Letter by literary giant Samuel Johnson found in cupboard

Modern(ish)

A lost letter by Dr. Samuel Johnson, illustrious author, literary critic and compiler of the seminal Dictionary of the English Language, has been discovered in a cupboard in a country house in Gloucestershire. The letter was known from his correspondence catalogue, but it was listed as “present location unknown” for decades.

It was discovered by a Chorley’s auction expert who had been called in by the homeowner for a routine valuation of some books and rugs. In a cupboard in the library, he found some historic records of the household expenditures, diaries and a volume of more than 100 letters that the family didn’t even realize was there. Manuscript specialists examined the volume, and found the lost letter by Dr. Johnson.

The letter was written on July 24, 1783, a year and a half before Johnson’s death.

He penned the missing letter to a Sophia Thrale (1771-1824), the daughter of Hester Lynch Thrale (1741-1821, later Mrs Piozzi), a British author and patron of the arts, who Johnson corresponded with so regularly and in so much detail, that her letters later became historically important published resources into 18th century society and the great mind of Dr Johnson. The two became acquainted when Hester, who came from one of the most illustrious Welsh land-owning dynasties; the Salusbury family, married the brewer Henry Thrale in 1763 and moved to London. It was at this time that she met leading literary figures, such as Dr Johnson, who became close friends with her and her children.

The current letter to a twelve-year-old Sophia Thrale, the sixth daughter of Hester Lynch Thrale, is the only known letter between them to survive, although there are several references to others in Johnson’s published letters. In the letter the elderly Johnson chides Sophia for not thinking of herself as his favourite; ‘my favour will, I’m afraid never be worth much, but its value more or less, you are never likely to lose it.’ He also praised her arithmetical ability; ‘Never think, my Sweet, that you have arithmetick enough, when you have exhausted your master, buy books, nothing amuses more harmlessly than computation’, and pointing her to a ‘curious calculation’ relating to the capacity of Noah’s Ark in Wilkins’s Real Character, he says; ‘an essay towards a real character and a philosophical language’ (1668 by John Wilkins).

Johnson ended his correspondence with the Thrales shortly after he wrote this letter. The widowed Hester remarried a broke Italian music tutor of whom the esteemed lexicographer did not approve, but they made up before his death in December 1784. Hester Thrale published a book based on their correspondence in 1786.

Sophia would go on to marry the banker Merrick Hoare, and 30 letters written between mother and daughter after the marriage were also discovered at the Gloucestershire estate. Another volume, Laws of London, signed by Robert Hoare (also a banker and the former Mayor of London) was found in the same cupboard as the volume of letters. This suggests Dr. Johnson’s long-lost letter made its way through the Hoare family to the Gloucestershire family, although what the specific connection was is unknown.

The letter from Samuel Johnson to Sophia Thrale will be going under the hammer at Chorley’s September 19th The Library: Printed Books & Manuscripts auction. The pre-sale estimate is £8,000-£12,000 ($10,000-$15,000).

10th c. sabretache plate found in Hungary

Medieval, Museums

A cavalry burial containing a rare silver sabretache plate was unearthed in an excavation near the village of Csomád, outside Budapest, Hungary, this July. The artifact consists of a silver exterior plate riveted to an interior bronze plate, and dates to the 10th century Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin.

During this period in Hungary, a hierarchical clan-based system determined what men of rank could wear to signify their position. Soldiers wore ornamented weapons, weapon belts and tools that telegraphed their military ranks, positions and affiliations. The sabretache was a leather pouch that contained the essential tools to make fire: flint, tinder and a carbon steel fire striker. They were worn on the right side of their sword belts and were ornamented with bronze, silver or gold plates, depending on the bearer’s rank and proximity to the prince. Fewer than 30 sabretache plates are known in Hungarian museums.

The find site was first located by a volunteer with the local community archaeology program. Because it was actively under cultivation and subject to occasional metal mining, its archaeological remains were under constant threat. Volunteers and professionals teamed up to excavate it with all due speed.

The team unearthed the grave of a man who died in the mid-10th century. He was a warrior, buried with a horse of which partial remains survive and archery equipment. The grave had been damaged by agricultural works, but the remains were still in unusually good condition. Not only was the metal plate intact, but remnants of the leather strap were as well.

Many other objects were recovered from the grave. They were removed en bloc with their surrounding soil so they could be excavated and conserved in a restoration laboratory. The plate has already been conserved and is now on display at the Ferenczy Museum Center in Szentendre, joining every other known sabretache plate discovered in Hungary in an unprecedented dedicated exhibition.

Remnants of brain, skin found in destroyed Bronze Age city

Ancient

Archaeologists have discovered preserved brain and skin tissue on the skeletal remains of a man at the Bronze Age settlement of Tavşanlı Höyük in western Turkey. The deceased died in a major attack on the settlement that took place around 1700 B.C. and his body burned when the city was set on fire. The high heat carbonized and preserved the brain inside his skull and a section of skin between his chest and abdomen. Only four or five instances of preserved brain remnants have been found in Anatolia, and this is the first time carbonized human skin has been discovered in Turkey.

The archaeological team was excavating a mudbrick and wood structure from the era of the attack, identified by a large fire layer. Within the layer, they found the skeletal remains of two men, one younger (aged 15-18), one older (aged 40-45) under the rubble of the house. The older man had been trapped in the middle of the room, pinned by a wooden shelf and dozens of earthenware pots that collapsed on him when the building fell. The young man was at the door, perhaps trying to escape, when he was crushed by collapsed rubble.

Because of his location at the entrance to the building, the young person’s skeleton was exposed to much higher temperatures than the older man’s. The high degree of heat whitened some of his bones and carbonized the skin and brain.

In the presentation prepared by the excavation director, Prof. Dr. Erkan Fidan, who is also the Department Head of Archaeology at Bilecik Şeyh Edebali University, and the deputy director of the excavation, Dr. Nihan Naiboğlu, who is an Assistant Professor at Nişantaşı University, it was stated that Tavşanlı Mound, with its 8,000-year history, is the oldest settlement in Kütahya and one of the largest Bronze Age settlements in Western Anatolia, covering an area of 45 hectares. It was also mentioned that Tavşanlı Mound was likely the capital of the region….

The attack on the settlement was very sudden and it seems like the northeastern edge was particularly vulnerable to attack. All of the weapons — daggers, spearheads, arrows — found there are in the destruction layer. Archaeologists believe the settlement was besieged by a greater military power and the entire city was burned to the ground.

This excavation project began in 2021 and is planned to continue for at least 30 years. The team hopes to discover who attacked the city and why in future dig seasons.

Unfinished lion’s head spout found in Selinunte

Ancient

Unfinished lion's head simen, 5th century B.C. Selinunt project Ruhr University Bochum, Marc Klauss/Leah Schiebel.Excavations at the ancient Greek colony of Selinunte in Sicily have unearthed a rare marble lion’s head sima, a decorated spout meant to drain water from the roof of an ancient temple. It dates to the 5th century B.C.

Almost two feet high, the figure is larger than usual for this type of architectural feature. It is also unfinished. The water outlet is not yet installed. The back of the mane and the top decoration is also incomplete.

It was discovered on a street near the ancient eastern harbor, an area known for its workshops. The lion was destined for one of Selinunte’s many temples, but never made it to the roof. It would have to have been a very fancy temple, however, as most simen of this era were made of terracotta.

“This marble was imported to Sicily from the Greek islands – probably from Paros,” says Jon Albers. “All in all, only nine temples from the 5th century BC are known to have a sima made of Greek marble in all of southern Italy and Sicily.” The roofs were mainly discovered in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

“The newly found Sima from Selinunte cannot be compared to any of these temples and is therefore part of a tenth temple with such a marble roof,” concludes Jon Albers. The researchers cannot yet decide whether the object was once intended for the well-known Temple E in Selinunte or for another monumental temple that is still unknown today. […]

Through this condition, the find allows us to to better understand the manufacturing processes for such architectural parts,” says the archaeologist happily. “Since the find comes from the port zone and the immediate vicinity of the workshop district of Selinunte, it allows further conclusions to be drawn about the city’s trade contacts and the technical skills of the ancient inhabitants of Selinunte.”

2,000-year-old child’s shoe found in salt mine

Ancient

Archaeologists with the German Mining Museum Bochum have unearthed a child’s leather shoe that is more than 2,000 years old and in excellent condition. It is complete to an exceptional degree, even preserving a section of the flax laces and showing how the shoe was originally tied. The design of the shoe dates it to around the 2nd century B.C.

It was found in the Dürrnberg, an ancient rock salt mine, near Salzburg, Austria, where archaeologists have been excavating since 2001 to study the life and work of Iron Age miners. Thanks to the preservative effect of the salt, organic materials that would usually decompose survive in the mine. Indeed, the excavation team discovered more organic remains next to the shoe, including a wooden shovel and a scrap of fur with lacing that was likely part of a hood.

Leather shoes have been discovered in the Dürrnberg before, but this is the first child’s shoe. It is poignant evidence that young children were working in the mine. The shoe is a Euro child size 30, so about a 13 or 13.5 US child’s size, for a foot about 7.5″ long. Today this size would be worn by a child around seven years old.

“For decades now, our research activities on the Dürrnberg have repeatedly provided us with valuable finds in order to scientifically develop the earliest mining activities. The condition of the shoe that was found is outstanding,” says the head of the research area, Prof. Dr. Thomas Stoellner. “Organic materials usually decompose over time. Finds such as this children’s shoe, but also textile remains or excrement, such as those found on the Dürrnberg, offer an extremely rare insight into the life of the Iron Age miners. They provide valuable information for our scientific work.” […]

Excavations will continue over the next few years. The aim is to explore the full extent of the mine and thus to obtain the most comprehensive information possible about the work of the Iron Age miners and their way of life. In addition, they hope to find out what size the mining galleries on Dürrnberg were. In this way, mining archaeological excavations and research methods provide important insights into areas of life that cannot yet be documented and researched from other sources.