George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare Artefact
The material object on which this essay focuses, a notebook bound in leather (originally with blank pages), is one of thousands sold by stationers and others in the later decades of the nineteenth century. It is unique, however, as the undated notebook that George Eliot kept while she was reading Gr...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée
2016-11-01
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| Series: | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2973 |
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| author | Linda K. Hughes |
| author_facet | Linda K. Hughes |
| author_sort | Linda K. Hughes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The material object on which this essay focuses, a notebook bound in leather (originally with blank pages), is one of thousands sold by stationers and others in the later decades of the nineteenth century. It is unique, however, as the undated notebook that George Eliot kept while she was reading Greek poets. In it she wrote out Greek vocabulary words from Sappho, Homer, Theocritus, and others, sometimes accompanied by translations, brief comments, or metrical notations. The notebook has hitherto eluded documentation or acknowledgement by other George Eliot scholars, and one purpose of the article is to rectify this omission. More particularly, the essay assesses the merits of approaching such a material object as a commodified authorial tool and as a rare artefact that illuminates the career of a canonical British author. The essay additionally sheds light on women authors’ study of classical Greek in the 1870s and 1880s, offers an informal description (and four images) of the notebook’s textual contents and inks, and explains the historical route by which the notebook arrived at Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth, Texas. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-829cbc74c26e46bfb19f8208de314e6f |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 0220-5610 2271-6149 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2016-11-01 |
| publisher | Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens |
| spelling | doaj-art-829cbc74c26e46bfb19f8208de314e6f2025-01-30T10:21:47ZengPresses Universitaires de la MéditerranéeCahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens0220-56102271-61492016-11-018410.4000/cve.2973George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare ArtefactLinda K. HughesThe material object on which this essay focuses, a notebook bound in leather (originally with blank pages), is one of thousands sold by stationers and others in the later decades of the nineteenth century. It is unique, however, as the undated notebook that George Eliot kept while she was reading Greek poets. In it she wrote out Greek vocabulary words from Sappho, Homer, Theocritus, and others, sometimes accompanied by translations, brief comments, or metrical notations. The notebook has hitherto eluded documentation or acknowledgement by other George Eliot scholars, and one purpose of the article is to rectify this omission. More particularly, the essay assesses the merits of approaching such a material object as a commodified authorial tool and as a rare artefact that illuminates the career of a canonical British author. The essay additionally sheds light on women authors’ study of classical Greek in the 1870s and 1880s, offers an informal description (and four images) of the notebook’s textual contents and inks, and explains the historical route by which the notebook arrived at Special Collections, Mary Couts Burnett Library, Texas Christian University, in Fort Worth, Texas.https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2973SapphoEliot (George)notebookGreek poetrycommodity |
| spellingShingle | Linda K. Hughes George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare Artefact Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens Sappho Eliot (George) notebook Greek poetry commodity |
| title | George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare Artefact |
| title_full | George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare Artefact |
| title_fullStr | George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare Artefact |
| title_full_unstemmed | George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare Artefact |
| title_short | George Eliot’s ‘Greek Vocabulary’ Notebook (c. 1873) as Commodity and Rare Artefact |
| title_sort | george eliot s greek vocabulary notebook c 1873 as commodity and rare artefact |
| topic | Sappho Eliot (George) notebook Greek poetry commodity |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/cve/2973 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT lindakhughes georgeeliotsgreekvocabularynotebookc1873ascommodityandrareartefact |