The good, the bad, and the ugly

So this, ostensibly, is the reason we are here. Being a historian specializing in English history means that the vast majority of the documents I need to look at are in the UK. This is both a blessing and a curse. London is my favorite big city in the world, and there is so much to see and do here that we couldn’t even hope to get a grip on it in the next six months. I love London. But it would also be a whole lot easier to write my dissertation if I didn’t have to travel 4,000 miles to the second most expensive city in the world to do so. Caveat emptor for those that might be considering either a trip to London or a PhD in British history (NYC ranks a paltry #15 as the most expensive city in the USA!). The distance and the expense raises the stakes quite a bit too, as I know that if I miss something I won’t be popping through again to dot my i’s and cross my t’s.

So imagine my horror when the first document I look at turns out to be this:

Safe to say this is the “ugly” of my titular post. And yes, in real life it looks this bad too. Not only did the English ambassador to Spain have some of the worst handwriting I’ve ever seen, he liked to ramble, edits like a madman, and used cheap paper that tore a lot and let the ink bleed through. I thought about crying for a moment before deciding that letting other historians in the room watch me do it might be like throwing chum in the water in a shark breeding ground (more on my not-so-friendly fellow laborers in a later post). So instead of weeping I did the next best thing: took lots of pictures of it and “saved” it for later.

Next up was the bad, which admittedly does not look that bad:

This was from the English ambassador in France, and thankfully he had much better handwriting. It is not too difficult to read, if you know how to read what is called ‘Secretary Hand’. Modern English did not (not surprisingly) always look like this. Spelling was not uniform, and neither was writing. Some people wrote in italic, which is beautiful and easy to read, but for some reason was the preserve of women and foriegners. *Insert pun of choice here* Almost all early modern Englishmen in government, diplomacy and finance used secretary hand. The easiest way to describe secretary hand is to say that is English written in another alphabet. The handwriting, or ‘hand’, is different, but so are the letters and conventions. Its kind of a cross between hieroglyphic cursive (at its best) and a second-grader learning to write while sitting in an airplane experiencing heavy turbulence (at its worst). The most familiar survivor of the secretary hand is the so called “long-s” that looks like an “f”. You know, the one in colonial American documents that always looks kind of weird. Most letters are different from the modern alphabet to varying degrees, a “d” still looks pretty much like a “d”, but this “┌” has grown a curvy tail and become a “c”. Other letters are completely alien to modern English- the closest an “h” comes to anything is modern Arabic. So even though this document is neat and tidy, the page you are looking at took me about two hours to decipher. That will become quicker with practice, but in many ways reading secretary hand is like learning to read all over again, as you decipher word by word, and sometimes letter by letter, what is sitting in front of you. And unfortunately bad handwriting is eternal, kind of like death and taxes.

JEE

The Soul of All Souls

This past Sunday, we were blessed to worship at the beautiful All Souls church in central London, home to a large, vibrant evangelical Anglican church. Under the leadership of John Stott, who served as the rector 25 years ago and who still serves as rector emeritus, this historic church grew to become a thriving part of the evangelical movement in London and the UK. Stott founded The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity , an institute which endeavors to engage actively with contemporary culture in an effort to transform it in light of Christ.

 

We took the rather indirect tube route to get to Oxford Circus, and the church was a quick walk from there. We noticed it almost immediately as we exited the underground station, since it stands as the focal point of Regent Park Street, just before the street twists dramatically to the west. The structure itself is eye-catching.

Designed by famous architect John Nash and completed in 1823, it was constructed of Bath Stone (perhaps procured through family connections, since Bath was dominated by the Nash family throughout the century). The church’s combination of Gothic and classical styles was initially ridiculed by many critics in Nash’s day, one of whom commented that the church rather resembled an “extinguisher on a flat candelstick.” Nash’s reputation has since been redeemed, and the church’s simple, elegant structure is more often the subject of praise than derision.

 

All Souls was bustling with activity as we approached, its stairs and foyer lined with young people in casual dress, visiting before the service. By the time the service began, the church was almost completely filled. We found ourselves at the heart of an amazingly international, multi-ethnic and multi-generational Christian community. Yes, I noticed a look of mild exasperation on the faces of a few of the older congregants when the third upbeat chorus featuring the trumpet section of the orchestra was played (admittedly, I was not entirely unsympathetic), but even they must have recognized the inexplicable beauty of hearing so many voices reverberate in worship through one of London’s most renowned churches. All Souls is still a house of worship, not relegated to museum status. It is a thriving community within the troubled and (arguably) dying Church of England that has a heart for the gospel and a stated mission to show grace and love to a culture and generation that are often hostile to Christianity yet seeking authenticity and meaning.

We sang a lovely, simple hymn composed by John Wesley, the third verse of which has become one of my prayers this week:

“Jesus, confirm my heart’s desire to work and speak and think for you; still let me guard the holy fire, and still in me your gift renew.”

 

I have been reflecting recently on the role of beauty in the Christian world, so the biblical passage highlighted in the sermon resonated with me in a particular way (Matthew 26:6-13). In response to His disciples’ rebuke of a woman who poured a rare and expensive vial of perfume over Jesus’s head, Jesus had something surprising and unexpected to say about the role of beauty and even extravagance in His Kingdom. It is encouraging to find that All Souls is not simply an architectural focal point in the city of London but a spiritual one as well. Let us hope that it provides the Old World with a vision of a New One.

 

Although we are seeking out churches in the Kew and Richmond area, we will no doubt return to All Souls.

 

HDE

Fashionistas, foodies, and Americans in tennis shoes

Any of you savvy readers want to take a stab at the correct pronunciation of Marylebone? You may be relieved to know that Londoners too dispute how to pronounce the name of this once outlying village of London, although there appears to be some consensus forming around the pronunciation “marre-le-bun.” Our weekend adventures took us to two of the more stylish neighborhoods in London, which were idyllic outlying parishes for much of their history but which now comprise its most sought-after high-end real estate.

 

Saturday we walked much of the area between South and High Kensington, including the open green spaces of Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. It’s a lovely area for walking and even if you can’t realistically enter many of the shops, the window displays add to the scenery. Admittedly, I felt a bit out of place traipsing about this fashionable neighborhood, which was of course hosting a high fashion special exhibit, in New Balance tennis shoes. (Guess what’s the quickest way to spot an American?) But Jason probably secretly appreciated this challenge to my vanity.

In addition to is exclusive shops and cafes, South Kensington is home to so-called Museumland in London. One of the premiere museums of London is the Victoria and Albert Museum, a museum of applied arts. We took advantage of the free admission to simply stop in for a couple exhibits. We came upon one of the perhaps more overlooked rooms in the museum, which is filled with an impressive collection of plaster casts of great sculptures and monuments. This phenomenon of making plaster casts reached its height during the Victorian era, and so it should come as no surprise that the Victoria and Albert museum was at the forefront of the movement. They have one of the last remaining cast collections of any size in the world. Most of us are less than impressed by mere replica of the real thing in a time when one can simply jet over to Rome to admire Trajan’s column rather than coming upon it by surprise in a hidden corner of a London museum (although the effect still wasn’t lost on me). But Jason and I were both fairly impressed by the effort it would have required to manufacture these

plaster copies.

 

Since our time here is turning into a food pilgrimage, I should report that we had a spectacular and plentiful lunch at a small Persian restaurant. Let it go on record that I ate the best chicken and vegetable kebobs of my life.

 

After church on Sunday, we wandered west over to Marylebone High Street (remember how to pronounce it?), which is probably one of my favorite streets encountered so far. It’s a charming and relaxed shopping street and a haven for foodies (we aren’t sure whether we should embrace this kind of label ourselves, but we do love food). We had lunch at a popular cafe in London called Le Pain Quotidien and savored bowls (not mugs) of cappuccino. Afterwards, we wandered into Daunt Bookstore, which is one of London’s more renowned booksellers. It’s housed in a space that was designed to be a bookshop in the early 1910s and which is a lovely, skylit building with stained glass and an oak staircase. It has a neat second-hand book collection as well, although it’s organized by country rather than by genre. I did come upon a cool section of Swiss travel literature and have to admit that I took home a beautiful old book of travel essays published in 1910 with many wonderful drawings and photographs. I still have a bit of a soft spot for the Swiss.

So far, we’ve ventured mostly to the west central side of London. One of these days, we’ll head toward the east side. I imagine the Cheap Eats guide may provide just the kind of incentive to get us there.

HDE

Sunny Days in Kew

Greetings from Burlington Avenue!

We’re settling into suburban life here in Kew. Of course, the London suburbs don’t resemble American suburbs. We live in a small upstairs flat (overlooking the garden) in a pretty Edwardian house that was converted into three flats. Within quick walking distance from our flat is Kew village, a picturesque little square where one can find a local hardware store, florist, pizzeria, whole foods store, butcher, fishmonger, coffee shop and other merchants. The National Archives are a quick five minute walk (so the morning commute can start quite late) as well as a gastropub where we enjoyed Sunday brunch. We decided to purchase a membership to the Royal Botanic gardens, an expansive three-hundred acre site which was created as a pleasure garden in 1731 by the eldest son of King George II. The gardens are about a seven minute walk from our flat as well, so we wandered in on Sunday afternoon; they’re abloom with yellow and purple carpets of daffodils and crocuses.

The tube is a couple minutes away. The tracks for the Oveground and Underground actually run just behind our flat, but they’re relatively unobtrusive and don’t seem to bother the foxes whose den appears to be very close to our back garden. Look forward to future posts on our favorite family of foxes; thus far their exploits have brought us endless amusement over brekkie (bear with us, we’re trying to adapt to British speak). We can spot our flat from the train when returning from London.

We’ve ventured into the city a couple of times now to brave the crowds in Covent Garden (the header photo is a partial view of the Victorian Market Hall there) and to visit the Institute for Historical Research in Bloomsbury, home of Univeristy College London and the city’s most learned quarter–which must explain Jason’s particular affection for it. We found the IHR a bit stuffy–we probably brought the average age down by about 30 years– but it offers access to many published primary sources and secondary sources and looks to be a relatively pleasant place to work. The IHR is just a couple blocks from the British Museum, so we popped into the museum for a minute and have decided to return soon to check out an exhibition on China’s first emperor, featuring the army of terracota soldiers buried with him.

For those of you who judge a city by its food, I am pleased to report that our Cheap Eats guide led us to a very tasty Korean restaurant in Bloomsbury, which has awesome Bulgogi (strips of marinated beef with vegetables and rice). We’re also becoming fans of a London pan-Asian chain called Wagamama that offers heaps of good food at good prices–always a welcome discovery in a city that really puts the hurt on the American dollar. So far Jason’s dedication to mining the London Cheap Eats guide for all its worth has paid off.

We’ll provide pictures very soon. I’m still adapting to the blogging world but hope to take full advantage of all available bells, whistles and widgets (fyi–this is techie-speak, not British-speak, an important distinction). Thanks for reading!

HDE