Gifted to Thomas Moore Johnson by the author of the work, Henry Wagner, M. D., on the Christmas of 1899, this book now resides in our Thomas Moore Johnson Collection of Philosophy.
In the introduction, the author states that he aims to make known – in simple terms that lay readers can understand – the nature of Truth "as viewed from the standpoint of a student of Hermetic Philosophy." The body of the text uses various supports from the Bible and ancient philosophical texts, including various beliefs of Ancient Egyptian philosophy, to support the author's proposition that there is One Truth, expressed dually in our world.
If this book entices you to begin your own investigation into the nature of Truth and philosophy, we here at Special Collections are happy to help, just stop by and see us sometime during these hot July days.
Only a few days separate us from Christmas, and at this time we especially remember people in need, and perhaps try to do something to help them. I wanted to recall a story of great generosity and humanity.
Russia, a major exporter of grain in the 19th century, in 1891-92 suffered one of the most disastrous famines in its history. It was a combination of inclement weather and severe drought that struck the Russian South. People starved, many died.
It was estimated that about 35 million people were affected. The exact death toll is not known, but Richard Robbins, an American historian, put it at about 300,000.
The government, and especially the royal family, did everything to alleviate the disaster; the Emperor himself gave half of his income, around five million rubles, to relief funds; he also appointed the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Nicolas, the future Emperor Nicolas II, as chairman of one of the major relief committees; many wealthy people generously donated money and personally participated in the relief efforts. Anton Chekhov, the famous writer who was a physician by training, went with other doctors to the regions stricken by cholera and typhus to treat the sick and needy; Leo Tolstoy collected and distributed relief donations and organized food stations for peasants.
Leo Tolstoy (center) and the relief committee
The United States responded swiftly and generously. Millers of Minneapolis organized a gift of flour; Nebraskans contributed one-and-a-half million pounds of corn meal; besides, Americans collected through charities about a million dollars in addition to several shipments of humanitarian aid. First to the Russian shores (the Baltic port of Libava, now in Latvia) came the steamer Missouri with the cargo of grain. Two more U.S. ships followed later.
The future Emperor Nicolas II said:” We are all deeply touched by the fact that America sent us ships full of foodstuff.” A special resolution prepared by the distinguished representatives of the Russian public stated: “TheUnited States show us the most moving example of brotherly feelings by sending bread to the Russian people at the time of such privation and need.”
One of the most famous marine artists, Ivan Aivazovsky, depicted the arrival of the Missouri to the Russian shores.
Ivan Aivazovsky. Arrival of the ship Missouri with grain to Russia
And here is a depiction of the joyful reception of the American help in the Russian village by the same artist.
The legend of St. Nicholas of Myra has taken so many twists and turns over the centuries that he is barely recognizable to us anymore. Instead, he has been replaced by a jolly, bearded, portly man in a red suit and cap and coal black boots. For this installation of Scripta Manent, we will trace the history of St. Nicholas/Santa Claus/Father Christmas/Kris Kingle, just in time for Christmas. The real St. Nicholas was born in Asia Minor during the third century in the city of Myra (in present-day Turkey). He was the only son of wealthy Christian parents named Epiphanius and Johanna according to some accounts and Theophanes and Nonna according to others. His wealthy parents died while Nicholas was still young and he was raised by his uncle—also named Nicholas—who was the bishop of Patara.
In 325, Nicholas attended the Council of Nicaea. There, Nicholas was a staunch anti-Arian and defender of the Orthodox Christian position that Jesus was fully divine and fully human, and one of the bishops who signed the Nicene Creed. Legend holds that he was so angry with Arius (who taught that Jesus was only a man) that Nicholas punched him in the face. However, the most famous legend associated with St. Nicholas is that of the poor man with three daughters. In the tale, the man could not afford a proper dowry for his daughters. Hearing of the poor man's plight, Nicholas decided to help him, but being too modest to help the man in public, or to save the man the humiliation of accepting charity, he went to his house under the cover of night and threw three purses (one for each daughter) filled with gold coins through the window opening into the man's house. There are different variations of the story. One has Nicholas throwing the bags down a chimney. Another embellishes the story and has a daughter’s stocking hanging over the embers of the fireplace to dry, where the bag of gold dropped straight in.
In the ensuing centuries, the story of St. Nicholas has evolved. Beloved by children all over the world, St. Nicholas/Santa Claus/Father Christmas/Kris Kringle brings gifts to good boys and girls on Christmas (and sometimes coal to bad children). However, he has not always been the most beloved of figures. In 1686, Josiah King published a pamphlet called The Examination and Tryal of Old Father Christmas. In the pamphlet, Father Christmas is put on trial by those who worry that Christmas is becoming too materialistic and too much of an excuse to party and commit debauchery. In the end, Father Christmas is acquitted of his charges, and yet he is admonished by the judge to remember that Christmas is about Jesus.
Although Father Christmas was usually thinner and wore a green coat, the modern idea of a rotund jolly man in a suit came about with the publication of A Visit from St. Nicholas by Clement Clark Moore in 1823. However, Moore’s Santa was an elf with a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer. It was Thomas Nast’s subsequent illustrations that helped cement the image of the modern Santa Claus in the minds of most Americans. The idea that Santa Claus resides at the North Pole may also be attributed to Nast. One of his illustrations is entitled “St. Claussville, N.P.” Another depicts two children drawing Santa’s route to their house from the North Pole.
One of the most famous writings involving Santa Claus came from a newspaper column in the New York Sun. Little 8-year old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor asking if there really was a Santa Claus. As her letter says, her father told her that “if [it is] in the Sun, it’s so.” Her letter was answered eloquently and reassuringly by Francis Pharcellus Church, whose line “Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” is often quoted more than a century later. It remains the most reprinted editorial ever to run in any newspaper in the English language.
In the 20th and 21st centuries, the image of Santa Claus has been used for all sorts of advertisements. The most famous may be the Coca-Cola Santa Claus, which debuted in the 1920s. During World War II, Santa was depicted with a helmet to ask Americans at home to send Christmas gifts overseas to soldiers fight in Europe and the Pacific. However, not everyone is thrilled with the overexposure of Santa Claus. Fred Rinne’s hand drawn artist book, God Santa Christ depicts Santa Claus as a creation of a consumer culture. As he writes:
Santa Christ/is the protecting god/of the consumerist economy/Belief in Santa Christ/is crucial to that/vague entity known as/"our way of life".
However, it is the spirit of giving to those in need that the original St. Nicholas represents. It is our hope here at Special Collections that this spirit touches you, dear reader, and that you intently research local and national charities before giving to those in need this season. By doing so, you keep the spirit of St. Nicholas and Santa Claus alive. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone. See you in 2013!
Just as we have left behind the Thanksgiving festivities and a Christmas dinner is not far away, we might think of table manners. Most know which fork is used for salad, which for dessert, what glass to use for champagne and what for hot mulled wine, and our children have been instructed what is done at the table and what is not… But it is interesting to see how much in common we have with the mediaeval children who were taught how to behave at the table, or rather how not to misbehave, because learning good manners was considered “better than playing the fiddle, thought that’s no harm”.
Before meals:
Wash your face and hands
Be dressed properly
Make a low curtsy or bow to your parents and wish the food may do them good
Let your betters sit before you
Say Grace before the meal, then wait a while before eating
See others served first
Take salt with your knife
Cut your bread, keep your knife sharp
At the table:
Keep your fingers and nails clean
Wipe your mouth before drinking
Behave properly
Sit upright
Remember: silence hurts no one, and is fitted for a child at table
Don’t:
Pick your teeth, or spit
Don’t fill your spoon too full
Don’t smack your lips, or gnaw the bones
Don’t scratch yourself at the table
Don’t clean your mouth or nose with the tablecloth
Don’t put your elbows on the table
Don’t belch as if you had a bean in your throat
Don’t jabber or stuff yourself
Don’t speak with your mouth full
Don’t laugh too much
After the meal don’t leave your seat before others
Adapted from:
The Lytylle Childrenes Lytil Boke, or Edyllys Be; from The Schoole of Vertue, and Booke of Good Nourture for Children by F. Seager; from The Young Children’s Book, printed from the Ashmolean MS 61 (Bodleian Library) about 1500 AD, and from The Boke of Curtasye, from Sloane MS (The British Museum), about 1460 AD.
Image from Richard Pynson’s 1526 edition of The Canterbury Tales.
