From tundra to daffodils...this is getting easier when I don't try quite so hard and news of more new books arriving to follow on from the last post.
William and Dorothy Wordsworth - All in Each Other by Lucy Newlyn, charts the relationship between the siblings of which I know very little beyond the usual gossip...
"William Wordsworth's creative collaboration with his 'beloved Sister' spanned nearly fifty years, from their first reunion in 1787 until her premature decline in 1835. Rumours of incest have surrounded the siblings since the 19th century, but Lucy Newlyn sees their cohabitation as an expression of deep emotional need, arising from circumstances peculiar to their family history. Born in Cockermouth and parted when Dorothy was six by the death of their mother, the siblings grew up separately and were only reunited four years after their father had died, leaving them destitute. How did their orphaned consciousness shape their understanding of each other? What part did traumatic memories of separation play in their longing for a home? How fully did their re-settlement in the Lake District recompense them for the loss of a shared childhood?
Newlyn shows how William and Dorothy's writings - closely intertwined with their regional affiliations - were part of the lifelong work of jointly re-building their family and re-claiming their communal identity. Walking, talking, remembering, and grieving were as important to their companionship as writing; and at every stage of their adult lives they drew nourishment from their immediate surroundings....
Newlyn's book is deeply researched, drawing on a wide range of recent scholarship - not just in Romantic studies, but in psychology, literary theory, anthropology and life-writing. Yet it is a personal book, written with passion by a scholar-poet and intended to be of some practical use and inspirational value to non-specialist readers. Adopting a holistic approach to mental and spiritual health, human relationships, and the environment, Newlyn provides a timely reminder that creativity thrives best in a gift economy."
'Gift economy,' I do like the whole notion of that...of giving with no expectation of reward. This is indeed a well-researched book, I would expect no less from Oxford University Press, but like that wonderful book I read on the life of the castrato Tenducci, I sense that this too will be a compelling read. Doubtless it will lead me back to the poetry and maybe I am sufficiently distant in years from studying The Prelude to enjoy it, and I shall want to go to the Lake District next week.
From daffodils to octothorpes...
Did you know that an octothorpe is this #..
No neither did I and it would seem the simple # is not so simple as it first seems. All is explained in Shady Characters - Ampersands, Interrobangs and other Typographical Curiosities by Keith Houston (Penguin) who has cleverly researched all those odd little marks we use, but may not know from whence they cometh. I remember researching the pilcrow for Adam Mars Jones book of the same title and getting side-tracked for an age...
"A charming and indispensable tour of two thousand years of the written word, Shady Characters weaves a fascinating trail across the parallel histories of language and typography. Whether investigating the asterisk and dagger which alternately illuminated and skewered heretical verses of the early Bible--or the at sign (@), which languished in obscurity for centuries until rescued by the Internet, Keith Houston draws on myriad sources to chart the life and times of these enigmatic squiggles, both exotic and everyday. From the Library of Alexandria to the halls of Bell Labs, figures as diverse as Charlemagne, Vladimir Nabokov, and George W. Bush cross paths with marks as obscure as the interrobang and as divisive as the dash. Ancient Roman graffiti, Venetian trading shorthand, Cold War double agents, and Madison Avenue round out an ever more diverse set of episodes, characters, and artifacts. Richly illustrated, ranging across time, typographies, and countries, Shady Characters will delight and entertain all who cherish the unpredictable and surprising in the writing life."
And it will be from octothorpes to teachers tomorrow, but today I'll end with what I now know is a shady character of late medieval origins, the manicule. The manicule has suffered a 'precipitous fall' in use and I shall single-handedly (did you see what I did there) return it to common usage by politely pointing you towards 'Comments' for your thoughts.
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