Author: [PHILP, Robert Kemp].
Title: Life Doubled by the Economy of Time.
Description: London, Houlston & Wright [1859?]. Octavo publisher's decorated cloth blocked in blind and gilt; 160pp, frontispiece. A bit rubbed and the green cloth somewhat faded but quite a good copy with a distinguished provenance: the signature of E.P. Senhouse of Netherhall and in pencil he (she?) notes that it was lent on the 3rd September 1862. Probably just as well, the quite ancient Netherhall and much of its contents were lost through neglect forty to fifty years ago. I see from a tiny note inside the back cover it had reached Steve Finer in Massachusetts by 1996 and it was recently in Michigan but the rest of its history is still blank. ¶ Philp was a prodigious compiler of self help and useful books so clearly his system for redeeming time must work. His frontispiece diagram is a template, not a ready made. It must be impressed into the memory and adapted. Philp himself sees it as a sort of large projection slide which he can "mentally throw ... upon the wall", which seems intrusive. "My Diagram is constantly before me, appealing to me for action." That action can be associated with simple memory prompts; thus the hour 4 (presumably after breakfast?) entry "A - B -'s, Error, Fenning's" would sort out problems in what seems a problematic life - what with this damn wheel following him around - call at A - B -, order more stock and point out the error in their last account; then to Fenning's Wharf to ascertain the delay in delivery of goods. Added to the Diagram are The Tablet, The Diary and The Bioscope. I leave you to figure them out.

Keywords: social sciences time reform progress self help c19th England handbooks memory