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.