I'm reading Schoenbaum's Shakespeare's Lives at the moment - it's very good. In it, I found this description of an 18th-century academic, which fits almost exactly the character and appearance of one of my colleagues. English lit students and staff are invited to speculate.
Of Farmer, it was said that he enjoyed three things above all else–old port, old clothes and old books–and that there were three things he could not be persuaded to do: rise in the morning, go to bed at night, and settle an account [this last doesn't apply, as my colleague always buys his round]. To such externals as his personal appearance he was happily indifferent… [he met the Archbishop of Canterbury] "dressed in stockings of unbleached thread, brown breeches, and a wig not worth a shilling"… his most delighted hours were spent over good wine, and amiable conversation in the common room…
To me, he sounds like the perfect academic, and great company.
Before I go back to bemoaning my forcible return from Norway (and believe me, I contemplated claiming refugee status), I'll tell you about the parcel I just unwrapped. I received copies of In The Loop on DVD, and Alan Moore's Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?, and also a second-hand copy of Schoenbaum's Shakespeare's Lives, a brilliant piece of anti-biography in a way.
I said earlier that Norway is a country in which life-enhancing projects are undertaken ambitiously and successfully, whereas Britain is a tired place full of begrudgingly doled-out second-hand junk - there's no pride. There's a sense that every political speech, every idea is expressed with a silent 'whatever' or 'that'll do' at the end. We are the 'whatever' culture. Here's a clip from The Thick of It (the TV series from which In The Loop came) which expresses our depressing cynicism. This is the densest chunk of sustained swearing I've ever experienced, so don't play it if that kind of thing offends you, OK?
However, it's the wrapping of the Shakespeare book which fascinated me. The bookseller packed the volume in a beautiful fragment of a 1934 map of Capel Wood, near New Romsey, and in a few pages of The Times, from Saturday August 7th 1858 (price 4d)! Every page is in beautiful condition, the language is formal and measured, and it's really hard to read - as was traditional in those days, the first few pages are tightly-packed classified ads. I think I'll post a couple of them each day for your amusement and interest. Some are enigmatic, some heartbreaking
.
Let's start with a few of the personal notices, and just imagine the stories behind them - perhaps there's a novel in these:
WILLY,– RETURN or WRITE at once.
GEORGIANA.– RETURN HOME immediately.
Your father is heartbroken.
SEMPER EADEM, "always the same" "All's
well."– 8th and 27th August.
FRIDAY-STREET or KENSINGTON.––WIL
LIAM may RETURN immediately, as all is satisfactorily
arranged.–LIZZIE.
M.P.–Your father is now in a very dangerous state.
Let him have the consolation of seeing you. Not an hour is
to be lost.–E.O.
INDIA.–Initials.–J'éspere que vous parviendra
et que vous me donnerez de vos nouvelles à la meme addresse.
Soyez assuré de mon estime, et que je vous regrette toujours. Je ne
puis plus ici. Dieu vous garde. Newbury.
(This last reads: I hope that you succeed, and that you will give me your news at the same address. Be assured of my respect/admiration, and that I miss you always. I can do no more here. God keep you.)
Feel free to come up with mini-stories for these in the comments section. Perhaps births, weddings and deaths tomorrow.
