Themselves are only mystic books
For Valentine’s Day I’m sharing one of my favorite poems — John Donne’s Elegy XIX: To his Mistress going to bed. This is its second appearance in print, from the third edition of his poetry published in 1669.
The poem, denied a license for publication in the first edition, was printed first in an anthology in 1654 before taking its place alongside his other works in 1669. Visit Texas A&M’s Digital Donne website to see the entire text, as well as other early Donne books and manuscripts.
None of Donne’s poetry was printed before his death in 1631, but pieces such as this one did circulate widely in manuscript. You can read more about that, and see some manuscript examples, in a fascinating short essay at the Folger Library: John Donne’s “To His Mistress Going to bed” As an Open Source.
Elegy XIX: To his Mistress going to bed
Come, Madam, come, all rest my powers defie,
Until I labour, I in labour lie.
The foe oft-times having the foe in sight,
Is tir’d with standing though he never fight.
Off with that girdle, like heavens Zone glittering,
But a far fairer world incompassing.
Unpin that spangled breastplate which you wear,
That th’ eyes of busie fooles may be stopt there.
Unlace your self, for that harmonious chyme,
Tells me from you, that now it is bed time.
Off with that happy busk, which I envie,
That still can be, and still can stand so nigh.
Your gown going off, such beautious state reveals,
As when through flowry meads th’hills shadows steales.
Off with that wyerie Coronet and shew
The haiery Diadem which on your head doth grow:
Now off with those shooes, and then softly tread
In this loves hallow’d temple, this soft bed.
In such white robes, heaven’s Angels us’d to be
Reveal’d to men: thou Angel bringst with thee
A heaven like Mahomets Paradice, and though
Ill spirits walk in white; we easly know,
By this these Angels from an evil sprite,
Those set our hairs, but these our flesh upright.
Licence my roaving hands, and let them go,
Before, behind, between, above, below,
O my America! my new-found-land,
My Kingdom’s safest, when with one man man’d.
My Myne of precious stones: My Emperie,
How am I blest in thus discovering thee?
To enter in these bonds, is to be free;
Then where my hand is set, my seal shall be,
Full nakedness! All joyes are due to thee,
As souls unbodied, bodies uncloth’d must be,
To taste whole joyes. Jems which you women use
Are like Atlanta’s ball: cast in mens views,
That when a fools eye lighteth on a Jem,
His earthly soul may court that, not them:
Like pictures or like books gay coverings made,
For lay-men are all women thus arrayed.
Themselves are only mystick books, which we,
(Whom their imputed grace will dignifie)
Must see revealed. Then since that I may know;
As liberally, as to thy Midwife shew
Thy self: cast all, yea, this white lynnen hence
There is no pennance due to innocence:
To teach thee I am naked first, why than
What needst thou have more covering then a man.
Making Visible Embryos
The Cambridge University Department of the History and Philosophy of Science has created an absolutely wonderful online exhibition called Making Visible Embryos. It looks at changing perceptions and imagery regarding human prenatal development from the late Middle Ages to the present, and includes illustrations from a number of interesting, early modern printed works. The exhibit is extensive – make sure you go through both layers of tabs to get all the good stuff.
Filed under books, early modern era, embryos, enlightenment, fetus, gender, gender history, medical illustration, medicine, pregnancy, prenatal development, rare books, science | Comment (0)Pinna
At the end of Fall term I was lucky enough to have a tutorial on quill pen cutting with Alan Cole, the curator of the Museum of Writing at Senate House Library. I really enjoy hands-on crafty things, and I went into it knowing absolutely nothing, so it was a very fun learning experience. The process is deceptively simple—you can learn all the steps in half an hour, but it would take a lot of practice to completely master the art. Below are some pictures of my results. This week I’m getting more quills to practice on, and later I intend to post a more detailed description of the procedures involved, along with step-by-step photos.
Goose quills. Primary flight feathers with barbs intact.
Here we see a comparison between correct and incorrect. The pen in the foreground was cut by Alan and finalized with a mechanical quill cutter (a bit like nail clippers). The sad pen in the background was, unfortunately, cut by myself.
Comparison of the backs.
Side-on view, this is the correct result of the two the cuts that create the pen shape. I’m not even going to bother showing you mine.
Another angle.
An example using the nice pen. You can see quite clearly the place where the ink begins to run out and the heavier areas that appear following dipping. Imagine having to dip your pen every two to three words, alternating between too much ink and too little, at least until you became quite a good scribe. (Oh, and it’s freezing cold and there’s very little light. Yay the Middle Ages.)
Close-up. Clearly, I am not an expert pen cutter or calligrapher. I do quite like the double-line effect of the almost-dry pen, though.
Yes, the second line is written with my pen. Not good. I assume that part of the problem is the too-short channel for the ink.
Immediately after dipping the quill.
Same.
This was too pretty not to post.
Clearly a very good day.
Filed under cutting quill pens, early modern era, feathers, handmade, handwriting, history of writing, ink, middle ages, pens, pinna, quill pens, quills, writing | Comment (0)Links
— The AHA blog shares a really cool interactive map of Early Modern London, created by Dr. Janelle Jenstad of the University of Victoria.
— At The Guardian, an interview with Salman Rushdie that focuses on Midnight’s Children and his early struggles as a writer, plus some good questions from the audience.
— Also from The Guardian, a list of the top ten graphic novels chosen by Danny Fingeroth, author of the Rough Guide to Graphic Novels.
— For more graphic novel goodness check out the Onion AV Club’s “Drawing Board Confessional: 22 Unflattering Moments from Autobiographical Comics.” It includes enlargeable images that are quite cool but decidedly NSFW.
— An interview with Ray Bradbury, via Book Patrol.
— News for Medievalists points out an International Herald Tribune article on a rediscovered manuscript of The Tale of Genji.
— Ace Jet 170 shares some neat vintage Penguin covers and has an excellent Found Type Friday this week.
Filed under Salman Rushdie, book covers, early modern era, graphic novels, links, london, maps, ray bradbury, the tale of genji, typography | Comment (0)