddy with the eccentric variety of useful facts contained within.

A page of English Public School plan, the solution to the Hampton Court Maze, English/Continental glove size conversions … all on two facing pages. Then there’s seriously useful stuff, like the molecular structure of caffeine, the Glasgow coma scale, and how to read Hazmat warning plates. And the generally useful stuff, like an egg sizes scales (both traditional and modern), clothing care symbols, and clothing/shoe size conversions between British, American and European standards.

MT and I laughed at some of the silly things it includes too, like show more Scottish clan war cries, WWII Postal Acronyms and the degrees of Freemasonry.

I delight in collections of useful and less-than-useful information; as this book has a bit of both, it’s a gem of a find for me and my personal library. And of course, I’m curious about whether or not there’s an updated edition. show less

The deceptively thin Schott's Original Miscellany is a large and delightful collection of bizarre, interesting, or even sometimes useful bits of trivia such as how to wrap a sari, the knights of the Round Table, a discussion on pencil hardness and a the "to be or not to be" speech presented in Pig Latin.

Schott presents his facts in a completely serious manner that disguises a bit of dry wit. I read the book from cover to cover, sometimes laughing, sometimes saying "I didn't know that!" and sometimes just agog at the fact that such information is collected in one tome. I mean, where else could you find instructions for measuring bra size on the page facing the schematic of Dante's Inferno?

This is a five star book all the way and would show more make a perfect gift for any trivia fan. I'm just sorry I waited so long to buy it and I'm not sure how I ever lived without having the Irish Code Duello or Archaic Golf Club Nomenclature or various Sesquipedalians at my fingertips. Thanks Mr. Schott--I look forward to the next two! show less

Who could have guessed that when I received "Schott's Original Miscellany" as a xmas gift more than a decade ago, that "Schott's would becom a media behemoth, spawning sequels, almanacs and many an imitator? Well, not me, for one.

"Schott's ..." is a wonderful little pot pourri of factoids and trivia that will thrill many a fact tragic with its entries like "UK Christmas No. 1 hits" sharing a page with temperature conversion, knitting abbreviations and a discussion of the word "Abracadabra", to pick one page at random.

A very worthwhile perusal, this one.

Really, really eclectic but wonderful collection of trivia and facts. I love this kind of information, like the secret language of knitting my wife is using to crochet blankets and gifts. Or an exhaustive chart on garment care symbols or should I happen to mosey past a lost cow, I'll know who owns it if it is branded with a set of symbols, so that also assumes I have the book with me because I'll never remember this stuff. Lots of fun for lovers of collections of random knowledge.

I found this book in the discard books for sale at the local library. And, there's a reason for it being discarded - this edition was published in 2003. Some of the information is outdated, especially pertaining to history (list of American presidents, for example). However, that does not detract from the book - Its one of the best trivia books I've read. Organization is great, subject matter is interesting, timely, and serious. There is no fluff to this book.

Highly recommended, but I suspect a more recent edition will be better.

I love, love, love this book. It is the most RANDOM collection of reference information I have ever seen, in such a small package. Don't go into it thinking that you'll find everything about anything. What you'll find is....chat room acronyms, the service for Princess Diana, a list of the provisions on the Titanic, Ivy League Fight songs, blood group compatibility, and MORE. I read it cover to cover for fun. A good gift for the trivia freak or lover of random facts in your life.

I received this book as a gift from two different people, which probably makes me a card carrying pencil necked geek. However, I truly enjoyed this slim volume of nonessential and charming trivia. Bonus points if you have the gilt Smythson version bound in fine leather. Useless, entertaining, and absurdly over priced: always a sure formula for success.