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An Exaltation of Larks: The Ultimate Edition

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Here's a real gem! AN EXALTATION OF LARKS (Ultimate Edition) is the culmination of more than two decades of Lipton's research of "nouns of multitude," which he prefers to call "terms of venery."

Many of these terms are commonplace: plague of locusts, pride of lions, litter of pups. Imagine, though, hearing these expressions for the first time. Lipton invites us to "sharpen our senses by restoring the magic to the mundane."

Lipton traced a number of these terms back to the 1400s, specifically to THE BOOK OF ST. ALBANS, printed in 1486. In addition to today's ordinary terms, he discovered some that had a fresh sound, precisely because they had not made the 500-year journey to our modern era.

Lipton identifies six sources of inspiration for the terms. He lists these "Families" with the following examples:

1. Onomatopoeia: a murmuration of starlings, a gaggle of geese.

2. Characteristic (by far the largest Family): a leap of leopards, a skulk of foxes.

3. Appearance: a knot of toads, a parliament of owls.

4. Habitat: a shoal of bass, a nest of rabbits.

5. Comment (pro or con depending on viewpoint): a richness of martens, a cowardice of curs.

6. Error (in transcription or printing; sometimes preserved for centuries): "school" of fish was originally intended to be "shoal."

Lipton enthusiastically joined the "game" of coining terms, which had been in progress for more than 500 years. In 1968 he published his first EXALTATION OF LARKS, which contained 175 terms -- some from Middle English, some original. Neither the hardbound nor the paperback edition went out of print before the Ultimate Edition (with more than 1,000 terms) was published in 1991. As Lipton puts it, textbooks and various media "used the book like sourdough to leaven new batches of terms."

Lipton believes that a pun or a play on words detracts from the vigor of a term. Alliteration, likewise, is unnecessary. Rather the success of the term hinges on identifying the "quintessential part" of the group of people or things and allowing it to represent the whole: a blur of impressionists, a brood of hens, a quiver of arrows. (Lipton's research on this last item revealed that as early as 1300 a poetic soul rejected the available words "case" and "scabbard" and turned "quiver" into a noun.)

AN EXALTATION OF LARKS includes a few pages detailing Lipton's lexical odysseys and triumphs. Most of the book comprises the lists themselves. The origin of some of the terms is explained, and more than 250 of the terms are illustrated with witty engravings by Grandville, a 19th Century French lithographer. More than half the book lists terms in 25 categories, such as professions (an aroma of bakers), daily life (a belch of smokestacks), and academe (a discord of experts).

Lipton includes several versions of games in which players coin new terms. His index lists his 1,000+ terms with a blank replacing the first item, which is the source of a term's poetry. The reader is thus encouraged to discern the essence of the thing collected. The page number facilitates the comparison of newly coined terms with existing ones.

AN EXALTATION OF LARKS is indeed "a word lover's garden of delights."

Why do English speakers say, "A pack of dogs" when refering to a number of dogs together, but always refer to puppies as "a litter of puppies"? Is it the random quirkiness of our spoken language?

Would you believe such sayings have a tangible history, and have been planned?

This is the topic of James Lipton's sometimes humorous but always classic book, An Exaltation of Larks. If you've ever the privledge of watching the actor's studio, then you know of James Lipton--one of television's finest interviews and hosts.

In 1968, he wrote a book about the beauty and flexibility of the English language called an Exaltation of Larks. It is a study of the English-speaking tradition of coupling words to describe a set, where both words indicate the same thing, such as "a rope of pearls" and "a school of fish."

For the first part of the book, Mr. Lipton list the more common phrases and the research that has gone into finding out their meaning--where, for instance, "a pride of lions" originated and how long ago it was first used. (The oldest in the English langauge, apparently!)

Where the 1968 edition--which has never been out of print--had only had 118 pages and 175 terms, the Ultimate edition has 300 pages and 1,100 terms.

This would make a very fine gift for any Anglophile, artist, writer or comic. Witty, warm, and extremely observant, with clever line illustrations; a plus to any friend's library or your own.

James Lipton's "An Exaltation of Larks" is a splendid curiosity and a must for any etymology lover's bookshelf. In it, Lipton gathers together virtually every known existing grouping phrase (as in a murder of crows, a leap of leopards, and, naturally, an exaltation of larks) and even admits to adding a few of his own--ones which he felt ought to be in use, even if they weren't already. The result is exhilarating good fun.

A few of the choicer phrases are shown below, although of course it's difficult to pick out just a few gems when there is a treasure trove within these covers:

A rash of dermatologists;
A pound of Englishmen;
A solidarity of Poles;
An outback of Aussies;
A quicksand of credit cards;
A thrill of brides;
A convulsion of belly dancers;
An insanity of clauses.

Lipton gives all sorts of fascinating background on the existing phrases and provides many good reasons for the ones he makes up. The result is a hoot, and lots of fun to read aloud to your friends and family. Accompanying the text are superb, crisp old engravings of everything under the sun, each appropriate to the particular section in which it appears (sections include "Romance and Raunch," "People, Places & Things," "The Unknown," "The Unexpected," "Professions," and more). "An Exaltation of Larks" is the perfect gift for the word-lover who has everything else.

If you have reluctant young readers it the house, buy this book and put it in the bath room or lay it on the cereal table. It is fun to pick it up and snatch a page or two about the delightful monikers we can call groups of animals and things. Everyone in my house now knows that when we see geese in the sky, we ought rightly to call them a "skein of geese", whereas when they land, the instantly become a gaggle. This stuff is fun to know!

This book is absolutely fascinating, and I thought it would by out of print by now. I am thrilled that there is a new updated version, and am going to order two copies; one for us and one for some friends in England. Words are a wonderful thing and Mr. Lipton has created a super read with all of his collectives!

This is a wonderful book, so humorous and the illustrations are really well drawn. Two of my friends have already ordered this book after reading mine. This is a great coffee table book, everyone loves to look through it.

Frankly, it's not a very readable book. But it's fascinating in that it does list so many group names of animals. It's quite humorous in part, too.

Every member of 'a browse of readers' should have access to this book.

This is considered by many to be the authoritative collection of collective nouns.

From an 'aarmory of aardvarks' to a 'consumption of yuppies', there is something for everyone.

A highly recommended addition to your library of books.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

This is no page turner but it isn't supposed to be. I love words, definitions, etc. This is a collections of group terms. An "unkindness of ravens" , "a route of wolves" , "a bellyful of bores", etc. Just fun. Cost was great and shipping was fast. It would make a good oddball gift.

This is a great book for those who love words. I ordered it because I was fascinated with the fact that a group of ravens is called a "murder." I then began to wonder what other groups of things might be called. Eventually I was led to this book. It is separated into entities, with lots of Victorian-type illustrations. A good addition to the reference library.