10.23
Bredonborough.
Historical views on the Reformation, as no doubt all else, is somewhat different to those presented by the current generation of historians. Interesting, after recent reading (The King’s Reformation Henry VIII and the Remaking of the English Church by G.W. Bernard, Yale 2006) to consult the entries for Anne Boleyn and, above, Thomas Cranmer in Volume III of A New and General Biographical Dictionary Containing An Hiftorical and Critical Account Of The Lives And Writings Of The Moft Eminent Perfons In every Nation; Particularly the British and Irish; From the earlieft Accounts of Time to the prefent Period (London M DD LXI).
Or perhaps the font should be A New and General Biographical Dictionary Containing An Hiftorical and Critical Account Of The Lives And Writings Of The Moft Eminent Perfons In every Nation; Particularly the British and Irish; From the earlieft Accounts of Time to the prefent Period (London M DD LXI).
I don’t believe this is a valid Roman numeral. More likely it’s MDCCLXI or 1761, which is about right for the volumes.
There are two bookmarks on the opening papers. One is of Lord Stanley of Alderley with the motto Plus Ca Change. The motto is appropriate if this is the Lord Stanley…
Death of Lord Stanley of Alderley, reported in the Review of Religions from Quilliam’s paper
In the issue of the Review of Religions for February 1904, the death of Lord Stanley of Alderley, a convert to Islam, is reported and an account of his funeral and burial is quoted from The Crescent. This is as follows.
Death of a Muslim member of the House of Lords
That the late Henry Edward John Stanley, third Baron Stanley of Alderley, was a sincere and devout Muslim, was known to very few men. Readers of the Safwat-ul-Itbar (Travels of Sheikh Muhammad Bairam Fifth of Tunis), however, knew very well that Lord Stanley had long been a sincere believer in the principles of Islam. But his faith was not limited to a profession by word of mouth. The author of the Safwat-ul-Itbar relates incidents which show how deeply Islam had entered into his heart. He found him not only regular in the five daily prayers, but also constant at tahajjud (the midnight prayers); and what is still more wonderful, he found him very humble in his prayers, and far above most born Muhammadans. When he talked of the Holy Prophet, it was with profound love and deep respect that he mentioned or named him. He found him also very well versed on the principles of Muslim theology, and in his conversation with him he found that the deep conviction of his mind was the result of a comprehensive knowledge of the principles of Islam. This was about the year 1880. Who could imagine that such a sincere and devout worshipper of the true God was living in the heart of Christendom?
The second bookmark is that of George Rous. Which George Rous? Could it be…
George Rous, Thoughts on Government?
Stradbroke, third Earl of (1862 - 1947)
STRADBROKE, GEORGE EDWARD JOHN MOWBRAY ROUS, 3rd Earl of (1862-1947), governor, was born on 19 November 1862 in London, only son of John Edward Cornwallis Rous, second earl, and his wife Augusta, née Musgrave. Educated at Harrow School and Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1884; M.A., 1890), he succeeded his father in 1886. On 23 July 1898 at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, he married Helena Violet Alice Keith Fraser. Stradbroke was aide-de-camp to successive sovereigns in 1902-29 and Queen Alexandra stood sponsor to his first son. Vice-admiral of the Suffolk coast and chairman of the East Suffolk County Council, he was an honorary colonel in the Territorial Army. In World War I he commanded a number of Royal Field Artillery brigades in France, Egypt and Palestine, and was awarded the Territorial Decoration in 1918. He was appointed C.B. (1904), C.V.O. (1906), C.B.E. (Military) 1919, Knight of grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (1920) and K.C.M.G. (1920).
If it were down to a simple choice of these two GRs, and not another George Rous Esq., I incline to the first. These Biographical Dictionaries would have been a valuable reference source for an early 19th. century author.
On the right, four volumes of Lord Macaulay’s History Of England (1871 Longmans, Green & Co. edition)
http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/macaulay.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Babbington_Macaulay
bound in two, and stamped Reading School on the leather front cover. The date of publication is significant…
The foundation stone for the new buildings, designed by Alfred Waterhouse was laid by the Prince of Wales in 1870, and in 1871 the school moved in.
Inside is handwritten Robert Powley, although which Robert Powley is a mystery.
Bibliophilia: Bibliophilia is not to be confused with bibliomania, an obsessive-compulsive disorder involving the collecting of books to the point where social relations or health are damaged, and in which the mere fact that an object is a book is sufficient for it to be collected or loved. Most bibliomaniacs, then, are compulsive hoarders, identifiable by the fact that the number of unread books in their possession is continually increasing relative to the total number of books they possess and read. Extreme bibliophilia may amount to a diagnosed psychological condition.
Well. That’s all right, then.
19.30
Lotsa practicing. Stuff. E-flurrying. This is from Sean Fitzpatrick…
Monday February 26, 2007
The Guardian
Record labels lose out as bands become brands in fierce market
New roles are emerging for those closest to artists in a fragmented media world
Owen Gibson and Katie Allen
The upheaval wrought on the music industry in recent years, of which EMI’s latest travails are just the latest manifestation, have inspired a change in bedtime reading among senior executives. Their book of choice is now less likely to be a classic tale of rock industry excess such as Hammer of the Gods, but The Long Tail, a book about how the internet has brought about the death of shared culture.
The book, written by Chris Anderson of Wired magazine, sums up the challenges facing established media groups, including leading record labels: "At this point, the artists don’t need the labels any more. The consumers don’t need the labels any more and I think the labels, rather than trying to protect what business they have, need to ask themselves what is their relevance."
Although sales of CDs are falling sharply, British artists are riding the crest of a creative wave - live music has never been more popular, festivals are selling out in record time and brands are paying millions to associate themselves with up and coming acts. It is a new music marketplace where the artist’s brand is becoming as valuable as their recorded output.
But for all the rhetoric about artists being able to build their own fan bases online, a guiding hand - not to mention substantial investment and knowhow - is still required to bring new artists to public attention in an increasingly fragmented media world. Many experts believe today’s changes will result in individual artists emerging as "cottage industries" in their own right, much less dependent on labels to produce and market their music.
As the ancilliary revenues around each artist - from live appearances, merchandising, ringtones, advertising and licensing deals - become more important than dwindling recorded music royalties, new roles are emerging for those closest to artists. It is no coincidence that the likes of Island Records co-founder Tim Clark, who now manages Robbie Williams among others, and Creation Records founder Alan McGee now work in artist management.
Already, many majors rely on management companies to bring new artists to their attention. Now, some are starting to bypass them altogether. Mr Clark, who co-founded ie Music and was responsible for Robbie Williams’ multi-faceted £80m contract with EMI, believes that deal could be the last of its kind. He likens the latest period of flux to the anything goes spirit of the 1960s before the major label consolidation of the late 1970s.
The company is pioneering a new form of investment in artists backed by Ingenious Media, the media-focused private equity fund launched last year by former Really Useful Group chief executive Patrick McKenna. Passenger, a new band who have been building local support in Brighton and release their first single today, are the guinea pigs for the new approach. Mr Clark is bypassing the big labels by going directly to Ingenious, which is putting up £1.3m to launch the band - investment matched by ie Music and external investors.
New model
Through the new financial model - dubbed Music Venture Capital Trusts - they claim that artists have more freedom and retain more of their own rights while their management are able to lavish care and attention on all aspects of an artist’s career.
The artist retains ultimate control, they say, because managers tend to be employed on an annual contract.
"We work for our artists and we answer to our artists. At the end of the day, our artists can turn around and sack us," says Mr Clark. He says he "very nearly came to blows" with EMI over ie Music’s determination to sign a global marketing deal with Sony Ericsson for Williams - a marriage that he says has been "incredibly successful". By being able to work with each part of an artist’s "basket of rights", he claims to stand a better chance of building a long-term brand than a record label more concerned with short-term returns.
"That’s why management is having more success in doing this because they recognise that basket of rights and they recognise the value of those rights," says Mr Clark.
Mr McKenna believes the majors should have cottoned on earlier: "I think it’s one of life’s great mysteries why record companies haven’t embraced this 360 degree business model."…
Tim Clark was head of Island Records in 1973, KC’s then-record label. Tim’s partner in IE is David Enthoven, the E of EG in its glory years.
19.36 Now, back to practising for the evening.
"The presence of absence is an entry into loss."
