Strange Beasts etc. In 1682 Ethiopia.

[Grangerous]

Gonna have to google Job Ludophus and see why and to what extent the Brits were there in 1682...

Hiob Lugolf aka Job Ludolphus was a 16th century German Orientalist whom provided colorful albeit inaccurate descript of the Kingdom of Abessinia, erroneously called the Empire of Prestor John.

Job’s illustrative accounts of nature and his discovery of the mystical rose-petal, your-grandma’s-pants, eat your pudding or I’ll slap the taste out your fresh mouth, Lakeland blends —said to have the power to ghost most any pipe—had set Hiob on his road to discovery.

His early works led to the later creation of Mixture 79, which he unceremoniously released upon an unsuspecting world.

Being himself somewhat averse to non-aromatics and as vehemently appalled by Prestor John’s well established Latakia fetish, —Job fashioned his herbal laced alternative in hiding and secrecy. His small baccy farm in eastern Ethiopia being singly responsible for the lingering tobacco scent held in the collective memory of every Playboy Bunny to ever visit Heff’s mansion.

Born in the heat of summer in 1624, Hiob (Job) Lugolf went tits-up on 8 April 1704–mercifully, the recipe for several English blends vanished with him.

 

[mawnansmiff]

If your book is from 1682 any thoughts on why is it written in English? Does it list the author and artist? How many pages is it? Also what sort of English diction is being used? I thought maybe Middle English or something but “digged up“ threw me. I wonder if it talks about when Ethiopians first started cultivating and drinking the coffee that grows wild there. Also isn’t the supposed location of The Ark of the Covenant in a church in Ethiopia that no one is allowed to enter? It will be interesting to see what topics it broaches as you share more. Thanks for taking the time.

*edit- I initially missed the 1st page so I see it shows the author and a London print. Gonna have to google Job Ludophus and see why and to what extent the Brits were there in 1682...

@Egg Shen, the diction or language of the book is typical 'early modern English' which spans roughly late 15th to late 17th centuries. As I've only briefly scanned the book I can't be more precise but I will say that in 1682 the English language as we know it was still somewhat fluid though becoming more settled.

The pagination, though erratic in places, runs to 398 pages including the fold out illustrations. Dimensions are 33.6 x 22 x 3.5cm. As to why it was written in English it wasn't, it was written in Latin and 'Englished' in 1682, presumably to reach a wider audience. Hope this answers your queries.

This is some of the blurb on the auctioneer's page...

"The land of Ethiopia had long fascinated Europeans, not merely as an exotic and foreign land full of strange beasts, as evidenced by the incredibly ferocious looking hippo portrayed in this volume ..., but also as an ancient and independent Christian empire beyond the realms of Islam which hemmed them in. It had adopted Christianity in the 4th century A.D. but had been cut off from Western Europe by the spread of Islam across northern Africa and the Middle East. "

I am currently reading a book from 1641 and there the language is much more fluid, to the point where the same word can be spelled differently in the very same paragraph!

Along with my interest in antiquarian books I have a long standing interest in the English language from its earliest times.

I recently read a very interesting book from 1934 simply called 'A Leechbook' with the subtitle being 'A Collection of Medical Recipes of the Fifteenth Century'. It is a word for word translation of a series of manuscripts dated ~1448 and the most interesting aspect of the book for me is every page has the original text with the modern translation on the opposite page. It's a real treat to see how the language has developed over time.

Regards,

Jay.

 

[Egg Shen]

@Egg Shen, the diction or language of the book is typical 'early modern English' which spans roughly late 15th to late 17th centuries. As I've only briefly scanned the book I can't be more precise but I will say that in 1682 the English language as we know it was still somewhat fluid though becoming more settled.

The pagination, though erratic in places, runs to 398 pages including the fold out illustrations. Dimensions are 33.6 x 22 x 3.5cm. As to why it was written in English it wasn't, it was written in Latin and 'Englished' in 1682, presumably to reach a wider audience. Hope this answers your queries.

This is some of the blurb on the auctioneer's page...

"The land of Ethiopia had long fascinated Europeans, not merely as an exotic and foreign land full of strange beasts, as evidenced by the incredibly ferocious looking hippo portrayed in this volume ..., but also as an ancient and independent Christian empire beyond the realms of Islam which hemmed them in. It had adopted Christianity in the 4th century A.D. but had been cut off from Western Europe by the spread of Islam across northern Africa and the Middle East. "

I am currently reading a book from 1641 and there the language is much more fluid, to the point where the same word can be spelled differently in the very same paragraph!

Along with my interest in antiquarian books I have a long standing interest in the English language from its earliest times.

I recently read a very interesting book from 1934 simply called 'A Leechbook' with the subtitle being 'A Collection of Medical Recipes of the Fifteenth Century'. It is a word for word translation of a series of manuscripts dated ~1448 and the most interesting aspect of the book for me is every page has the original text with the modern translation on the opposite page. It's a real treat to see how the language has developed over time.

Regards,

Jay.

Thank you for writing all that! Pipe smokers are an interesting lot as evidenced by this and some other posts. You’ll likely never find this sort of info on other social media or websites. Which is my problem With most people anyway: they do not seem interesting or inspired. I am enjoying the history lesson

 

[clynch]

Feces is always the correct answer for “what is the monkey throwing at….?”

So long as its not tobacco

 

[augiebd]

Fascinating piece of history, thanks for sharing Jay.