Looking for the information you did not even know existed?

It's been quite some time since I've been amazed by a book. To be honest, in the last few years most of the books I've read were for my studies. But there's a little spark of amusement in my literary life now, and it's like nothing I've read before.

The book catches your eye with a rich, unusual purple of it's cover. The title might not be entirely clear at the beginning, but the meaning and origin of the word "quintessential" are explained to us at the introductory part. To make things clear, it means (quoting the Oxford Dictionary) "Representing the most perfect or typical example of a quality or class", while miscellany is a publication that contains various texts and information.

The goal of this book is informing you details of various aspects of life you would not think have any remote importance for you - because, to be honest, they mostly don't. There's little more to it then sheer intelectual/absurd pleasure in reading about how military operation's codenames are created, fictional Eton graduates and April Fool's newspaper hoaxes in the XIX century. It might sound boring, and I can't deny I skip some of them (quotations from some obscure historical characters, mostly), but it's really fun to read or just browse.

I've also found out that Mister Schott has actually published a few more parts of this serie before. It's obvious that I'd be more than glad to somehow find and get them!