Sailors and Porn

[anteros_lmc]

A brief detour into the 17th century for two of my favourite subjects ;) I came across these two links on twitter today and they're too good not to share.

First up, the sailors....the Marine Lives initiative is described as an "innovative academic project for the collaborative transcription, linkage and enrichment of primary manuscripts, which were originated in the High Court of Admiralty, London, 1650-1669." You have to register to contribute to the transcription and annotation but there's a wealth of fascinating detail available on the public website. I can highly recommend the page on Rough Words which includes the following fabulous extract:

"the Captaine of the sayd Golden Starr in stead of showing submission to the authority of this Commonwealth being upon the Coasts of Englands as was demanded of him and is usuall did in a contemptuous manner returne skurrilous and base language and in an unbecoming and skornefull and reproach full way turned downe his breeches, and held upp his bare bumme or breech to the sayd Captaine Mill and Company, and waved his Cuttle axe bidding the sayd Captaine Mill Come to Leeward, all which this deponent saw and observed."
TNA, HCA 13/73 Part Two: Case: Grove ag:t Wood: Examination: William Best, of Corfe, Dorset, Mariner Gunners Mate, of the Peace, aged 22: Date: May 3rd, 1659

Now the porn, Agostino Carracci was an Italian painter and printmaker who was a contemporary of Carravaggio and founder of one of the first art academies in Italy, the Accademia dei Desiderosi. Carracci's masterwork is considered to be The Last Communion of St Jerome but he also had a fine line in classical porn, or "erotic engravings" as wikimedia coyly refers to them here. Have a look, they're splendid!

I came across Carracci on Andrea Zuvich's Seventeenth Century Lady blog and twitter stream after she complained about the fact that she had received a stern e-mail from Google Ads warning her to remove the sexual content from her site! Prudes.

Comments

[eglantine-br.livejournal.com]

Those are lovely. They are certainly athletic! I had to study closely some to see whose legs were whose!

I am especially glad to see Corrina and Ovid. Marlowe did a long translation of their story, which mostly seems to be Ovid whining about how Corrina is avoiding him, and sleeping with her husband.

Do you think there is any way that Archie would have seen a copy of these? Something to ponder.