Carnivalesque 28: EEBO Edition

Welcome to Carnivalesque 28, a very special EEBO edition! You searched on: Subject: language and rhetoric Your search produced 3 hits in 3 records Title: Final Round Author: Gwynn Dujardin Imprint: Jardinière Date: 10 June 2007 Notes: The National Spelling Bee prompts an examination of early modern humanist efforts at spelling reform, which (while doomed to failure) had the paradoxical effect of encouraging standardization of spelling (in its non-rationalist form) and, ultimately, orthographic spectacles like the Spelling Bee. Bonus points for discussing canting dictionaries. Title: progymnasmata: proverb Author: dhawhee Imprint: b l o g o s Date: 24 May 2007 Notes: While revising the progymnasmata section of her rhetoric textbook, dhawhee reveals that she finds Milton "wickedly funny" before going on to "amplify," in true humanist pedagogical style, the proverb “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.” Title: Van Helmont's Hebrew Tongues Author: Imprint: The Proceedings of the Athanasius Kircher Society Date: 11 May 2007 Notes: Francis Mercury van Helmont's theory of Hebrew: because it is the Adamic language, it perfectly represents the nature of things and, in fact, when you pronounce Hebrew sounds, your tongue, mouth, and uvula take the shape of Hebrew letters. With a wonderful illustration of "one of the most wonderfully misguided linguistic theories of the 17th century." (As a nice extra, Google places an ad for "Learn Hebrew: Weekend and Two-Week Intensive Language Immersion Programs" directly beneath the post. I doubt they use van Helmont's system, though.) You searched on: Subject: women's history Your search produced 3 hits in 3 records Title: Margery Kempe - a true, strong character Author: Natalie Bennett Imprint: Philobiblon Date: 16 June 2007 Notes: Natalie Bennett reads The Book of Margery Kempe and wonders "how many other such formidable middle-aged women pilgrims were trudging around Europe whose stories haven’t been preserved." Title: Happy Mother's Day, EEBO! Author: Hieronimo Imprint: Blogging the Renaissance Date: 13 May 2007 Notes: Here at BtR, we celebrate Mother's Day with an EEBO title keyword search ... and discover Mother Cunny and the Pimpmaster-General. Title: On Women and Men in Jacobean England Author: Simplicius Imprint: Blogging the Renaissance Date: 7 May 2007 Notes: Simplicius finds an early modern philogynist minister who asks: "Where is there deceit, where robbery, where oppression? where, but among men?" You searched on: Subject: history of science Your search produced 3 hits in 3 records Title: Mechanical Soul Author: Anna Winterbottom Imprint: The Royal Society: Exploring our Archives Date: 23 May 2007 Notes: June 28, 1682: Robert Hooke forced to defend himself against accusations from fellow Royal Society members that his "Discourse had tended to proue the soule mechanicall." Title: Clock of the Long Yesterday Author: D Imprint: Curious Expeditions Date: 9 May 2007 Notes: This travel blog stops at the Clock Museum of Vienna to view the astrological clock of the Augustinian friar David a Sancto Cajetano ("built in 1679, and calibrated up to the year 9999") which leads to Ozymandian meditations on the Clock of the Long Now, the latest in horological hubris. Title: Tycho Brahe, Bibliodyssey, and other Astrological Landmarks Author: Heather McDougal Imprint: Cabinet of Wonders Date: 7 May 2007 Notes: Tycho's plans for his huge observatory on Hven causes Heather McDougal to reminisce about her visit to the Jantar Mantar Observatory, "built in 1734 by Sawai Jai Singh, the first Maharaja of Jaipur," with sundials so large you can stand inside them and "begin to get an inkling of the enormity of the heavens." You searched on: Subject: civil war Your search produced 2 hits in 2 records Title: Civil War Death Match: Manchester vs Cromwell Author: Gavin Robinson Imprint: Investigations of a Dog Date: 5 June 2007 Notes: An assessment of Cromwell and the earl of Manchester as military strategists leads to the larger theoretical issues involved in thinking of military history as a process of "judging generals and their decisions." Title: A House Divided: The Tory in the Family Author: Tim Abbot Imprint: Walking the Berkshires Date: 24 May 2007 Notes: The American Revolutionary War as a civil war and an intra-familial war, as the author discovers a long-lost Tory ancestor. Along the way, we learn of a Loyalist recruiting broadside claiming that, after the war, each soldier would receive "50 Acres of Land, where every gallant Hero may retire, and enjoy his Bottle and Lass." In that order, presumably. You searched on: Subject: religious controversy Your search produced 2 hits in 2 records Title: Reliquaries: Saints Preserve(d for) Us! Author: Heather McDougal Imprint: Cabinet of Wonders Date: 16 May 2007 Notes: A beautiful collection of reliquaries (images, that is), including Galileo's middle finger, detached from his body in 1737 and now on display in the Science History Museum in Florence. Title: Ox-goring and the necessity of extempore prayer Author: Susan A. Imprint: Conventicle Date: 5 May 2007 Notes: The difficulty of finding the appropriate scripture of thanksgiving for recovering from a horn to the gut. You searched on: Subject: death Your search produced 3 hits in 3 records Title: A tanner will last you nine year ... Author: Roy Booth Imprint: Early Modern Whale Date: 14 June 2007 Notes: Roy Booth introduces us to a miraculously preserved corpse ... Title: Buried alive in early modern England Author: Roy Booth Imprint: Early Modern Whale Date: 7 June 2007 Notes: ... and to a few rather less miraculous interments. Title: This Won't Hurt a Bit: A Painlessly Short (and Incomplete) Evolution of Execution Author: Alex Imprint: Neatorama Date: 29 May 2007 Notes: Elephants (crushing by), bulls (brazen), and donkeys (Spanish), oh my! Also, guillotines and crucifixions and various other methods. Early modern England's preferred style (hanging) is absent, however, perhaps because it's too boring. You searched on: Subject: William Hogarth Your search produced 2 hits in 2 records Title: The Foundling Museum Author: Claire Dudman Imprint: Keeper of the Snails Date: 17 May 2007 Notes: Hogarth's role in establishing England's first home for foundling children, built by one of Hogarth's portrait subjects, Captain Thomas Coram, in the early 1740s. Title: Hogarth at the Tate Author: Imprint: ringisei Date: 16 May 2007 Notes: The Tate exhibit prompted several excellent blog posts, including this one that singles out Hogarth's portrait of Coram for praise. You searched on: Subject: early modern funny things Your search produced 5 hits in 5 records Title: The Lost PowerPoint Slides (Waterloo Edition) Author: Mark Rayner Imprint: the skwib Date: 18 June 2007 Notes: The generals rally their troops with the most "effective" and "impactful" technological tool of good management. Perhaps pushing the upper boundary of the early modern, but funny, so it counts. Title: What is this "Renaissance" of which you speak? Author: Flavia Imprint: Ferule & Fescue Date: 17 June 2007 Notes: Flavia has an infuriating conversation about periodization ... and gets hit on afterwards. Title: Shakespearrrr! Author: Fretful Porpentine Imprint: Quills Date: 27 May 2007 Notes: And you thought Shakespeare was really the earl of Oxford. In fact, as this post makes convincingly clear, he was a pirate. Title: Courtly love: a definition Author: Steve Muhlberger Imprint: Muhlberger's Early History Date: 23 May 2007 Notes: The best definition ever. Title: 101 Uses for a (Live?) Puppy Author: Crispinella Imprint: Blotted Lines Date: 22 May 2007 Notes: #1 use: dinner. (Note: no puppies are actually harmed in this post. And the puppies in question are merely typographic.) You searched on: Subject: unclassifiable but brilliantly weird Your search produced 1 hit in 1 record Title: Arent van Bolten Author: mr. h Imprint: Giornale Nuovo Date: 17 May 2007 Notes: An incredible series of images of the bizarre, fantastic beast drawings (and bronze sculptures) of van Bolten (c.1574-c.1633). An early modern outsider artist. Thanks to everyone who submitted links! Apologies for any fantastic posts that I happened to miss. EEBO is now offline for maintenance.