The colourful language of book cursing

Books have always aroused strong emotions in people. So much so that book owners throughout history have written curses in the front of the book to deter their theft or damage. Some of them are funny but in the middle ages the curses threatened death by some very vicious and imaginative methods.

Guest: Eleanor Baker, author of Book Curses: Steal not this book for fear of shame, for here doth stand the owner's name. (Bodleian)