Aristotelian Works in Seventeenth-century China

Between 1623 and 1640, Jesuits in China published nine Aristotelian works in the domains of logics, natural philosophy and ethics. Some forty years later, under the Qing dynasty, Ferdinand Verbiest integrated those previous works into a unified and comprehensive philosophical handbook, which he presented to the Kangxi emperor. We shall present here the philosophical background of this translation project, analyze the main features of those Aristotelian works and reflect on their degree of compatibility with Chinese culture.     

A Seventeenth-century Boat found in London

Abstract

A flat-bottomed barge carrying a cargo of bricks was excavated where it had sunk on the bed of the Thames off Blackfriars in London. Details of the boat’s construction were recovered, and associated finds suggested a date in the third quarter of the 17th century, perhaps connected with intensive rebuilding activity after the Great Fire of London in 1666.     

Seventeenth-century Pottery from Ash,Surrey

Abstract

About 2,000 sherds, mainly in white fabric, were found on a site at Ash which was one of several producing similar wares on the West Surrey and Hampshire borders. Some of the sherds were medieval, but the remainder were 17th century and are analysed in an attempt to assess the forms and characteristics of the post-medieval pottery made at Ash. Documentary evidence discloses the presence of potters in Ash in the 17th and 18th centuries, although there is no direct link with the site, and also indicates possible sources for the potters’ clay.     

Workers' Housing in Essex

Abstract

This paper derives from a survey carried out to identify and quantify surviving sites and structures, and assess their historic and architectural significance. The information gathered has been used to enhance the County Historic Environment Record by providing detailed records of each site and structure, a comparative assessment of their significance and prioritised recommendations for their future management and statutory protection. When a site or structure becomes the subject of development proposals, an informed response can, therefore, be made. Through such management strategies and statutory protection, landscapes and structures of significance and hence the historic and architectural character of the County can be protected for present and future generations to understand and appreciate. The survey report considered the sites and structures on an individual basis; the aggregation of structures in a particular settlement for the purposes of considering Conservation Area status; and takes a county-wide view on the comparative significance of individual sites within a local, regional and national context. This article, however, will analyse the results of this survey in order to learn more about the reasons behind why the accommodation was built, where it was built and its design.     

Seventeenth-century legal fictions: the case of John Perry

This essay discusses the role of narrative in the transmission of legal “truth” in the early modern period, taking as its focus the John Perry murder case of 1660. Perry, a servant, confessed to and was convicted of the murder of his missing master, William Harrison, in the village of Campden in Gloucestershire. Two years after Perry’s execution, however, Harrison reappeared, offering in explanation of his absence a lurid and incredible account of his kidnap and transport to the slave markets of Turkey. In the Perry case complex and unstable narratives, with debts to a range of literary genres, served to obscure the central question of a missing body. This narrativisation of circumstance gained further momentum once the affair began to circulate in textual form, when, I will contend, it became not only a legal story but a way of telling stories about the law. In particular, the case raises questions of methodology: where can we, as scholars, locate truth within the ambiguities of law in this period, and is that truth really of value in our consideration of early modern legal and literary texts?     

Excavations at Tilbury Fort,Essex

Tilbury Fort is situated on the N. bank of the Thames 25 miles doumstream from London (TQ 651 754) (FIG. 1). It is the best preserved example of late 17th-century military engineering in England and has been in guardianship since 1950. Plans by the Department of the Environment to alter the visitor access to the site from the riverfront to the landward approach necessitated excavations to establish the original construction of the earthworks, redan and ravelin and to identify the routes and levels of the roadways. Excavations were undertaken in 1973 by Jerry Pratt, concentrating on the ravelin, and in 1980 by the Passmore Edwards Museum. The results of both excavations are presented in this report.     

Excavation of a Medieval Bridge at Waltham Abbey,Essex, in 1968

THE single-arch bridge over the lower mill stream at Waltham Abbey was excavated in advance of roadworks. The bridge had three double-chamfered ribs set skew to the abutments. The springers were of Caen stone; the ribs and ashlar facing of the abutments were of Kentish ragstone. The abutments were set on oak sill-plates and staggered rows of elm piles. Bank revetting and coffer-dam timbers were also found. The bridge is compared with the near-by single-arch Stony Bridge. A mid 14th-century date is established by dendrochronology. Documentary study has enabled phases in the development of the watercourse system to be postulated.     

Colonial survey records and the vegetation of Essex County,Ontario

This paper uses the earliest colonial records for Essex County to establish and map the ingredients of the forest at European contact. It does so in the context of the work both of P. F. Maycock, the modern botanist, and the records of the colonial surveyors. It uses Maycock's thesis of the relationship of individual species to the soil moisture series. The paper establishes what the surveyors considered “good” and “poor” land, maps vegetation areas which the settlers may have discerned and offers statistical evidence for the idea that they, using the prevailing forest lore, could identify the better lands with a minimum knowledge of tree species. Specific references in the historical record suggest that these relationships were valid.