Limiting Appendages
More easily recognized and in general helpful for their valuable
clues are the standard appendages to initial signatures. First come
the designations of the universities, in such form as Oxon.
or Cantab., and of the Inns of Court. Next come the standard
degrees and related sigla, such as M.A., S.T.B., M.D., LL.B.,
L[icentiate], and for lawyers, I[uris] C[onsultus]. Since it does
not necessarily imply a university connection, the term
Theologus is troublesome. Mathematicians and
almanackmakers
using the term Philomath often had no academic training.
| 1623 |
22091 |
L. B. S. T. L. |
| 1640 |
6190 |
T. T. Phil. Cand. |
| 1633 |
13988 |
I. C. philomath. |
| 1613 |
20505 |
I. W. Theol. |
| 1636 |
21620 |
D. LL. Dr. I. C. |
| 1628 |
11992 |
C. L. I. C. Midd. Temp. |
| 1606 |
6014 |
T. C. I. C. Cantabr. Eborac[ensis] |
| 1606 |
6014 |
C. T. I. C. F. A. |
What is F. A.? |
Next come the designations of the various colleges and a few
schools. The easiest place to find these in profusion is in
university collections of complimentary verses, but here are some
others:
| 1596 |
4758 |
M. G. M. D. Ioannensis |
Matthew Gwinne |
| 1634 |
10935 |
H. B. ex A[lban] A[ula], A. M. |
Henry Beesley |
| 1600 |
23474 |
R. K., L[incoln] Col. |
Richard Kilbye |
| 1628 |
25327 |
S. B., Th.B., Sch. M[agdal.] Rectori |
Samuel Bernard |
| 1619 |
1646 |
J. E., Free-Schoole, Cranbrook |
Untraced |
| [1592] |
25695 |
M. G. T. Scholae Radclivensis Rectori |
Untraced |
Misprints may occur here as well as everywhere else:
| 1632 |
20692 |
Rich. Benefield, T. C. |
In this context
T. C. means Trinity College, but Benefield
is unrecorded at Cambridge. He was a member of Gray's Inn, and we
amend to "I. C."
There follow a variety of designations, some common like V.M. or
V[erbi] M[inister] D[ei], others rare, like P[raeli] C[orrector],
found only in Cambridge books. Place names may be grouped here. If
one encounters "H. B. Calesian," one is dealing with Henry
Bennett.
| 1620 |
13582 |
S. R. V. M. Eccl:Belg:Lond: |
Symeon Ruytinck |
| 1625 |
4477 |
R. W. Regal. P. C. |
Ralph Winterton |
| [1623] |
7376 |
M. D. V. N[obilis] G[enoa?] |
One of the most notorious of these signatures deserves notice,
if only because I believe it has been consistently misinterpreted.
Thomas
James, first Bodleian librarian, was accustomed to append
B. P.
N. to his signature, as in the imposing formula: T. I. S. T.
P[rof.] B. P. N. (1625?-14455). A reputable but reprehensible
tradition foists on James the vanity of pretending that he was
B[ono] P[ublico] N[atus].
[6] From
evidence in another of his books (1627-14457), I prefer to think
that he was more modestly claiming to be B[odleianus]
P[rotobibliothecarius] N[uperrime].
One class of appendage deserves more attention than it has
received, the Latin motto. A motto may reveal identity in two ways.
In rare instances it is a deliberate anagram of the author's name:
| 1614 |
18611 |
R. N. Non luco, subter Rosis. Robertus Nicolsonus[7]
|
| 1597 |
7193 |
E. Sc. Duris decus omen. Edmundus Scory |
|
|
Hebel's Drayton |
In other instances it may be a habitual and recognizable motto,
such as George Gascoigne's
Tam Marti quam Mercurio,
which
underlies a remarkable solution by Charles T. Prouty:
[8]
| [1575] |
24328 |
T. M. Q. |
T[am] M[arti] Q[uam Mercurio, i.e., |
|
|
|
Gascoigne] |
The following examples are offered for solution:
| 1591 |
21057 |
J. D. Tam Arte, quam Marte |
| 1586 |
10824 |
W. L. Spes & Fortuna valete |
Inner Temple |
| 1579 |
24062 |
Coelum, non Solum, W. M. |
| 1578 |
6984 |
T. N. Petit ardua virtus |
Thomas Newton? |
| 1605 |
21649 |
R. R. Malum patienti lucrum |
One may venture the precarious generalization that a long string
of letters offers more clues. Monstrous series are commoner on the
Continent, whence comes the alchemist Michael Maier's signature
(1616-667): M.M.C.P.M.D.E.E.P.C. From evidence elsewhere in the
volume this may be solved as: Comes Palatinus, Medicinae Doctor,
Eques Exemptus — you finish it! Even here there are problems:
| 1611 |
3369 |
L. A. B. V. M. |
Lord Anthony Browne, Viscount Montagu |
| 1630 |
6385 |
F. L. D. S. M. |
Father Leander de Saint Martin |
| 1573 |
19060 |
Rogatu honoratiss.viri D. H. S. W. P. |
| 1640 |
7240 |
Lady, G. O. C. K. |
No English earldom to fit |
| 1605 |
24714 |
R. Y. S. M. L. A. D. |
Recusant mask |
This last pseudonym of the translator of a Catholic book is a
mystification
suggesting something in the order of Lady Mary S. But the
dedication to the translator's mother does not imply a feminine
translator, and the mystification may merely mean a spiritual son
of the Blessed Virgin, although the mother addressed in the
dedication is the human mother. Such a series may be compound. The
signature G. B. T. H. P. to a Latin epitaph on the author
(1567-4009) probably implies verses in memory of G[ulielmus]
B[uckley] by one T.H., who according to the evidence in a later
edition (1574-22252) edited the book.
