{"id":485,"date":"2012-02-11T07:54:36","date_gmt":"2012-02-11T12:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/preserving\/?p=485"},"modified":"2012-02-11T07:54:36","modified_gmt":"2012-02-11T12:54:36","slug":"characters-curiosities-and-eccentrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/2012\/02\/11\/characters-curiosities-and-eccentrics\/","title":{"rendered":"Characters, Curiosities, and Eccentrics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

James Caulfield (1764-1826) was a printmaker noted for his illustrated books on bizarre and unusual characters in English society. He began publishing his prints around 1788, routinely reprinting them until his death in 1826. His work was picked up after his death by Henry Wilson, who republished the stories and prints for contemporary audiences. In this edition from 1869, Wilson theorizes that our persistent interest in these wonderful curiosities is a reaction to the eroding individuality caused by modern civilization. With conformity comes a yearning for idiosyncrasy. Today, Ricky Jay<\/a>, magician, actor, writer, and collector has taken the baton from Henry Wilson, publishing examples of the wonderfully strange and peculiar from his own print archives in such books as Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women, Extraordinary Exhibitions, and Celebrations of Curious Character.<\/em><\/p>\n

In Wilson’s introduction to The Book of Wonderful Characters<\/em>\u00a0he elaborates:<\/p>\n

“…men who have essentially differed from the rest of the human race, either<\/em>
\n by their having been born with some peculiar congenital defect, or<\/em>
\n possessing an eccentricity of character, which inevitably impels them to<\/em>
\n overleap and trespass from the boundaries of the beaten highway of<\/em>
\n conventional life, have been in all times eagerly sought after by the curious<\/em>
\n inquirer into human nature…We have nearly lost all, and are daily losing<\/em>
\n what little remains of, our individuality ; all people and all places seem now<\/em>
\n to be alike ; and the railways are, no doubt, the principal cause of this change.<\/em>
\n Indeed,the tendency of the present day, in England, is directly opposed to<\/em>
\n the spirit of individual exclusiveness which, as the great encourager of eccentricity of character, once prevailed over all the country.<\/em><\/p>\n

Illustrated with sixty-one full page engravings. \u00a0You may find yourself bemused, disturbed, or both.<\/p>\n

OLD BOOTS<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was blessed with such a plenitude of nose and chin,<\/em>
\n and so tenderly endearing were they, that they used<\/em>
\n to embrace each other ; and by habit, he could hold<\/em>
\n a piece of money between them.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE ASTONISHING PEDESTRIAN<\/strong><\/p>\n

Foster Powell undertook, in the year 1764, not for any wager,<\/em>
\n to walk fifty miles on the Bath road in seven hours,<\/em>
\n which he accomplished in the time, having gone the<\/em>
\n first ten miles in one hour, although encumbered with<\/em>
\n a great coat and leather breeches.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE WATER SPOUTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

Floram \u00a0Marchand was brought over from Tours to London,<\/em>
\n who professed to be able to ” turn water into wine, and at<\/em>
\n his vomitrender not only the tincture, but the strength and<\/em>
\n smell of several wines, and several waters.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

THE POSTURE MASTER<\/strong><\/p>\n

He dislocated the vertebra of his back,<\/em>
\n and other parts of the body,\u00a0such a\u00a0manner\u00a0<\/em>
\nthat Molins, the famous surgeon, before<\/em>
\n whom he appeared as a patient, was shocked\u00a0<\/em>
\n at the sight, and\u00a0would not even attempt his cure.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

EVE FLEIGEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

She was a native of the Duchy of\u00a0Cleve,\u00a0<\/em><\/em>
\nin Germany. She is said to have lived long upon<\/em>
\n no other nourishment than the smell of flowers.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
Description:<\/dt>\n
Wilson, Henry. The book of wonderful characters :memoirs and anecdotes of remarkable and eccentric persons in all ages and countries. London : J.C. Hotten, [1869].<\/dd>\n
Persistent Link:<\/dt>\n
http:\/\/nrs.harvard.edu\/urn-3:FHCL:1276382<\/a><\/dd>\n
Repository:<\/dt>\n
Widener Library<\/dd>\n
Institution:<\/dt>\n
Harvard University<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n
\n
<\/dt>\n
<\/dt>\n
<\/dt>\n
<\/dt>\n
<\/dt>\n
<\/dt>\n<\/dl>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Caulfield (1764-1826) was a printmaker noted for his illustrated books on bizarre and unusual characters in English society. He began publishing his prints around 1788, routinely reprinting them until his death in 1826. His work was picked up after his death by Henry Wilson, who republished the stories and prints for contemporary audiences. In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2559,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-485","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2559"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485"}],"version-history":[{"count":92,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":578,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485\/revisions\/578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/preserving\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}