In 2005, Yale University Press published its first “little history/little book,” E.H. Gombrich’s A Little History of the World, which broke down a large subject into 40 chapters that are just as readable for children as adults. The book was also packaged to appeal to both audiences—with French flaps, deckled edges, and woodcuts, and the hardcover was a BookSense pick. Now Yale is trying to replicate that success with its second “little book,” linguist David Crystal’s A Little Book of Language, with stylized black-and-white illustrations by Jean-Manuel Duvivier.
“It’s not a series,” said Yale director John Donatich, who approached Crystal about distilling his appreciation of language into a book for all ages. “We’re picking up subjects that can be treated in a similar way to what Gombrich did. He was curious and avuncular without being condescending. David Crystal succeeds in creating that twinkle in the eye, curiosity about a subject.”
A Little Book of Language still has a way to go to catch up with Gombrich, which is one of Yale’s all-time bestsellers, alongside Eugene O’Neill’s A Long Day’s Journey into Night, Ahmed Rashid’s Taliban, and Edmund Morgan’s Benjamin Franklin. Officially published on June 1 with a 15,000 copy first printing, Crystal is off to a strong start. PW gave it a starred review and called it an “exhilarating romp through the mysteries and vagaries of language.... the perfect primer for anyone interested in the subject.” Michael Dirda writing in the Washington Post recommends that you “buy it for your son or daughter, but read it yourself.” As part of the book’s promotion it is on many summer reading tables, and Crystal will appear on NPR’s Talk of the Nation and do a 20-city radio satellite tour.
Coming up are more little histories/little books on philosophy by Nigel Warburton (spring 2011) and science by William Bynum (TBA). Donatich said that he is also considering sport and religion.
