Talk to the Hand
Carry Ackroyd paints the poems of John Clare
Via my friend Richard Gibson, a passage from Chirologia, or, The naturall language of the hand composed of the speaking motions, and discoursing gestures thereof : whereunto is added Chironomia, or, The art of manuall rhetoricke, consisting of the naturall expressions, digested by art in the hand, as the chiefest instrument of eloquence, by historicall manifesto's exemplified out of the authentique registers of common life and civill conversation : with types, or chyrograms, a long-wish'd for illustration of this argument / by J.B. (1644):
For, with our Hands we
Sue, intreat, beseech, sollicite, call, allure, intice, dismisse, graunt, denie, reprove, are suppliant, feare, threaten, abhor, repent, pray, instruct, witnesse, accuse, declare our silence, condemne, absolve, shew our astonishment, profer, refuse, respect, give honour, adore, worship, despise, prohibit, reject, challenge, bargaine, vow, sweare, imprecate, humour, allow, give warning, command, reconcile, submit, defie, affront, offer injury, complement, argue, dispute, explode, confute, exhort, admonish, affirme, distinguish, urge, doubt, reproch, mocke, approve, dislike, encourage, recommend, flatter, applaud, exalt, humble, insult, adjure, yeeld, confesse, cherish, demand, crave, covet, blesse, number, prove, confirme, congee, salute, congratulate, entertaine, give thankes, welcome, bid farewell, chide, brawle, consent, upbraid, envy, reward, offer force, pacifie, invite, justifie, contemne, disdaine, disallow, forgive, offer peace, promise, performe, reply, invoke, request, repell, charge, satisfie, deprecate, lament, condole, bemoane, put in minde, hinder, praise, commend, brag, boast, warrant, assure, enquire, direct, adopt, rejoyce, shew gladnesse, complaine, despaire, grieve, are sad and sorrowfull, cry out, bewaile, forbid, discomfort, ask, are angry, wonder, admire, pittie, assent, order, rebuke, favour, slight, dispraise, disparage, are earnest, importunate, referre, put to comprimise, plight our faith, make a league of friendship, strike one good luck, give handsell, take earnest, buy, barter, exchange, shew our agreement, expresse our liberality, shew our benevolence, are illiberall, aske mercy, exhibit grace, shew our displeasure, fret, chafe, fume, rage, revenge, crave audience, call for silence, prepare for an apology, give liberty of speech, bid one take notice, warne one to forbeare, keepe off and be gone; take acquaintance, confesse our selves deceived by a mistake, make remonstrance of anothers errour, weepe, give a pledge of aid, comfort, relieve, demonstrate, redargue, perswade, revolve, speake to, appeale, professe a willingnesse to strike, shew our selves convinced, say we know somewhat which yet we will not tell, present a check for silence, promise secresie, protest our innocence, manifest our love, enmity, hate and despight; provoke, hyperbolically extoll, inlarge our mirth with jollity and triumphant acclamations of delight, note and signifie anothers actions, the manner, place, and time, as how, where, when, &c.
Of course, who better to study these matters than the Italians?
The hand jive is a dance you can do sitting down, as the ladies below demonstrate. But legs can be involved too: see people doing the hand jive in 1958.
Here’s a full report on hand gestures around the world from the BBC.
A fascinating essay from the Economist on the business organization of rock bands -- some egalitarian, some very much not:
Perhaps there is a trade-off between creativity and stability. The Stones had ceased to be musical innovators by the end of the 1970s, but survived the waning of their creative powers by reaching a professional arrangement that enabled them to exploit their earlier innovations. The business they most resemble is Microsoft. The Beatles made only seven years’ worth of albums before splitting, but those albums represent the greatest body of work in the rock canon. Their emotionally intense collaboration maximised their creative potential, but made the group fragile. When Mark Lewisohn, an expert on the band, was asked whether it was surprising that they split so quickly, he replied that the real question is how such headstrong and wilful characters stayed together for so long.
I wrote a post about a favorite song of mine and one of the people responsible for it: Jim Dickinson -- a legendary figure, but not, in my view, legendary enough.
On September 7, Breaking Bread with the Dead will be out in paperback. Make sure to stock up!