Impressionism

Impressionism (pronounced im-presh-uh-niz-uhm)

(1) In fine art (an appropriated by others), a style of painting developed in the late nineteenth century, characterized by short brush strokes of bright colors in immediate juxtaposition to represent the effect of light on objects and a focus on everyday subject matters (by convention usually with an initial capital).

(2) A manner of painting in which the forms, colors, or tones of an object are lightly and rapidly indicated and there’s sometimes an attempt deliberately to include discordant subjects.

(3) In sculpture, a compositional style in which volumes are partially modeled and surfaces roughened to reflect light unevenly.

(4) In poetry, a style which used imagery and symbolism to convey the poet's impressions

(5) In literature, a theory and practice which emphasizes immediate aspects of objects or actions without attention to details.

(6) In musical composition, a movement of the late nineteen and early twentieth centuries (in parallel with the developments in painting) which eschewed traditional harmonies, substituting lush pieces with subtle rhythms, the unusual tonal colors used as evocative devices.

1880–1885: The construct was impression + -ism.  Impression was from the Old French impression, from the Latin impressio, from imprimo (push, thrust, assault, onslaught; squashing; stamping; impression), the construct being in- (the prefix which usually to some extent nullified but here in its rare form as an intensifier) +‎ premō (to press), from the Proto-Italic premō which may be linked with the primitive Indo-European pr-es- (to press), from per- (to push, beat, press).  The –ism suffix was from the Ancient Greek ισμός (ismós) & -isma noun suffixes, often directly, sometimes through the Latin –ismus & isma (from where English picked up ize) and sometimes through the French –isme or the German –ismus, all ultimately from the Ancient Greek (where it tended more specifically to express a finished act or thing done).  It appeared in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form abstract nouns of action, state, condition or doctrine from verbs and on this model, was used as a productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or characteristic, devotion or adherence (criticism; barbarism; Darwinism; despotism; plagiarism; realism; witticism etc).  Impressionism and impressionist are nouns; the noun plural is impressionisms.

The meanings of impressionism are wholly unrelated to impressionistic which is used to describe an opinion reached by means of subjective reactions as opposed to one which was the product of research or deductive reasoning (ie based on impression rather than reason or fact).  As a noun an impressionist is (1) one who in art, music or literature produced work in the tradition of impressionism or (2) an entertainer who performs impressions of others (a mimic).  Although by some used in philosophy since 1839, impressionism really isn’t a recognized field in the discipline, instead used metaphorically (and often critically) to describe certain tendencies which share similarities with the artistic movement.  Those who describe themselves as impressionist philosophers reject the idea that objective knowledge or absolute truths exist and instead stress the importance of individual perception and personal experience, arguing that individual (and debatably collective) understanding of the world is determined only by the wholly subjective: senses and emotions.  They’re thus much concerned with perception, consciousness, and the nature of reality.  In all that there’s obviously some overlap with earlier traditions and mainstream philosophers tend to be dismissive, some suggesting impressionism is less a philosophical school than a mode of which has been explored for millennia.

Le pont du chemin de fer à Argenteuil (The Railroad Bridge in Argenteuil (1873-1874)), oil on canvas by Claude Monet (1840-1926), Musée d’Orsay, Paris).

Impressionism was an art movement that which emerged in France in the late nineteenth century and was a romantic form, the core of which was the capturing of a fleeting moment (ie an impression) in time and place, characterized by the play of light and color, rendered with what gave the impression of loose (even careless) brushwork, the paint often applied in brief, broken strokes.  Breaking from the intricacy and preciseness which had distinguished high art since the renaissance, the artists sought a feeling of spontaneity rather than the staged effect engendered by meticulously rendered details.  The whole idea was to “capture the moment” those transitory scenes one might view thousands of times a day and their subject matter so often were the vistas of everyday light, the apparent casualness of the composition an important psychological aspect because such visions are so often hazy because the mind tends to remember only the part which has captured the eye while in memory the peripheral surroundings are “burred” or even vaguely “filled in” from memory.  The artists wanted to represent the immediate sensory impressions of a particular moment rather than a polished and composition.  Given all this, it’s not surprising the Impressionists so frequently painted en plein air (ie outdoors) because there natural light and breezes made for an ever-changing environment, idea for a technique dedicated capturing the ephemeral.

The Church at Auvers (1890), oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890), Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

In the way of such things, from Impressionism, very late in the nineteenth century came post-impressionism.  Deliberately positioned as a reaction against what had come to be regarded as the strictures and limitations of Impressionism, it was noted especially for an expressive and symbolic use of color which neglected and sometimes even abandoned the link with naturalistic representation, the intensity of shade itself a vehicle of an artist’s personal interpretations.  It also distorted form and perspective, the exaggerations wildly beyond anything in the mannerist tradition and the influence upon the cubists who would follow is undeniable.  Something of a preview of post-modernism, the concerns were more with laying bare the underlying structure rather than showing anything directly representational.  However, despite the perceptions of some, technical innovation was rare and even the techniques most associated with the movement had been seen before although famously, the post-impressionists delighted in non-naturalistic color schemes.  While this was something which caught the eye, it again wasn’t exactly new and the claims it somehow created a heightened emotional impact have always seem hard to sustain although they certainly displeased the Nazis who decried paintings “green skies” and “blue dogs”.  Still, the work influenced Fauvism and Cubism and there are critics who maintain post-impressionism was the first discernible epoch in modern art.

The Seine at Courbevoie (1885), oil on canvas by Georges Seurat (1859-1891).

Although post-impressionism can be seen to some extent as something new, the companion neo-impressionism was really a fork.  The alternative name of the movement was Divisionism which hints at the scientific basis which underlay many of the works, most notably pointillism (the use of tiny dots which blended optically when viewed from a distance) which explored the principles of the physics of color and light by rendering paintings almost as a mathematical exercise and one far removed from the spontaneous brushwork of Impressionism.  Color under this regime came to be understood in itself as a theory, the concept of “simultaneous contrast” expressed in the placement of contrasting or complementary colors explored to exploit the way the brain processed the relationship by either “toning down” or making more luminous the visual experience.  The work was thus in the impressionist tradition of using light and color but it was different in that instead of representing an impression of how nature was seen, it deployed a scientific understanding of how the mind perceived and interpreted light and color to produce something which enhanced the effect.  In that sense it’s understood as a structuralist movement.

Separation (1896), oil on canvas by Edvard Munch (1963-1944), Munch Museum, Oslo.

Neo-impressionism should not be confused with Expressionism, a contemporary movement from Germany which some have characterized (not wholly unfairly” as “painting Friedrich Nietzsche’s (1844–1900) nightmares”.  The expressionists sought to convey the subjective emotions, inner experiences and psychological states of the artist; the viewer was there simply to view and understand the feelings of the artist who seem frequently drawn to the darker aspects of human existence.  They used distorted and exaggerated forms, heavy brushwork, and non-naturalistic colors designed expressly to be discordant.  The classic example of Expressionism is Edvard Munch’s The Scream (1893).

Lindsay Lohan (2012), oil on canvas by Lucas Bufi.

Florida-based Lucas Bufi describes himself as “modern Impressionist artist, guided by light and shadows”.  His take on Lindsay Lohan was based on one of the images from a 2011 photo-shoot for the January/February 2012 issue of Playboy magazine which featured her as the cover model.  It can be difficult to determine where impressionism ends and expressionism begins.

Fathom

Fathom (probounced fath-uhm)

(1) A unit of length equal to six feet (1.8288 m): used chiefly in nautical measurements and Admiralty papers.

(2) To measure the depth of by means of a sounding line; sound.

(3) In mining, a unit of volume usually equal to six cubic feet, used in measuring ore bodies (largely obsolete).

(4) In forestry, a unit of volume equal to six cubic feet, used for measuring timber (largely obsolete).

(5) To penetrate to the truth of; comprehend; understand.

Pre 900: From the Old English fæðm (length of the outstretched arm (a measure of about six feet), and figuratively, "power") from the Proto-Germanic fathmaz (embrace), related to the Old Norse faðmr (embrace) and the Old Saxon fathmos (the outstretched arms) and the Dutch vadem (a measure of six feet (1.8 m)).  The Middle English was fathme, cognate with the German Faden (a six-foot measure) and related to the Old English fæðmian (to embrace, surround, envelop), most forms at least influenced by the primitive Indo-European pot(ə)-mo-, a suffixed form of the root pete- (to spread).  Probable cognates included the Old Frisian fethem and the German faden (thread), the connection said to be the sense of "spreading out."  As a unit of measure, in an early gloss it appears for the Latin passus, which was about 5 feet (1.5 m).  The meaning "take soundings" is from circa 1600; its figurative sense of "get to the bottom of, understand" came some twenty years later.  The verb fathom was from the Old English fæðmian (to embrace, surround, envelop), from a Proto-Germanic verb derived from the source of the noun fathom, the cognates including the Old High German fademon and the Old Norse faþma.  The admiralty term fathomless (an adjective meaning literally "bottomless") is from the 1640s, later extended to figurative use (not to be comprehended).  Fathom is a noun and verb, fathomer & fathometer are nouns and fathomable, fathomless & (the predictably common) unfathomable are adjectives; the noun plural is fathoms.

The One-Hundred Fathom Line

UK Admiralty chart of the hundred fathom line, circa 1911.

The one-hundred fathom line is an Admiralty term for marking sea charts to delineate where the seabed lies at depths less or greater than 100 fathoms; it can thus be thought a particular expression of the continental shelf (though defined for military rather than geographical purposes).  Thus the distance from the coastlines of each land mass varies and it's related not at all to other boundaries established by the United Nation's (UN) Law of the Sea or other conventions such as territorial waters (historically 3 miles (5 km) and now 12 (20) or a state's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) (200 (320)).  The hundred fathom line is now of little military significance (although it remains of interest to submariners) but it was cited as recently as 1952 in negotiations between the post-war Churchill (1951-1955) and Truman administrations (1945-1953) in defining the areas of preponderant operations for the Royal Navy and US Navy.

Lindsay Lohan GIF from A Beautiful Life (music video).  Although often photographed in the water, there's no evidence to suggest Ms Lohan has ever descended deeper than a a couple of fathoms.

Cocktail

Cocktail (pronounced kok-teyl)

(1) Any of various short mixed drinks, consisting typically of gin, whiskey, rum, vodka, or brandy, with different admixtures, as vermouth, fruit juices, or flavorings, usually chilled and frequently sweetened.

(2) A portion of food, as seafood served with a sauce, a mixture of fruits, or juice, served as the appetizer course of a meal.

(3) In pharmacology, a mixture or solution concocted of various drugs.

(4) In casual use, a thing mixed of several ingredients.

(5) Any eclectic mixture or miscellaneous collection.

(6) An evening dress in semi-formal style; probably now a LBD (little black dress) alternative.

(7) A horse with a docked tail (archaic).

(8) A horse of mixed pedigree (ie standardbred and not a thoroughbred (archaic)).

(9) A man of poor breeding pretending to be a gentleman (archaic).

(10) A species of rove beetle, so called from its habit of elevating the tail.

(11) As the Molotov Cocktail, an improvised incendiary weapon; a petrol bomb.

1806:  If one accepts what seems the orthodox view, the construct was cock + tail.  Cock (in this context) was from the Middle English cok, from the Old English coc & cocc (cock, male bird), from the Proto-West Germanic kokk, from the Proto-Germanic kukkaz (cock), probably of onomatopoeic origin.  It was cognate with the Middle Dutch cocke (cock, male bird) and the Old Norse kokkr (cock (and source of the Danish kok (cock) and the dialectal Swedish kokk (cock)). The development was influenced by the Old French coc, also of imitative origin.  Tail (in this context) was from the Middle English tail, tayl & teil, from the Old English tæġl (tail), from the Proto-Germanic taglaz & taglą (hair, fiber; hair of a tail), from the primitive Indo-European doḱ- (hair of the tail), from deḱ- (to tear, fray, shred).  It was cognate with the Scots tail (tail), the Dutch teil (tail, haulm, blade), the Low German Tagel (twisted scourge, whip of thongs and ropes; end of a rope), the German Zagel (tail), the dialectal Danish tavl (hair of the tail), the Swedish tagel (hair of the tail, horsehair), the Norwegian tagl (tail), the Icelandic tagl (tail, horsetail, ponytail) and the Gothic tagl (hair).  From this, came the general idea of the tail (rear) being the opposite of the head (front) which was generalized to many front-rear comparisons.

That etymology of course relies on the simple conjecture that "cocktail" was an allusion to the decorative embellishments often appended to the glasses in which mixed drinks were served; often made of bar wastage such as fruit rind or the leaves of pineapples, the constructions were said vaguely to resemble a rooster’s tail feathers.  Zoological still but equestrian rather than avian, it’s been linked also to the earlier use of cocktail to describe a "horse with a docked tail" (one cut short, which makes it stand up somewhat like the cock's comb).  The linkage is that because that method of dressing the tail was most associated with ordinary working horses rather than the pure-blooded thoroughbreds, cocktail came to be extended to drinks that were a mixture rather than anything pure.

What is certain however is the word is an Americanism and none of the attempts to explain the origin have found general acceptance.  HL Menken (1880-1956) listed several possibilities and the one which seemed most to appeal to him was a connection with the French coquetier (egg-cup) which, in English, was "cocktay".  That’s because a late eighteenth-century New Orleans apothecary, Antoine Amédée Peychaud (circa 1803-1883 and a confessed Freemason), conducted Masonic rituals in his pharmacy, mixing brandy toddies with bitters and serving them in an egg-cup.  Even those who find the etymology dubious admit it's an attractive tale.  The first known reference to a cocktail party is 1907 and since the 1920s cocktail has been used, formally and informally, to describe any concoction of substances (fruit, seafood, chemicals et al).  In motorsport, for almost a century, various high-octane fuel concoctions have sometime been allowed and colloquially they're known as the “exotic cocktails”.  What goes into the mixes has included gasoline (petrol, including high octane aviation fuel), methanol (known also as methyl alcohol), nitromethane (an often secret blend with several additives which creates famously explosive combustion characteristics and is banned in most categories), propane and nitrous oxide.  

The Cocktail Dress

Varations on the theme of the cocktail dress: Lindsay Lohan in vintage Herve Leger at Arrivals For Cartier Declare Your Love Day VIP cocktail reception, Cartier Store, New York, June 2006 (left) and in black Dion Lee cocktail dress with illusion panels and an off-the-shoulder silhouette, January 2013 (right).

Cocktail dresses straddle the gap between daywear and ball gowns.  Intended to be worn at formal or semi-formal occasions (classically of course, the “cocktail party”) including wedding receptions or dinner parties, they’re typically shorter in length than a gown, the hemline falling somewhere between just above the knee to mid-calf.  There’s no exact template for a cocktail dress but they should be identifiable by their simplicity and elegance, thus the utility of their versatility.  While not exactly post-modern, they appear in many fabrics and just about any style including empire, bandage, A-line or sack, featuring a range of necklines, sleeve lengths, and embellishments.  Historically, befitting the sophistication once associated with the cocktail party, the dresses were characterized by modesty and severity of line, the classic motif the tailored silhouette, relatively uncluttered by details.  Vogue magazine labeled the accessories (shoes, jewelry, a clutch and sometimes a wrap) the “cocktail dress ensemble”.  Things have has changed a bit and in recent decades, some discordant elements have intruded.

The Molotov Cocktail  

Molotov Coca-Cola Triptych (1997) by Alexander Kkosolapov (b 1943),

Describing a hand-held petrol-bomb, the term Molotov Cocktail was coined by the Finnish military during the Finnish-Soviet war (Winter War) of 1939-1940.  In Finnish it’s polttopullo or Molotovin koktaili, a reference to Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov (1890-1986; USSR Foreign Minister 1939-1949 & 1953-1956).  In 1939, Comrade Molotov claimed the Soviet Union was not dropping bombs on Finland, but merely airlifting bread to starving Finns.  The ordinance being dropped was an early type of cluster bomb which the Finns sarcastically dubbed Molotov's bread basket and soon after, they developed the petrol bomb as an improvised incendiary device suited especially to anti-tank operations in Finnish winter conditions.  That, they named the Molotov Cocktail, "a drink to take with the bread”.

The RHS

The cocktails called the Red-Headed Slut (RHS) or the Ginger Bitch are identical.  Although variations exist, the original is served on the rocks, poured over ice, either in a old fashioned (rocks) glass or a highball.  Quantities of ingredients can vary but the alcohol components should always be equal.

Ingredients

(1) One part Jägermeister
(2) One part peach schnapps
(3) Cranberry juice

Instructions

Combine Jägermeister and schnapps in glass full of cubed or crushed ice. Add cranberry juice to fill glass. Stir as preferred.

It may be served as a shooter, chilled and shaken but without ice.   One popular derivative includes equal parts Jägermeister, Schnapps, Crown Royal, and cranberry-flavored vodka.  Some substitute Chambord for the cranberry juice, and sometimes Southern Comfort for the schnapps.  For a sweeter taste, apricot brandy can be used instead of schnapps and best of all, there’s the Angry Red-Headed Slut which adds rum (over-proof or two shots to increase the degree of anger).

The Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan enjoying an eponymous.  Surely an affectionate homage, the Lindsay Lohan is a variation, the Lohanic version taking a classic RHS and adding a dash of Coca-Cola (usually expressed as "coke").  It should be always served in a highball.

Voluptuary

Voluptuary (pronounced vuh-luhp-choo-er-ee)

(1) A person devoted to the pursuit and enjoyment of luxury and sensual pleasure; a pleasure-seeker, a sensualist.

(2) Of or relating to, or characterized by preoccupation with luxury and sensual pleasure.

(3) In informal use, the bedroom.

1595–1605: From the French voluptuaire or its etymon the Late Latin voluptuārius, from the Classical Latin voluptārius (pleasure-seeker; agreeable, delightful, pleasant; sensual), from voluptās (pleasure, delight, enjoyment, satisfaction), the construct being volupt(ās) (pleasure, delight) + -ārius (the adjectival suffix).  The suffix -aris was a form of -ālis with dissimilation of -l- to -r- after roots containing an l (the alternative forms were -ālis, -ēlis, -īlis & -ūlis); it was used to form adjectives, usually from noun, indicating a relationship or a "pertaining to".  The English suffic –ary (of or pertaining to) was a back-formation from unary and similar, from the Latin adjectival suffixes -aris and -arius; appended to many words, often nouns, to make an adjective form and use was not restricted to words of Latin origin.  The Latin voluptās was from volup (with pleasure; agreeably, pleasantly, satisfactorily) (perhaps related to velle (to wish)) and ultimately from a construct of the primitive Indo-European welh- (to choose; to want) or wel (to wish; to will) + the Latin -tās (the suffix forming feminine abstract nouns indicating a state of being).  Voluptuary & voluptuarian are nouns & adjectives, voluptuousness, voluptuosity & volupty are nouns, voluptuous is an adjective, voluptuate is the (always rare) verb and voluptuously is an adverb; the noun plural is voluptuaries.

Upon his arrival for trial at Nuremburg (1945-1946), Hermann Göring (1893–1946; leading Nazi 1922-1945 and Reichsmarschall 1940-1945), grossly overweight and drug-addicted (albeit at a very low dose) was described by one doctor as “a decayed voluptuary”.  Slimmed down and detoxed by the time he appeared in the dock, he recovered much of his earlier élan but, guilty as sin, he was sentenced to be hanged.

The words voluptuary, epicurean, hedonist, sensualist & sybarite are synonymous although conventions do seem to govern their use.  Although there’s really neither the historical nor the supporting etymology to justify how the patterns of use have evolved, there does seem a tendency to associate epicureans with a fondness for fine food (based on one minor aspect of the tradition), hedonists seem to be treated as those who seek pleasure through experiences, sybarites are indulgent materialists and sensualists are devoted to the sins of flesh while the characteristic most now associated with the voluptuary may be decadence.  That thumbnail is wholly impressionistic and for each there will be a thousand contradictory examples and in literary use the choice may be dictated as much by the cadence of the text that any sense of differences in nuance.  All share many characteristics so there’s much overlap in meaning, all relating to the pursuit of pleasure and though there may be differences in emphasis, all are used to convey the idea of excess rather than moderation, immediate gratification, and a focus on physical senses as the source of happiness.

Judgement of Paris (circa 1634), oil on oak wood by Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), National Gallery, London. 

The adjective voluptuous in the late fourteenth century originally meant “of or pertaining to desires or appetites” and was from the Old French voluptueux & volumptueuse and directly from the Latin voluptuosus (full of pleasure, delightful), again from voluptas and the specific idea of “one addicted to sensual pleasure” emerged in the mid-fifteenth century, the romantic poets in the early 1800s adopting the word to convey the feeling “suggestive of sensual pleasure”, something they applied especially to their aesthetic of feminine beauty.  It was only in the twentieth century that the word “voluptuous” came to be applied to the depictions of women in Renaissance art, their figures approximating what would now be described as “plump”.  Historians of art have devoted much attention to the motif and have concluded the artists were much influenced by the statutes from Antiquity and because they regarded the sculptors of old as having been closer to the perfection of Creation, regarded their carving as representing an ideal.  Of late, rather than a polite way to say “full figured”, “voluptuous” appears to have been re-purposed to mean simply “big boobs” so “Rubenesque” (a coining from the Romantic period) is probably a better choice, given its respectable origins.  Pragmatically, the “s” is almost always dropped because the clumsy sounding Rubensesque is too hard to pronounce.

In informal use, a voluptuary is “a bedroom”.  Lindsay Lohan’s voluptuary was in 2012 featured in Bravo TV’s “Million Dollar Decorator Makeover”  It’s believed it didn’t cost that much.

Colophon

Colophon (pronounced kol-uh-fon or kol-uh-fuhn)

(1) A publisher's or printer's distinctive emblem (or imprint, label, logo, mark, symbol trademark etc), used as an identifying device on its books and other works, appearing variously within the covers and at the base of the spine (replicated in the same place on a dust jacket).

(2) An inscription (historically at the end of a book or manuscript but of late frequently printed towards the beginning), widely used since the fifteenth century (although the practice pre-dates the invention of printing) and providing the title or subject of the work, selected details about the author(s), the name of the printer or publisher, the date and place of publication and (less commonly), technical details such as typefaces, bibliophilic information or the paper and method of binding used.

(3) By extension, in internet use, a page on a website identifying the details of its creation, such as the author's name, the technologies used (including copyright attribution) and many other details, some or all of which may replicate the metadata associated with objects in other digital contexts.

(3) In entomology, a genus of beetles in the stag beetle family Lucanidae.

(4) In art, music, poetry etc, a finishing stroke or crowning touch (archaic except as an artistic affectation).

(5) An city in Ancient Greece (in Lydia, Asia Minor); one of the twelve Ionian cities banded together in the eighth century BC and substantially depopulated in 286 BC (always initial capital).  It was romanized as Kolophṓn.

1615-1625: From the Late Latin colophōn, from the Ancient Greek κολοφών (kolophṓn) (peak, summit; finishing touch; a finishing stroke), from the primitive Indo-European root kel (to be prominent; hill).  A colophon should not be confused with colophonite (in mineralogy a coarsely granular variety of garnet) or technical words from medicine words like coloplasty (surgery on the colon (especially partial resection or an instance of such surgery)).  The adjective Colophonian is applied to (1) an inhabitant of the Lydian city of Colophon or (2) matters of or pertaining to that city.  The term colophony (for the type of rosin) is from colophonia resina (from the Ancient Greek Κολοφωνία ῥητίνη (Kolophōnia rhētinē)) which describes the hardened resin from the pine trees of Colophon, a substance valued by the craftsmen who made stringed musical instruments because its properties were uniquely helpful in increasing the friction of bow hairs (and now used in pharmaceutical preparations & soldering fluxes though it’s still prized by those who play the violin, viola, cello etc).  Colophon is a noun and colophonic is an adjective; the noun plural is colophons.

The etymological relationship between the colophon in publishing and the Ancient Greek city of Colophon lies in the original meaning of the word and the reverence in the West for the classical world which would have found a Latin or Greek form preferable to something in brutish English like “details page”.  The Greek word κολοφών (kolophṓn) meant “peak” or “summit” and thus the ancient Lydian city in Asia Minor (what is now the land mass of the modern Republic of Türkiye) which was said to be the oldest of the twelve of the Ionian League came to be known as Colophon because it was built upon a ridgeline which rose between Ephesus & Lebedos.  From the, in Greek, kolophṓn came to be used to mean “a city or town at the summit of a hill or a signpost at the end of a trail that indicated the name and location of the place” and thus “a finishing touch; a finishing stroke”.  From this duality of meaning came the use in publishing, the bibliographic addendum called a “colophon” in the metaphorical sense of a “crowning touch” and the historic placement at the end of a book or manuscript an allusion to “the signpost at the end”.  Although it would be centuries before anything like a standardized form emerged, the concept of the colophon has been identified in texts from antiquity, recognizable versions existing as early as the second century AD.

An emulation of a colaphon.

A colophon is not an essential component of a book but many publishers have long included one.  In its most simple modern form, a colophon is a summary of technical information which includes data such as the name & insignia of the publisher, the font(s) used, the details of photographs or art used on the covers and the names of the author(s) or editor(s), along with whatever biographical data they may care to reveal.  The nature of the text also influences what’s included, books with a technical bent (and certainly those covering IT matters) likely to list software used in the composition while those which focus on photography are likely to include much about cameras.  Reflecting environment concerns, increasingly colophons include mentions of thing like sustainability in the process (which can mean much or little) or the use of recycled materials.  A colophon differs from a blurb (often printed on the back cover or a cover flap) which is a blend of promotional puff-piece and a précis of the contents.  Traditionally part of the back matter, they’re now often found among the front pages along with the title page (a more modern innovation than the colophon) appearing with the usual entries such as the date & place of publication, the copyright stamp, ISBN references etc.  In a sense, a colophon can be considered a form of metadata (which references the concept of structured information which is about other data).

Anarchy

Anarchy (pronounced an-er-kee)

(1) A state of society without government or law.

(2) A political and social disorder due to the absence of governmental control.

(3) Lack of obedience to an authority; insubordination.

(4) In casual use, confusion and disorder; the absence of any guiding or uniting principle; chaos.

1530–1540: From the Middle English, from the Middle French anarchie, from the Medieval Latin anarchia, from the Ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarkhía) (lawlessness, literally “lack of a leader”), the construct being ánarch(os) (leaderless) ((ἀν- (an-) (not; without) + ἀρχή (arkhḗ) arch(ós) (leader; power; authority) + -os (the adjectival suffix)) + -ia (the noun suffix).  Anarchy & anarchism are nouns, anarchist is a noun & adjective, anarchic & anarchical are adjectives and anarchically is an adverb; the noun plural is anarchies.

Lindsay Lohan Anarchy tattoo by TADEONE!

Use of the word began in the 1530s in the sense of an "absence of government" describing the Year of Thirty Tyrants (in Athens 404 BC, when there was no archon (leader)), as an abstract noun from anarkhos (rulerless).  The noun anarchism, denoting the political doctrine advocating leaderlessness, the idea that a community is best organized by the voluntary cooperation of individuals, rather than by a government, which is regarded as being coercive by nature, was first noted in the 1640s; from the 1660s, it was used to mean “confusion or absence of authority in general" and by 1849 in reference to the social theory advocating "order without power," with associations and co-operatives taking the place of direct government, as formulated in the 1830s by French political philosopher Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809-1865).  The adjective anarchic (chaotic, lawless, without order or rule) appears not to have been used until 1755 (the poet Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) using it in 1824) although anarchical had existed since 1710.  The deliciously paradoxical anarch (leader of the leaderless) was used by John Milton (1608–1674), Alexander Pope (1688–1744), Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) & Lord Byron (1788–1824) and is said to be a favorite word in undergraduate anarchist clubs during discussions about whether leadership in actually possible in such organizations.  Whether any consensus tends to emerge from these ponderings is hard to say because, being anarchists, they're not inclined to keep minutes. 

The Russian connection

Mikhail Bakunin.

One of the seeming contradictions in the histories of anarchism and nihilism, despite essentially being about the absence of systems and structures and having been unsuccessful as political doctrines, is that both have attracted theorists who have produced detailed descriptions of their intellectual underpinnings and created complex layers of categories.  For whatever reason, it does seem Russians authors were those most attracted, possibly because the movements became popular during the late tsarist epoch and may have appeared uniquely attractive to activists seeking a philosophy with which to excite revolutionary possibilities.  The three categories of Russian anarchism were anarcho-communism, anarcho-syndicalism and individualist anarchism, the ranks of all three drawn predominantly from the intelligentsia and the working class, though the most numerous group, the anarcho-communists, appealed also to soldiers and peasants.  Anarchy was, in pre-revolutionary Russia, a movement which was never envisaged as merely theoretical or utopian, it’s proponents bent upon radically reforming Russian society, by violent means if need be.  An underground movement during the reactionary time after the tumult of 1848, Nicholas I (1796–1855; Tsar of Russia 1825-1855) imposed a harsh crack-down, persecuting writers such as Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821–1881), Vladimir Dahl (1801-1872), and Ivan Turgenev (1818–1883) in a period known as the gloomy seven years (1848-1855).  The roots of Russian nihilism are present in early work of the political anarchists, most notably Mikhail Bakunin (1814–1876) but can be found also in the Byronic philosophy of negating social and political cant such as found in the narrator's critical position in Don Juan (1819-1824).

Attracted by the homophonic properties, one model adopted Anekee van der Velden (sometimes as Anekee Vandervelden) as her internet identity and, operating somewhere on the soft core spectrum, had for some years a presence on a number of platforms, the merchandise including calendars.  She seems to have been from the Netherlands and the Dutch name Anekee is an affectionate diminutive of Anna.  Anneke means “favor”, “grace”, “gracious” & “merciful” or “He (God) has favored me” (from the Hebrew חֵן” (hen) (grace & favor) or  חָנַן” = (ḥanán) (to show favor; to be gracious)) and her photographs do suggest God was generous in his favor.  This being the internet, there's the not untypical mystery about her identity and history.  Some sources say her real name was Anne Isabella Raukema (b 1985 or 1988) while others deny this but all her accounts seem now closed or inactive and there are reports of her death but the veracity of such claims is difficult to determine.

Ms van der Velden interpolated the anarchist symbol (built with an upper-case "A" surrounded by a circle (in typography one of the enclosed alphanumerics)) into her branding which was a nice touch.  The symbol has for decades been used and there have been attempts to interpret the meaning but while the "A" is obvious (from the Ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarkhía) (lawlessness, literally “lack of a leader”)) and the circle is regarded usually a some sort of boundary (though after that the deconstructionists can weave some complexities), what's probably more interesting is that the anarchist symbol is depicted most frequently in the combinations black on white or red on black, exactly the same color palette used by the communists in Weimar Germany (1918-1933) and "borrowed" in the mid-1920s by Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) to render the swastika.  Hitler made no secret of his purloining and always delighted in telling how he turned the imagery of his opponents against them.  As a general principle, plagiarism (some of this blog) is better admitted than denied but Hitler actually boasted of it. 

The use of red and black in the iconography of anarchism dates from the earliest days of the various movements in the nineteenth century.  Red flags, scarves, shirts etc had for centuries been popular in political and religious movements, both for their vividness and the representation of "blood to be spilled" but after the color was adopted by first the more numerous socialists and later the communists (its allocation by US TV networks to the Republican Party was done without any sense of irony), the anarchists switched to black and there have been various interpretations of that, ranging from "mourning for the exploited & oppressed" to "the cold fury of the exploited & oppressed"; depending on their world view, anarchists can make of it what they will.  In an allusion to both traditions, a heterochromic blend (diagonally bisected red and black) is sometimes used by offshoots such as anarcho-syndicalism & anarcho-communism.

Arsenal Women team members in NMR shirts.

The association of “red” with “blood” is obvious and Arsenal Football Club in 2022 began their “No More Red” (NMR) campaign to draw attention to the increasing prevalence of knife crime in London (London now a “stabby-stabby” place in the parlance of the TikTokers).  The increasing use of edged weapons was a consequence of the UK’s success in limiting the availability of hand-guns although 3D printed versions (made in combination with parts freely available from hardware stores) are now seen; people will always be drawn to the best available technology.  Arsenal's campaign includes team kit in white with none of the red in which the team traditionally has appeared and, unusually for the merchandize-oriented EPL (English Premier League), the gear isn’t available for public sale, awarded only “…to individuals who are making a positive difference in the community.”  Inevitably, within days, knock-offs of the NMR kit, fabricated in the Far-East, appeared on-line.

Anarchy & anarcho-communist pencil mini-skirts.  Capitalism is actually selectively anarchic in that ruthlessly it lobbies for legislation and regulations which protect it from competition or increases their profits while usually maintaining a public position of opposition to "intrusive", "unnecessary", "inefficient" or other laws which may impose costs.  Their preferred model is "self-regulation", administered by suitably vague "guidelines" or "codes of conduct", the charm of this approach being nothing is enforceable and everything can be ignored.  Although it's doubtful anyone has run the numbers, the suspicion is there would be something of a correlation between the extent to which certain industries are allowed to run under a "self-regulation" model and the value of political donations made.

Anarchists can spread brand awareness in a way only nerds will understand and some even carry a stencil and a rattle-can of red paint so the equation can in seconds appear anywhere which seems appropriate.  The anarchist symbol (right) is rendered with the (seductively easy-to-use) Demos on-line calculator but the graffitied (the “street-art” community deny that verb exists and for some it may be a microaggression) splash (left) displays what Henry Fowler (1858–1933) in his A Dictionary of Modern English Usage (1926) called a “pride of knowledge” in that functions are used to describe the circle, thus two are needed to describe the shape.  The single expression (y-2)^2+(x+2)^2=1 could have been used, creating the more elegant math: 4 features; 4 equations.

f = top half of circle
g = bottom half of circle
h = line to bottom right
i = line to bottom left
j = central line