Transcribing or Translating? 52 Ancestors 2023 Prompt “Translation”

 

Transcribing a Late 1600s Handwritten Text Can Almost Feel Like Translating

The Commonplace Book of Francis Dane: Book Written Between 1648-1697
Francis Dane: 1615-1697 (Maternal 8^th Great-Grandfather)

 

I first wrote about Francis Dane’s Commonplace book three years ago, shortly after I had discovered that it had been digitized and uploaded online by the NEHGS. I had originally intended to begin transcribing it immediately, overconfident of my ability to read his tiny cursive letters formed by a quill and brownish-colored ink. However, I quickly became discouraged and didn’t return to the project until this year. I’m sure there are more experienced scholars working on a complete transcription, but as yet they have not made their work accessible online, so I have started my own transcription, with a goal of one image per week.

Image 72 from the Commonplace Book shows Rev. Dane's cramped handwriting

          

I know that this doesn’t quite fit the prompt of “translation”, but often I feel I am a translator—Rev. Dane used symbols and abbreviations that are no longer in use, such as a circle with a dot over it, or an upside-down heart shape.

"K squiggle h" means Kingdom of Heaven. 

 Spelling was prone to change and often included extra letters that we no longer use—such as a terminal “e” after alle sortes of wordes. He used “Jesus x” to mean Jesus Christ.

Center line reading "Ada. Jes x dying" translates to "Adam, Jesus Christ dying"

I have also learned several things that call into question the prevailing school of thought about Dane’s use of the book. It was originally described as a compilation of quotes from other writers, but I find that many of the passages appear to be Dane’s own compositions, including numerous poems. Most of the poetry features religious themes—he may have read them to his congregation in lieu of sermons. He used both a traditional abab rhyme scheme, but also employed the Shakespearean “Venus and Adonis” rhyme scheme of abab cc. Rev. Dane didn’t always use Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter, but he was obviously familiar with that type of poetry.

I tried googling passages from his poems to see if they truly were someone else’s work that Dane was merely copying. I only was able to find one immensely long poem that appears to be a copy. And this piece offered its own curiosities.

Verses 7-10 in the 1677 printed publication of Urian Oakes' Elegy to Rev. Shepard.

In 1649, one of the most renowned ministers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Rev. Thomas Shepard, died at the young age of 44 of quinsy, a serious infection that can arise from tonsillitis. He was minister both of the First Church of Cambridge and of the newly formed Harvard University. His friend and president of Harvard, Urian Oakes, wrote a long elegiac poem in his honor. The poem is a passionate ode to friendship and heaps great praise upon the lost Rev. Shepard. Rev. Dane copied the entire poem into his Commonplace Book, properly crediting the author.

Rev. Dane's copy of verses 7-10 from Oakes' poem

I was left with several questions. The poem was published in print in 1677, presumably years after Oakes originally wrote the poem. Rev. Dane kept his commonplace book between 1648 and his death in 1697. It appears he copied Oakes’ Elegy in 1677, as he included that date near the heading of the poem. Also, the poem begins on Image 147, about halfway through his book, so midway between 1648 and 1697. How did Rev. Dane come across the poem? I doubt he owned the printed booklet of the poem himself, otherwise why copy it in full into his commonplace book? Someone else must have shared the booklet with him. Someone in his community of Andover?

Year of 1677 visible in lower left of Dedication section of Dane's copy of Oakes' poem

Did Rev. Dane personally know Rev. Shepard or Mr. Oakes? Could that be why he made the effort to copy this long work? Did Rev. Dane ever correspond Rev. Shepard since they shared a profession? Did Rev. Dane travel from his home in Andover to Cambridge—a distance of 23 miles-- at all? How often did colonists travel between towns in the late 1600s? What sort of relationship did the educated colonists have with one another?

Attribution of the poem's authorship to Rev Urian Oakes, written just below last line of Verse 52

Attribution of poem to author Urian Oakes written next to the poem's preamble

Sadly, I likely will never be able to answer my questions. All I know with any certainty is that Rev. Dane admired Mr. Oakes’ poem enough to copy all 52 verses along with the five-verse preamble, and that he did it with great accuracy.

I am glad that my “translation” work led me to the poem and the story of Urian Oakes’ friendship with Rev. Shepard. It gave me greater understanding of the thoughts of educated colonists like Oakes, Shepard, and Rev. Dane, along with a greater understanding of their deep faith. I look forward to further discoveries as I progress, page by page, through my eighth-great-grandfather’s far-from-common Commonplace Book.

 

Sources:

Description of the conservation and digitization of the Commonplace Book of Francis Dane. “Compiling Knowledge” by Timothy Salls. https://vitabrevis.americanancestors.org/2017/12/compiling-knowledge/

An elegie upon the death of the Reverend Mr. Thomas Shepard, late teacher of the church at Charlstown in New-England:Oakes, Urian, 1631-1681. Cambridge [Mass.],: Printed by Samuel Green., 1677. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/e/eebo2/B09610.0001.001?rgn=main;view=fulltext

List of works by Thomas Shepard, often with Urian Oakes as co-author. https://ota.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repository/xmlui/browse?value=Shepard,%20Thomas,%201635-1677.&type=author

Stout, Harry S. “University Men in New England 1620-1660: A Demographic Analysis.” The Journal of Interdisciplinary History 4, no. 3 (1974): 375–400. https://doi.org/10.2307/202483..

Neuman, Meredith Marie. “The Versified Lives of Unknown Puritans.” The Papers of the Bibliographical Society of America 107, no. 3 (2013): 355–66. https://doi.org/10.1086/680808.

 Fuess, Claude Moore. “Witches at Andover.” Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society 70 (1950): 8–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25080438.