Tuesday 14 January 1661/62

All the morning at home, Mr. Berkenshaw by appointment yesterday coming to me, and begun composition of musique, and he being gone I to settle my papers and things in my chamber, and so after dinner in the afternoon to the office, and thence to my chamber about several businesses of the office and my own, and then to supper and to bed. This day my brave vellum covers to keep pictures in, come in, which pleases me very much.

18 Annotations

First Reading

vicenzo  •  Link

Morning off, and then gets his beautiful picture album. Any guesses to the type of pictures? maybe it be for his miniatures to keep safe.

RexLeo  •  Link

"This day my brave vellum covers to keep pictures in, come in,..."

predecessor of modern day album?

JWB  •  Link

Pix
"So to dinner to my Lord Crew's with him and his Lady, and after dinner to Faithorne's, and there bought some pictures of him…” Jan2,’62.
Google Faithorne.

vicenzo  •  Link

following JBW's lead. It is an education in the art of "come on up to see me etchings" the olde excuse to seduce a young maiden. The Leads for Faithorne cover much of Art, which leads to Will: Blake Anothe famous printer poet..

johnt  •  Link

Interesting use of the word "brave". I do not recognise any such modern usage.

Australian Susan  •  Link

"began composition of musique"
Oh, Sam! Why no details?

Brian McMullen  •  Link

I have not read ahead so I also await more details of this "composition of musique". On the other hand, I have seen his portrait with the music sheet in his hand so music appears to be of immense importance to our man.

Mary  •  Link

brave.

We've met the word in this sort of context before. Splendid, handsome etc. cf. Shakespeare's "O brave new world ...."

language hat  •  Link

If anyone's interested, the Greek text at the top of JWB's Embleme link reads "mono to theo doxa": 'only to God glory' (or, in more natural English, 'glory to God alone').

Jim  •  Link

Interestingly, the Welsh language preserved this meaning of the word "brave" when we borrowed the word from either French or English- we say "Mae'n braf heddiw" to mean "it [the weather] is fine today"

vicenzo  •  Link

Mr Debne was on his knees asking for forgiveness for arresting a Privilege member and had to pay a fee for his thoughtlessness..
http://www.british-history.ac.uk/…

laoighse  •  Link

brave as an adjetive in this sense was uses in Donegal in my childhood, Sixties and I think the Scots braw must be the same, late annotation

Second Reading

Chris Squire UK  •  Link

‘brave < Italian bravo brave, gallant, fine . .
3. loosely, as a general epithet of admiration or praise: Worthy, excellent, good, ‘capital’, ‘fine’, ‘famous’, etc.; ‘an indeterminate word, used to express the superabundance of any valuable quality in men or things’ (Johnson). arch. (Cf. braw adj.)
. . b. of things.
. . 1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 104 We wil make a brave Breakfast with a piece of powdered Bief.
1798 R. Southey Eng. Eclogues ii, Here she found..a brave fire to thaw her . . ‘ [OED]

Terry Foreman  •  Link

"This day my brave vellum covers to keep pictures in, come in,..."

L&M: These do not appear to have survived.

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