A hand-crafted wooden stand holding the weight of a giant dictionary is a thing of the past. A reference book that stood in the corner of a public library or a place of reverence in a private residence. Thousands of pages filled with words that enabled meaning, now replaced by Google and predictive text.
Swivel dictionary stand
The dictionary and stand in this photo resided in the master bedroom of my grandmother-in-law, about five feet from her chaise lounge.
Dictionary cover
Dictionary pages
I suppose an American woman of a certain time and place may have sprawled on the chaise lounge, sipping her sherry, devouring her bootleg copy of Lady Chatterly's Lover, turning a page to discover a peculiarly English word requiring her to swoosh, in her silk pyjamas, to the swivel dictionary stand for illumination.
"Lady Chatterley's Lover" by D.H. Lawrence
Privately printed in Florence, 1928
Have you ever been illuminated by a dictionary?
