Queen of Pedants

Yes, I want my own Tarot suit.

Bookslut links to this story about yet another possible plagiarism suit: Lewis Perdue (Daughter of God) takes on Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code), both gentlemen entirely unfamiliar to me. But, of course, what caught my eye, both in Bookslut's entry and then, when I checked the quote (like a good academic), in Book Magazine's news item, was the assertion that "An influential woman by the name of Sylvia (Greek for 'wisdom') appears in both novels."

Sylvia is not the Greek for wisdom. Sophia is the Greek for wisdom; Sylvia--or, more properly, Silvia--is the Latin for wood, as in a stand of trees. That's why the great religious edifice of Byzantium/Constantinople/Istanbul is Hagia Sophia, not Hagia Sylvia.

I assume that the mistake was Book Magazine's, but if it was the mistake of Mssrs. Brown and Perdue, then that would be pretty compelling evidence of plagiarism. Also cretinous fuckheadery, but that, alas, is not illegal.

There. I feel better now.

A visual annotation for the Wimsey novels

If you've ever wondered what Ralph Lynn looked like, and why Peter always gets compared to him, check out these pictures.

a jigsaw puzzle ad (Ralph Lynn and Glennis Lorimer)

still from Chance of a Night-Time (Ralph Lynn and Winifred Shotter)

Two South African tobacco cards, here and here (Ralph Lynn and Tom Walls). The site also features Rudolph Valentino in a powdered wig and a really stunning picture of Fay Wray. (Have I mentioned my passion for black-and-white portraiture?)

According to the IMDb, Ralph Lynn (1882-1962) appeared in twenty-two films between 1929 and 1937 (the second of the two South African tobacco cards is from his last film, For Valour). Their biography/trivia page adds that he was a stage actor who made his career playing "monocled 'silly ass' twits." And, as I thought, his first name was pronounced "Rafe."

This post is oracne's fault, for posting a reference to Rupert Brooke (and based on this portrait--which makes me think of the SCR in Gaudy Night drooling over Viscount Saint-George--you can see what the women of Bryn Mawr '17 were on about). I don't have the least idea how I got from Rupert Brooke to Ralph Lynn, but such are the mysterious inner workings of my mind.

bookkeeping

DL(2) Ch. 5: 432

Today I am Miss Short Attention Span. Can't focus, can't concentrate. Have been fidgeting about the internet, fidgeting about the house. Fidget, fidget, fidget.

So I'm letting myself off the hook. I'm going to go lie in bed with the windows open and finish reading Thief of Time. Susan Sto-Helit is far and away my favorite Pratchett character.

And then maybe I'll be able to get some work done.