Acts of being in proxies for prints: People in the Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum, circa 1770-1830

Acts of being in proxies for prints
People in the Catalogue of Political and Personal
Satires in the British Museum, circa 1770-1830
James Baker
Lecturer in Digital History
@j_w_baker
Code, viz, data: github.com/drjwbaker/2015-09_Mining-Utrecht
Deck: slideshare.net/drjwbaker
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License. Exceptions: quotations, embeds from external sources, logos, and marked images.

A preacher (right) leans
from his pulpit to
address the
congregation [...] wig
which is about to fall into
three lighted candles,
while the clerk leans
forward to catch it. […]
The congregation are
represented by four
heads and shoulders in
back view [...] An ugly old
crone (right) [...] A
buxom young woman .
Mary Dorothy George,
Catalogue of Political and
Personal Satires in the
Department of Prints and
Drawings in the British
Museum, VIII (1947)
Image and base data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License
@j_w_baker

PREFIX crm: <http://erlangen-crm.org/current/>
PREFIX skos: <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#>
PREFIX thes: <http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/thesauri/>
PREFIX rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#>
PREFIX bmo: <http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/ontology/>
PREFIX thesIdentifier: <http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/>
SELECT DISTINCT ?id (GROUP_CONCAT(?title; SEPARATOR = "|") as ?titles) (GROUP_CONCAT(?name;
SEPARATOR = "|") as ?names) (GROUP_CONCAT(?desc; SEPARATOR = "|") as ?descs) (GROUP_CONCAT(?
date; SEPARATOR = "|") as ?dates)
{
?object crm:P70i_is_documented_in
<http://collection.britishmuseum.org/id/bibliography/294> .
OPTIONAL {
?object crm:P48_has_preferred_identifier ?id }.
OPTIONAL {
?object bmo:PX_physical_description ?desc } .
OPTIONAL {
?object crm:P108i_was_produced_by ?prodevent.
?prodevent crm:P9_consists_of ?prodpart .
?prodpart crm:P4_has_time-span ?timespan.
?timespan rdfs:label ?date} .
OPTIONAL {
?object crm:P108i_was_produced_by ?prodevent2.
?prodevent2 crm:P9_consists_of ?prodpart2 .
?prodpart2 crm:P14_carried_out_by ?creator.
?creator skos:prefLabel ?name .
?creator skos:inScheme thesIdentifier:person-institution}
OPTIONAL {
?object rdfs:label ?title }
}
GROUP BY ?id
http://collection.britishmuseum.org/sparql
Many thanks to Owen Stephens for his
invaluable assistance in the construction
of this query.
Catalogue of Political and
Personal Satires in the
Department of Prints and
Drawings in the British Museum
@j_w_baker

Image and base data
© Trustees of the British Museum, Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike
4.0 International License
@j_w_baker

Counting men and women
@j_w_baker

The 40 most common lemmatised words (excluding stop
words) in BMCSat 1770-1830
1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40
hand behind large small leg
right say dress cf king
left hold profile design old
man holding sit satire below
stand hat table lady round
inscribe arm saying long figure
wear look paper lord root
head woman fox face seat
And... title (42), John (44), Bull (54)
Figure 1
Derived data
© Trustees of the British Museum
, Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
International License
@j_w_baker

Figure 2
Deriveddata
©TrusteesoftheBritishMuseum,Creative
CommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-
ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense
@j_w_baker

Figure 3
Female category words
duchess
female
ladies
lady
mrs
ms
wife
woman
Women
Male category words
boy
man
duke
husband
lord
master
men
mr
sir
Derived data
@j_w_baker

Counting acts of being (speech)
@j_w_baker

Figure 4 Derived data
Normalised counts of say and inscribe across time
@j_w_baker

The 40 most common
non-lemmatised words
(excluding stop words) 5L-5R of
say-lemma in BMCSat
1770-1830
1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40
right fox arm bull ha
left hand holding sir aye
man inscribed holds good looking
oh behind hat say old
come head shoulder mr gentlemen
shall lord ah stands arms
looks john king pitt little
dear hands let dont poor
And... woman (43)
1-8 9-16 17-24 25-32 33-40
hand behind large small leg
right say dress cf king
left hold profile design old
man holding sit satire below
stand hat table lady round
inscribe arm saying long figure
wear look paper lord root
head woman fox face seat
The 40 most
common
lemmatised
words (excluding stop
words) in BMCSat
1770-1830
Derived data
@j_w_baker

Figure5
Deriveddata
©TrusteesoftheBritishMuseum
,CreativeCommonsAttribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0
InternationalLicense
Proximity of male and female
category words to say-lemma
across time
@j_w_baker

Figure 6
Derived data
Proximity of male
and female
category words
to say-lemma
across time
@j_w_baker

Counting men and women (again!)
@j_w_baker

Figure 7 Derived data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Normalised counts of who
is speaking over time
@j_w_baker

Figure 8
Figure 9
Derived data
Histograms of
first name variety
@j_w_baker

Figure 9
Figure 10
Derived data
Histograms of
first name variety
@j_w_baker

Figure 10
Figure 11
Derived data
Mean of first
name variety
@j_w_baker

Figure 11 Derived data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License
Figure 6
Mean of first
name variety
Proximity of
male and
female words
to speech
@j_w_baker

So what does this proxy data suggest about
English satirical prints circa 1770-1830?
Occurrences of men and women rise and fall, and eventually stall
Occurrences of gender words in the context of speech rise and fall
out of step with these peaks and troughs
Growth in speech acts, especially speech acts from unnamed men
and women
The variety of male first names rise and fall as recurring female
first names grow in prominence.
This isn't (totally) unexpected. Which isn't a bad thing...
@j_w_baker

A preacher says: "Verily I
say unto Ye. Ye will be all
of Lucifer's Gang, unless
- Hollo! my Wig's off - G-
d-n You catch it, You Son
of a Bitch, or it will be
burnt to a Cinder"
A woman says: "Oh!
what a Cross Man to
swear so! - Til never
come here any More."
Another woman says:
"This will be Half a
Guinea in my Husband's
Pocket for a New One."
Image and base data © Trustees of the British Museum, Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License
@j_w_baker

[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: property
'A Husband may Chastize his Wife with a Stick the Size of his thumb'
(1782)
'Zounds Sr leave my Wife alone or I'll tell the Old Wig' (1782)
'My Wife is waiting for you in the next room' (1796) {Jersey and PoW}
'now mild and gentle Sir dont be so rough do you think I would cut your
throat, ravish your Wives, or plunder your house, no by Mahomet, I
would not, Sacré Dieu I would not Ah Diable You'll choak me!!' (1798)
'Well Brother in Law, for so I must call you now, I am happy to see you in
Town, your sister here was an excellent Housekeeper and I have
made her my wife, but the worst of it is, some how or other we cannot
get any children, and I must own I should like to have an Heir to my
Estate' (1808)
'I am sorry Sir to intrude in this abrupt manner,— but do you know Sir
you are in bed with my Wife?' (1811)
'Get thee a Wife, and all will be well' (1820)
@j_w_baker

[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: role
'This Work does not suit my Fancy. Ah William every one must be
cursed that like thee takes a Politic Mad Wife' (1784)
'Hide me! Hide me! Truth is hatefull to me and a Virtuous wife
abhorrent to my Nature.' (1813)
'(Dear Sisters) I feel great pleasure, in holding this thing 'um-bob in my
hand, as we see our Sweethearts, and Husbands, are such fumblers at
the main thing, we must of course take the thing, in our own hands,—we
must not leave a stone unturn'd—we must exert every limb,—we must
pursue the point as far as it will go, a REFORM is very much wanted
(among us) though we should not put on Armour, or carry Guns, (it is my
opinion) Though we should be start [sic] naked, we could make the
whole Army Stand!—It is our duty as Wives to assist our Husbands in
every Push and Turn, by that means we shall Increase, and Multiply, in
our under takings.' (1819)
'How fortunate am I to have a Handsome and Cunning wife or I should
not wear those marks of Distinction!' (1820)
@j_w_baker

[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: looks
'Sweet wife you have seen cruel proof of this woman's strength I beg of
you for your own sake to embrace your own safety and give over this
attempt' (1782)
'Who wants a cure for a rusty Wife? Here's your nice Family
Amusement for Winter Evenings! Who buys here' (1782)
'He must be sav'd—for on my life, / He hath a very pretty wife. / And,
chief commander of our Forces / You know he buys me all my horses /
Pull away Fred.' (1814)
@j_w_baker

[Ww]ives|[Ww]ife: family
'O! my poor wife and Children! Murder Murder!!!' (1797)
'Sweep her out of the House how dare She insult my Wife & Family.'
(1801)
'Ha! my little Boney! - what do'st think of Johnny Bull now? - Plunder Old
England! hayy? - ravish all our Wives & Daughters! hay - O Lord help
that silly Head! - to think that Johnny Bull would ever suffer those
Lanthorn Jaws to become King of Old England's Roast-Beef &
Plumpudding!' (1803)
'I bequeath my House and Lands to my eldest Son Dick—the rest of my
property to my Wife and younger Children—I leave Six and
eightpence to the Lawyer—all his gallipots and phials to the Doctor and
half a years tithes to the Parson—Therefore March off Doctor!—write
Lawyer!—pray parson cry Wife! and bellow Children! —for it is all over
with me' (1809)
'Thirty nine? yes. three hundd & ninety! only £40 pr annm & a wife & six
small children.' (1819)
@j_w_baker

[Gg]irls?: looks
'Good heaven help me! or next the fl--c--ng Collution will stamp my
dear, sweet, pretty, little Girls ------ playthings. ------ spare them
Charley, for Perdita's sake' (1783)
'Lord Hood is a Saint, my dear brethren, as immaculate as a new born
babe; but as for Lord Townshend he'll be d------n'd to all eternity! I
shudder when I tell ye he loves a pretty girl; the Opposition to a man
are all fond of pretty girls! [...]' (1788)
'at a fine large Girl as a Bear I fear she will be too much for me' (1791)
'Give me Age and wrinkles, your young girls are only food for children.'
(1814)
'Moy Dear Mrs Humbug where we go to Cool ourselve dis hot Weader?
dos make vone so Melt moy Loavely little Girl' (1818)
'Eh h—h my dear Sir Should be particularly happy to do any thing in my
power for — a D—d fine Girl as I was saying—do you know her eh?—
pon honor must follow her—can't stay now—be particularly attentive
when Elected,—always mind what's told me by—by the D—s.' (1819)
@j_w_baker

[Hh]usbands?: property & looks
'B------t your Cowardly Spirit I'll Kick you to Hell, what I suppose you was
frightened at their Naked A------sses. Get out of my sight, or I'll send you
and your Army------after my Husband' (1792)
'My husband is a very old Man which will have a great weight with a
jury.' (1796)
'We have got all her Husbands property so she has nothing worth
staying behind for Captain?' (1812)
'Thou shalt not commit Adultery.—Put no faith in a woman that is wife to
another; for she who is not constant to her husband will never be so to
you,—for she who hath her husband to deceive every day, can deceive
a gallant at leisure!' (1818)
'Never mind my husbands nasty dung—come this way Mr B, & I'll show
you my Grotto & Waterfall!' (1819)
@j_w_baker

[Hh]usbands?: action
'all the fashion . . . my Husband allows me a new suit a Year' (1797)
'Aye the upper part will do very well, many a husband will bless me for
introducing these Stays' (1798)
'Now we are at Peace, if my Husband does take a drop extraordinary, I
dont so much mind, but when he was at War he was always grumbling.
Bless me how tiresome the old breeches are to mend, no wonder he
wore them out, for he had always his hands in his pockets, for
something, or other.' (1802)
'Oh dear! if this is the deligt's of Love I am surfeited already, to be sure
few husbands disturb their wives rest more than mine does, but it's
with starting & kicking in his sleep & crying have mercy on me. I
suppose Josephine used to worry him so. bless me what a smell of
brimstone there is!' (1810)
@j_w_baker

[Bb]oys?: action
'My Indian Schemes of wealth & I must fall, But that this Boy should
ride me's Worst of all' (1784)
'Wine is the Liquor of Life - Here my brave Boys - Fill every Glass. His
tray is inscribed Patron . . (?) of Polite Art' (1788)
'Ah Boy, remember how I fell, You'll suffer by the self same Snare I'll
take my Bible Oath.' (1802)
'Are not you asham'd of your Self to See all the great boys laughing at
you you aught to be you are old enough but I am afraid you have no
Shame in you' (1809)
'Down with 'em! Chop 'em down! My brave boys! give them no
quarter, they want to take our Beef & Pudding from us!—& remember
the more you Kill the less poor rates you'll have to pay so go it Lads
show your Courage & your Loyalty!' (1819)
@j_w_baker

[Bb]oys?: property & looks
'Taffy - when the Island's ours - my brave Boy - I - I'll be King - and you
shall be Viceroy' (1784)
'I never was so ashamed of any thing in my life - all the little boys hoot
at me I believe I must give it up after all.' (1797)
'There my Boy is an Ambassador who will treat with you in your own
way, but I say be as gentle with him as you can.' (1803)
'Come along my little boys thats my Darlings.' (1807)
'Here's Ballast my Boys.' (1814)
'See! My Lords a bouncing boy—all square & above board not a trick
throughout the business— a fine bouncing boy you see!!!' (1816)
'Pull away my boy pull away! my Rib wanted to wear mine but they
would not Fit her!! hold fast M'c!!!' (1816)
'take care you dont be looking into the smutty caricature shops ... mind
you attend to her Ladyships Flue, and give her satisfaction, to convince
her by practical Experience - That in spite of Doctor Bug-backs noise/
There's no machine like Climbing Boys' (1829)
@j_w_baker

'Structuralist Digital Methods. Post-Structuralist Humanities', Matthew K. Gold (ed), Debates in
the Digital Humanities 2017 (University of Minnesota Press, forthcoming 2017)
Start out as a positivist, end as a critical theorist, then go back around in
a recursive process. Don’t be ashamed to be a positivist in the initial stages
of data collection, data structuring, and data mining, for digital methods are
impossible to use without developing a positivist-for-now mindset: throw the
digital sink at a problem and see what sticks. However, with the benefit of a
decades’ long dialectic behind us, one needn’t stay a positivist. After the initial
application of structuralist methods comes a criticism of one’s own work that is
very much informed by current post-structuralist theory. Uncover problems,
undermine assumptions, re-think the categorizations that supported the
initial data collection, and with a bit of luck, once all the checks and balances
have corrected an initially positivist endeavour, this two-step dance of
structuralist and post-structuralist methodologies will yield results – as if
a cliometrician had had her work peer reviewed by Michel Foucault or Julia
Kristeva (and even if the lucks runs out, if the dance reduces our data to
rubble, we have a failure – what Willard McCarty calls our (that is,
scholarship's) 'most important product' – on which to build) Not a synthesis
exactly, but a critically informed project that nevertheless remains
grounded in quantitative, replicable data.
@j_w_baker

Thank you!
James Baker
Lecturer in Digital History
@j_w_baker
Code, viz, data: github.com/drjwbaker/2015-09_Mining-Utrecht
Deck: slideshare.net/drjwbaker
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
License. Exceptions: quotations, embeds from external sources, logos, and marked images.

Acts of being in proxies for prints: People in the Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum, circa 1770-1830

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Acts of being in proxies for prints: People in the Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires in the British Museum, circa 1770-1830