18th c. understanding?

[D B Campbell]

I think the gap between the amateur and the professional is pretty huge, yes, that doesn't mean you don't get good work done by the former and bad by the latter though.

Agreed. I was interested in your opinion that "the day of the dilettante" is over. As far as I can see, we are awash with books written by non-professionals (to use a neutral term). As you say, good work is often done by the dedicated amateur; but, in my experience, we more often get bad. Again, I agree that certain so-called professionals are more than capable of producing shoddy, ill-conceived work. But hopefully to a lesser extent, and generally tending not to impact upon the interested reader (imho).

Perhaps this has not been your experience. (And would you mind giving us a hint of a name, Lyceum? To dispel the unsettling illusion of addressing a garden! :wink: )