Dibdin, Thomas Frognall

Thomas Frognall (1776-1847), a London bibliomaniac or booklover. He was born at Calcutta and died at Kensington. He was by profession a clergyman. He was noted as a lover of books. One in two volumes, written by himself, he entitled The Library Companion, or the young man's guide and old man's comfort in the choice of a library. In 1812 he founded the Roxburghe Club which met to dine and talk over rare books. One rule of the club required each member to reprint some rare work each year for presentation to his fellows. Dibdin's Bibliomania is of interest to booklovers. He is a nephew of the Charles Dibdin who wrote numerous naval songs, including Poor Tom Bowling and The Flying Can. Dibdin will be better remembered by American readers by reason of Field's humorous poem entitled Dibdin's Ghost. See Field; Book

Dice (plural of die), small cubes of wood, bone, ivory, or other material, having the six sides marked with dots, one to six in number. The sum of the spots on any two opposite sides must be 7; as 1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4. A one spot is called an ace, a two spot a deuce, etc. In playing, from one to five dice are shaken in a cylindrical leather cup, and are thrown out on a table. The sides that lie uppermost are the ones that count. There are various ways of counting the spots. Sometimes the player who throws the highest number of spots is considered the winner. Usually, however, a pair, as two aces, two fours, etc., is considered higher than any number of unmatched spots, while three of a kind is higher than a pair. Three fours are, of course, better than three twos. The throwing of dice is so intimately associated with gambling, and with the petty practice of throwing for cigars or drinks, that it is considered an objectionable parlor game. Gamblers are not above loading their dice; that is, inserting carefully concealed metal plugs in such a way that with skillful manipulation those who are familiar with the dice in hand are able to throw high numbers. A small plug, as of lead, inserted on the side marked 2, for instance, will cause that side to fall downward, exposing the side marked 5, etc. Even among gamblers to play with loaded dice is a proverbial expression for utter dishonesty. "The die is cast," is also a proverbial expression, denoting that an irrevocable step has been taken. Games with dice were practiced by the ancient Greeks and Egyptians. See Games And Sports