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San Diego Sarah has posted 9,736 annotations/comments since 6 August 2015.

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Second Reading

About Sir William Rider

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

If Pepys wanted to meet with Sir William Rider, or his side-kick, William Cutler, he would often go to the Great James inn on Bishopsgate Street. It must have been what passed in those days as an office for the victualers as Pepys occasionally mentions there being others present.

About Old James (Bishopsgate St)

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Has anyone else noticed how often Pepys says something like this: "... to the Old James, and there found Sir W. Rider and Mr. Cutler at dinner"? Rider and Cutler must have had shares in the place.

About Wednesday 27 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... to my cozen Roger Pepys’s chamber, and there he did advise me about our Exchequer business, and also about my brother John, he is put by my father upon interceding for him, but I will not yet seem the least to pardon him nor can I in my heart. "

Nor should you, Sam. Just in case it's slipped your mind, young John the university wastrel was conspiring with brother Tom:

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…
Saturday 19 March 1664
...
"Then by coach to my brother’s, where I spent the afternoon in paying some of the charges of the burial, and in looking over his papers, among which I find several letters of my brother John’s to him speaking very foul words of me and my deportment to him here, and very crafty designs about Sturtlow land and God knows what, which I am very glad to know, and shall make him repent them."

About Wednesday 27 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

JWB's link to a contemporary account of the causes of the 2nd Dutch War is broken. But I found this:

http://avalon.law.yale.edu/17th_c…

Brief Observations Concerning Trade and Interest of Money -- by J.C.
London, Printed for Elizabeth Calvert at the Black-spread Eagle in Barbican, and Henry Mortlock at the Sign of the White-Heart in Westminster Hall. 1668
Josiah Child - 1668

About Tuesday 26 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"My wife gone this afternoon to the burial of my she-cozen Scott, ..." It sounds as if Elizabeth attended this funeral.

At Tom's funeral -- http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… -- "And being come to the grave as above, Dr. Pierson, the minister of the parish, did read the service for burial: and so I saw my poor brother laid into the grave; and so all broke up; and I and my wife and Madam Turner and her family to my brother’s, ..." it sounds to me as if Elizabeth and Mrs. Turner attended.

Yet we established that women at this time did not attend funerals. Perhaps they sat in the parlor and waited for the men to return? Doesn't sound like that. Perhaps only close relatives attended funerals? Anyone got any information on this?

About Judith Scott (cousin)

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"My wife gone this afternoon to the burial of my she-cozen Scott, ..." It sounds as if Elizabeth attended this funeral.

At Tom's funeral -- http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1… -- "And being come to the grave as above, Dr. Pierson, the minister of the parish, did read the service for burial: and so I saw my poor brother laid into the grave; and so all broke up; and I and my wife and Madam Turner and her family to my brother’s, ..." it sounds to me as if Elizabeth and Mrs. Turner attended.

Yet we established that women at this time did not attend funerals. Perhaps they sat in the parlor and waited for the men to return? Doesn't sound like that. Perhaps only close relatives attended funerals? Anyone got any information on this?

About Amsterdam, Netherlands

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

An account of the Dutch Admiralty:

"The Dutch constitution shaped the Dutch navy. With no central government there was no single national navy, but five provincial admiralties; nominally federal institutions, though in practice dominated by provincial interests. The Admiralty of Amsterdam was the wealthiest and politically most influential, but its rival the Admiralty of the Maze at Rotterdam was the senior. Next in importance was the Admiralty of Zeland, with its headquarters at Middleburg and its naval yard at Flushing. There was a third Holland Admiralty, that of the "North Quarter," which alternated its establishment every six months between Hoorn and Enkhuizen, and finally the little admiralty of Friesland at Harlingen. Each of these admiralties had its own fleet and naval establishments, supported by its own revenues, but they did not exhaust the Republic's naval resources.

The two great joint stock companies, the East and West India Companies each owned substantial fleets of well-armed ships which could, by negotiation, be made available to the Republic."

"The Dutch fleet organization ... reflected political rather than operational priorities. Rivalry between the admiralties had generated a plethora of flag-officers, to accommodate whom the fleet was divided into seven squadrons, each with three admirals or commodores. Most of the squadrons were made up of ships from mixed admiralties, commanded in many cases by admirals unknown to their subordinates, and there was no established order of seniority between them. Nor was there any arrangement of the squadrons in a line of battle, which the Dutch had not yet adopted ..." -- N. A. M. Rodger The Command of the Ocean A Naval History of Britain, 1649 - 1815 NY: 2005 (London: 2004) pp. 9-10, 69.

About Monday 25 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

http://www.historic-uk.com/Histor…

On the west side of Newington Green, perched on the border of Hackney and Islington, is the home of the oldest surviving terraced houses in London. Built in 1658, the four buildings at 52-55 Newington Green have survived the Great Fire of London as well as two World Wars.

The building of the terrace was actually as a replacement of a much larger house that stood on the same site. This original house was said to have had gardens, orchards and outhouses, but with the growth of the Stoke Newington area the terraced houses provided more financial yield from the land.

About Hackney

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

http://www.pepysdiary.com/diary/1…

Monday 25 April 1664

"... I took my wife by coach out through the city, ... but took her out at White Chapel, and to Bednal Green; so to Hackney, where I have not been many a year, since a little child I boarded there."

About Tuesday 12 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"I found my Lord and ladies and my wife at supper. My Lord seems very kind. But I am apt to think still the worst, and that it is only in show, my wife and Lady being there."

There's no mention of this, but Lady Sandwich is expecting child #10. Perhaps that's why she was in urgent need of a pott the other day??? Son James arrives sometime in 1664. There is a lull of one month in references to her in the autumn, but Pepys doesn't refer to the birth. I scanned the biography of Sandwich https://archive.org/stream/lifeof… and he makes no mention either. Does anyone know when the happy event occurred -- if it was imminent that might account for Sandwich's "show".

About Sunday 24 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

I'm going to rest my pornography case with this:

"In the 17th century, certain Fellows of All Souls College, Oxford, engaged in the surreptitious printing at the University Press of Aretino's Postures, Aretino's De omnis Veneris schematibus and the indecent engravings after Giulio Romano. The Dean, Dr. John Fell, impounded the copper plates and threatened those involved with expulsion. The text of Aretino’s sonnets, however, survives."

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_M…

Later in life, John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester would note that he learned of two important things in his time in Italy: 1) the dildo, and 2) the Postures of Pietro Aretino.

About Sunday 24 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

There's no reason Sam couldn't have had a little erotica around the house/office:

https://www.apollo-magazine.com/p…

Woman sitting half-dressed beside a stove (1658), Rembrandt van Rijn

Arguably Rembrandt’s finest print of a nude, this etching belongs to a group made in the 1650s showing women in various states of undress. Far from the monumental and explicit Bathsheba, whose pose she echoes, this seated figure has a quiet domestic intimacy which appears shyly erotic in contrast.

Etchings = mass production.

About Sunday 24 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"a little 17th century porn" -- Young men on their Grand Tours learned a lot in Venice. I understand John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester found his stay there most instructive, and put him into the import/export trade.

This information is from: http://www.atlasobscura.com/artic…

Young, rich Europeans in the 16th century wanted to travel. Top of your list might be Venice, a cosmopolitan, free-wheeling city, known for its diversity, romance, and relaxed mores. Venice was a wealthy place, where Titian, Tintoretto, and other famous artists were painting. As a republican port city, it was tolerant of all sorts of people and behavior in ways other European cities were not.

While in Venice, you might purchase a flap book to help you remember the good times you had there, like the illustrated Le vere imagini et descritioni delle piv nobilli citta del mondo — “the true images and descriptions of the most noble city in the world.”

Some books are attributed to Donato Bertelli, a printmaker and bookseller, although it’s hard to say who wrote the book. What is clear, says Madeleine Viljoen, curator of the New York exhibit, is that the book is connected to “a family of savvy book publishers who understood how to take advantage of people coming to Venice for tourism and people curious about what they might see there and experience there.”

In the 16th century, flap books were a fun innovation in publishing, for both serious and satirical uses. One of the most studied types of flap book displayed the anatomy of the human body: you could dissect a person by paging through the flaps. Publishers also would used layers of paper to create volvelles, wheels made of paper that might be used to calculate the movement of the sun or moon.

One anatomical flapbook was named CATOPTRUM MICROCOSMICUM.

There were also some cheekier uses of the flaps. During the Counter-Reformation one let the reader lift up Martin Luther's robes and peek underneath. “I don’t think it was meant to be playful or titillating,” says Viljoen. “It’s about humiliation.”

Some of the Venetian flap books have an edge to them. One shows a woman riding a donkey; flip up the image, and it’s revealed that she’s riding on the back of a man, possibly an image to warn of the dangers of female power. There’s also another image of a woman with a flippable dress, but underneath there are only skeletal legs.

Another image plays on a famous trope of a woman and their not-very-good chaperone: “It’s meant to be playful and mischievous and point to why Venice was perceived as playground,” says Viljoen. “What went to Venice was left in Venice.”

About Wednesday 31 December 1662

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Th​​is Georgian ball ​wa​s in a country house, but has much in common with a Court ball:
​T​he article at http://englishhistoryauthors.blog…...

A Ball w​as the most important event of the social season. The hostess planned it with her housekeeper, cook and staf​f​.

Typically balls began at 8pm and could end at sunrise.

Picking a date involved scheduling it during the week of a full moon, as ​moonlight was necessary for travel. Torches were placed ​up the driveway to the house.

A ball requires space: Twenty couples dancing plus musicians require​s​ at least a 20x60 foot floor (roughly 7x20 meters) ​plus a supper room, two dressing rooms (​where​ ladies and gentlemen change​d​ their shoes and remove their wraps), and a card room.

​G​uests ​from far away needed overnight accommodations -- plus inevitable one or two ​were​ too drunk to send home safely.

Invitations must be delivered. These could be printed or handwritten (with a quill)​.​ The host and hostess would deliver them, which required at least a full day.

Inside lighting required​ wax candles, which​ were expensive​. Tallow (rendered animal fat) ​smelled, unsuitable for a ​ball​. Beeswax candles were produced in 4, 6, and 8 hour lengths. A hostess purchased the most expensive to last the entire event​. A big event used 300 candles, costing ​around 15 pounds -- a year's wages for a maid!

Mirrors usually ​lined rooms used for formal events. Mirrors multiply candlelight, as do shiny glass, crystal and polished metals. But shiny things need polishing which usually meant hiring additional maids.

Flowers were the primary decorations, ​adding color and fragrance to help mask the aroma of people dancing for hours in a relatively small space.

An artist would be hired to decorate the dance floor with chalk images. ​The chalk provided the​ dancers with traction on the slippery floor.

A ball requires professional musicians. How many depended on the ​wealth of ​the​ hostess.
In some houses and assembly rooms, musicians played ​from​ balconies, stair landings or niches. In less noble settings, they might share a crowded floor with the dancers.

Dance sets last​ed​ up to an hour. ​Both dancers and musicians took breaks between​ ​sets, when servants circulated with trays of ices and iced punch to help them fortify for the next ​set. The punch contained rum, brandy and wine. The hostess needed a large stock of both ice and alcohol for the evening.

Ice? That's a whole other problem.

Dinner​ was served between 11 pm and 1 am. Soup, especially white soup (made from veal or chicken stock, egg yolks, ground almonds and cream) served with negus (sugar mixed with water and wine, served hot) were staples a​t​ ball suppers. A ball could easily require ​60 dishes, both sweet and savory.

No wonder private balls were considered the highlight of the social season, and preferable to public events​.

About Saturday 23 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Monday 14 March 1664 -- "Thence by coach with Sir W. Batten to the city, and his son [-in-law, William] Castle, who talks mighty highly against Captain Tayler, calling him knave, and I find that the old doting father [-in-law] is led and talks just as the son do, or the son as the father would have him."

So young William Castle likes malicious gossip, and sways his father-in-law's opinions? Or does Batten feed Castle ideas, and Castle airs them to the wind?

About Friday 22 April 1664

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

"... by coach with my wife to my Lord Sandwich’s, but they having dined we would not ‘light ..."

I believe it was considered good manners in those days to return a call fairly promptly, so subsequent conversations could easily happen and hospitality was returned. In this case, yesterday My Lady had left fairly promptly because she had supposedly wanted to see Elizabeth -- I suspect she was really looking for somewhere to spend a penny. Or was she an "ambassador" signalling a return of friendly relations? However, this entry does look as if Pepys was only hoping for an invite to lunch -- possibly with My Lord?

Etiquette is a wondrous thing. You can read this entry so many different ways.

About Selden's 'Mare Clausum'

San Diego Sarah  •  Link

Hugo Grotius (10 April 1583 – 28 August 1645), also known as Huig de Groot, Hugo Grocio or Hugo de Groot, was a jurist in the Dutch Republic. With Francisco de Vitoria and Alberico Gentili he laid the foundations for international law, based on natural law. He was also a philosopher, theologian, Christian apologist, playwright, historiographer and poet.

Hugo Grotius' influence on international law is paramount, and is acknowledged by, for instance, the American Society of International Law, which since 1999 holds an annual series of Grotius Lectures.

Additionally, Hugo Grotius' contributions to Arminian theology provided the seeds for later Arminian-based movements, such as Methodism and Pentecostalism and he is acknowledged as a significant figure in the Arminianism-Calvinism debate.

Because of Hugo Grotius' theological underpinning of free trade, he is also considered an "economic theologist".

For more information, see: http://encyclopedia.thefreedictio…