Coryat's Crudities
Encyclopedia
Coryat's Crudities: Hastily gobled up in Five Moneth's Travels is a travelogue published in 1611 by Thomas Coryat
of Odcombe
, an English
traveller and mild eccentric.
, Italy
, Germany
, and other Europe
an countries by Thomas Coryat of Odcombe. Among other things, it introduced the use of the fork
to England
and, in its support of continental travel, helped to popularize the idea of the Grand Tour
that rose in popularity later in the century. It represents a contemporary account of the music of Giovanni Gabrieli performed in the Scuola di San Rocco. It was likely the earliest English rendering of the legend of William Tell. It was only twice reprinted before modern facsimiles (1776 & 1905, those including the later trip to Persia & India, where Coryat died), and the first edition is quite rare today.
Coryat (sometimes also spelled "Coryate" or "Coriat") conceived of the 1,975-mile (3,175 km) voyage to Venice
and back in order to write the subsequent travelogue dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales, at whose court he was regarded as somewhat of a buffoon and jester, rather than the wit
and intellectual he considered himself. The extent to which Coryat invited such ridicule in pursuit of patronage and court favor is unclear. The title, however, implies the use of crudity related to "imperfectly digested" or "indigestible" (Oxford English Dictionary
).
s. Further, the book was loaded with another work, Henry Peacham
's Sights and Exhibitions of England, complete with a description of a perpetual motion machine by Cornelis Drebbel.
Coryat, therefore, was jokingly mocked by a panel of contemporary wits and poets of his acquaintance. At the behest of the teenage prince, a series of verses was commissioned, of which 55 were finally included for publication. The authors of these verses, which included John Donne
, Ben Jonson
, Inigo Jones
, and Sir Thomas Roe, among others, took especial liberties with personal anecdotes, finding Coryat's self-importance a ripe source of humour. The literary men known to Coryate were typically courtiers, or those whom he had met through Edward Phelips
of the Middle Temple
, a patron from Somerset. A full list of the authors (translated from Latin originals) is given in the margin in a 1905 edition.
There were poems in seven languages. Donne wrote in an English/French/Italian/Latin/Spanish macaronic language
. Peacham's was in what he called "Utopian", which was partly gibberish
, and the pseudonymous Glareanus Vadianus (tentatively John Sanford
) wrote something close to literary nonsense
. The contribution of John Hoskyns
is called by Noel Malcolm
"the first specimen of full-blown literary English nonsense poetry in the seventeenth century".
Coryat had to take this all in good part. The book appeared with engravings by William Hole
, and the author received a pension. Shortly a pirate version of the verses appeared, published by Thomas Thorpe
, under the title The Odcombian Banquet (1611).
retraced the steps of Coryat's tour of Europe, as recounted in his book Continental Drifter.
Thomas Coryat
Thomas Coryat was an English traveller and writer of the late Elizabethan and early Jacobean age. He is principally remembered for two volumes of writings he left regarding his travels, often on foot, through Europe and parts of Asia...
of Odcombe
Odcombe
Odcombe is a village and civil parish in south Somerset, England, west of the town of Yeovil, with a population of 730 in 2002.The upper part of the village, Higher Odcombe, sits on the crest of the hill, while the lower part, Lower Odcombe, is built on its northern slopes...
, an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
traveller and mild eccentric.
History
The book is an account of a journey undertaken, much of it on foot, in 1608 through FranceFrance
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, and other Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an countries by Thomas Coryat of Odcombe. Among other things, it introduced the use of the fork
Fork
As a piece of cutlery or kitchenware, a fork is a tool consisting of a handle with several narrow tines on one end. The fork, as an eating utensil, has been a feature primarily of the West, whereas in East Asia chopsticks have been more prevalent...
to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and, in its support of continental travel, helped to popularize the idea of the Grand Tour
Grand Tour
The Grand Tour was the traditional trip of Europe undertaken by mainly upper-class European young men of means. The custom flourished from about 1660 until the advent of large-scale rail transit in the 1840s, and was associated with a standard itinerary. It served as an educational rite of passage...
that rose in popularity later in the century. It represents a contemporary account of the music of Giovanni Gabrieli performed in the Scuola di San Rocco. It was likely the earliest English rendering of the legend of William Tell. It was only twice reprinted before modern facsimiles (1776 & 1905, those including the later trip to Persia & India, where Coryat died), and the first edition is quite rare today.
Coryat (sometimes also spelled "Coryate" or "Coriat") conceived of the 1,975-mile (3,175 km) voyage to Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
and back in order to write the subsequent travelogue dedicated to Henry, Prince of Wales, at whose court he was regarded as somewhat of a buffoon and jester, rather than the wit
Wit
Wit is a form of intellectual humour, and a wit is someone skilled in making witty remarks. Forms of wit include the quip and repartee.-Forms of wit:...
and intellectual he considered himself. The extent to which Coryat invited such ridicule in pursuit of patronage and court favor is unclear. The title, however, implies the use of crudity related to "imperfectly digested" or "indigestible" (Oxford English Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary
The Oxford English Dictionary , published by the Oxford University Press, is the self-styled premier dictionary of the English language. Two fully bound print editions of the OED have been published under its current name, in 1928 and 1989. The first edition was published in twelve volumes , and...
).
"Commendatory" verses
A custom of Renaissance humanists was to contribute commendatory verses that would preface the works of their friends. In the case of this book, a playful inversion of this habit led to a poetic collection that firstly refused to take the author seriously; and then took on a life of its own. Prince Henry as Coryat's patron controlled the situation; and willy-nilly Coryat had to accept the publication with his book of some crudely or ingeniously false panegyricPanegyric
A panegyric is a formal public speech, or written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical. It is derived from the Greek πανηγυρικός meaning "a speech fit for a general assembly"...
s. Further, the book was loaded with another work, Henry Peacham
Henry Peacham
Henry Peacham is the name shared by two English Renaissance writers who were father and son.The elder Henry Peacham was an English curate, best known for his treatise on rhetoric titled The Garden of Eloquence first published in 1577....
's Sights and Exhibitions of England, complete with a description of a perpetual motion machine by Cornelis Drebbel.
Coryat, therefore, was jokingly mocked by a panel of contemporary wits and poets of his acquaintance. At the behest of the teenage prince, a series of verses was commissioned, of which 55 were finally included for publication. The authors of these verses, which included John Donne
John Donne
John Donne 31 March 1631), English poet, satirist, lawyer, and priest, is now considered the preeminent representative of the metaphysical poets. His works are notable for their strong and sensual style and include sonnets, love poetry, religious poems, Latin translations, epigrams, elegies, songs,...
, Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...
, Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones
Inigo Jones is the first significant British architect of the modern period, and the first to bring Italianate Renaissance architecture to England...
, and Sir Thomas Roe, among others, took especial liberties with personal anecdotes, finding Coryat's self-importance a ripe source of humour. The literary men known to Coryate were typically courtiers, or those whom he had met through Edward Phelips
Edward Phelips
Sir Edward Phelips was an English lawyer and politician, the Speaker of the English House of Commons from 1604 until 1611, and subsequently Master of the Rolls from 1611 until his death in 1614. He was an elected MP from 1584, and in 1588, following a successful career as a lawyer, he commissioned...
of the Middle Temple
Middle Temple
The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers; the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn and Lincoln's Inn...
, a patron from Somerset. A full list of the authors (translated from Latin originals) is given in the margin in a 1905 edition.
There were poems in seven languages. Donne wrote in an English/French/Italian/Latin/Spanish macaronic language
Macaronic language
Macaronic refers to text spoken or written using a mixture of languages, sometimes including bilingual puns, particularly when the languages are used in the same context . The term is also sometimes used to denote hybrid words, which are in effect internally macaronic...
. Peacham's was in what he called "Utopian", which was partly gibberish
Gibberish
Gibberish is a generic term in English for talking that sounds like speech, but carries no actual meaning. This meaning has also been extended to meaningless text or gobbledygook. The common theme in gibberish statements is a lack of literal sense, which can be described as a presence of nonsense...
, and the pseudonymous Glareanus Vadianus (tentatively John Sanford
John Sandford (poet)
John Sandford or Sanford was an English clergyman and academic, known as a grammarian of the Romance languages. He was also a neo-Latin poet, and a founder of the tradition of literary nonsense under the pseudonym Glareanus Vadianus, a mocker of Thomas Coryat.-Life:Son of Richard Sandford, of...
) wrote something close to literary nonsense
Literary nonsense
Literary nonsense is a broad categorization of literature that uses sensical and nonsensical elements to defy language conventions or logical reasoning...
. The contribution of John Hoskyns
John Hoskins (poet)
Serjeant John Hoskins was an English poet, scholar of Greek, and politician.-Life:He was the son of John and Margery Hoskins born in Mownton-upon-Wye, Llanwarne, Herefordshire. His father, impressed by his memory and mental abilities, arranged for him to be taught Greek at the age of ten. He...
is called by Noel Malcolm
Noel Malcolm
Noel Robert Malcolm FBA FRSL is a modern English historian, writer, and columnist.-Life:Malcolm was educated at Eton College , read History at Peterhouse, Cambridge, wrote his doctorate dissertation at Trinity College, Cambridge, and was for a time Fellow of Gonville and Caius College,...
"the first specimen of full-blown literary English nonsense poetry in the seventeenth century".
Coryat had to take this all in good part. The book appeared with engravings by William Hole
William Hole (engraver)
William Hole was a skilled English engraver who died in 1624 though the date of his birth is uncertain. In 1607 he engraved the title page for a London edition of the Breeches Bible. Hole’s work suggests French influence, he engraved for music by composers, Dr John Bull, William Byrd and Orlando...
, and the author received a pension. Shortly a pirate version of the verses appeared, published by Thomas Thorpe
Thomas Thorpe
Thomas Thorpe was an English publisher, most famous for publishing Shakespeare's sonnets and several works by Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. His publication of the sonnets has long been controversial...
, under the title The Odcombian Banquet (1611).
Modern analogues
British travel writer and humourist Tim MooreTim Moore (writer)
Tim Moore is a British travel writer and humorist. He was educated at Latymer Upper School in Hammersmith. In addition to his seven published travelogues to date, his writings have appeared in various publications including Esquire, The Sunday Times, The Independent, The Observer and the Evening...
retraced the steps of Coryat's tour of Europe, as recounted in his book Continental Drifter.
Further reading
- Chaney, Edward, "Thomas Coryate", entry in the Grove-Macmillan Dictionary of Art.
- Chaney, Edward (2000). "The Evolution of the Grand Tour: Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations since the Renaissance." 2nd ed. Routledge: London and New York.
- Craik, Katharine A. (2004). "Reading Coryats Crudities (1611)." Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 44(1): 77-96.
- Penrose, Boies. (1942). Urbane travelers: 1591-1635. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
- Pritchard, R.E. (2004). Odd Tom Coryate, The English Marco Polo. Thrupp, Stroud, Gloucestershire: Sutton.
- Strachan, Michael. (1962). The life and adventures of Thomas Coryate. London: Oxford University Press.