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Date: 26 November 2003 00:01 -0500
From: Automatic digest processor <[log in to unmask]>
To: Recipients of VICTORIA digests <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: VICTORIA Digest - 24 Nov 2003 to 25 Nov 2003 (#2003-119)
There are 12 messages totalling 373 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. Scent versus visual display. Choosing: portrait of Ellen Terry by G. F.
Watts. (2)
2. Letitia Landon's 1831 quotes
3. Cambridge Apostles and Tennyson
4. Herbert Sussman (2)
5. Prince Albert's now slaughtered prize ox
6. Use of rural (or pastoral) in Victorian social protest novels (3)
7. Thanks
8. Maori treasures Exhibition
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 13:32:13 -0000
From: Chrissie Bradstreet <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Scent versus visual display. Choosing: portrait of Ellen Terry by
G. F. Watts.
I have been puzzling over G. F Watts' painting called 'Choosing' of 1684
and wonder if anyone can help.
=20
According to the entry on the National Portrait Gallery website, shows:
=20
'the seventeen-year-old Ellen Terry choosing between the camellias,
which despite their luscious appearance have little scent, and the
violets in her hand which are far humbler in appearance but smell
sweeter. The choice, which is symbolic of that between worldly vanities
and higher virtues, had a personal significance for the artist and the
sitter. 1864 was the year in which Terry gave up the stage to marry
Watts, thirty years her senior, and to be educated by him.'
http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/portrait.asp?mkey=3Dmw06269
=20
I had assumed that the violets represented a humble, modest future with
Watts whilst the showy camellia's represented the glamour and artifice
of life on the stage. However, I was surprised to discover that
according to several sources on the Victorian language of flowers,
camellia's mean 'unpretentious excellence.' Could it be therefore that
the painting is suggesting that the life of the stage, (represented by
the violets) may smell sweeter, but in fact is not? In smelling the
camellia's she seems to have almost made her choice - and thus this
second interpretation would fit her decision to marry Watts. In the
first interpretation vision is linked to artifice and smell with truth,
whilst in my second interpretation the roles are reversed.=20
=20
I am surprised by this second interpretation, in which the camellias
represent the higher virtues. During the second half of the nineteenth
century there was an artistic backlash against scentless flowers, which
were often thought of as representing all that was was wrong with
capitalist, post industrial revolution society in which traditional
values had been lost.=20
Alternatively, perhaps the painting refers to this debate over the
primacy of vision over scent and 'Ellen' is confused about which
represents the more virtuous life.
=20
Can anyone help with the interpretation of this work?
=20
I am also interested in any other Victorian sources (literary or visual)
on scent versus visual display whether in the context of flowers, or
otherwise.=20
=20
All suggestions welcome!
=20
Christina Bradstreet
Birkbeck College, London=20
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=20
=20
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 01:14:14 -0800
From: Beppe Sabatini <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Letitia Landon's 1831 quotes
> 5. "Thou, for my sake, at Allah?s shrine, / And I at any god?s for
> thine."
>
> 7. "The old song says, ?My heart with love is beating ??" [What old
> song?]
>
A quick Google shows:
* #5 comes from Tommy Moore?s Lalla Rookh, one of the most-quoted of poems
back then.
* #7 was a popular ballad of the time. See:
http://linux02.lib.cam.ac.uk/~cjs2/cda/www_ctiac21.cgi?t=y&n=1&o=W&c=CDA&i=
my%3Dheart%3Dwith%3Dlove%3Dis%3Dbeating%3D
For a general approach to such problems, try:
www.google.com, www.ixquick.com, other search engines
At a large reference library try:
The Literature Online database, LiOn
Poem Finder, another (buggy) database
An electronic OED, particularly for less common words
Assume that every quotation is garbled, and try many variants in phrasing
and wording and spelling. Much of this kind of work is simply brute force?if
you have nothing but an author?s name to go by, you browse everything the
author published. If a Google search on a distinctive phrase returns 500
results, quickly review every one. Simply browsing through material which
Landon read in 1831 may also turn up good results. Check annotated editions
of her other works and see which authors and works she cited most often.
Don?t get discouraged--with enough work you can probably find them all
(though perhaps not as quickly as you might like).
Good Luck!
Beppe Sabatini
_________________________________________________________________
Gift-shop online from the comfort of home at MSN Shopping! No crowds, free
parking. http://shopping.msn.com
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 07:31:38 -0800
From: Susan Poznar <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Cambridge Apostles and Tennyson
My thanks and my student's thanks for the help several of you offered
on this topic! I knew I could count on this list for some useful
suggestions.
Susan Poznar
--
Susan Poznar
Associate Professor of English
Department of English
156 Witherspoon
Arkansas Tech University
Russellville, AR 72801
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 10:46:00 -0500
From: Tali <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Herbert Sussman
Dear all,
I am going absolutly crazy trying to locate Herbert Sussman's *Victorian
masculinities : manhood and masculine poetics in early Victorian
literature and art.* I searched all on-line engines, including
www.bookfinder.com and all NYC libraries, and found nothing. Has anyone an
idea for where I could buy a copy?
Thanks,
Tali
--------------------
Ms. Chamutal Noimann
Ph.D. Candidate - CUNY GSUC
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 18:04:07 -0000
From: Susan Hoyle <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Prince Albert's now slaughtered prize ox
To underline Stephen Holcombe's response, I would add that British royalty
is still very much involved in livestock rearing, and agricultural shows are
still a high point of the year. A neighbouring farmer's son works on a
royal farm, to the huge pride of his family; and Prince Charles, as Duke of
Cornwall, is a frequent attender and (as I recall) exhibitor at the Royal
Cornwall Show. The same can be said for the local aristocracy, who were the
founders of the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Society in the late eighteenth
century and who have held uninterrupted sway over its activities ever since.
Susan Hoyle, also an avid attender at the Royal Cornwall, but on non-royal
days....
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------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 18:27:10 -0000
From: Susan Hoyle <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Scent versus visual display. Choosing: portrait of Ellen Terry
by G. F. Watts.
Perhaps this is not at all what you wanted, but Lynne Truss' "Tennyson's
Gift" (1996, Hamish Hamilton) covers some of this ground, strictly for
laughs. It is set in Freshwater on the Isle of Wight in July 1864, and has
been called the funniest novel ever about a Victorian Poet Laureate, which
may well be true.
There was also a play by V Woolf, "Freshwater", but I haven't read it and
don't know whether it would help at all.
Susan Hoyle
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 12:03:34 -0500
From: "Frances B. Singh" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Herbert Sussman
If you use World Cat, then you will find many libraries which have
Sussman's book.
Frances Singh
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 13:07:17 -0600
From: Philip Postma <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Use of rural (or pastoral) in Victorian social protest novels
Hello. My name is Philip Postma, and I?m an MA student at the University
of South Dakota and just at the beginning stages of research for my thesis.
My question concerns the use of rural (and potentially pastoral) settings,
images, symbols, and the like in Victorian literature. I have already
examined this in Mary Barton, and would like to use it as a springboard for
other Victorian literature, specifically the sub-genre of social protest
novel. In Mary Barton, the novel closes with Mary and Jem moving to
Canada, ostensibly recreating society on a scene that has yet to be damaged
by the industrial revolution (and recalling the novel?s opening scene, in
which we are introduced to a sort of agrarian village display in the middle
of Manchester). Gaskell seems to advocate ruralization as a solution to
the Victorian problems associated with industrialization.
My question for you is: are there other novels that can be categorized as
?social protest novels? in which the rural/pastoral is evoked, whether to
lament the loss of it, to advocate a return to it, to critique it, etc?
Your help, whether in naming specific novels, or pointing me to appropriate
sources to find answers to this question, is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Philip Postma
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Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 22:25:06 -0000
From: Chris Willis <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Thanks
Hi!
Thanks to everyone (on and off list) who helped identify my mystery
quotations.
All the best
Chris
================================================================
Chris Willis
[log in to unmask]
www.chriswillis.freeserve.co.uk/
"Getting an education was a bit like a communicable disease.
It made you unsuitable for a lot of jobs and then you had the urge
to pass it on." (Terry Pratchett: *Hogfather*)
================================================================
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 22:12:52 +0000
From: Mike Newman <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Use of rural (or pastoral) in Victorian social protest novels
On Tue, Nov 25, 2003 at 01:07:17PM -0600, Philip Postma wrote:
> My question for you is: are there other novels that can be categorized as
> �social protest novels� in which the rural/pastoral is evoked,
> whether to lament the loss of it, to advocate a return to it, to critique
> it, etc? Your help, whether in naming specific novels, or pointing me to
> appropriate sources to find answers to this question, is greatly
> appreciated.
I'd certainly recommend George Gissing's "Demos", which is a rather unusual
take on a social protest novel. The novel ends with an unusual attempt to
restore traditional values with a return to the pastoral, which is
particularly interesting.
Mike
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:34:28 -0600
From: Donald Kerr <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Maori treasures Exhibition
Dear Victoria members,
If any of you are visiting New Zealand in the next few months, do try to
get down to Dunedin and view this very important exhibition of Maori
Treasures from the Hocken Library.
He tirohanga ki muri ~ A view of the past is the current exhibition at the
de Beer Gallery, Special Collections, 1st floor, Central Library (ISB). It
opens on 25th November 2003 and runs through to the end of February 2004.
On display are a selection of early Maori publications, manuscripts, maps,
illustrations and photographs from the Hocken Library. These taonga tuku
iho (treasures from the past) convey the richness of the Maori collections
held at the Hocken Library.
Items of particular note, some unique and never seen before, include:
A selection of Ngai Tahu materials, such as an 1839 land deed signed by
four prominent chiefs of the Otago and Southland region Taiaroa, Karetai,
Tuhawaiki and Topi Patuki.
An 1844 published version of the Treaty of Waitangi.
A scarce copy of a map of New Zealand originally drawn in chalk on the
floor by two Northland chiefs Tuki Tahua and Ngahuruhuru, at Norfolk Island
in 1793.
A sample of alphabet written by Hongi Hika in 1814.
The first land deed in the New Zealand signed in Kerikeri in 1819 between
the Church Missionary Society and Ngapuhi chiefs Hongi Hika and Rewa.
A Bank of New Zealand cheque printed in Maori by the Maori King Movement
c.1860s.
Letters to Edward Shortland from important nineteenth century leaders and
major contributors to the formation of the Maori King Movement, Ngati Haua
leader, Wiremu Tamihana (The King Maker) and Ngati Raukawa leader, Matene
Te Whiwhi.
A unique printed letter from Governor Arthur Gordon to Te Whiti o Rongomai,
22 November 1880.
and
Tamihana Te Rauparaha's own copy of the Old Testament Bible, given to him
on the occasion of his visit to London in 1851.
Exhibition hours: 8.30 to 5.00 Monday to Friday.
If you have any enquiries, please contact Jeanette Wikaira, Maori Services
Librarian (479-8972 ; [log in to unmask]) or Donald
Kerr (details below).
Sincerely
Donald Kerr
Special Collections Librarian
University of Otago Library,
P.O.Box 56,
Dunedin,
New Zealand.
Phone: (03)- 479-8330
email: [log in to unmask]
www.otago.ac.nz
------------------------------
Date: Tue, 25 Nov 2003 22:40:42 -0500
From: Herbert Tucker <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Use of rural (or pastoral) in Victorian social protest novels
> Half a century before, W J Linton published an illustrated narrative poem
> of booklet length, *Bob Thin*, that tells of an urban worker's escape to a
> rural commune that lifts pastoral to its utopian potential, which of
> course brings this sentence to its natural rest with mention of Gissing's
> contemporary Wm Morris, *News from Nowhere*.
>
> I'd certainly recommend George Gissing's "Demos", which is a rather
> unusual take on a social protest novel. The novel ends with an unusual
> attempt to restore traditional values with a return to the pastoral, which
> is particularly interesting.
>
> Mike
Herbert F. Tucker
Director of Graduate Studies
Department of English, 219 Bryan Hall
University of Virginia
Charlottesville VA 22904-4121
434 / 924 6677 fax 434 / 924 1478
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------------------------------
End of VICTORIA Digest - 24 Nov 2003 to 25 Nov 2003 (#2003-119)
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