There's not enough seats here. What's the right preposition to use with "lap" in this situation?
You can sit on my lap.
or
You can sit in my lap.
I believe that, similar to "lay your head", it would be on my lap.
He was laying his head on my lap.
Learn English – Is it “sit on the lap” or “sit in the lap”
prepositions
Related Solutions
In a Google image search for "hearth" you will see that many fireplaces have a raised "bench" of brick or stone about 1ft off the ground, which is perfect for sitting "on."
As a child this was a common setting for taking our family holiday photos. In Dickens' time I imagine it was the warmest, brightest place in the house for the family to gather, tell/listen to stories, and simply watch the fire. His quote refers to this situation.
As modern homes have made fireplaces more an aesthetic addition than a necessary one, the hearth has probably shrunken a bit to be less for sitting on, and more for staring at. The "hearth" can refer generally to areas around a fireplace. The "mantle" is a more specific term for the "narrow shelf for cats" above the fireplace.
Short answer: The word "in" is idiomatic with corner, so I see nothing wrong with the author's wording.
Longer answer:
I was taught that you should say at the top-right corner of something
I don't know where you learned that, but always be skeptical of a simple rule that always tells you which preposition is right – particularly if you think any other preposition would be wrong. These little words are more flexible than a gymnast!
Even without the word corner, I think I prefer in over at or to, although none of these seem "incorrect":
The logo is a tiny picture that sits in the top left.
The logo is a tiny picture that sits at the top left.
The logo is a tiny picture that sits to the top left.
The only 100% accurate, hard-and-fast rule is that there is no 100% accurate, hard-and-fast rule. I can use several prepositions to accurately describe the locations in this picture:
- The logo goes at the top left
- The site name goes at the top beneath the logo
- The site branding goes in the center at the top
- The site utilities go in the top-right corner
- The navigation bar goes below the header and above the body
- The section navigation goes in the body to the left
However, these are okay, too:
- The logo goes on top and to the left
- The site name goes in the header below the logo
- The site branding goes in the middle above the navigation bar
- The site utilities go at the top and to the right
- The navigation bar goes between the header and the body
- The section navigation goes at the left of the body
Best Answer
In General
According to Google Ngrams, they two phrases are used almost interchangeably, with “in my lap” slightly ahead. As an American English speaker, I wouldn't think twice about either.
In Particular
I didn't think to check this at first, but in your specific case it looks like “sit on my lap” may be preferred. I would still personally accept either.