Poetry
This is the title-page of The Fairy-Queen. The libretto was originally published in 1692, meaning that this pamphlet is a first edition. This is one of a few examples of marginalia contributing to a sense of authorship within this text, as some previous owner has written “Anonymous” where the author’s name may have normally been printed. The only other mark on this page is the phrase in the upper corner: “Read May 6, 1706.” This reader, who likely was the one that made earlier comments on who composed the music for this opera, Henry Purcell, also made the effort to add in the fact that this libretto was published anonymously. The opera was, in fact, written by Elkanah Settle, an English poet and playwright. Of course, this was not made public knowledge, as many plays were often published anonymously, playwrights often being identified many years after the fact. This reader may not have known who wrote the opera he or she was reading, but he or she did make an effort to establish some semblance of authorship that the publishers had omitted. In fact, that the reader knew to write the word “Anonymous” where it is, below the title but before the publishing information, suggests a knowledge of the conventions of title page formats and publishing in general. The acknowledgement to even an unknown author in the period of time where it was conventional for publishers to omit authors’ names is significant and shows a reader contributing to and caring about authorship.
This illustration depicts Adam and Eve (with Eve standing behind Adam and clutching his arm) standing in the Garden of Eden after the consumption of the apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Both are looking up towards the Heavens where a winged figure stands looking down upon them. The illustration was drawn by W. Hamilton, R.A., as indicated at the left bottom corner of the drawing and engraved by D. Newcomb, as indicated on the bottom right corner. The bottom of the illustration also contains a quote from Paradise Lost, Book two. The two most interesting aspects of this piece are the depiction of Eve in the illustration and the use of the quote at the bottom. Eve’s position, standing behind Adam and holding onto him from behind, suggests a sense of fear that implicates her as the guilty person. The quote acts as a caption or description for the illustration, while also rooting the illustration firmly into the text. This illustration is a physical, material element much like the typography and the paper, and is therefore one example of the book’s materiality.
Alicati’s Emblemata features over a hundred emblems. The emblems offer advice or a moral. Typically, each emblem has its own page, although occasionally some emblems have two pages. The top of the page has the emblem’s title, followed by the emblem’s number. The largest amount of the page is taken up by the illustration depicting the emblem. Underneath the illustration is text offering a further description of the image. The back of the book contains an index of all of the emblems, and it offers a further description of each emblem. It is interesting that the lengthier description of the emblem is placed at the back of the book, rather than with the illustration. This emphasis on the illustration rather than the text could suggest that the publisher wanted to aim the book towards the illiterate. In contrast, the book might have been meant to be looked at quickly to remember the moral, negating the need for heavy text and instead encouraging the need for a picture.