Acts of being in proxies for printsPeople in the Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum, circa 1770-1830

James BakerLecturer in Digital History

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A preacher (right) leans from his pulpit to address the congregation [...] wig which is about to fall into three lighted candles, while the clerk leans forward to catch it. […] The congregation are represented by four heads and shoulders in back view [...] An ugly old crone (right) [...] A buxom young woman .

Mary Dorothy George, Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum, VIII (1947)

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PREFIX crm: <http://erlangen-crm.org/current/>PREFIX skos: <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#>PREFIX thes: <http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/thesauri/>PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>PREFIX bmo: <http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/ontology/>PREFIX thesIdentifier: <http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/>SELECT DISTINCT ?id (GROUP_CONCAT(?title; SEPARATOR = "|") as ?titles) (GROUP_CONCAT(?name; SEPARATOR = "|") as ?names) (GROUP_CONCAT(?desc; SEPARATOR = "|") as ?descs) (GROUP_CONCAT(?date; SEPARATOR = "|") as ?dates) {

?object crm:P70i_is_documented_in <http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/bibliography/294> . OPTIONAL { ?object crm:P48_has_preferred_identifier ?id }. OPTIONAL { ?object bmo:PX_physical_description ?desc } . OPTIONAL { ?object crm:P108i_was_produced_by ?prodevent. ?prodevent crm:P9_consists_of ?prodpart . ?prodpart crm:P4_has_time-span ?timespan. ?timespan rdfs:label ?date} . OPTIONAL { ?object crm:P108i_was_produced_by ?prodevent2. ?prodevent2 crm:P9_consists_of ?prodpart2 . ?prodpart2 crm:P14_carried_out_by ?creator. ?creator skos:prefLabel ?name . ?creator skos:inScheme thesIdentifier:person-institution} OPTIONAL { ?object rdfs:label ?title } }GROUP BY ?id

http://collection.britishmuseum.org/sparql

Many thanks to Owen Stephens for his invaluable assistance in the construction

of this query.

Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the

Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum

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Image and base data© Trustees of the British Museum, Creative

Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

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Counting men and women

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The 40 most common lemmatised words (excluding stop

words) in BMCSat 1770-1830

1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40

hand behind large small leg

right say dress cf king

left hold profile design old

man holding sit satire below

stand hat table lady round

inscribe arm saying long figure

wear look paper lord root

head woman fox face seat

And... title (42), John (44), Bull (54)

Figure 1

Derived data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

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Figure 2

Derive

d data

© T

ruste

es of the British

Museu

m, C

reative C

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Figure 3

Female category wordsduchessfemaleladiesladymrsmswifewomanWomen

Male category wordsboymandukehusbandlordmastermenmrsir

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Counting acts of being (speech)

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Figure 4 Derived data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

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Normalised counts of say and inscribe across time

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The 40 most common non-lemmatised words

(excluding stop words) 5L-5R of say-lemma in BMCSat

1770-1830

1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40

right fox arm bull ha

left hand holding sir aye

man inscribed holds good looking

oh behind hat say old

come head shoulder mr gentlemen

shall lord ah stands arms

looks john king pitt little

dear hands let dont poor

And... woman (43)

1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40

hand behind large small leg

right say dress cf king

left hold profile design old

man holding sit satire below

stand hat table lady round

inscribe arm saying long figure

wear look paper lord root

head woman fox face seat

The 40 most common

lemmatised words (excluding stop

words) in BMCSat 1770-1830

Derived data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

International License

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Fig

ure 5

De

rived data

©

Trustee

s of th

e British M

use

um, C

reative C

omm

ons A

ttributio

n-N

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.0

Intern

ational Lice

nse

Proximity of male and female category words to say-lemma

across time

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Figure 6Derived data

© Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

International License

Proximity of male and female

category words to say-lemma across time

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Counting men and women (again!)

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Figure 7 Derived data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Normalised counts of who is speaking over time

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Figure 8

Figure 9

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Histograms of first name variety

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Figure 9

Figure 10

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Histograms of first name variety

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Figure 10

Figure 11

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Mean of first name variety

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Figure 11 Derived data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License

Figure 6

Mean of first name variety

Proximity of male and

female words to speech

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So what does this proxy data suggest about English satirical prints circa 1770-1830?

Occurrences of men and women rise and fall, and eventually stall

Occurrences of gender words in the context of speech rise and fall out of step with these peaks and troughs

Growth in speech acts, especially speech acts from unnamed men and women

The variety of male first names rise and fall as recurring female first names grow in prominence.

This isn't (totally) unexpected. Which isn't a bad thing...

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Speech Acts

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A preacher says: "Verily I say unto Ye. Ye will be all of Lucifer's Gang, unless - Hollo! my Wig's off - G-d-n You catch it, You Son of a Bitch, or it will be burnt to a Cinder"

A woman says: "Oh! what a Cross Man to swear so! - Til never come here any More."

Another woman says: "This will be Half a Guinea in my Husband's Pocket for a New One."

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[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: property

'A Husband may Chastize his Wife with a Stick the Size of his thumb' (1782) 'Zounds Sr leave my Wife alone or I'll tell the Old Wig' (1782)'My Wife is waiting for you in the next room' (1796) {Jersey and PoW} 'now mild and gentle Sir dont be so rough do you think I would cut your throat, ravish your Wives, or plunder your house, no by Mahomet, I would not, Sacré Dieu I would not Ah Diable You'll choak me!!' (1798) 'Well Brother in Law, for so I must call you now, I am happy to see you in Town, your sister here was an excellent Housekeeper and I have made her my wife, but the worst of it is, some how or other we cannot get any children, and I must own I should like to have an Heir to my Estate' (1808) 'I am sorry Sir to intrude in this abrupt manner,— but do you know Sir you are in bed with my Wife?' (1811)'Get thee a Wife, and all will be well' (1820)

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[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: role

'This Work does not suit my Fancy. Ah William every one must be cursed that like thee takes a Politic Mad Wife' (1784)'Hide me! Hide me! Truth is hatefull to me and a Virtuous wife abhorrent to my Nature.' (1813) '(Dear Sisters) I feel great pleasure, in holding this thing 'um-bob in my hand, as we see our Sweethearts, and Husbands, are such fumblers at the main thing, we must of course take the thing, in our own hands,—we must not leave a stone unturn'd—we must exert every limb,—we must pursue the point as far as it will go, a REFORM is very much wanted (among us) though we should not put on Armour, or carry Guns, (it is my opinion) Though we should be start [sic] naked, we could make the whole Army Stand!—It is our duty as Wives to assist our Husbands in every Push and Turn, by that means we shall Increase, and Multiply, in our under takings.' (1819) 'How fortunate am I to have a Handsome and Cunning wife or I should not wear those marks of Distinction!' (1820)

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[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: looks

'Sweet wife you have seen cruel proof of this woman's strength I beg of you for your own sake to embrace your own safety and give over this attempt' (1782) 'Who wants a cure for a rusty Wife? Here's your nice Family Amusement for Winter Evenings! Who buys here' (1782)'He must be sav'd—for on my life, / He hath a very pretty wife. / And, chief commander of our Forces / You know he buys me all my horses / Pull away Fred.' (1814)

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[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: family

'O! my poor wife and Children! Murder Murder!!!' (1797) 'Sweep her out of the House how dare She insult my Wife & Family.' (1801)'Ha! my little Boney! - what do'st think of Johnny Bull now? - Plunder Old England! hayy? - ravish all our Wives & Daughters! hay - O Lord help that silly Head! - to think that Johnny Bull would ever suffer those Lanthorn Jaws to become King of Old England's Roast-Beef & Plumpudding!' (1803)'I bequeath my House and Lands to my eldest Son Dick—the rest of my property to my Wife and younger Children—I leave Six and eightpence to the Lawyer—all his gallipots and phials to the Doctor and half a years tithes to the Parson—Therefore March off Doctor!—write Lawyer!—pray parson cry Wife! and bellow Children! —for it is all over with me' (1809) 'Thirty nine? yes. three hundd & ninety! only £40 pr annm & a wife & six small children.' (1819)

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[Gg]irls?: looks

'Good heaven help me! or next the fl--c--ng Collution will stamp my dear, sweet, pretty, little Girls ------ playthings. ------ spare them Charley, for Perdita's sake' (1783)'Lord Hood is a Saint, my dear brethren, as immaculate as a new born babe; but as for Lord Townshend he'll be d------n'd to all eternity! I shudder when I tell ye he loves a pretty girl; the Opposition to a man are all fond of pretty girls! [...]' (1788)'at a fine large Girl as a Bear I fear she will be too much for me' (1791) 'Give me Age and wrinkles, your young girls are only food for children.' (1814) 'Moy Dear Mrs Humbug where we go to Cool ourselve dis hot Weader? dos make vone so Melt moy Loavely little Girl' (1818)'Eh h—h my dear Sir Should be particularly happy to do any thing in my power for — a D—d fine Girl as I was saying—do you know her eh?—pon honor must follow her—can't stay now—be particularly attentive when Elected,—always mind what's told me by—by the D—s.' (1819)

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[Hh]usbands?: property & looks

'B------t your Cowardly Spirit I'll Kick you to Hell, what I suppose you was frightened at their Naked A------sses. Get out of my sight, or I'll send you and your Army------after my Husband' (1792) 'My husband is a very old Man which will have a great weight with a jury.' (1796) 'We have got all her Husbands property so she has nothing worth staying behind for Captain?' (1812)'Thou shalt not commit Adultery.—Put no faith in a woman that is wife to another; for she who is not constant to her husband will never be so to you,—for she who hath her husband to deceive every day, can deceive a gallant at leisure!' (1818)'Never mind my husbands nasty dung—come this way Mr B, & I'll show you my Grotto & Waterfall!' (1819)

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[Hh]usbands?: action

'all the fashion . . . my Husband allows me a new suit a Year' (1797)'Aye the upper part will do very well, many a husband will bless me for introducing these Stays' (1798)'Now we are at Peace, if my Husband does take a drop extraordinary, I dont so much mind, but when he was at War he was always grumbling. Bless me how tiresome the old breeches are to mend, no wonder he wore them out, for he had always his hands in his pockets, for something, or other.' (1802) 'Oh dear! if this is the deligt's of Love I am surfeited already, to be sure few husbands disturb their wives rest more than mine does, but it's with starting & kicking in his sleep & crying have mercy on me. I suppose Josephine used to worry him so. bless me what a smell of brimstone there is!' (1810)

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[Bb]oys?: action

'My Indian Schemes of wealth & I must fall, But that this Boy should ride me's Worst of all' (1784) 'Wine is the Liquor of Life - Here my brave Boys - Fill every Glass. His tray is inscribed Patron . . (?) of Polite Art' (1788)'Ah Boy, remember how I fell, You'll suffer by the self same Snare I'll take my Bible Oath.' (1802)'Are not you asham'd of your Self to See all the great boys laughing at you you aught to be you are old enough but I am afraid you have no Shame in you' (1809) 'Down with 'em! Chop 'em down! My brave boys! give them no quarter, they want to take our Beef & Pudding from us!—& remember the more you Kill the less poor rates you'll have to pay so go it Lads show your Courage & your Loyalty!' (1819)

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[Bb]oys?: property & looks

'Taffy - when the Island's ours - my brave Boy - I - I'll be King - and you shall be Viceroy' (1784) 'I never was so ashamed of any thing in my life - all the little boys hoot at me I believe I must give it up after all.' (1797)'There my Boy is an Ambassador who will treat with you in your own way, but I say be as gentle with him as you can.' (1803) 'Come along my little boys thats my Darlings.' (1807)'Here's Ballast my Boys.' (1814) 'See! My Lords a bouncing boy—all square & above board not a trick throughout the business— a fine bouncing boy you see!!!' (1816) 'Pull away my boy pull away! my Rib wanted to wear mine but they would not Fit her!! hold fast M'c!!!' (1816) 'take care you dont be looking into the smutty caricature shops ... mind you attend to her Ladyships Flue, and give her satisfaction, to convince her by practical Experience - That in spite of Doctor Bug-backs noise/ There's no machine like Climbing Boys' (1829)

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But...

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'Structuralist Digital Methods. Post-Structuralist Humanities', Matthew K. Gold (ed), Debates in the Digital Humanities 2017 (University of Minnesota Press, forthcoming 2017)

Start out as a positivist, end as a critical theorist, then go back around in a recursive process. Don’t be ashamed to be a positivist in the initial stages of data collection, data structuring, and data mining, for digital methods are impossible to use without developing a positivist-for-now mindset: throw the digital sink at a problem and see what sticks. However, with the benefit of a decades’ long dialectic behind us, one needn’t stay a positivist. After the initial application of structuralist methods comes a criticism of one’s own work that is very much informed by current post-structuralist theory. Uncover problems, undermine assumptions, re-think the categorizations that supported the initial data collection, and with a bit of luck, once all the checks and balances have corrected an initially positivist endeavour, this two-step dance of structuralist and post-structuralist methodologies will yield results – as if a cliometrician had had her work peer reviewed by Michel Foucault or Julia Kristeva (and even if the lucks runs out, if the dance reduces our data to rubble, we have a failure – what Willard McCarty calls our (that is, scholarship's) 'most important product' – on which to build) Not a synthesis exactly, but a critically informed project that nevertheless remains grounded in quantitative, replicable data.

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Thank you!James Baker

Lecturer in Digital History@j_w_baker

Code, viz, data: github.com/drjwbaker/2015-09_Mining-UtrechtDeck: slideshare.net/drjwbaker

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Exceptions: quotations, embeds from external sources, logos, and marked images.