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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Main Author: Linda K. Hughes
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Presses Universitaires de la Méditerranée 2016-11-01
Series:Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens
Subjects:
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.
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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