A little bonus post for you all this week...
I was looking at historical books on cheesemaking (don't ask) over at the Internet Archive, and I stumbled onto this little manuscript that is almost too strange to believe.
It was supposedly a short comedic story, written by Salomon Johnson and published in 1641. It had a very long, comedic title: "The Generous Usurer: Mr Nevell in Thames-street, who alloweth his maid usually a black pudding to dinner. Who once bought a Pullett for his wife when shee was sicke; but he would goe to Market himselfe, because he would not be cosened by the Messenger; and brought the feathers home in his hat when it was pulled; because he would not loose them; and how he was troubled therewith when the Lord Major seeing him called to speak with him.
And how he made lamentable moane to his Neighbors, that his maid had robd him; because shee gave her Sweet-hart a piece of bread and cheese"
The typeface for the title gets smaller and smaller as it rambles on.
What follows that title is a short six-page dialogue between Mr. Nevell's nurse and maid, which basically tell the tale of the title and that's about it.
The manuscript says published in 1641, but it was in such good shape (and lacked the long-S), that I thought maybe it was some kind of a parody. But there's another copy in the Folger Shakespeare Library digital collection that does have the long-S typeface, and another version that was plugged into a book of Miscellany from 1873.
I can't find any evidence that Salomon Johnson wrote anything else of note. I personally can't believe this weird little story survived until today. But here it is, and now you know about it, too.
Check it out on the Internet Archive or at the Folger Library.
The book of Miscellany has a bunch of other stuff in it I haven't checked out yet, but I'll link to it.
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