V. A Lady's Library
Motto. "She had not accustomed her woman's hands to the distaff or the skeins of Minerva."—Virgil, Æneid, vii. 305.
[69]: 13. Leonora. A letter from a Leonora, perhaps the lady of this paper, is to be found in Spectator, No. 91.
[70]: 4. Great jars of china. The craze for collecting china was then at its height. It is satirized by Steele in Tatler, No. 23, and by Addison in No. 10 of The Lover.
70: 17. Scaramouches. The Scaramouch is a typical buffoon in Italian farces; the name is derived from Scaramuccia, a famous Italian clown of the last half of the seventeenth century.
70: 20. Snuff box. This indicates that the habit of snuff taking had been adopted by fine ladies. It would seem, however, to have been a new fashion, at all events with ladies. See Steele's criticism upon the habit in Spectator, No. 344. For curious facts with reference to the use of tobacco in the Queen Anne time, see Ashton, Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne, Chap. xvii.
[71]: 3. Looking into the books, etc. The humour consists largely, of course, in the odd miscellany of books suited "to the lady and the scholar."
71: 9. Ogilby's Virgil, the first complete translation of Virgil, 1649.
71: 10. Dryden's Juvenal, 1693.
71: 11, 12, 13. Cassandra, Cleopatra, and Astraea were translations of long-winded, sentimental French romances, the first two by La Calprenède, the third by Honoré D'Urfé.
71: 15. The Grand Cyrus and Clelia were even more famous romances, by Mademoiselle de Scudéry, each in ten volumes. For delightful satire upon the taste for this sort of reading, see Steele's comedy, The Tender Husband; the heroine, Miss Biddy Tipkin, has been nourished upon this delicate literature.
71: 17. Pembroke's Arcadia. Written in 1580-1581, by Sir Philip Sidney, but published, after his death, by his sister, the Countess of Pembroke. It is the best of the Elizabethan prose romances.
71: 18. Locke. John Locke's Essay on the Human Understanding, an epoch-making work in philosophy, published in 1690. Locke was one of the authors Leonora had "heard praised," and may have "seen"; but she evidently found better use for his book than to read it. The "patches" were bits of black silk or paper, cut in a variety of forms, which ladies stuck upon their faces, presumably to set off their complexions. See Spectator, No. 81. Notice the pun in this use of Locke.
71: 22. Sherlock. William Sherlock (1641-1707), dean of St. Paul's.
71: 23. The Fifteen Comforts of Matrimony, a translation of a French book of the fifteenth century, Quinze Joies de Mariage.
71: 24. Sir William Temple's Essays, published 1692.
71: 25. Malebranche's Search after Truth had been translated from the French not long before.
[72]: 1. The Ladies' Calling, a popular religious book, anonymous, but ascribed to the unknown author of the most widely circulated religious book of the seventeenth century, The Whole Duty of Man.
72: 2. Mr. D'Urfey. Thomas D'Urfey (1650-1720), a playwright and humorous verse writer. His poetical writings were collected, 1720, under the title, Pills to purge Melancholy. In 1704 he published Tales, Tragical and Comical, which is probably the book here referred to.
72: 6. Clelia. See note on 71: 15.
72: 8. Baker's Chronicle. Sir Richard Baker's Chronicle of the kings of England, 1634. Sir Roger was very familiar with this dull book. See Spectator, No. 329, XXVIII of this volume.
72: 9. Advice to a Daughter. By George Saville, Marquis of Halifax.
72: 10. The New Atalantis. By Mrs. Manley, who had an unsavoury reputation in London journalism during the reign of Anne. This was a scandalous romance, attacking prominent persons, especially of the Whig party, under feigned names.
72: 11. Mr. Steele's Christian Hero. See Introduction.
72: 14. Dr. Sacheverell's Speech. A Tory high-church preacher who was impeached before the House of Lords for two violent sermons assailing the Whig party. His trial caused great excitement, and was one of the events immediately preceding the downfall of the Whigs in 1710. The "speech" here mentioned is that delivered in his own defence. It is said to have been written for him by Samuel Wesley, father of John Wesley.
72: 15. Fielding's Trial. One Robert Fielding, tried for bigamy early in the century.
72: 16. Seneca's Morals. The Moral Essays of Seneca (4 B.C.-65 A.D.). The translation of Roger L'Estrange was popular at this time.
72: 17. Taylor's Holy Living and Dying. Jeremy Taylor (1613-1667), the most eloquent of English divines.
[74]: 22. To give me their thoughts upon it. Some of "their thoughts" may be found in Nos. 92 and 340.