Why is it that the British celebrate the day they prevented Parliament from being blown up by blowing stuff up? What would happen if we celebrated using this kind of reverse logic? I'm going to find out next Fourth of July when I help my neighbor celebrate by colonizing his yard.
Many of you may know of the Internet phenomenon that is LOLCats. Slightly less of you may know how crazy/awesome early modern woodcut illustrations and frontispieces can be. But what joins these two disparate worlds? Well, it may surprise you to know how popular LOL-ing was in the Renaissance. To wit:
"The large Achilles, on his press'd bed lolling, / From his deep chest laughs out a loud applause; / Cries 'Excellent!'" --Troilus and Cressida (1.3.163-5)Shakespearean proof you can't refute! Welcome to LOL Manuscripts! ----------------------------------------- (P.S. I know they aren't all "manuscripts," but LOL Early Modern Printed Materials didn't have the same ring to it. LOLNomenclature! Let it go.)
2 BE, OR NOT 2 BE : DAT IZ TEH QUESHUN: WHETHR TIS NOBLR IN DA MIND 2 SUFFR TEH SLINGS AN ARROWS OV OUTRAGEOUS FORTUNE, OR 2 TAEK ARMS AGAINST SEA OV TROUBLEZ, AN BY OPPOSIN END DEM? 2 DYE: 2 SLEEP; NO MOAR; AN BY SLEEP 2 SAY WE END TEH HART-AYKE AN TEH THOUSAND NACHURAL SHOCKZ DAT FLESH IZ HEIR 2, TIS CONSUMMASHUN DEVOUTLY 2 BE WISHD. 2 DYE, 2 SLEEP; 2 SLEEP: PERCHANCE 2 DREAM: AY, THARS TEH RUB; 4 IN DAT SLEEP OV DEATH WUT DREAMS CUD COME WHEN WE HAS SHUFFLD OFF DIS MORTAL COIL, MUST GIV US PAUSE: THARS TEH RESPECT DAT MAKEZ CALAMITY OV SO LONG LIFE...
Erstwhile PhD student in Renaissance studies, then I got an MLS. LOL Manuscripts is how I amuse myself as I scour EEBO for research. I'm pretty confident that it will be accepted as my dissertation.
1 comment:
Why is it that the British celebrate the day they prevented Parliament from being blown up by blowing stuff up? What would happen if we celebrated using this kind of reverse logic? I'm going to find out next Fourth of July when I help my neighbor celebrate by colonizing his yard.
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