Bob, there is a mention in Jonson's play Epicene -- I think in Act 4 --
of a portable inkpot and pen that one could carry around easily to write
down quick notes or sketches. But I tend to agree with the view that
says people had memories, and wrote down good quotations when they got home.
Best,
Helen
Robert Tittler wrote:
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I write to see if you help with the following research question.
>
>>> The query is as follows:
>
>
>
>
>>> In an apparently unpublished paper of which I have the text, the
>>> claim is
>>> made that playgoers to Shakespeare's plays sometimes brought their
>>> quills, paper and ink-horns to performances so that they could wrote
>>> down
>>> on the spot attractive phrases and other bon mots for their
>>> commonplace books.
>
>
>
>
>>> I am skeptical of this on practical grounds--this is a lot to carry to
>>> a playhouse--and I think the documentation is pretty vague. I don't
>>> doubt that people did remember such phrases and write them down
>>> afterwards, much as seems to have been done by, e.g., those who heard
>>> Queen Elizabeth's speech at Tilbury. But has anyone found examples of a
>>> playgoer of writing such things down while seeing the play, as opposed
>>> to remembering it for later recording? I'd love to have some
>>> evidence...or to be sure that there is none.
>
>
>
>
>
>>> Many thanks!
>>>
>>>
>>> Bob Tittler
--
Dr H M Ostovich
Professor of English / Editor, EARLY THEATRE
McMaster University
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada L8S 4L9
905 525-9140 x24496
FAX 905 777-8316
http://www.earlytheatre.ca
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