A first edition of Mrs. Dalloway, from 1925.

As we will discuss in class, it is possible to map with precision the routes that various characters take through the novel on this Wednesday in June, 1923. I’ve found a couple websites that make interesting efforts:

http://www.virginiawoolfsociety.co.uk/vw_res.walk.htm This site, from the Viginia Woolf Society of Great Britain, gives us an incredibly precise, turn-by-turn recreation of the novel’s movements in the early sections.

http://mrsdallowaymappingproject.weebly.com/index.html This site, which appears to have prepared for an undergraduate course at Georgia Institute of Technology, has multiple maps and good timelines for a number of characters. While the material included under “analysis” seems more like plot summary to me, the visuals here are worth a look–but be careful, since there are plot spoilers on the character pages.

As we begin Wilde, I want to call your attention to other artists of the era who shared his love of refinement, unconventionality, and art for art’s sake.

As mentioned in class, Michael Field is the pseudonym of Katherine Bradley and Edith Cooper. I link here to a poem of theirs about myth and artistic expression, “A Pen Drawing of Leda.” I also referred to Algernon Charles Swinburne and his poems “The Leper” and “Hermaphroditus.”

The image above comes from the archives of the British Library and is featured in an informative post about aestheticism and decadence.

This map from the Jane Austen Society of Australia shows the southeastern part of England that is the setting for almost all the events in Pride and Prejudice.

(source: http://www.jasna.org/info/images/map-pp-1466h.jpg )

I include pdfs here as well of maps from Franco Moretti’s Atlas of the European Novel, 1800-1900:

Austen’s Britain

Austen’s complications

Old British Money

Prior to decimalization in 1971 Britain used a system of pounds, shillings and pence. (‘£sd’ or ‘LSD’). The smallest unit of currency was a penny, the plural of which was pence (or pennies). There were 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound. The pound came in the form of a paper bill, called a note, or a gold coin, called a sovereign.

1 farthing (the lowest value coin) = 1/4 penny
A ha’penny (Half penny – a copper coin) = 1/2 penny (pronounced “heipni”)
1 penny (a copper coin) = one of the basic units (1d)
Threepence or Thruppenny Bit = 3 pence (pronounced “thrupence”)
Sixpence (a silver coin also called a ‘tanner‘) = 6 pence
1 shilling = 12 pence (1s)
1 florin (a silver coin that numismatists regard as one of the most beautiful medieval English coins) = 2 shillings
A half-crown = 2 shillings and 6 pence
1 crown = 5 shillings = 1/4 pound
1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence (£1)
1 sovereign = a gold coin with a face value of one pound (about .24 ounces of 22 carat gold)

Farthings were not produced after 1956 and were withdrawn in 1960, because of inflation. In preparation for decimalisation, the ha’penny was withdrawn in 1969, with the half-crown being withdrawn the year after.

A penny was often called a copper after the metal it was minted from.

Pound coins were not minted before the 19th century – the silver equivalent of the pound circulated in shillings and crowns.

A guinea (first issued on February 6th, 1663) was sometimes used as a unit of account. A guinea was a gold coin, originally made of gold from the Guinea coast of Africa, worth 21 shillings (or one pound and 1 shilling) in old British money. A guinea was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. A gentleman paid his tailor in shillings, but his barrister in guineas.

One shilling is now equal to five (new) pence making a guinea worth one pound and five pence in today’s currency (£1.05).

Slang Terms for British Money

The slang term for a pound or a number of pounds sterling is ‘quid‘ or ‘nicker‘ and there are other slang terms for various amounts of money. The slang money expression ‘quid‘ seems first to have appeared in late 1600’s England, probably derived from the Latin ‘quid pro quo‘ – ‘something exchanged for something else‘. The term ‘nicker‘ is probably connected to the use of nickel in the minting of coins.

The old slang term for a shilling was ‘bob‘ and for a guinea – ‘yellow-boy‘.

Source:  http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/british-money.html

Please note that I have added the schedule of poetry presentations under “assignments.” The first two groups will present on March 27th–please read all poems assigned for the day and bring copies to class.

Also please note that I’ve updated the schedule in April to reflect the fact that while we do not have class on April 17th (spring break continues!), Thursday April 20th is a Monday at Baruch, so we will meet both 4/19 and 4/20.

As I mentioned in class yesterday, WSAS is holding a massive celebration of the arts on Tuesday, March 7th. I post the schedule here and remind you that participation in one of the events, the Frankenstein marathon reading, is worth 5 points of extra credit.

http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/wsas/Art-a-ThonSchedule.htm

Below is a list of some 30 poems for your consideration. Please take time before class Monday with the Norton Anthology and the pdfs (posted under “.pdfs”;  guidelines under “Assignments”) to choose a few poems that you would be interested in discussing in an oral presentation. I’ll circulate a sign up sheet Monday.

poetry-presentations list of poems

William Blake was both a poet and a visual artist, committed to the interaction of word and image on the page. Each of his illuminated books was completed by hand: first, he would hand-etch designs onto copper plates, then ink-printing the pages, which he subsequently hand-colored and hand-bound. Given the  labor-intensive nature of this publication process, he produced few copies, and all are different.  The Blake Archive allows us to compare different copies of his texts; I link here to the two pages of  “The Little Black Boy,” from Songs of Innocence, which show how the tension between the verbal and visual texts can change our interpretations:

“The Little Black Boy” page 1

“The Little Black Boy” page 2

All Blake’s known extant work is included in the Archive, which is sponsored by the Library of Congress.

The William Blake Archive

As for your readings, if you do not yet have your anthology, you can print the poems out from Project Gutenberg: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1934/1934-h/1934-h.htm.  We are reading:

From Songs of Innocence:
“The Lamb”
“The Chimney Sweeper”
“The Little Black Boy”
“Holy Thursday”

From Songs of Experience:
“Holy Thursday”

“The Chimney Sweeper”
“The Sick Rose”
“The Tyger”
“London”

http://www.soane.org/collections-research/key-stories/rakes-progress

A series of 8 paintings by William Hogarth from the 1730’s, A Rake’s Progress tells the story of a young man who comes into a fortune and squanders it.