Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
349
The Journal of a Disappointed Man
·
W. N. P. Barbellion
191
About
1618,
Ben
Jonson
suffered
a
similar
calamity
thro'
a
fire
breaking
out
in
his
study.
Many
unpublished
MSS.
perished.
A
more
modern
and
more
tragic
example
I
found
recently
in
the
person
of
an
Australian
naturalist,
Dr.
Walter
Stimpson,
who
lost
all
his
MSS.,
drawings,
and
collections
in
the
great
fire
of
Chicago,
and
was
so
excoriated
by
this
irreparable
misfortune
that
he
never
recovered
from
the
shock,
and
died
the
following
year
a
broken
man
and
unknown.
Of
course
the
housemaid
who
lit
the
fire
with
the
French
Revolution
is
known
to
all,
as
well
as
Newton's
"Fido,
Fido,
you
little
know
what
you
have
done."
There
are
many
dangers
in
preserving
the
labours
of
years
in
MS.
form.
Samuel
Butler
(of
Erewhon)
advised
writing
in
copying
ink
and
then
pressing
off
a
second
copy
to
be
kept
in
another
and
separate
locality.
My
own
precautions
for
these
Journals
are
more
elaborate.
Those
who
know
about
it
think
I
am
mad.
I
wonder....
But
I
dare
say
I
am
a
pathetic
fool--an
incredible
self-deceiver!
Anyhow--the
"coffin"
of
raw
material
I
sent
down
to
T----
while
I
retain
the
two
current
volumes.
This
is
to
avoid
Zeppelins.
E----
took
the
"coffin"
down
for
me
on
her
way
home
from
school,
and
at
Taunton,
inquisitive
porters
mistaking
it,
I
suppose,
for
an
infant's
coffin
carried
it
reverently
outside
the
station
and
laid
it
down.
She
caught
them
looking
at
it
just
in
time
before
her
train
left.
Under
her
instructions
they
seized
it
by
the
brass
handles
and
carried
it
back
again.
I
sit
now
and
with
a
good
deal
of
curiosity
fondle
the
idea
of
porters
carrying
about
my
Journals
of
confession.
It's
like
being
tickled
in
the
palm
of
the
hand....
Two
volumes
of
abstracted
entries
I
keep
here,
and,
as
soon
as
I
am
married,
I
intend
to
make
a
second
copy
of
these....
Then
all
in
God's
good
time
I
intend
getting
a
volume
ready
for
publication.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
