Presented at the 34th Annual Meeting of the Society for Literature, Science, and the Arts (2 October 2021). Reviews work in progress related to the recontextualisation of John Peter's 1677 pamphlet 'Artificial Versifying'. Full script available upon request. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVdQGbm4g-o

1. Reading Computer-Generated Books:
Artificial Versifying
Leah Henrickson
University of Leeds
L.R.Henrickson@leeds.ac.uk
twitter.com/leahhenrickson

2. A Quick Introduction to
Artificial Versifying
Who?
John Peter
What?
a pamphlet
~14 pages (octavo)
When?
1677 onwards
Where?
London
Why?
Good question – let’s explore.
Images: https://www-proquest-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/docview/2240917779/99831864
@leahhenrickson

3. @leahhenrickson

4. John Peter
• Buckinghamshire ->
London
• 1640-1684
• A physician
• … and all that entails
• Largely lost to history,
so here’s a still of Robert
Downey Jr. playing a doctor
in Restoration (1995)
Image: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/sep/06/doctor-michael-hoffman-restoration
@leahhenrickson

5. @leahhenrickson

6. The Social Conjuncture
• King Charles II -> The Restoration
• Artistic and scientific proliferation
• Balancing fixity and flexibility
• The Great Plague of 1665-1666
• ~15% of Londoners dead
• The Great Fire of London, 1666
• Want to know more? #PeepAtPepys
Images: http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/charles2.htm; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Pepys
@leahhenrickson

7. @leahhenrickson

8. Commercial Pressures
THE
LONDON
BOOK
TRADE
THE
LONDON
BOOK
TRADE
@leahhenrickson

9. @leahhenrickson

10. JOHN SIMS
THOMAS JAMES
SCHOOLBOYS
‘THE COMMON FIDDLER’
@leahhenrickson

11. I am assured that the ingenuity of the Latter [those who
take pleasure in the power of numbers], will acquit me of
the imputation of Conjuration, wherewith not only by
some illiterate mechanicks, but by a certain academick,
I have been for this thing weakly stigmatized.
Pro captu Lectoris habent sua Fata Libelli [Roughly, a
book’s fate depends on its reader’s capacity.]
The fate of books depends not on the skill or worth of
Authors, but on the’Readers will.
@leahhenrickson

12. JOHN SIMS
THOMAS JAMES
SCHOOLBOYS
‘THE COMMON FIDDLER’
CATALOGUES, ETC.
@leahhenrickson

13. A Friend of mine, who is a Student in Astrology, meeting
with this Book, performed the Operation, by the Rules
there set down; he shewed his Verses to the next of his
Acquaintance, who happened to understand Latin; and
being informed they described a Tempest of Wind, very
luckily prefixed them, together with a Translation, to an
Almanack he was just then printing, and was supposed
to have foretold the last great Storm.
@leahhenrickson

14. Images: https://www-proquest-com.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/docview/2240973771/fulltextPDF/BC65C7E18F4F7APQ
@leahhenrickson

15. JOHN SIMS
THOMAS JAMES
SCHOOLBOYS
‘THE COMMON FIDDLER’
CATALOGUES, ETC.
EDITIONS
REPRINTS
REMAKES
@leahhenrickson

16. My sole reason for bringing it [Artificial Versifying] before
the Public is to rescue so ingenious a puzzle from the
undeserved oblivion in which it has hitherto reposed,
and to provide innocent and at the same time useful
recreation for the curious. Whether, however, it is worth
the honour of reprinting, or the trouble I have bestowed
upon it, I leave to its readers to decide.
@leahhenrickson

17. Why does
this matter?
• Artistic and scientific experimentation
• Fire, plague, and economic uncertainty
• Hype for systematisation + obsession
with novelty
@leahhenrickson

18. Pro captu Lectoris habent sua Fata Libelli.
[A book’s fate depends on its reader’s capacity.]
Leah Henrickson
University of Leeds
L.R.Henrickson@leeds.ac.uk
twitter.com/leahhenrickson