Cupid's Cyclopedia

Oliver Herford

Read by David Wales

(3 stars; 2 reviews)

This 1910 short work is by the English-born American humorist, satirist, and illustrator Oliver Herford, aided by another caricaturist and illustrator, John Cecil Clay. Herford’s books were usually short and quite popular in their time. He is a master of the witty remark and joke, i.e., “Many are called but few get up” and “Only the young die good”. Cupid’s Cyclopedia is a jesting alphabetical list of words and their definitions dealing with the course of true love; the book closes with an essay on the same subject entitled “Amoria,” a tongue-in-cheek imaginative travelogue on “the most ancient and honorable country upon the earth’s surface.” The text has many illustrations that make the author’s thoughts more entertaining and often clearer. There is an appendix, but the text indicates that it has been removed. (Summary by David Wales) (1 hr 5 min)