Chapter 41: 410-421
Contents
Page 410
Nonpareil
from Wiktionary:
- A person or thing that has no equal; a paragon.
- A small, flat chocolate drop covered with white pellets of sugar.
Lepton Castle
"Lepton" is Greek money. It is also a subatomic particle. See, also, "Dinn's Notes": MDMD(14) Notes & Questions Part 1, 410.16 Also, see page 301.
his Lordship
Lord Lepton
Page 411
Tallow Dips, and the last feeble Rush-Light
"The first candles probably consisted of dried rushes soaked in grease.
Homemade rushlights were commonly used in England as late as 1800
because, although they smoked and smelled horribly, they were so
cheap ... Eventually someone discovered the method of making a "tallow dip"
with a wick running longitudinally through its center. The wick -- a few
threads of flax, hemp, or cotton, lightly twisted or plaited -- was dipped
in melted tallow and allowed to cool, again and again, until the candle
had a desired thickness" -- Candles. Nature Bulletin No. 590. Forest Preserve District of Cook County. February 6, 1960
Note that the lighting technologies are listed regressively, as if moving back through time.
Bloomeries
bloomery -- a forge in which wrought iron is made straight from ore (Wiktionary)
Invisible Hand
“Adam Smith's notion that rational agents guided by their own self-interest would act in such a way as to promote the public interest, the foundation of laissez-faire economics which caused much of the misery associated with the Industrial Revolution” – HyperArts entry: Invisible Hand
Page 412
Gangue
"(mining) The earthy waste substances occurring in metallic ore" -- Wiktionary
Equations of Proprietary Happiness
See page 328.
more room inside than could possibly be contained in the sorrowing ruin
Cf. "a Conveyance, wherein the inside is quite noticeably larger than the outside", page 354.
Plafond
Plafond, in a broad sense, is any (flat, vaulted or dome) ceiling of any premise. Plafond can be product of monumental and decorative painting and sculpture; subject or ornamental - also is designated by the term "Plafond". Picturesque plafonds can be executed directly on plaster (in technique of fresco, oil, glutinous, synthetic paints, etc.), on a canvas attached to a ceiling (panel), a mosaic, and other methods. As a part of decorative furniture of church and palace stateroom plafonds received a wide circulation in 17 - beginning of 19 centuries. For plafond compositions of this period typically use of effect of illusory break in architectural in open or proceeding behind a ceiling space, the image of figures and architectural details in strong foreshortenings. – from Wikipedia
silver sconce and Sperm Taper Light
"sperm taper is a candle made from spermaceti or sperm oil. sconce, LME, aphetic fr Fr esconse = hiding place or lantern, or fr med Lat sconsa aphetic fr absconsa (laterna) = dark (lantern), 1 a) A lantern or candlestick with a screen to protect the light from the wind, and a handle for carrying, LMW-M18, b) a flat candlestick with a handle, M19, 2 A bracket for a candle or a light hung on or fixed to an interior wall, rare M19." -- from MDMD Dinn's notes on Ch. 41
Page 413
from the Oboick Reveries of the Besozzis, as the Imperial Melismata of Quantz
- Besozzis: probably Antonio Besozzi and his son Carlo Besozzi, oboists and composers (numerous gifted woodwind players apparently sprung from the Besozzi family tree)
- Melismata: plural form of melism, “a melody or melodic sequence of notes. Usually spec. (in singing and vocal composition): the prolongation of one syllable over a number of notes; an instance of this” – the OED
- Quantz, Johann Joaquim (1697-1773): German flautist and composer, and court composer for Frederick II, the Great. He wrote a treatise on flute playing and composed a huge quantity of pieces for the flute.
Question: Did Quantz compose a piece entitled "Melismata"?
No, but he wrote a treatise on Flute Playing which deals with ornamentation such as Melismata - see [1]
Trivia: Quantz and Carlo Besozzi were both oboists for the Dresden court: Carlo from 1754 until his death; Quantz seemingly earlier as he entered Frederick the Great's service in 1741.
Hurricanoe
“aka "Hurricane" (a large private party - 18th cent.)” – HyperArts entry: Hurricanoe/Hurricane
Page 414
Climbers' Discourse
???
behave inconveniently
Inconvenience again, see entry on page 401.
Churs of Stroud
Churs = electors???
Stroud = Stroud, Gloucestershire UK: Google Map
Calvert agent Captain Dasp
Calvert County Realtors - Calvert Agents In Maryland.
Page 415
Raby Castle
"Raby Castle [...] near Staindrop, County Durham is one of the largest inhabited castles in England. It has opulent eighteenth and nineteenth century interiors inside a largely unchanged late medieval shell. It is a Grade I listed building. Raby once belonged to the Neville family, who became one of the most powerful in England" -- Wikipedia
Brunswick style
worn with a petticoat, the Brunswick was an informal gown or Riding Habit. A riding habit consisted of a petticoat, jacket, and waistcoat.
wine-colored Cordovan
a favorite boot color of TRP's. There is a "wine-cordovan boot" on page 121 of ATD, also a female's.
French Court heels
Ladies of the French court once carried canes to support themselves on uncomfortable high heels. Heels became lower after the French Revolution, not surprisingly.
Iron Nabob
Nabob (from Wiktionary):
- an Indian ruler within the Mogul empire; a nawab
- (by extension) someone of great wealth or importance
Phrygioid if not Phrygian
According to unvarying tradition the Phrygians were most closely akin to certain tribes of Macedonia and Thrace; and their near relationship to the Hellenic stock is proved by all that is known of their language and
art, and is accepted by almost every modern authority. -- Encyclopedia Britannica, 11 th edition. Pynchon's wit makes up the word Phrygioid to mean something like "like Phrygian" that is fake Phyrgian due to the prevalence of 'British modality'--preceding phrase.
"Phrygian Mode - A lot of traditional music, especially Scottish and Irish is termed 'Modal' because it does not follow the conventional modern major or minor scales. There are seven modes, and Phrygian is the one that starts with E." --Toby Levy's Three Pages Per Day Project This is not quite accurate; the Phrygian mode starts with E if C is the tonic, in general the Phrygian mode starts with the 3rd note of a major scale. Alternatively, the Phrygian scale is an ordinary minor scale, but with a flatted 2nd.
Page 416
pierc'd paint Eyes of Nevilles and Vanes
"Presumably like some Hammer House of Horror movie there is a tunnel passing behind the portraits in the gallery" (from MDMD Dinn's notes on Ch. 41). Raby's castle was once held by the Nevilles (Raby Castle History: Nevilles) and was later passed to the Vanes (Raby Castle History: Vanes).
Bellezza, che chiama
"a beauty that beckons" - HyperArts entry: Italian Translations
multiply-bepoxed
??? suggestion that he has syphilis???
after three of these trans-Stygian Years, become Journeyman
Stygian (from Wiktionary):
- Dark and gloomy
- Infernal or hellish
- Of, or relating to the river Styx
Page 417
Chatelaine
from Wiktionary:
- The mistress of a castle or large household.
- A chain or clasp worn at the waist by women in the 16th to the 19th centuries, with handkerchief, keys, etc., attached.
Mignonette
"A type of fine French bobbin lace made in narrow strips and having the consistency of tulle. Occas. more fully mignonette lace. Now hist" -- OED
Great Chain of Being this, Great Chain of Being that, [...] this rather lengthy Chain [...] Is there something [...] dangling from its bottom end?
The great chain of being is a classical and western medieval conception of the order of the universe, whose chief characteristic is a strict hierarchical system.
It is a conception of the world's structure that was accepted, and unquestioned, by most educated men from the time of Lucretius until the Copernican and Darwinian revolution and the ultimate flowering of the Renaissance. The chain of being is composed of a great number of hierarchal links, from the most basic and foundational elements up through the very highest perfection, in other words, God, or the Prime Mover.
God, and beneath him the angels, both existing wholly in spirit form, sit at the top of the chain. Earthly flesh is fallible and ever-changing: mutable. Spirit, however, is unchanging and permanent. This sense of permanence is crucial to understanding this conception of reality. One does not abandon one's place in the chain; it is not only unthinkable, but generally impossible. The hierarchy is a chain and not a ladder.
The natural order, earth (rock) is at the bottom of the chain; these elements possess only the attribute of existence. Moving on up the chain, each succeeding link contains the positive attributes of the previous link, and adds (at least) one other. Rocks, as above, possess only existence; the next link up, plants, possess life and existence. Beasts add not only motion, but appetite as well.
Man is a special instance in this conception. He is both mortal flesh, as those below him, and also spirit. In this dichotomy, the struggle between flesh and spirit becomes a moral one. --abridged (slightly) from Wikipedia
Notice Pynchon's multimeaning playfulness with the "chains" of the Chainmen and, one must think, the chains of the slave trade. This joking on the concept by Lord Lepton seems to touch some deep themes of M & D.
What [creature] dangles at the bottom of the chain? Where does it "fall" if it 'fails to hold on'? One is reminded of the supposedly real witticism as joke about an Eastern creation myth. The Earth is held up by a turtle which is held up by another turtle, someone explained. "And that turtle?" asks the interlocuter. "Another turtle"...."And that one"?......."O No, you're not going to trap me...it's turtles all the way down."
Perhaps it is a Helixxx
DNA? Though note the suggestion of a snake. (Cf. "the Serpent," Ch. 13, p. 135; "Something underground, moving Westward," Ch. 30, p. 299)
Page 418
fiduciary
from Wiktionary:
- One who holds a thing in trust for another; a trustee.
- One who depends for salvation on faith, without works; an Antinomian.
nitter-natter
??? chitter-chatter? ???
Staithes
plural for Stath (from OED):
- The land bordering on water, a bank, shore.
- A landing-stage, wharf; esp. a waterside depôt for coals brought from the collieries for shipment, furnished with staging and shoots for loading vessels.
- An embankment.
"Staithes is an English village at the most northerly point of the North Yorkshire coast [...] Roxby Beck (a small river) running through Staithes is the border between North Yorkshire and neighbouring Redcar and Cleveland. Formerly one of the largest and most productive fishing centres in North-East England, Staithes is now largely a tourist destination thanks to its picturesque appearance [...] Staithes is noted for its sheltered harbour, bounded by high cliffs and two long breakwaters. A mile to the north, Boulby Cliff is the highest cliff in England" -- Wikipedia
You sound like one of those Leveler chaps
Levelers or Levellers, English Puritan sect active at the time of the English civil war. The name was apparently applied to them in 1647, in derision of their beliefs in equality. The Levelers demanded fundamental constitutional reform—a written constitution, a single supreme representative body elected by universal manhood suffrage, proportional representation, and the abolition of monarchy and noble privilege. Their ideals, far in advance of their time, were those of complete religious and political equality. They were adept at the use of mass petitions and extensive pamphleteering to arouse the public. When the Long Parliament did not respond to their ideas, they tried to build support in the ranks of the army, with some success. -- Columbia Encyclopedia
Page 419
It is difficult in these days of closer-fitting Attire, to imagine the enormous volumes of unoccupied Space that once lay between is Skirt's outer Envelope and the woman's body far within.
"Is this another case where inside and outside have wildly different metric
properties. And what about these days [?] Were skirts so much tighter in the 1780s than in the 1760s [?] If not then who is speaking and when?" -- from MDMD Dinn's notes on Ch. 41
Majordomos
Plural form of Majordomo (from Wiktionary):
- The head servant in a wealthy European household
- A butler
Soubrette
a lightweight soprano voice or type of soprano role, frequently found in comic operas or operettas; the soubrette usually possesses a flirtatious demeanor and street wise manner, as in the case of Adele in Die Fledermaus, or is a particularly fetching country innocent, like Adina in The Elixir of Love. Webster's online dictionary.
Page 420
Otick Catarrh
Mason is suggesting he will get an ear ache (or infection) from Dixon's "loud" and "moist" whisperings:
- Octic - "(anatomy) of, relating/pertaining to, or located near the ear" (Wiktionary)
- Catarrh - "inflammation of the mucous membranes of the nose and throat" (Wiktionary)
Ague
Apogee (from Wiktionary):
- (astronomy) That point in the orbit of any object which is at the greatest distance from the center of the central body. For example, the point in the moon's orbit which is the greatest distance from the center of the earth.
- The highest point.
Viudas de Cristo
Spanish: "The Widows of Christ"
Page 421
Paradise of Chance
Cf. The Chums of Chance in Against the Day.
A-and from an article on the Ancient Greek philosopher perhaps most associated with the concept of Chance, Democritus: "it[chance] seems to be an attempt to show how an apparently ordered arrangement can arise automatically, as a byproduct of the random collisions of bodies in motion. No attractive forces or purposes need be introduced to explain the sorting by the tide or in the sieve: it is probable that this is an attempt to show how apparently orderly effects can be produced without goal-directioned forces or purpose." Democritus
Such a condition would be Paradisaical in Pynchon's anti-determinism vision.
E-O Wheel
"Even Odds"; a roulette (French: "small wheel") wheel, a gambling game based on opposing pairs, e.g. black/white, even/odd, in which players bet on which red or black numbered compartment of a revolving wheel a small ball (spun in the opposite direction) will come to rest within. Bets are placed on a table marked to correspond with the compartments of the wheel.
