The Little Things — 25 Essays on Subjects That Don't Deserve the Attention
Four hundred years ago Montaigne wrote an essay about thumbs. Charles Lamb wrote
one about a teacup he could not afford to want. Chesterton wrote about running
after his hat down a windy street, and Agnes Repplier wrote about her cat, who
did nothing, superbly.
This is the essay doing the thing it was invented to do — paying serious attention to something that does not
deserve it. Anyone can be interesting about a war. The small subject is the test,
because there is nothing there but the noticing.
Twenty-five essays, in five parts:
Things — roast pig, old china, a piece of chalk, a cup of tea
The body — thumbs, smells, ears, the foot, the hours of sleep
Idleness — lying in bed, being hard up, and an apology for idlers
Going out — walking alone, chasing a hat, weeds taking back Rome
Grievances — hating, and two essays on things that will not be forgiven
With Montaigne, Charles Lamb, William Hazlitt, G.K. Chesterton, Mark Twain,
R.L. Stevenson, Hilaire Belloc, Jerome K. Jerome, Alice Meynell, Agnes Repplier,
Okakura Kakuzō and Robert Lynd.
What you get
The Little Things — Designed Edition (PDF). 218 pages, set in Abril Fatface
and EB Garamond, with a printed-paper ground, five colour section openers and
original specimen drawings. Made to be read on a laptop or tablet, or printed.
The Little Things (EPUB). For Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books and phones.
Instant download. DRM-free. Yours to keep and move between devices.
A note on the edition
Every essay here is in the public domain, and the texts were newly set from source
transcriptions rather than reproduced as-is. Emphasis has been restored, source-book
apparatus removed, and transcription errors corrected — with the authors' own archaic
spellings deliberately left alone. The selection, arrangement and design are original
to this edition.
This is a first edition of a new series. If you find something that wants fixing,
I would like to know.
Selected by Vishal T · @whatiamreadingtoday7
