Summary of Dennis Duncan's Index, A History of the

By IRB Media

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book.

Book Preview: #1 The story of Henry Rhodes Hamilton, a man who may have been one of the most remarkable figures of the twentieth century, is told through an alphabetical index. The reader must piece together a narrative using only keywords, brief subheadings, and the sense of chronology provided by the page numbers.

#2 The index is a strange, miraculous thing. It is something we take for granted, but something that appeared out of nowhere 2,000 years ago and is used every day. It is a system of ordering works of art by the artists’ surnames.

#3 The alphabetical exhibition is not hard to understand. It is a great leveller, and nothing is implied by its ordering. But what about the viewer. What about us as potential visitors to the show.

#4 The first English dictionary, published in 1604, was written by Robert Cawdrey. It was considered the first example of alphabetical order in English. While we may not appreciate an alphabetical art show, we will happily use alphabetical order in other contexts.

• Language: English
• Publisher: IRB Media
• Release date: Mar 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9781669357865

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Book preview

Insights on Dennis Duncan's Index, a History of the

Contents

Insights from Chapter 1

Insights from Chapter 2

Insights from Chapter 3

Insights from Chapter 4

Insights from Chapter 5

Insights from Chapter 6

Insights from Chapter 7

Insights from Chapter 8

Insights from Chapter 9

Insights from Chapter 1

#1

The story of Henry Rhodes Hamilton, a man who may have been one of the most remarkable figures of the twentieth century, is told through an alphabetical index. The reader must piece together a narrative using only keywords, brief subheadings, and the sense of chronology provided by the page numbers.

#2

The index is a strange, miraculous thing. It is something we take for granted, but something that appeared out of nowhere 2,000 years ago and is used every day. It is a system of ordering works of art by the artists’ surnames.

#3

The alphabetical exhibition is not hard to understand. It is a great leveller, and nothing is implied by its ordering. But what about the viewer. What about us as potential visitors to the show.

#4

The first English dictionary, published in 1604, was written by Robert Cawdrey. It was considered the first example of alphabetical order in English. While we may not appreciate an alphabetical art show, we will happily use alphabetical order in other contexts.

#5

Cawdrey’s Table Alphabeticall is a book intended to provide the definitions of loan words, words that are used in English but that are borrowed from the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or French. It is for readers who have not had the benefit of having been schooled in these languages.

#6

The ordering of the letters in the alphabet was around for a long time before it was pressed into administrative service. Clay tablets discovered in northern Syria show that the order of the letters in