Integrated Affixes
In view of the rarity of more than one Christian name among
Renaissance Englishmen, it may be assumed that any signature
involving more than two letters is either a misprint—
| 1603 |
18511 |
I.O:St.G. |
For: Io[hn] St. G[eorge] |
See STC 12500 |
or a foreign name—
| 1579 |
18157 |
R. L. M. |
Robert Le Maçon |
Solutions by Fernand |
| 1579 |
18157 |
M. L. S. |
Marin Le Saux |
de Schickler |
or incorporates some type of affix. Since the LL. of Welsh surnames
is
a single unit, the principle is not violated by signatures like
"T.LL. artium Magister" (1636-21620).
Unhappily, even a two-unit signature may incorporate an affix,
although one hopes that this happens seldom:
| 1599 |
14335 |
D. B. |
D[r. Richard] B[ancroft] |
See STC 14658 |
| 1636 |
23992 |
M. C. |
M[aster Thomas] C[arre] |
This way madness lies, as is evident in the formula "doctissimo
viro D.J.S.P.D." (1636-1576), where there is only one operative
letter: "Domino J., Salutem Plurimam Dicit." Related are signatures
reflecting the formal style of lords spiritual and temporal or an
editor's informal substitute:
| 1635 |
12613 |
J. E. |
J[oseph Hall, Bishop of] E[xeter] |
| 1564 |
14591 |
M. C. |
M[atthew Parker, Archbishop of] C[anterbury] |
| 1603 |
14350 |
I. R. |
I[ames] R[ex] |
| 1593 |
21516 |
E. O. |
E[dward Vere, Earl of] O[xford] |
| 1576 |
7516 |
L. V. |
[Thomas] L[ord] V[aux] |
While frequent in occurrence, the standard prefixes are
comparatively few in number, such as Master, Doctor and Sir. The
combination Master Doctor occurs.
| [1627] |
13926 |
C. H. G. |
Captain Henry Gage |
DNB
|
| 1586 |
25438 |
D. T. C. M. |
D[octor] T. C., M[edicus] |
| 1622 |
1839 |
L. M. M. |
Lady M. M. |
| 1584 |
14373 |
M. W. F. |
Master William Fowler |
| 1608 |
19067 |
M. H. C. Esquire |
| 1609 |
7325 |
S. F. S. |
Sir Francis Stafford |
| 1608 |
19171 |
M. D. A. |
Henry Airay (my conjecture from context) |
The commendable custom of using standard abbreviations such as
Kt. protects us from a flood of suffixes. The commoner types
illustrated below will suggest other possibilities. Some can be
solved only with luck. A two-letter suffix with F[ilius] would
reflect the Continental practice of appending the father's
Christian name.
| [1631] |
18066 |
M. C. M. E |
Master Cresacre More, Esquire[5]
|
| 1581 |
18534 |
H. G. G. |
Humphrey Gifford, Gent. |
| 1595 |
23076 |
G. W. I[unior] |
Probably Whitney (Variorum Spenser) |
| 1614 |
11728 |
I. W. P. |
John Wilson, Priest |
| 1619 |
4489 |
I. G. P. |
John Gostlin, Procancellarius |
| 1619 |
17245 |
C. R. R[egin.] |
Queen's College, Oxford |
