Abstract
THIS small book is “written merely as a record of those stories of the oyster of which the author has read, brought together as a tribute to his (the oyster's) importance”, and in fulfilment of a longstanding vow to write such a book. The author's confessions provide a key to the product. In historical quotations on the oyster in Rome and Britain (many culled from Philpots, “Oysters and All About Them”), in references to curious habits and an anthology, the author finds a congenial topic, and has collected within a small compass a number of stories and references likely to be of interest to those readers who browse, to some who read lightly, certainly to those who have an affection for the oyster, or who want to find one of the less well-known stories. The subject, however, is not treated exhaustively or seriously. In an interesting quotation dated 1859 (occupying thirteen pages, and from “All the Year Round”, edited by Charles Dickens) it is recorded that 800 oysters were taken in one dredge haul off Whitstable, where an equivalent catch of all sizes nowadays would probably be a good one if twenty were taken.
The Glorious Oyster: his History in Rome and in Britain, his Anatomy and Reproduction, how to cook him, and what various Writers and Poets have written in his Praise; collected together as an Acknowledgment of the Supreme Pleasure he has given to all Persons of Taste since Roman Times.
Hector Bolitho. With certain Chapters edited by Maurice Burton. Pp. x + 203. (London and New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1929.) 6s.
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O., J. The Glorious Oyster: his History in Rome and in Britain, his Anatomy and Reproduction, how to cook him, and what various Writers and Poets have written in his Praise; collected together as an Acknowledgment of the Supreme Pleasure he has given to all Persons of Taste since Roman Times . Nature 125, 406 (1930). https://doi.org/10.1038/125406a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/125406a0