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2. Changes in Mottoes

Green's contribution to the study of mottoes in Choice is limited to the "Index to the Mottoes, with translations etc.," placed immediately after the "Introductory Dissertation" (pp. lxxv-lxxix) and the list of motto changes, about sixty-five in all, as part of the "Addenda" (pp. 404-405). Like the borrowing of 207 identical woodcuts from his sources, Whitney retained a vast majority of their mottoes as well. In the MS, among the 184 emblems which appear later in Choice, 155 have the same mottoes as those of their sources; in the printed edition, only 79 mottoes differ from their source emblems. Of these 11 are of minor changes. A few examples will suffice: Wh 29 "Amor in filios" from Alc (193) "Amor filiorum"; Wh 94 "Inuidiae descriptio" from Alc (71) "Inuidia"; Wh 67 "Murus aeneus, sana conscientia" from Sam 14 "Conscientia integra, laurus"; Wh 155 "Indulgentia parentum filiorum pernicies" from Fae 119 "Exitium natis parti indulgentia patrum"; Wh 158 "Post fata: vxor morosa, etiam discors" from Fae 49 "Morosa, & discors vel mortua litigat vxor." These changes involve nothing more than adding or dropping inconsequential words or verbals or replacing the originals with synonymous phrasings. For the major motto changes among emblems in the MS, Choice, and their sources, a list is provided here as Appendix IV. The eight different types of changes in varying degrees of significance may be gathered into two groups, depending on the number of times a motto change is made. Changed once from their sources are three types: those emblems in Choice but not in the MS (20 instances represented by a dash under MS in Appendix IV), those from the MS without source mottoes (4, by a dash following Per under Wdct & Motto), and those belonging to "newly devised" emblems (3, by two dashes under Wdct & Motto). Examples of the first type are mostly from Faernus, with a few of each from Montenay and Paradin; a single illustration from Faernus will suffice. Fae 128 "Alia dicunt, alia faciunt hice mortales, ait," which is less a motto than a quotation, is based on the Aesopic fable "Lupus et Mulier." The disappointed wolf is saying, "Men say one thing, do another," on his departure after having waited for the mother to fulfill her promise of throwing her crying baby to the wolf if it does not become quiet. Whitney transformed the speech into a direct moral: "In eos qui multa promittunt, & nihil praestant" (Wh 162). The most interesting change of the second type occurs in the emblem based on Per (1), which like all emblems from La Perrière contains no motto of its own. The MS describes the subject of the woodcut with "Janus quid" (fol. 52v), but Whitney changed it in Choice, accentuating the moral, to "Respice, & prospice" (Wh 108). Once more for moral specificity Whitney changed the "newly devised" MS emblem "Furius Camillus" (fol. 95) to "Habet & bellum suas leges" (Wh 112).

Also changed once but involving all three—MS, Choice, and source—are three types: Choice motto follows MS change from source (22 instances represented in the list by ibid. under MS); Choice motto differs from that in the MS which retains source motto (7, by ibid. under Wdct & Motto); Choice motto differs from that in the MS by returning to source motto (as in Wh 58, Wh 90, & Wh 171). A few examples will demonstrate the variety of ways of changing the mottoes in this group, beginning with the last type first. In the emblem of "Dolphin aground" the motto from Alc (166) "In eum qui truculentia suorum perierit" is changed in the MS (fol. 42v) to "Exilio saepè mulctantur optimè de patria meriti." Alciati's verse supports his motto by emphasizing the fact that the sea, through its many storms, causes its own, the dolphin, to perish. Although Whitney rendered Alciati's tetrastich fairly closely, he emphasized the fact of exile and applied it to men: "The raging sea, our countrie doth declaire; | The Dolphin fishe, those that exiled are. . . So famous men, that longe did beare the swaie, | haue bene exil'd, and liu'd in habit pore" (Wh 90). However, Whitney restored Alciati's motto in Choice even though the MS motto conforms more closely to his verse. As an example of the second type, the MS (fol. 21) retains the motto "Restat ex victore Orientis" from Par 53, which depicts the de casibus theme with Saladin's shirt on a lance. Following Paradin's moral: "Auertissement à tout homme, tant soit puissant & riche, qu'il lui conuient soy despouiller de tout, au pas de mort, & s'en aller aussi nù hors de ce monde, que fait le plus indigent, ou le plus poure," Whitney changed the original "Restat ex victore Orientis," which is more descriptive of Saladin's shirt in the woodcut, to the terser but more universal "Mortui diuitiae." Three examples from the first, and by far the largest, type of changes show Whitney's expanding and reducing the original mottoes once more for greater moral specificity. Wh 9 follows the MS (fol. 15v) in shortening Sam 28 "Plus quam Diomedis et Glauci permutatio" to "Experientia docet," which specifies the moral in the story of "Prince, astronomer & husbandman." Because of his experience the farmer is able to predict the weather more accurately than is the astronomer; as a result, the prince orders the two to exchange their tools of trade and says, ". . . henceforthe wee will allowe, | That learninge shall vnto Experience bowe." What Whitney did was simply to convert the last line of his verse into a brief but lucid motto, more direct than the allusive original. Instead of Par 159 "Infringit solido" Whitney expanded it to "Calumniam contra calumniatorem virtus repellit" (Wh 138a and fol. 28v) for the emblem of an arrow broken in halves when shot at a marble wall, taking his clue once more from Paradin's wordings: "Voulant calomnier un personnage, ferme, magnanime, & constant, la Calomnie retourne contre le Calomniateur. . . ." Again, the expanded motto is more explicit of the moral in its supporting verse: "So slaunders foule, and wordes like arrowes keene, | Not vertue hurtes, but turnes her foes to teene." Finally, a unique motto change takes place in Wh 140 (fol. 78), whose motto "Feriunt summos fulmina montes"

differs entirely from its source in Sam 183 "Canis queritur nimium nocere." This new motto, however, is not descriptive of the woodcut, which depicts the ban-dog being whipped by its master whereas the lap-dog being pampered by its mistress is closer to Sambucus' original motto. The source of the new motto is strangely found in the end verse to Wh 59, a quotation from Horace (Carm. 2. Od. 10): This end verse fits the moral of Wh 59 "Nimium rebus ne fide secondis" which deals with the whirlwind breaking the lofty and proud pine trees. To conform the new motto to the verse of Wh 140, Whitney added a third sextet which is not in Sambucus: Although the moral suggested by the new motto is not unrelated to the misfortune of the ban-dog, the change from Sambucus' original motto necessitates the addition of an extra sextet (more on the verse see p. 61) in order to justify the change—a sign of Whitney's conscientious workmanship.

Changed twice are nine instances which reflect Whitney's dissatisfaction with the changes from his source mottoes in the MS. A simple example is Alc (189) "Dives indoctus," which becomes in the MS, fol. 71, "In diuitem idiotam," but is changed again in Choice to "In diuitem, indoctum" (Wh 214). A more elaborate change occurs in the emblem based on Sam 198, whose motto "Fictus amicus" is made more explicit in the MS to stress the foxiness of false friendship, "Non vulpina vestis sed cor prauu sub amici specie latens, periculosissimu" (fol. 76v).[14] It is, however, changed again and simplified into Wh 124 "Amicitia fucata vitanda." Unlike the motto change in Wh 140, which Whitney borrowed from the end verse of Wh 59, Wh 58 rejects the change made by its MS counterpart, fol. 43v, "Quicquid delirant reges, plectuntr Achiui," from Sam 110 "Non dolo, sed virtute" and returns to the original with "Non dolo, sed vi." Nevertheless, Whitney retained the MS motto by quoting it as an end verse in Wh 58 and annotated it as taken from Horace (Lib. 1. Epist. 2). The most drastic modification takes place in Wh 48 "Labor irritus," which epitomizes the moral but eliminates the wordy restatement in the MS, "Fatuitas delirantium

meretrises, quibus donant quod in bonos vsus verti debeat" (fol. 68v), of the equally lengthy and allusive original in Alc (91) "Ocni effigies, de iis qui meretricibus donant, quod in bonos vsus verti debeat." Two emblems, Wh 51a and Wh 91, in this group share another feature with five others (represented in Appendix IV by quotation marks surrounding sources) which constitute the eighth and last type of motto changes: one of the changes has been traced to the motto of another emblematic source. A simple illustration will clarify this rather involved process. Wh 1 "Te stante, virebo" is identical in woodcut with that of Jun (14), whose motto "Principum opes, plebis adminicula" the MS rejects in preference to the motto of Par 72, which Wh 1 retains. Paradin's device is unframed and pictures the obelisk tipped with a crescent moon and entwined by ivy. Another example is where the MS, fol. 29v, retains the motto of its source, Par 154 "Vlterius ne tende odijs," but Wh 143 changes it to "Vindice fato," which is borrowed from Sam 206. A more complicated change is that in Wh 51a "Vitae, aut morti" with marginal reference to St. Paul's discussion of the letter versus the spirit in 2 Cor. 3:6. The MS, fol. 59a, differs, having changed the source motto "Boni adulterium" of Jun (33) into "Litera occidit," which is no doubt based on the verse from Second Corinthians. Wh 91, along with Wh 39, borrows not only its motto but also its drawing design from one emblem source in the MS, but in Choice is represented by an identical woodcut from a different emblem source. Detailed explanation of this intricate conversion process will be deferred until the next section on woodcut design. Suffice it to summarize the motto changes: all changes are in the main for the better. Whether they expand or shorten their originals, they are made usually for clarity and precision of moral and for closer conformity with the verses.