Commonplace Book : Miscellany 1673-1710.

Format:

Book

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Drama.

Satire.

Title pages.

Speech.

Prophecy.

Religious literature--Authorship.

Religious literature.

Rotterdam (Netherlands).

London (England).

Derry (Northern Ireland).

Ireland.

Armagh (Northern Ireland).

England.

Colchester (England).

Cambridge (England).

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Summary:

Cowper appears to have begun writing D/EP F37 in 1673. While the majority of the items probably were transcribed over the next few years, the volume contains additions dated as late as 1710.

Notes:

AMDigital Reference:D/EP F37

D/EP F37 is a collection of commonplaces, arranged alphabetically according to subject. Sarah Cowper began the volume in 1673 and seems to have written the majority of it within a few years; however, some miscellaneous items interspersed with the commonplaces are dated as late as 1710. One of these later additions is Cowper's declaration on the title page, "If in the days of my youth, I had not diverted my thoughts with such stuff as this book contains; the unhappy accidents of my life, had been more than enough to have made me mad". Anne Kugler notes that during the 1670s and early 80s, the "unhappy accidents" of Cowper's life included an income insufficient to maintain the family's social status and instability in Sir William's political career - both of which exacerbated the long-standing tension between husband and wife (Kugler, pp.23-27). It is probably no coincidence that all of the volume's commonplaces concerning marriage portray the institution in a negative light. One can imagine Cowper, who would later describe living with her husband as the "Emblem of Hell", agreeing with the statement, "Marriage drives out love like curing a burn by putting it into the fire" (D/EP F29, p.7; D/EP F37, p.174). The sheer mass and variety of the material that Cowper gathers certainly suggest someone attempting to divert herself from domestic unhappiness through intellectual activity. Her sources range from the Bible and classical authors to Machiavelli and Sir Henry Wotton. Advice for living is juxtaposed with witty insults, general platitudes and characters of individual people. Some of her subject headings, such as the rather obscure "Beard", only have a few commonplaces, while "History" covers fifteen pages, juxtaposing biblical observations on the land of Canaan with the information that Queen Elizabeth was "five foot and nine inches" (p.98). Her "Poetry" section is the longest, however, ranging over twenty pages, and allowing Cowper to transcribe various kinds of verse. While Cowper displays an interest throughout her life in transcribing a range of material, it seems likely that the satisfaction she found in this particular commonplace book arose not only from the texts themselves, but from the exchange of "ideas and material" with Martin Clifford, her neighbour from 1672 to 1677. As Kugler notes, Cowper displayed a "rare fellow-feeling" for the writer, admitting many years after his death, "In vain do I wish to meet with such another old fellow as Martin Clifford. In laughing at a worthless world we should agree more than ever. Upon reflection and experience I find the same notions and sentiments about human kind as appeared in him" (Kugler pp.31, 91; D/EP F30, p.131). Cowper seems to have recorded some of these "sentiments" into her commonplace books: many of the entries have "M.C." next to them in the margin, suggesting that she received them from Clifford. In return, Cowper may have allowed Clifford to peruse her other entries. The commonplaces are written in an uncharacteristically neat hand, suggesting that she expected someone, at least, to read them.Interspersed between the commonplaces are several miscellaneous items, mostly written in Cowper's customary rapid italic. These include copies of verse satires and letters between public personages, as well as a few more private items, such as a love letter from Lady Arran to Cowper's son William, accompanied by a disdainful reply from William's second wife (pp.142-143). Since most of these interspersed items are dated between 1685 and 1710, it seems likely that Cowper gave up transcribing commonplaces in the early 80s, but periodically returned to the volume whenever she found something memorable that could fill the blank pages she had left between sections.