Category Archives: Blogs

Did anyone notice when Spenser’s and Shakespeare’s Early Modern English became Modern English?

[ … ] “In the mean time, ‘tis a surprizing Reflection, that between what Spencer wrote last [1599?], and Waller first [ca. 1625?], there should not be much above twenty years distance: and yet one’s Language, like the Money of that time, is as currant now as ever; whilst the other’s words are like old Coyns, one must go to an Antiquary to understand their true meaning and value. Such advances may a great Genius make, when it undertakes any thing in earnest. Continue reading Did anyone notice when Spenser’s and Shakespeare’s Early Modern English became Modern English?

Jane Austen and family, “Charades &c.,” London: Spottiswode, [1895]. Want to match wits with the Austens? Try number V

J. David Grey’s large donation to Goucher’s Burke Austen Collection is slowly being processed, and amid the usual editions of “Emma” or “Sense and Sensibility” in Icelandic or Persian which this “completist” collector loved, we also find the occasional small press run edition of Austeniana made expressly for Janeites. In this case, it’s an anonymous collection of charades or riddles, many accompanied by engravings giving clues before the answer key on the final page. Continue reading Jane Austen and family, “Charades &c.,” London: Spottiswode, [1895]. Want to match wits with the Austens? Try number V