Collected works > Edinburgh edition, 1894-98 - Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Volume 21, 1896 - Miscellanies, Volume IV
(98) Page 80 - 5. Philosophy of Nomenclature
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COLLEGE PAPERS
of space constrains us to leave unfinished these few
desultory remarks — slender contributions towards
a subject which has fallen sadly backward, and
which, we grieve to say, was better understood
by the king of Siam in 1686 than by all the
philosophers of to-day. If, however, we have
awakened in any rational mind an interest in the
symbolism of umbrellas — in any generous heart a
more complete sympathy with the dumb companion
of his daily walk, — or in any grasping spirit a pure
notion of respectability strong enough to make him
expend his six-and-twenty shillings — we shall have
deserved well of the world, to say nothing of the
many industrious persons employed in the manu-
facture of the article.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF NOMENCLATURE
' How many Caesars and Pompeys, by mere inspirations of the names,
have been rendered worthy of them? And how many are there, who
might have done exceeding well in the world, had not their characters
and spirits been totally depressed and Nicodemus'd into nothing?' —
Tristram Shandy, vol. i. chap. xix.
Such were the views of the late Walter Shandy,
Esq., Turkey merchant. To the best of my belief,
Mr. Shandy is the first who fairly pointed out
the incalculable influence of nomenclature upon the
whole life — who seems first to have recognised the
one child, happy in an heroic appellation, soaring
upwards on the wings of fortune, and the other, like
80
of space constrains us to leave unfinished these few
desultory remarks — slender contributions towards
a subject which has fallen sadly backward, and
which, we grieve to say, was better understood
by the king of Siam in 1686 than by all the
philosophers of to-day. If, however, we have
awakened in any rational mind an interest in the
symbolism of umbrellas — in any generous heart a
more complete sympathy with the dumb companion
of his daily walk, — or in any grasping spirit a pure
notion of respectability strong enough to make him
expend his six-and-twenty shillings — we shall have
deserved well of the world, to say nothing of the
many industrious persons employed in the manu-
facture of the article.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF NOMENCLATURE
' How many Caesars and Pompeys, by mere inspirations of the names,
have been rendered worthy of them? And how many are there, who
might have done exceeding well in the world, had not their characters
and spirits been totally depressed and Nicodemus'd into nothing?' —
Tristram Shandy, vol. i. chap. xix.
Such were the views of the late Walter Shandy,
Esq., Turkey merchant. To the best of my belief,
Mr. Shandy is the first who fairly pointed out
the incalculable influence of nomenclature upon the
whole life — who seems first to have recognised the
one child, happy in an heroic appellation, soaring
upwards on the wings of fortune, and the other, like
80
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Early editions of Robert Louis Stevenson > Collected works > Works of Robert Louis Stevenson > Miscellanies, Volume IV > (98) Page 80 - 5. Philosophy of Nomenclature |
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Permanent URL | https://digital.nls.uk/99379486 |
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Form / genre: |
Written and printed matter > Books |
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Dates / events: |
1896 [Date published] |
Places: |
Europe >
United Kingdom >
Scotland >
Edinburgh >
Edinburgh
(inhabited place) [Place printed] |
Subject / content: |
Essays Anthologies |
Person / organisation: |
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] T. and A. Constable [Printer] |
Form / genre: |
Written and printed matter > Books |
---|---|
Dates / events: |
1894-1898 [Date printed] |
Places: |
Europe >
United Kingdom >
Scotland >
Edinburgh >
Edinburgh
(inhabited place) [Place printed] |
Subject / content: |
Collected works |
Person / organisation: |
Chatto & Windus (Firm) [Distributor] Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] T. and A. Constable [Printer] Longmans, Green, and Co. [Publisher] Colvin, Sidney, 1845-1927 [Editor] |
Person / organisation: |
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 1850-1894 [Author] |
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