Reponse

Mucus in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at Vanløse Bibliotek. 

Rorschach

Mucus in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger (Borgen, 2004) 2. danish edition. Copy at Vanløse Bibliotek. Stamped "Biblioteket Ørnevej" on the title page. 

Mucus

Mucus in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at Bibliotekshuset Rhodosvej, Amager.

Dog Ears

in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger (Borgen, 2004) 2. danish edition. Copy at Vanløse Bibliotek. Stamped "Biblioteket Ørnevej" on the title page. Not only was there two copies present at the open shelfs when we visited the library in Vanløse, furthermore — even — was this copy placed on a shelf with the sign: "Good Reading". 

The Straight Line 3

Another straight line. In: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger, Rosinante & Co., 2011

The Straight Line 2

A second straight line in: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Penguin Classics, 1986.

! !

in: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Oxford World Classics, 2000.

Not urgent here

in: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Oxford World Classics, 2000.

The Plot Lines

in:
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Oxford World's Classics, 2009. Copy at York Central Library.

The Lines of Digressions

in:
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Everyman's Library, 1991 at York Central Library.

Digression #2

in: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Oxford World Classics, 2000.

Digression

"Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine;——they are the life, the soul of reading!—take them out of this book, for instance,—you might as well take the book along with them;—one cold eternal winter would reign in every page of it; restore them to the writer;—he steps forth like a bridegroom,—bids All-hail; brings in variety, and forbids the appetite to fail."
in: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Oxford World Classics, 2000.

Your own fancy

Half erased drawing "paint her to your own mind——as like your mistress as you can——as unlike your wife as your conscience will let you—’tis all one to me——please but your own fancy in it." in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Oxford World Classics, 2000. —B brought this copy back from an Antiquarian booksellers outdoor box in Amsterdam.

"Fetch me the Packaging Tape

—and let me fix that". —might the previous owner of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Volume I-III, T. Cadell. London, 1794 — have said, when the back board of Volume I  — at last — fell of the spine.

Back to the future

"I am, The AUTHOR." ——In the copy: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman Volume I-III T. Cadell. London, 1794, from Aabenhus Antikvariat, we also found, in Book Nine (Vol. III) this signature below the Authors dedication to "A Great Man" (Lord *******) —Either Sterne,—The AUTHOR—has been traveling in time —or someone else— perhaps the bookbinder — has been practising skills in writing authors signatures in books. 

What is obscured...

... in

"The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Sterne, Laurence

Published by T Cadell, London (1794)
Item Description: T Cadell, London, 1794. Full-Leather. Book Condition: Very Good. 3 volumes, (iv) 26-347: 299; 234pp, contemporary tree calf (slightly worn), joints cracked or starting, gilt ruled spines with black morocco labels, pp 327 & 328 in vol 1 (O8) have been pasted over with marbled paper (however chapter 36 ends on p326 and chapter 37 starts on p329 so it is not clear what is obscured), some light spotting and browning, 12mo (10.5x17.5cm). Bookseller Inventory # 10008"

we found out in the copy of the very same edition:

"Sterne, Lawrence: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy Gentleman Volume I-III "T. Cadell. Published in London 1794. (4)+ pp25-347; (2)+299; (1)+234 s. Bound in 3 later (ca. 1860), defective calf spine bindings, spines gilt. Former owner's signatures removed by rubbing. Text blocks tight. Some foxing to contents. Vol 2 wateredged. ¶ Vol I lacking pp 1-24. So the book contains title, dedication leaf and then streight to Chapter 1. We are not shure that something is really missing ... !

allerede solgt · spørg Aabenhus Aarhus Antikvariat, Århus C (DK) · ABH143909 ·"

So, it seems that the printer of the 1794 Cadell edition left it to the bookbinder, to cover the pages with "the best marbled paper" in his stock. But in this, he did not. ———"Pox take the fellow!"*

*) http://sterneetcetera.blogspot.dk/2015/07/small-curses-upon-great-occasions.html

...it is not clear what is obscured

The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman

Sterne, Laurence

Published by T Cadell, London (1794)

Item Description: T Cadell, London, 1794. Full-Leather. Book Condition: Very Good. 3 volumes, (iv) 26-347: 299; 234pp, contemporary tree calf (slightly worn), joints cracked or starting, gilt ruled spines with black morocco labels, pp 327 & 328 in vol 1 (O8) have been pasted over with marbled paper (however chapter 36 ends on p326 and chapter 37 starts on p329 so it is not clear what is obscured), some light spotting and browning, 12mo (10.5x17.5cm). Bookseller Inventory # 10008

Calculation

in:
The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Leipzig 1849.

The Nose #3

"[...] Nature had been prodigal in her gifts to my father beyond measure, and had sown the seeds of verbal criticism as deep within him, as she had done the seeds of all other knowledge———so that he had got out his penknife, and was trying experiments upon the sentence, to see if he could not scratch some better sense into it.——I’ve got within a single letter, brother Toby, cried my father, of Erasmus his mystic meaning.—You are near enough, brother, replied my uncle, in all conscience.———Pshaw! cried my father, scratching on——I might as well be seven miles off.—I’ve done it—said my father, snapping his fingers—See, my dear brother Toby, how I have mended the sense.——But you have marr’d a word, replied my uncle Toby.——My father put on his spectacles——bit his lip———and tore out the leaf in a passion."

The Nose #2

"[...]——Learned men, brother Toby, don’t write dialogues upon long noses for nothing.———I’ll study the mystick and the allegorick sense——here is some room to turn a man’s self in, brother.

My father read on.———Now I find it needful to inform your reverences and worships, that besides the many nautical uses of long noses enumerated by Erasmus, the dialogist affirmeth that a long nose is not without its domestic conveniencies also; for that in a case of distress—and for want of a pair of bellows, it will do excellently well, ad ixcitandum focum (to stir up the fire)."

The Nose

On Joseph Nollekens Marble bust of Sterne (1766) we see that:

“Nihil me pœnitet hujus nasi,” quoth Pamphagus;——that is—“My nose has been the making of me.”—————“Nec est cur pœniteat,” replies Cocles; that is, “How the duce should such a nose fail?”

The scull

In Coxwold, in the porch at St. Michaels Church, next to the epitaphstone*, we found this framed facsimile clipping from The Times on Thursday June the 5th 1969, on the reburied scull — and nearby found skeletal bones — in Coxwold. One thing further — among many others — for us to ponder upon: Tristrams nose, as well as his fathers — and his great grandfathers, that was shaped like an ace of clubs — was quite diminutive. But what about Sterne? Was he just as flat-nosed?

*)http://sterneetcetera.blogspot.dk/2015/08/sternes-stones.html

The Straight Line

Straight line in: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy MacDonald Illustrated Classics Series.
"This right line,—the path-way for Christians to walk in! say divines——

——The emblem of moral rectitude! says Cicero——

——The best line! say cabbage planters——is the shortest line, says Archimedes, which can be drawn from one given point to another.——

I wish your ladyships would lay this matter to heart, in your next birth-day suits!

——What a journey!

Pray can you tell me,—that is, without anger, before I write my chapter upon straight lines——by what mistake——who told them so——or how it has come to pass, that your men of wit and genius have all along confounded this line, with the line of gravitation?"

MacDonald

In York, in another Antiquarian bookstore — on our way to Coxwold —  we found this edition of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy published in the MacDonald Illustrated Classics Series. 50 pee, only. With cover in red fablea binding, with title and decorations in 'gold leaf' — (Fablea: danish word for leatherine; artificial leather, created of the two english words 'fabric' and 'leather'.  The later discovery of the absent of the title page, explained somehow this a-little-bit-too-good bargain.

The Emblem of My Work

The marbled page in Tristram Shandy. Everyman’s Library no. 617. The Aldine Press. London, 1959. 

Smoking and reading

Burnmark in Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy. Everyman’s Library no. 617 (fiction) London J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. New York E.P. Dutton & Co Inc. The Aldine Press. London, 1959. Purchased in Århus at Aabenhus Antikvariat.  

X

An X in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, Leipzig 1849. 

Leipzig

Neatly foxed copy of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. By the Rev. Laurence Sterne, M.A. Printed in Leipzig 1849 by Bernh. Tauchnitz Jun. as "Vol. CLIII. in Collection of British Autors." apparently in original language. Purchased in Copenhagen at one of Vangsgaards "Dutch Sales" (50,- kr.).  — A very tight "rolled" edition; one volume, 502 pages, no black page, no marbled page. And not in nine books, but in CCCXII chapters. 

The Asses' Club

In the 1897 edition of A Sentimental Journey, that was purchased from a Antiquarian bookstore in York* — on the expeditions way to Coxwold — was found a clipping from a newspaper (1910?)— used as bookmark —  "Our Own Correspondent" reports on a curious dinnerparty in Paris. — The menu in itself: "Potage Cock and Bull; Saucissons de l’Ane Mort; Audouillettes de l’Abesse Dada (hobbyhorse) de l’Oncle Toby; Langue de Samsonnet; Haricots Lafleur; Bombe du Corporal Trim; fromage Sentimental; Marrons Phutatorius. As vines “Clos Yorick” and “Château du Roi de Bohème,” or, in other words, water, were served."  — made us certainly wish, that we could have been able to attend there. Instead we were in York presented for the full english breakfast — "Bless you", said the waitress while serving; fried eggs, bacon; fried sausages; fried portobello; fried tomatoes and — alas — the black sausage. 

*) http://sterneetcetera.blogspot.dk/2015/08/the-sentimental-journey.html.

The Great Grandfather

The expedition to Coxwold also lead us to the Minster of York where we had the the chance to revere Sterne's great grandfather the archbishop Richard Sterne (1596-1683). The memorial are located in the choiraisle and depicts the archbishop in a quite "trés chic" positura. Later that day we attended the evensong in the minster, but that is another — and longer —  story, that might follow. 

Errata sheet

The quite comprehensive errata sheet in the 1st. danish complete ed. of Tristram Shandys levned og meninger (Borgen, 1976) are, despite the publishers assumed cursing on the printer, a beautiful feature in the edition. Very shandean. The Borgen, 1976 ed. was printed by The Whitefriars Press in London — which might explain the extensive erratum. Mint copy from 2nd hand shop in Århus. 

! 4

Exclamation mark in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at the Main Library in Copenhagen. 

! 3

Exclamation mark in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at the Main Library in Copenhagen. 

! 2

Exclamation mark in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at the Main Library in Copenhagen. 

!

Exclamation mark in: Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at the Main Library in Århus. 

Exclamation mark [!] [eks.kləˈmeɪ.ʃənˌmɑːk]:

The modern graphical representation of the exclamation mark is believed to have been born in the Middle Ages. The Medieval copyists used to write at the end of a sentence the Latin word io to indicate joy. The word io meant hurray. Along time, the i moved above the o, and the o became smaller, becoming a point.

The exclamation mark was first introduced into English printing in the 15th century to show emphasis, and was called the "sign of admiration or exclamation" or the "note of admiration" until the mid-17th century; admiration referred to its Latin sense of wonderment.

The exclamation mark did not have its own dedicated key on standard manual typewriters before the 1970s. Instead, one typed a period, backspaced, and typed an apostrophe. In the 1950s, secretarial dictation and typesetting manuals in America referred to the mark as "bang," perhaps from comic books where the ! appeared in dialogue balloons to represent a gun being fired, although the nickname probably emerged from letterpress printing.

The Sentimental Journey

This 1897 edition of A Sentimental Journey, purchased from a Yorkian Antiquarian, announces on the publishers binding, that this is The Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne. Though, inside the book the title page states A Sentimental Journey. — "Pox take the fellow!": http://sterneetcetera.blogspot.dk/2015/07/tristam-tristram.html

Alas, poor Yorick!

— "Then everything turns black!" — Black page in The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman. Penguin Classics. London, 2003. Copy at the Main Library in Copenhagen. 

Sternes stones 2

In 1893 a second stone was erected on Sternes assumed grave at St George’s Field Burial Ground, London. The stone corrects some factual errors on the first stone (the date of death) This photo shoving the first and the second stone at St George’s Field Burial Ground is found in Shelly, Henry C.: Untrodden English Ways. Boston, 1908. Shelly writes: "Although the grave of Laurence Sterne is within a stone's throw of one of the most crowded thoroughfares of London, there are few save Americans who turn aside from the stream of life in Bayswater Road to gaze upon his resting-place in the St. George's burial-ground. He had boasted in "Tristram Shandy" that his preference would be to die in an inn, untroubled by the presence and services of his friends; yet when, in his London lodgings, he began to realize that death might be near, he pined for his daughter Lydia to nurse him. Only a hired nurse and a footman stood by Sterne's deathbed. The latter had been sent to inquire after the health of the famous author, and, being told by the landlady of the house to go upstairs and see for himself, he reached the death-chamber just as Sterne was passing away. Putting up his hand as though to ward off a blow, he ejaculated, "Now it is come," and so died. The story goes that even as he was dying, the nurse was busy possessing herself of the gold sleeve-links from his wrists.

Despite the fame he had won, only two mourners followed Sterne to his grave. But other eyes, it seems, watched the burial; for it is affirmed that two days later the body was taken from the grave and sold to a professor of anatomy for dissection. Only an accident revealed the identity of the "subject." Happening to have some friends visiting him at the time, the professor invited them to witness a demonstration, and on their following him to his surgery one of them was horrified to recognize in the partially dissected corpse the features of his friend Laurence Sterne. Such is the story, and most authorities agree in thinking it likely to be true. Perhaps it was not unknown to the two masons who erected the first stone over the grave, for their inscription began with the significant words, "Near to this place lies the body," etc. How near, or how far away, the actual remains of Sterne at length found a resting-place will probably never be known."

Sternes stones

When Sterne died in London of consumption, he was buried at the St George’s Field Burial Ground. Two days after the burial, it is said, Sterne’s body was stolen from the grave, and sold to the anatomist at the Cambridge University for dissection. Someone recognised the corpse as being Sterne, in some versions of the story it was a student, in others a friend of the anatomist, in others a member of the public who was paying to see a public dissection. — Sterne’s corpse was discretely returned to St George’s Field, and two years later two freemasons erected this memorial stone near to his original burial place. The text says that although Sterne wasn't a member of their society, he might have been, if just he has lived a bit longer. The stone also states that Sterne died the 13. sep. 1768 — even that Sterne actual died 6 month earlier on the 18. march that year — The stone was in 1969, along with Sternes scull and the nearby found skeletal bones, moved to Coxwold and reburied. The epitaphstone was hanged in the porch at St. Michaels Church in Coxwold.

Fly

"—being determined as long as I live or write (which in my case means the same thing) never to give the honest gentleman a worse word or a worse wish than my uncle Toby gave the fly which buzz’d about his nose all dinner-time,———"Go,—go, poor devil," quoth he,—"get thee gone,—why should I hurt thee? This world is surely wide enough to hold both thee and me.""
A dried wing from a musca domestica in Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy sold from Åby Library. (10 kr.)

Nose-picking

A precedent readers mucus. In Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at the Main Library in Copenhagen.

Ak, stakkels Yorick!

Readers marginalia in Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1st. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976). Copy at the Main Library in Copenhagen. "Så går alt i sort!" (Then everything turns black!)

Ark in York

Recognisable yes, but quite different; our friends ARK back home in Århus has somehow managed to 'gestalt' themself here in York. And there are 50% off. Even. 

http://arkmappen.dk/

* in York

We spend some days in York on our expedition to Coxwold, taking a stroll on the old defensing wall, that surrounds the city of York, we found a very nice and recognisable engraving in the pavement: *

http://forlagetasterisk.blogspot.dk/

Bookstore for rent

On our way to Coxwold the expedition also lead us to York. In Stonegate we found the bookshop where J. Hinxmann —"Successor to the late mr. Hildyard" — in 1759 sold the first copies of The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gent. — "Printed on Superfine Writing Paper and a new Letter, In Two Volumes. Five Shillings, neatly bound."
Above the entrance hangs a wooden book "Holy Bible 1682." Otherwise the store looked quite empty, and there will probably open some kind of fashion shop or haberdasher here within so soon.

Coffee or tea

If this copy was seen in York — or for this sake in the whole Britain — we would — after our recent expedition to Coxwold — surely say that this stain would be a stain of tea (Earl Grey). But since it appears in the danish edition Tristram Shandys levned og meninger (Borgen, 1976) sold from Holbæk Library — we more believe it is coffee. Though — since the Borgen 1976 edition was printed by The Whitefriars Press in London — we are not absolutely sure. 

Dedication

Dedication "to Bente from Paul" in a 2001 Penguin edition of A Sentimental Journey. The book was found in a second-hand shop in Århus among several other Sterne related titles, all with the inscription "BAM" at the halftitle-page. Bente Ahlers Møller translated the very first complete danish edition of Tristram Shandy in 1976. Paul Goring edited the 2001 Penguin edition of A Sentimental Journey.

Reading Sterne

Reading: "Alas, poor YORICK!" in Tristram Shandys levned og meninger 1. danish ed. (Borgen, 1976) at Sternes grave at the churchyard in Coxwold. Actually, it is not the whole corpse of Sterne that is resting here; in 1969 was here reburied, what "as sure as it could be" is Sternes scull and some assorted bones.

Bleached by the sun

A nice copy of Laurence Sterne A Political Romance facsimile edition by Scolar Press, 1971,

with sun bleached backcover. The initials BAM and Shandy Hall 75 written in pencil on the halftitle page.