|
Nick Hudson's brilliant Fifth Fleeman lecture Nicholas Hudson gave his usual brilliant performance for the fifth annual Fleeman Memorial Lecture, following the Annual General Meeting of the Society on Saturday, September 19. The lecture, which attracted an audience of more than 50 members and guests, combined splendid scholarship with Nick's usual wit and dramatic presentation, as he compared the English language of Johnson's Dictionary with the language of the late 20th Century as seen in the Macquarie Dictionary. Nick's findings, based on an analysis of two alphabetical sections of both dictionaries, using the CD Rom of Johnson's Dictionary, were supported by detailed diagrams and explanatory notes. The results were surprising, and seemed to show quite clearly that Johnson was unable to maintain to the full he promise made in the introduction to the Dictionary in relation to the provenance of words in normal use in his day. As a lexicographer himself, however, Nick was able to express, in an epilogue both moving and amusing, his understanding of, and sympathy with, Johnson's problems in this respect. The lecture was attended and recorded by Ramona Koval, presenter of the ABC's Books and Writing Program. On October 2 and 4, Radio National broadcast excerpts from the lecture and an interview with Secretary Bryan Reid and Immediate Past president Clive Probyn. As a result, at least two new members have been recruited and several requests for copies of the lecture were received.
The Christmas Party is on again! Launch yourself into the festive season by coming to the Johnson Society's Christmas Party. on December 12, at the English Speaking Union, 146 West Toorak Road, South Yarra. Things will get under way at 6pm, and we're hoping to make this event even bigger than last year's inaugural Christmas party. And as we did last year, we're asking members to contribute to the party fare. If you can do so, please contact Carla Hawley on 9551 4086. You'll notice that the leaflet accompanying this issue of The Southern Johnsonian includes an acceptance form for the party. It's mainly to give your committee some idea of the numbers we can expect. You may pay the small entry fee at the door if you wish, but send us the form anyway, or notify Secretary Bryan Reid on 9699 1425.
Johnsonians
on the ABC A talk with this engaging title was delivered on the ABC Science talk program, Ockham's Razor, on 5 July. JSA members were not surprised to find that the speaker was Seminar regular, and the 1998 Fleeman lecturer, Nicholas Hudson. The talk was a partial re-cycling of Nick's paper at our 1997 Annual Seminar, which will be published in a forthcoming volume of our Papers. In the meantime, you may access the script through the ABC's Internet website, at http://www.abc.net.au/science/ockham/.
Johnson (and Swift) on Books and Writing Many of you will have been aware that this year's Fleeman Lecture was attended and recorded by Ramona Koval, the host of the ABC's weekly Books and Writing series. The program in which this material was included was broadcast on 2 and 4 October; it included excerpsts from Nick Hudson's lecture on "Johnson and the Macquarie", and an interview with our Secretary, Bryan Reid, and Immediate Past President, Clive Probyn. Also on the program was a BBC feature on another eighteenth-century topic, called "The Strange Legacy of Jonathan Swift." The ABC do not make transcripts of Books and Writing, but an audio tape can be ordered from ABC Tape Sales.
Our Patron reviews the JSA Papers Our Patron, Lady Eccles has sent us an acknowledgment and appreciation of the Johnson Society of Australia papers II, of which she says: "I found freshness, clarity and punch of expression. You have given me a wonderful time" Of individual papers, she writes::
Literary blunders make authors rejoice Bronwen Hickman writes:
Some thirty or forty years ago, there was a critical newspaper called The Reader, which started under very powerful auspices and a brilliant staff of writers, in order to compete with The Athenaeum. Unluckily, however, it stumbled at the threshold in a very amusing blunder. A new edition of Dr Johnson's Dictionary was brought out under the editorship of Dr Latham, in which was reproduced Johnson's original preface. This the critic took to be Dr Latham's writing and fell upon it mercilessly, denouncing its magniloquence of language and stilted style, and generally rending it to pieces. The reader never survived the blunder… Talking of Johnson's Dictionary, there was a delicious blunder made by his rival, Dr Ash, who in explaining the word curmudgeon gave it as derived "from the French coeur, unknown, and mechant, a correspondent." One of Dr Ash's assistants had seen the derivation coeur-mechant attributed in Johnson's Dictionary to an "unknown correspondent", and had taken the English words as a translation of the French . …The blunders of translators are infinite, and are ever a matter of rejoicing to authors. La derniere chemise d l'amour for Love's Last Shift is very French, but almost too good. Almost as good is L'Espouse du Matin for The Mourning Bride, Frappe ou Mademoiselle for Hit or Miss is very charming…The latest thing is this kind is the French version of the title of Mr Barrie's successful comedy Walker, London. It is Londres qui se promene. Some specimens are here given of the blunders in booksellers' catalogues. An item appeared in one of these, "Shelley's Prometheus Unbound", with another immediately after, "Another copy in whole calf." Among the schoolboy blunders there is one new to us, of the boy who was asked 'what Moses did with the tabernacle", and promptly replied, "He chucked it out of the camp." The scandalised examiner asked the youth what he meant, and was referred to Exodus 33,7: "And Moses took the tabernacle and pitched it without the camp. "
The Burney Society, which has branches in North America and the U.K.,is hoping to place a memorial to Fanny Burney, the novelist and friend of Samuel Johnson, in Westminster Abbey. The Abbey already contains a memorial to her father, Charles, the historian of music. This is a long-overdue recognition of a writer whose work is still widely read. Fanny Burney's very lively diaries and letters are currently being republished in a scholarly edition, and contain many fascinating insights into late eighteenth and early nineteenth century social life. The Dean and Chapter of the Abbey have given permission for the memorial - envisaged as a simple engraved plaque - to be dedicated on the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of Frances Burney's birth, which will take place in June 2002. The memorial will cost approximately five thousand pounds sterling, and the Burney Society is seeking both new members and donations towards meeting this expense. If you are interested in Burney's work and wish to join the society, or help out with a donation, Johnson Society member John Wiltshire would be pleased to hear from you. He can be contacted at the School of English, La Trobe University, Bundoora, 3083,on the phone at 9439 3007, or by email (j.wiltshire@latrobe.edu.au). The President of the Burney Society is Paula Stepankowsky, whose address is 1407-24th Avenue, Longview, MA 98632, USA. The Society publishes a regular bulletin and an annual Newletter, and holds an annual general meeting. When the memorial is dedicated an international conference about the Burneys is planned.
How good it was to see so many of you at the Annual Meeting and Fifth Fleeman Memorial Lecture in September. Nicholas Hudson was at his sparkling best and I am looking forward to re-reading his paper when it is published next year. Our little society of Johnson enthusiasts seems to be in very good shape. I have been casting back over past copies of The Southern Johnsonian and I think it is fair to say that the publication, after five years, presents an impressive appearance. We definitely publish more and more regularly than our overseas counterparts. ***** On the Saturday following our Annual General Meeting The Johnsonians met for their yearly dinner at the Boston Atheneum. Our Patron, Lady Eccles, then Mary Hyde, was a founder of this distinguished group. Our President sent greetings from the JSA and Lady Eccles reports: "Paul's fax read to all assembled in the marble-floored, book-lined room was greeted with applause." ***** I have been gently chided by some of the distinguished scholars I met on my recent visit to Yale and they have asked me to correct some small errors which have appeared in this column. In the interests of accuracy, I have been asked to point out that Gordon Turnbull is a co-editor of James Boswell's Book of Company at Auchlinleck 1782-1795. Lady Eccles presented this magnificent volume, co-edited by our Patyron who possesses he manuscript, to the members of The Roxburgh Club in 1995. I have also been asked to point out that Mr Vincent Giroud is the Curator of Modern Books and Manuscripts at the Beinecke Library and as such is also the Curator of he Boswell archive there. I must also point out that Gordon Turnbull is the General Editor of the Yale Boswell Edition of the Boswell papers. ***** While at Yale in July with my fellow admirers of that great bookman A. Edward Newton, I was shown a superb letter from A.E.N. to Professor Chauncey B. Tinker, dated March 11, 1927. After commenting on his latest book-buying exploits, new says says:
A.E.N. is endlessly quotable and I am sure you will bear with just one more from the Caliph of Book Collectors:
***** After I and my fellow Newtonians had been shown the Boswell treasures in the Beinecke Library we were treated to a fabulous lunch of soft-shelled crab at Morey's, a club founded in 1949 for the faculty and students at Yale. It's Curator and Secretary, Stephen Parkes, then gave us a tour of the treasures of The Elizabethan Club. Here I have the privilege of having a Shakespeare First Folio placed in my hands. This private club owns a fine collection of 16th and 17th Century English literature. Once a week the great safe is opened and the treasures are displayed for the members and their guests. Tea is taken. The advantage for students at Yale is that the early editions are placed in their hands and they are encouraged to study "great work in great editions." It is no wonder that many of the leading book collectors and dealers in the United States have come out of this university, whose riches it is impossible to exaggerate. ***** Mt final day in the treasure houses at the Yale libraries was spent at the Lewis Walpole Library, Farmington, some 60 miles from Newhaven. Here the unrivalled collection of the works and possessions of Horace Walpole, which were gathered together by the famous collector Lefty Lewis, are available for study. Again, one is almost overwhelmed by the richness of such a collection. There are 50,000 18th Century prints, 3000 of Walpole's own books, thousands of his letters and many of the items of furniture, poaintings and other beautiful objects which adorned Walpole's home at Strawberry Hill. Here again, I was welcomed with great kindness and allowed to handle the material. As a tribute to Walpole, Lewis published various Walpolian works in beautiful limited editions. I have recently purchased one of these, a facsimile of one of Walpole's little notebooks. If you want to learn more about Lewis, he wrote a delightful book about collecting, Collector's Progress, published in the fifties. Those of you who like books about boks should read this. ***** Our President, Paul Brown, recently visited me here in Perth and we spend a few pleasant hours in my library. I was able to show Paul some old books, which I had purchased in the United States on my recent visit. I hope that any other members who are visiting Perth will contact me, as I am always happy to show you my library. ***** Finally, a new source for Johnsoniana in the United States. I have recently received a catalogue from Rulon-Miller Books at 400 Summit Avenue, S Paul, Minesota 5510 2662. Their latest catalogue, No 122, has an excellent Boswell-Johnson section and they will be happy to send you a copy on request.
More JSA publications available for sale Clive Probyn's 1997 Fleeman Memorial Lecture entitled Pall Mall and the Wilderness of New South Wales: Samuel Johnson, Watkin Tench and "Six Degrees of Separation." is among JSA publications available for sale. The lecture gives a fascinating comparison between Johnson's views on "the noble savage" and those of Watkin Tench, soldier historian of the early settlement of Botany Bay and Port Jackson. Clive, the JSA's founding president, is head of English at Monash University. His most recent work has been the joint editorship of Henry Handel Richardson's Maurice Guest. Clive's Fleeman Lecture is available as a deluxe signed edition at $45 and a standard edition of $20 (10 per cent discount to members). Other JSA publications for sale are listed on the leaflet accompanying the paper edition edition of The Southern Johnsonian (available on request to Bryan Reid - reidb@ozemail.com.au). They include the second two-volume set of the JSA Papers comprising six selected papers from our annual seminars.
An invitation to JSA members for a Johnsonian tour John Byrne is inviting JSA members to join a tour of Johnsonian and bookish delights in England next year in company with members of the A. Edward Newton Society. If you are interested, please contact John at PO Box 1206, West Perth WA 5472 or by fax on 08 9481 6595. You'd be wise to respond early. "This promises to be a great adventure, and it would be wonderful to have some of our own members present," John said. The tour begins on September 18, 1999, departing London by bus for Lichfield to attend the civic celebrations of Johnson's birthday, including the Johnson Supper. Next day, the group will attend the Dr Johnson service in Lichfield Cathedral, afterwards visiting Uttoxeter and Edial en route to Oxford where it is hoped to stay overnight at Pembroke College, Johnson's own college, and where next day the party will lunch. They will also visit the Bodleian Library and Oxford's famous bookshops. Next day the party will visit Eton to view the library there and , in particular, its copy of the Gutenberg Bible. The group will spend Wednesday, September 22 at Dr Johnson's House in Gough Square, followed by lunch in the Chop Room at the Cheshire Cheese. In the afternoon, it is hoped that a visits to the house of Lord, guided by Lord Harmsworth, can be arranged. Next day, the party will visit Johnson and Garrick's graves in Westminster Abbey, later lunching at Simpsons in the Strand. The last day of the tour will include a visit to the new British Library and a visit to Dickens' house. in the evening the Annual Dinner of the A. Edward Newton Society will be held at Dr Johnson's House and al members of the group are invited.
Beginner's guide to the Great Cham Pat Rogers, The Samuel Johnson Encyclopedia. Greenwood Press (Westport, Connecticut, 1996). 485 pp. US $85.00 Review by Paul Tankard This attractive book is mainly an alphabetical sequence of names, titles, places and subjects, all aspects of Johnson's life and work. It is a desirable object for any Johnsonian, and will provide hours of rewarding pleasure - although Rogers has not altogether avoided (as he claims in the Preface) producing "a bluffer's guide for a trivia quiz on Johnson." Although it is more than this, it is not as much more as it could be. Rogers has written widely on eighteenth-century subjects, including two previous books about Johnson, particularly his little paperback Johnson (1993) in the Oxford `Past Masters' series, which is highly recommended. Rather than content himself with assembling a useful and comprehensive work of reference, Rogers has wanted his book to be amusing in itself. But there is surely no one who is likely to be interested in such a book who will not have immediate access to an edition of Boswell and to some collection of Johnson's writings, to which the Encyclopedia could refer, at a great saving of space, and thereby making room for a far wider coverage of subjects. The fact is, the book is neither as concise nor as comprehensive as an "encyclopedia" should be. Rogers' entries frequently merely recount what could be found in the pages of Boswell, and seldom do much more. About Oliver Edwards, for instance - a minor enough figure in Johnson's life - Rogers tells us all that Boswell does, and nothing else. Surely something like this would have done: "A contemporary with Johnson at Oxford, whom he unexpectedly encountered late in life, as related by Boswell. He was an attorney, but had "tried ...to be a philosopher." See Life..." Every poet in Johnson's Lives of the Poets has an entry, but again, Rogers seldom goes further than summarising Johnson. To have put each of the Lives in the context of later scholarship about each poet would have been of greater value. All of which suggests that such a work as this Encyclopedia should have been the responsibility of an editor, with specialist contributions. There are experts out there on just about every aspect of Johnson, and a gathering of concise, up-to-date and detailed information would have made this book of no less interest to the amateur Johnsonian, and of far greater value to the scholar. Perhaps the best aspects of the book are the short essays which Rogers provides on large and complex topics, such as Law, Religion and Politics, which provide authoritative and useful summaries. It is an expensive book, and I think purchasers are entitled to expect more. Still, readers will enjoy finding out about Johnson's use of orange peel (oddly described under "Compulsive Behavior"), his height (5' 11" - see under "Appearance" - which made him exceptionally tall for his day - as tall as only four men in a thousand, so I've read somewhere else), his Sexual Behavior, and what he thought about Gambling and Gardening. Greenwood Press publish a wide range of literary and other books, including new and reprinted texts on Johnsonian matters. Their website at http://www.greenwood.com is worth a browse, and texts may be ordered with credit card by calling (US prefix) 1-800-225-5800, or writing to P.O. Box 5007, Westport, Connecticut 06881-5007, U.S.A.
Just to vary the menu a little, our questions in this quiz are taken from Anecdotes of Dr Johnson by Hester Lynch Piozzi (formerly Mrs Thrale). 1: "Depend upon it Sir (says Johnson), it was sent by Junius." To what was Johnson referring? 2: "She will suffer as much perhaps as your horse did when your cow..." 3: "Why, Johnson rides as well, for aught I see, as the most...fellow in England." 4: "Alas Madam! How few books are there of which one ever can possibly arrive at..." 5: "Ignorance to a wealthy lad of one-and-twenty, is only so much fat to a sick sheep: it just serves to all the...about him." 6: "A story is a specimen of human manners, and derives its sole value from its..." 7: "Alas, Sir, a man who cannot get to heaven in a green coat, will not find his way thither the sooner in a ...one." 8: Why did Johnson calculate the national debt in terms of silver? ANSWERS TO QUIZ NO 16 1: falsehood 2: enlarge their desires 3: government 4: bawdy 5: liberality/good humour 6: Literary or dramatic criticism 7: wit 8: sour
The Johnson Society of Australia Fifth Annual General Meeting September 19, 1998 MINUTES President's Report The President outlined the major events of the past 12 months, and reported that membership remained steady between 90 and 100. The Society's Home Page continued to attract attention and new members and the newsletter was appearing regularly. The second set of seminar papers and the 1997 Fleeman lecture by Clive Probyn were published. The president also listed a number of achievements during the year by various JSA members and expressed thanks to our Patron, Lady Eccles for her continuing interest in the Society and the many valuable gifts she had made to us. A message from Lady Eccles for the success of the meeting and the Fleeman lecture was read to the audience. Treasurer's Report The Treasurer reported a credit balance of $3976.24 in the Society's funds for 1997-98. John Byrne Moved and Clive Probyn seconded the adoption of the report. Election of Officers Roy Lanigan moved and John Byrne seconded that all present office-bearers and committee members be re-elected for the coming year. UK Tour Party:John Byrne reported that he had a limited number of vacancies for a proposed your to the UK to visit London, Lichfield, Oxford and other places of Johnsonian interest and invited anyone interested to contact him. Burney Society John Wiltshire invited members to contribute to a fund being established to erect a memorial to Fanny Burney in Westminister Abbey. |