"my bill of impresse is cleared" I don't understand this bit, and the footnote doesn't help. Is Sam still to receive another 30L, as Vincent says, or did he have to pay someone 30L to pay off a loan and clear the bill, or did he have a 30L debt forgiven?
Paul Revere Actually, Paul Revere used the light-signal method as well. He started his ride on a lantern signal from the tower of Old North Church in Boston, indicating that the British were coming, and how. As Longfellow had it, "One if by land, and two if by sea, and I on the opposite shore will be."
Anchovies As a kidney (or bladder) stone sufferer, Sam should not be eating anchovies. They also contribute to gout. One wants to shout back through the centuries to warn him.
Sam's age in the Hayls portrait Thanks to Maureen for the NPG link to the series of SP portraits, it was great to see them in immediate sequence. But the commentary on the first portrait confuses me. Sam was born 1633, and the portrait was painted 1666, all sources agree. Sam was thus 33 when the portrait was painted, not 29 as the commentary states. But this is so obvious I feel like I must have missed something - why would the commentary make such a patent mistake?
Why French? Judy wonders why they were speaking in French. My inference was that there were others present, at least Sam's father and maybe his mother, and Dr. T. Pepys used French to try to keep the content of his conversation private. A rude thing to do, of course, but Sam doesn't give us much reason to think highly enough of T. P. to be surprised.
"The fourth was abolished ..." Does this mean that graduation standards were toughened, so that people who formerly received a fourth would henceforth get no degree, or that the scale was adjusted, so that the just-made-its now got a "gentleman's third"?
"I did demand 100l" I read this line differently from chip. It seems to me that this is not the salary Sam is asking for himself; rather, he has introduced someone to Montagu ("one with me") who is buying a Clerkship, and has charged that person 100l for the introduction.
"I bought two fine prints of Ragotts from Rubens" Are we certain that the Rubens mentioned here is the famous painter? The sentence suggests that he might be an art merchant. If it is the painter being referred to, I suppose it must mean that Ragot copied Rubens paintings in his prints.
Bishop George Berkeley, the philosopher Since George Berkeley was also the name of the famous idealist philosopher (and bishop), I did a little research to see how he fit into this family. The best clue I could find was the following bit from the 1911 Encyclopedia (first sentence of a very long entry): BERKELEY, GEORGE (1685
Warrants and patents Can anyone explain the difference between these two documents? It's clear from the diary entry that the warrant comes first, and the patent is later and fancier. There seems also to be an implication that the patent is somehow more permanent and less vulnerable to challenge than the warrant. Is there more to it than that?
Sam's salary Re Tim Bray's question, I interpret the footnote as follows. The post had a statutory salary established a century earlier, which was way too low by Sam's time. So they in fact had already told Sam that the salary would be 350l. The 33l+ figure was official but not real.
If this is right, and Sam knew he would shortly be receiving 350l per annum, it would explain why the offer of 500l to pass up the appointment wouldn't be all that tempting.
The Duchess of Portsmouth The chronology here puzzles me. Per Ken Fowler's reference, b. 1649, therefore 11 years old in 1660. Surely she couldn't have become the king's mistress for at least several years after that; but I thought Montagu became Earl of Sandwich in 1660?
that may not stain his family ... Are we to interpret this as written, meaning (I suppose) something like a blot on the escutcheon, or is this an alternate or archaic (or just misspelled) form of "sustain", which would seem to make more sense in the context? Does anyone know, or have access to a relevant reference?
The oyster story ... Perhaps someone will track down an authentic version of this joke, but Sam gives us enough information to know what the story must have been. Some city slicker found a country bumpkin with a bunch of oysters, and told him they would spoil if he didn't take the meat out of them. The c.s. kindly offered to remove the meat and take it away, leaving the c.b. with the shells. I can imagine that a good raconteur could put over a story like that very well.
The absent April Fool Sorry that those of us in the Western Hemisphere apparently slept through the entire lifespan of Dave Bell's April Fool annotation. Phil, any chance of posting it in a secure, well-lighted area so we can see what we missed?
PHE: "his wife was Catholic" According to our annotations on Sam's wife Elizabeth, which is all I know about the matter, her father was Huguenot, i.e. a French protestant. One would therefore assume that this was Elizabeth's religion as well, unless PHE has some reason to believe she converted to Catholicism.
"the greatest officer in the ship" I think Sam's meaning here has been misinterpreted by some annotators. He is not referring to himself or to Montague as the "greatest"; what he is saying, rather, is that Captain Cuttance did him a courtesy he rarely does for anyone, no matter how high ranking.
I have nothing to add to the interesting colloquy about Sam's self-regard except to note that once many years ago I underwent a similar abrupt transition in my own status, and the emotions about it that Sam expresses are very familiar to me.
OED Online A perk of "membership" (i.e. having a customer account) in the Quality Paperback Book Club is free access to the OED Online. It works very well, the search engine is simple and fast. It doesn't cost anything to belong to the QPB, but like any commercial book "club", they will send you a new book every month or so, and charge you for it, unless you tell them not to by a certain date (which you can do online). I don't know whether people living outside North America can join QPB or not. If you're interested, you can check it out at http://www.qpb.com
Comments
First Reading
About Prices
Paul Chapin • Link
How would a "less than modest" household have 25 bed frames, with bedding for 22?
About Wednesday 28 November 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
"my bill of impresse is cleared"
I don't understand this bit, and the footnote doesn't help. Is Sam still to receive another 30L, as Vincent says, or did he have to pay someone 30L to pay off a loan and clear the bill, or did he have a 30L debt forgiven?
About Thursday 25 October 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
Paul Revere
Actually, Paul Revere used the light-signal method as well. He started his ride on a lantern signal from the tower of Old North Church in Boston, indicating that the British were coming, and how. As Longfellow had it,
"One if by land, and two if by sea, and I on the opposite shore will be."
About Monday 27 August 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
Anchovies
As a kidney (or bladder) stone sufferer, Sam should not be eating anchovies. They also contribute to gout. One wants to shout back through the centuries to warn him.
About Saturday 25 August 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
Sam's age in the Hayls portrait
Thanks to Maureen for the NPG link to the series of SP portraits, it was great to see them in immediate sequence. But the commentary on the first portrait confuses me. Sam was born 1633, and the portrait was painted 1666, all sources agree. Sam was thus 33 when the portrait was painted, not 29 as the commentary states. But this is so obvious I feel like I must have missed something - why would the commentary make such a patent mistake?
About Friday 24 August 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
Why French?
Judy wonders why they were speaking in French. My inference was that there were others present, at least Sam's father and maybe his mother, and Dr. T. Pepys used French to try to keep the content of his conversation private. A rude thing to do, of course, but Sam doesn't give us much reason to think highly enough of T. P. to be surprised.
About Sunday 8 July 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
"The fourth was abolished ..."
Does this mean that graduation standards were toughened, so that people who formerly received a fourth would henceforth get no degree, or that the scale was adjusted, so that the just-made-its now got a "gentleman's third"?
About Saturday 7 July 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
"I did demand 100l"
I read this line differently from chip. It seems to me that this is not the salary Sam is asking for himself; rather, he has introduced someone to Montagu ("one with me") who is buying a Clerkship, and has charged that person 100l for the introduction.
About Saturday 7 July 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
"I bought two fine prints of Ragotts from Rubens"
Are we certain that the Rubens mentioned here is the famous painter? The sentence suggests that he might be an art merchant. If it is the painter being referred to, I suppose it must mean that Ragot copied Rubens paintings in his prints.
About George Berkeley (9th Baron Berkeley)
Paul Chapin • Link
Bishop George Berkeley, the philosopher
Since George Berkeley was also the name of the famous idealist philosopher (and bishop), I did a little research to see how he fit into this family. The best clue I could find was the following bit from the 1911 Encyclopedia (first sentence of a very long entry):
BERKELEY, GEORGE (1685
About Friday 29 June 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
Warrants and patents
Can anyone explain the difference between these two documents? It's clear from the diary entry that the warrant comes first, and the patent is later and fancier. There seems also to be an implication that the patent is somehow more permanent and less vulnerable to challenge than the warrant. Is there more to it than that?
About Wednesday 27 June 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
Sam's salary
Re Tim Bray's question, I interpret the footnote as follows. The post had a statutory salary established a century earlier, which was way too low by Sam's time. So they in fact had already told Sam that the salary would be 350l. The 33l+ figure was official but not real.
If this is right, and Sam knew he would shortly be receiving 350l per annum, it would explain why the offer of 500l to pass up the appointment wouldn't be all that tempting.
About Tuesday 26 June 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
The Duchess of Portsmouth
The chronology here puzzles me. Per Ken Fowler's reference, b. 1649, therefore 11 years old in 1660. Surely she couldn't have become the king's mistress for at least several years after that; but I thought Montagu became Earl of Sandwich in 1660?
About Monday 18 June 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
that may not stain his family ...
Are we to interpret this as written, meaning (I suppose) something like a blot on the escutcheon, or is this an alternate or archaic (or just misspelled) form of "sustain", which would seem to make more sense in the context? Does anyone know, or have access to a relevant reference?
About Friday 15 June 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
Who is Sarah?
And does "My lord resolves to have Sarah again" mean what it sounds like?
About Saturday 2 June 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
The oyster story ...
Perhaps someone will track down an authentic version of this joke, but Sam gives us enough information to know what the story must have been. Some city slicker found a country bumpkin with a bunch of oysters, and told him they would spoil if he didn't take the meat out of them. The c.s. kindly offered to remove the meat and take it away, leaving the c.b. with the shells. I can imagine that a good raconteur could put over a story like that very well.
About Saturday 31 March 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
The absent April Fool
Sorry that those of us in the Western Hemisphere apparently slept through the entire lifespan of Dave Bell's April Fool annotation. Phil, any chance of posting it in a secure, well-lighted area so we can see what we missed?
About Atheism
Paul Chapin • Link
PHE: "his wife was Catholic"
According to our annotations on Sam's wife Elizabeth, which is all I know about the matter, her father was Huguenot, i.e. a French protestant. One would therefore assume that this was Elizabeth's religion as well, unless PHE has some reason to believe she converted to Catholicism.
About Monday 26 March 1660
Paul Chapin • Link
"the greatest officer in the ship"
I think Sam's meaning here has been misinterpreted by some annotators. He is not referring to himself or to Montague as the "greatest"; what he is saying, rather, is that Captain Cuttance did him a courtesy he rarely does for anyone, no matter how high ranking.
I have nothing to add to the interesting colloquy about Sam's self-regard except to note that once many years ago I underwent a similar abrupt transition in my own status, and the emotions about it that Sam expresses are very familiar to me.
About What do you want from a discussion forum?
Paul Chapin • Link
OED Online
A perk of "membership" (i.e. having a customer account) in the Quality Paperback Book Club is free access to the OED Online. It works very well, the search engine is simple and fast. It doesn't cost anything to belong to the QPB, but like any commercial book "club", they will send you a new book every month or so, and charge you for it, unless you tell them not to by a certain date (which you can do online). I don't know whether people living outside North America can join QPB or not. If you're interested, you can check it out at
http://www.qpb.com