Looking back from 2022
A decade has passed since I wrote that first piece and I'd been looking for an image of Caroline Herschel to add to it (I didn't include one originally – not sure why) and I'm aware that my wonderment at the internet is undiminished – it's ability to provide interesting information so readily. Arguably I'm more aware now of its negative traits – misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, bullying, abuse – but the positive qualities still amaze me.
In this case, it's the fact that I can access the 'Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel' – in one of the many online book projects – and read it in full [ HERE … ]
And secondly, it's the accessibility of such a rich, seemingly bottomless reservoir of information and detail – trivia to some, fascinating to others – in this case, related to the frontispiece of the book (shown in full below).
Frontispiece to:
Memoir and Correspondence of Caroline Herschel
By Caroline Lucretia Herschel (1750-1848)
Edited by Mrs. John Herschel ( -1876)
John Murray, Albemarle Street 1876
I noticed that it uses two different ways to address the women – the eponymous Caroline has no title whereas the editor (possibily her niece-in-law) is ascribed as 'Mrs John' – and, in the way that one's mind can work, this prompted a half-remembered 'fact' that Ian had mentioned. So, cutting the story short, we found the relevant item on the internet – strictly, it's the review of a paper in an academic journal – from the research of Dr. Amy Erickson entitled 'Mistress, Miss, Mrs or Ms: untangling the shifting history of titles' which addresses the conundrum [ HERE … ]
I'm not sure I've heard (or used) the term 'Silver Surfer' since I wrote it a decade ago. But it still is a very good time to be one.