Chapter 13: 125-145

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Page 125

against the Day swelling near
just note.

whiten'd Rock Walls
White is the color of the buildings in the Columbian Exposition in ATD. White is usually the color of the elite in ATD. Also Cf. The White Visitation in GR.

James's Town
No curfew, everyone full of a good time, ruled by the moon. A Pynchon 'paradise". "Not Cape Town".

Page 128

Governor Hutchinson
British royal governor of colonial Massachusetts from 1771 to 1774 and a prominent Loyalist in the years before the American Revolution. See WIKI.

Page 129

Etesian Winds
strong, dry north winds of the Aegean Sea. During hot summer days, this is by far the most preferred weather type and is considered a blessing. Wiki

the face of a Woman of the Town, multiply-patch'd
In the 18th century, black silk patches were worn not only to cover blemishes like pox scars. Their placement on different regions of the face was used as a code to indicate the wearer's attitudes.

Page 134

Mathesis
Hypothetical universal science modeled on mathematics envisaged by Leibniz and Descartes. From WIKI

Saint Brendan
Irish monastic, St Brendan is chiefly renowned for his legendary journey to The Isle of the Blessed as described in the ninth century Voyage of St Brendan the Navigator. See WIKI.

Paradise
Age of Reason disposes of the notion. Cf. search for Shambala in ATD.

Page 135

Motto of Jacob Bernouilli
One of the many prominent mathematicians in the Bernoulli family. Following his father's wish, Jacob studied theology and entered the ministry. But contrary to the desires of his parents, he also studied mathematics and astronomy. See WIKI.

Page 137

Mason begins to edge toward the Tent opening
Rare location leakage. Tent? This unbroken conversation started on p.134 with them standing 'in the scent of an orange grove... they have been searching for it all the long declining Day... in the volcanic meadow where the two stand.' If the meadow was only three pages of conversation from Maskelyne's observatory, surely they would have found the orange grove sooner?

Page 139

common acquaintance but lately withdrawn
The absent God, again.

Page 141

Longitude Act of 1714
The Longitude Prize was a reward offered by the British government through an Act of Parliament in 1714 for a simple and practical method for the precise determination of a ship's longitude. The prize was administered by the Board of Longitude. See WIKI.

Page 142

using what influence you can with Astronomers of other Principalities, as well as among the Jesuits &c... my Zero Meridian not upon Greenwich, nor Paris, but a certain Himalayan Observatory
See WIKI entry for Jesuit China missions.

Dr. Zhang
Though Zhang is common name in the East, it is likely that Pynchon had Zhang Heng in mind in regard to this character. Zhang was an astronomer, mathematician, inventor, geographer, cartographer, artist, poet, statesman, and literary scholar from Nanyang, Henan, and lived during the Eastern Han Dynasty (CE 25–220) of China. See WIKI for much more.

Annotation Index

One:
Latitudes and Departures

1: 5-11, 2: 12-13, 3: 14-29, 4: 30-41, 5: 42-46, 6: 47-57, 7: 58-76, 8: 77-86, 9: 87-93, 10: 94-104, 11: 105-115, 12: 116-124, 13: 125-145, 14: 146-157, 15: 158-166, 16: 167-174, 17: 175-182, 18: 183-189, 19: 190-198, 20: 199-206, 21: 207-214, 22: 215-227, 23: 228-237, 24: 238-245, 25: 245-253


Two:
America

26: 257-265, 27: 266-274, 28: 275-288, 29: 289-295, 30: 296-301, 31: 302-314, 32: 315-326, 33: 327-340, 34: 341-348, 35: 349-361, 36: 362-370, 37: 371-381, 38: 382-390, 39: 391-398, 40: 399-409, 41: 410-421, 42: 422-435, 43: 436-439, 44: 440-447, 45: 448-451, 46: 452-459, 47: 460-465, 48: 466-475, 49: 476-483, 50: 484-490, 51: 491-498, 52: 499-510, 53: 511-524, 54: 525-541, 55: 542-553, 56: 554-561, 57: 562-569, 58: 570-574, 59: 575-584, 60: 585-596, 61: 597-607, 62: 608-617, 63: 618-622, 64: 623-628, 65: 629-632, 66: 633-645, 67: 646-657, 68: 658-664, 69: 665-677, 70: 678-686, 71: 687-693, 72: 694-705, 73: 706-713

Three:
Last Transit

74: 717-732, 75: 733-743, 76: 744-748, 77: 749-757, 78: 758-773

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