Lucy Vickery presents this week’s Competition
In Competition No. 2702 you were to invited to submit an imaginary example of an embarrassingly overblown author’s dedication or an extract from an equally nauseating acknowledgments page.
It seems that these days writing is a far from lonely pursuit and gratitude is routinely heaped by authors on battalions of helpers. But inspiration for the comp came from an era when emotional restraint was the norm in the shape of J.S. Mill’s fulsome dedication to his wife, which opens On Liberty:
…Were I but capable of interpreting to the world one half the great thoughts and noble feelings which are buried in her grave, I should be the medium of greater benefit than is ever likely to arise from anything I can write, unprompted and unassisted by her all but unrivalled wisdom.
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