Scanty Particulars

[rm]

Some passages from my book of the moment.

First, from a letter from Colonel Bird, colonial secretary at Capetown around 1818:

When an actress assumes the character of Sir Harry Wildair, although at the first entrance the fan sticks may be raised before the face, they are soon dropt. Curiosity, accompanied by admiration, is gratified at seeing a female of elegant symmetry and form, act with spirit and effect, the part of one of the lords of creation.

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On the subject of dandies (a passage which I find even has the cadences of a moment in Velvet Goldmine):

When Barry signed the pupil register in 1813, dandy was beginning to insinuate itself into the English lexicon -- or rather, to announce itself loudly with impenitent ill-taste and brash self-consciousness. By the end of the nineteenth century the word was to conjure image of sartorial elegance, modern flair, and urban sophistication. Yet as every Wildean knew, the origins of authentic dandyism lay in an intentional and monstrous affront to good taste. And in this visible affront was symbolized resistance to accepted moral values and the conventional upholstery of all well-fashioned polite society. .... A visit to observe the dandies parading in packs in Hyde Park was on the itinerary of every tourist in London. One visitor marveled at the excessive starching of the dandies' "horse collars" as well as their jacket skirts and tails, describing them as "stiff as though lined with a sheet of iron." Dandies were the punks of Regency London. They called their tailors "man-makers," and in their eclectic view clothes entirely made the man.

Finally, a description of our protagonist from Rene Juta in Cape Currey:

The whole affair is opera bouffe -- personally I always figured to myself Barry springing up from the world, born of swords and dragons' teeth and nothing more human.

Comments

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Weirdly, David Bowie's song Velvet Goldmine was playing as I read this entry.

The book sounds fascinating. On my to-read list for when I have time for nonacademic books (Women's Work: 20,000 Years of Textiles is currently stealing my soul, along with way too many comedic Greco-Roman playwrights.)

[00goddess.livejournal.com]

"And they say it's not natural!"