"The Memory of an old Visiting-Lady is so filled with Gloves, Silks, and Ribands, that I can look upon it as nothing else but a Toy-shop."
— Addison, Joseph (1672-1719)
Author
Work Title
Date
From Saturd. March 25. to Tuesd. March 28. 1710
Metaphor
"The Memory of an old Visiting-Lady is so filled with Gloves, Silks, and Ribands, that I can look upon it as nothing else but a Toy-shop."
Metaphor in Context
This, I know, is a very harsh Doctrine to Woman-kind, who are carried away with every Thing that is showy, and with what delights the Eye, more than any other Species of Living Creatures whatsoever. Were the Minds of the Sex laid open, we should find the chief Idea in one to be a Tippet, in another a Muff, in a Third a Fan, and in a Fourth a Fardingal. The Memory of an old Visiting-Lady is so filled with Gloves, Silks, and Ribands, that I can look upon it as nothing else but a Toy-shop. A Matron of my Acqaintance complaining of her Daughter's Vanity, was observing, that she had all of a sudden held up her Head higher than ordinary, and taken an Air that showed a secret Satisfaction in her self, mixed with a Scorn of others. I did not know, says my Friend, what to make of the Carriage of this Fantastical Girl, till I was informed by her elder Sister, that she had a Pair of striped Garters on. This odd Turn of Mind often makes the Sex unhappy, and disposes them to be struck with every Thing that makes a Show, however trifling and superficial.
(III, pp. 179-180)
(III, pp. 179-180)
Categories
Provenance
ECCO-TCP
Citation
Over 50 entries in the ESTC (1709, 1710, 1711, 1712, 1713, 1716, 1720, 1723, 1728, 1733, 1737, 1743, 1747, 1749, 1750, 1751, 1752, 1754, 1759, 1764, 1772, 1774, 1776, 1777, 1785, 1786, 1789, 1794, 1795, 1797).
See The Tatler. By Isaac Bickerstaff Esq. Dates of Publication: No. 1 (Tuesday, April 12, 1709.) through No. 271 (From Saturday December 30, to Tuesday January 2, 1710 [i.e. 1711]). <Link to ESTC>
Collected in two volumes, and printed and sold by J. Morphew in 1710, 1711. Also collected and reprinted as The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.
Consulting Donald Bond's edition of The Tatler, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987). Searching and pasting text from The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff Esq: Revised and Corrected by the Author (London: Printed by John Nutt, and sold by John Morphew, 1712): <Link to Vol. 1><Vol. 2><Vol. 3><Vol. 4><Vol. 5>. Some text also from Project Gutenberg digitization of 1899 edition edited by George A. Aitken.
See The Tatler. By Isaac Bickerstaff Esq. Dates of Publication: No. 1 (Tuesday, April 12, 1709.) through No. 271 (From Saturday December 30, to Tuesday January 2, 1710 [i.e. 1711]). <Link to ESTC>
Collected in two volumes, and printed and sold by J. Morphew in 1710, 1711. Also collected and reprinted as The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff, Esq.
Consulting Donald Bond's edition of The Tatler, 3 vols. (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987). Searching and pasting text from The Lucubrations of Isaac Bickerstaff Esq: Revised and Corrected by the Author (London: Printed by John Nutt, and sold by John Morphew, 1712): <Link to Vol. 1><Vol. 2><Vol. 3><Vol. 4><Vol. 5>. Some text also from Project Gutenberg digitization of 1899 edition edited by George A. Aitken.
Date of Entry
03/02/2014
