NOTES
SPECTATOR 1.
Page 1.
9. black. Dark. Cf. Shakespeare, Sonnet cxxvii:
In the old days black was not counted fair,
or Love's Labour's Lost, iv, iii. 265:
Paints itself black to imitate her brow.
Page 2.
6. depending. Undetermined. In law, pending. Cf. Shakespeare, Cymbeline, iv. iii. 23:
We'll slip you for a season; but our jealousy
Does yet depend.
24. public exercises. Academic discussions maintained by candidates for degrees at the older universities. Traces appear in the term 'Wrangler' (Cambridge) and in the supplementary viva voce examination.
Page 3.
5-10. I made … satisfaction. Addison is alluding to John Greaves, who journeyed to Egypt in 1638 and published a learned work entitled Pyramidographia.
17 et seq. Will's, v. Appendix I, On Coffee-houses. Also for Child's (3. 19), St. James's (22), the Grecian (25), the Cocoa-Tree (25), and Jonathan's (29).
20. the Postman, edited by a Frenchman, M. Fonvive, is mentioned in a contemporary account by John Dunton as the best of the newspapers. It was published weekly.
23. politics was frequently used for politicians. Perhaps so used here.
26. Drury-Lane theatre was built in 1674 and burnt down in 1809.
the Hay-Market theatre took its name from the street in which it was situated, which was the site of a market for hay and straw from the reign of Elizabeth till the beginning of the nineteenth century. It was built in 1705.
27. the Exchange is at the east end of the Poultry. It was built by Sir Thomas Gresham and opened by Queen Elizabeth in 1571. It was destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666, and has since been twice rebuilt.
Page 4.
5. blots. In backgammon to expose a man to capture is called leaving a blot.
23. so many … which. Mixed construction: the many … which or so many … as.
32. spoken to. Obsolete in ordinary speaking and writing; survives in oratory.
34. my lodgings. The Spectator discourses on this subject in No. 12.
Page 5.
10. complexion. Aspect, appearance. Cf. Shakespeare, Richard II., III. ii. 194:
Men judge by the complexion of the sky
The state and inclination of the day.
12. discoveries. Revelations, disclosures. Cf. Shakespeare, Rape of Lucrece, 1314:
She dares not thereof make discovery.
14. having been thus particular upon. Having related so many details concerning.
18. For the prevalence of clubs v. Spectator 9.
19. engaged me. Made me undertake.
21. Mr. Buckley's. The printer of the Spectator.
Little Britain, formerly the mansion of the Duke of Bretagne, near Aldersgate Street, was the regular booksellers' quarter.