An Instance of the Fingerpost
Encyclopedia
An Instance of the Fingerpost is a 1997 historical mystery novel by Iain Pears
.
is related from the contradictory points of view
of four of the characters, all of them unreliable narrator
s. The setting of the novel is 1663, just after the restoration
of the monarchy following the English Civil War
, when the authority of King Charles II
is not yet settled, and conspiracies abound.
Most of the characters are historical figures. Two of the narrators are the mathematician John Wallis and the historian Anthony Wood
. Other characters include the philosopher John Locke
, the scientists Robert Boyle
and Richard Lower, spymaster John Thurloe
, and inventor Samuel Morland
. The plot is at first centred on the death of Robert Grove but later takes in the conspiracies of John Mordaunt
and William Compton
(of Compton Wynyates
), and the politics of Henry Bennet and Lord Clarendon
. Furthermore, the characters that are fictional are nonetheless drawn from real events. The story of Sarah Blundy incorporates that of Anne Greene
, while Jack Prestcott is involved in events based on the life of Richard Willis
(of the Sealed Knot
).
The book is an epistolary novel
. The accounts are written many years after the events they describe, after Thomas Ken
gained his Bishopric but before the death of Henry Bennet. This dates them to 1685, the last year of Charles' reign.
A contrast portrayed in the novel is, on one hand, a philosophy
based on ancient and medieval
learning, and, on the other, the scientific method
that was beginning to be applied in physics, chemistry and medicine.
taken from Francis Bacon
's Novum Organum
. The first three quotations describe three of Bacon's four Idols of the mind. The fourth quotation is the source of the title. The quotation is much abbreviated, with no ellipses showing the omissions. The full text (using a slightly different translation to the book) is as follows:
In the original Latin, the term "fingerpost" is simply "cross" (crucis), echoing the decisive "crucifixion" revealed in the story:
Francis Bacon
, Novum Organum
, Book Two, "Aphorisms", Section XXXVI.
Iain Pears
Iain Pears is an English art historian, novelist and journalist. He was educated at Warwick School, Warwick, Wadham College and Wolfson College, Oxford. Before writing, he worked as a reporter for the BBC, Channel 4 and ZDF and correspondent for Reuters from 1982 to 1990 in Italy, France, UK and...
.
Synopsis
A murder in 17th-century OxfordOxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
is related from the contradictory points of view
Point of view (literature)
The narrative mode is the set of methods the author of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical story uses to convey the plot to the audience. Narration, the process of presenting the narrative, occurs because of the narrative mode...
of four of the characters, all of them unreliable narrator
Unreliable narrator
An unreliable narrator is a narrator, whether in literature, film, or theatre, whose credibility has been seriously compromised. The term was coined in 1961 by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. This narrative mode is one that can be developed by an author for a number of reasons, usually...
s. The setting of the novel is 1663, just after the restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...
of the monarchy following the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, when the authority of King Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
is not yet settled, and conspiracies abound.
Most of the characters are historical figures. Two of the narrators are the mathematician John Wallis and the historian Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood
Anthony Wood or Anthony à Wood was an English antiquary.-Early life:Anthony Wood was the fourth son of Thomas Wood , BCL of Oxford, where Anthony was born...
. Other characters include the philosopher John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, the scientists Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle FRS was a 17th century natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, and inventor, also noted for his writings in theology. He has been variously described as English, Irish, or Anglo-Irish, his father having come to Ireland from England during the time of the English plantations of...
and Richard Lower, spymaster John Thurloe
John Thurloe
John Thurloe was a secretary to the council of state in Protectorate England and spymaster for Oliver Cromwell.-Life:...
, and inventor Samuel Morland
Samuel Morland
Sir Samuel Morland, 1st Baronet , or Moreland, was a notable English academic, diplomat, spy, inventor and mathematician of the 17th century, a polymath credited with early developments in relation to computing, hydraulics and steam power.-Education:The son of Thomas Morland, the rector of...
. The plot is at first centred on the death of Robert Grove but later takes in the conspiracies of John Mordaunt
John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt
John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt was an English royalist.He was born in Lowick, the second son of John Mordaunt, 1st Earl of Peterborough and Elizabeth Howard John Mordaunt, 1st Viscount Mordaunt (18 June 1626 – 5 June 1675) was an English royalist.He was born in Lowick, the second son of John...
and William Compton
William Compton (army officer)
Sir William Compton was an English royalist army officer. He earned the name of the "godly cavalier" in 1648, from Oliver Cromwell, for his conduct at the siege of Colchester.-Life:...
(of Compton Wynyates
Compton Wynyates
Compton Wynyates is a country house in Warwickshire, England, a Grade I listed building. The Tudor period house, an example of Tudor architecture, is constructed of red brick and built around a central courtyard. It is castellated and turreted in parts. Following action in the Civil War, half...
), and the politics of Henry Bennet and Lord Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon
Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon was an English historian and statesman, and grandfather of two English monarchs, Mary II and Queen Anne.-Early life:...
. Furthermore, the characters that are fictional are nonetheless drawn from real events. The story of Sarah Blundy incorporates that of Anne Greene
Anne Greene
Anne Greene , was an English domestic servant who was accused of committing infanticide in 1650.Greene was born in 1628, in Steeple Barton, Oxfordshire. She entered the household of Sir Thomas Read of the manor house at nearby Duns Tew as a domestic servant...
, while Jack Prestcott is involved in events based on the life of Richard Willis
Richard Willis (spy)
Sir Richard Willis, 1st Baronet was a Royalist officer during the English Civil War, and a double agent working for the Parliamentarians during the Interregnum.-Biography:...
(of the Sealed Knot
Sealed Knot
The Sealed Knot was a secret Royalist association which plotted for the Restoration of the Monarchy during the English Interregnum.Its original founder members were:* John Belasyse, 1st Baron Belasyse...
).
The book is an epistolary novel
Epistolary novel
An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used. Recently, electronic "documents" such as recordings and radio, blogs, and e-mails have also come into use...
. The accounts are written many years after the events they describe, after Thomas Ken
Thomas Ken
Thomas Ken was an English cleric who was considered the most eminent of the English non-juring bishops, and one of the fathers of modern English hymnology.-Early life:...
gained his Bishopric but before the death of Henry Bennet. This dates them to 1685, the last year of Charles' reign.
A contrast portrayed in the novel is, on one hand, a philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
based on ancient and medieval
Medieval philosophy
Medieval philosophy is the philosophy in the era now known as medieval or the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD to the Renaissance in the sixteenth century...
learning, and, on the other, the scientific method
Scientific method
Scientific method refers to a body of techniques for investigating phenomena, acquiring new knowledge, or correcting and integrating previous knowledge. To be termed scientific, a method of inquiry must be based on gathering empirical and measurable evidence subject to specific principles of...
that was beginning to be applied in physics, chemistry and medicine.
The title
The four parts of the novel are preceded by EpigraphsEpigraph (literature)
In literature, an epigraph is a phrase, quotation, or poem that is set at the beginning of a document or component. The epigraph may serve as a preface, as a summary, as a counter-example, or to link the work to a wider literary canon, either to invite comparison or to enlist a conventional...
taken from Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
's Novum Organum
Novum Organum
The Novum Organum, full original title Novum Organum Scientiarum, is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon, written in Latin and published in 1620. The title translates as new instrument, i.e. new instrument of science. This is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon, which was his treatise on...
. The first three quotations describe three of Bacon's four Idols of the mind. The fourth quotation is the source of the title. The quotation is much abbreviated, with no ellipses showing the omissions. The full text (using a slightly different translation to the book) is as follows:
- Among Prerogative Instances I will put in the fourteenth place Instances of the Fingerpost, borrowing the term from the fingerposts which are set up where roads part, to indicate the several directions. These I also call Decisive and Judicial, and in some cases, Oracular and Commanding Instances. I explain them thus. When in the investigation of any nature the understanding is so balanced as to be uncertain to which of two or more natures the cause of the nature in question should be assigned on account of the frequent and ordinary concurrence of many natures, instances of the fingerpost show the union of one of the natures with the nature in question to be sure and indissoluble, of the other to be varied and separable; and thus the question is decided, and the former nature is admitted as the cause, while the latter is dismissed and rejected. Such instances afford very great light and are of high authority, the course of interpretation sometimes ending in them and being completed. Sometimes these instances of the fingerpost meet us accidentally among those already noticed, but for the most part they are new, and are expressly and designedly sought for and applied, and discovered only by earnest and active diligence.
In the original Latin, the term "fingerpost" is simply "cross" (crucis), echoing the decisive "crucifixion" revealed in the story:
- Inter praerogativas instantiarum, ponemus loco decimo quarto Instantias Crucis; translato vocabulo a Crucibus, quae erectae in biviis indicant et signant viarum separationes. ...
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans, KC was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England...
, Novum Organum
Novum Organum
The Novum Organum, full original title Novum Organum Scientiarum, is a philosophical work by Francis Bacon, written in Latin and published in 1620. The title translates as new instrument, i.e. new instrument of science. This is a reference to Aristotle's work Organon, which was his treatise on...
, Book Two, "Aphorisms", Section XXXVI.
See also
- The Siege of CandiaSiege of CandiaThe Siege of Candia was a military conflict in which Ottoman forces besieged the Venetian-ruled city and were ultimately victorious. Lasting from 1648 to 1669, it was the longest siege in history.-Background:...
- An Experiment on a Bird in the Air PumpAn Experiment on a Bird in the Air PumpAn Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump is a 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, one of a number of candlelit scenes that Wright painted during the 1760s. The painting departed from convention of the time by depicting a scientific subject in the reverential manner formerly...
- Also compare: Ann LeeAnn LeeMother Ann Lee was the leader of the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, or Shakers....