The smell of the ink-horn

Chantal Schütz (1, 2)

1 PRISMES - PRISMES - Langues, Textes, Arts et Cultures du Monde Anglophone - EA 4398
2 X - École polytechnique

The inkhorn is a portable vessel that peripatetic writers could hang on their belt. Was it the ostentation of the container that singled it out as a butt of the irony of the defenders of simple language? Sidney, Puttenham, Greene and Hall all make fun of “inkhorne eloquence” and “inkhorn terms”, while Robert Cawdrey recommends never to “affect any strange ynckhorne termes, but labour to speake so as is commonly receiued”. The inkhorn is strongly connected to the unpleasant smell of ink, and excessive inhaling of its vapours was thought to engender melancholy or madness. At any rate, it inspired the designers of inkpots and inkstands, vessels which bear witness to the value attached to the qualities of the liquid they contained.

Mots clés: inkhorn; inkwell; inkpot; eloquence

Domaines: Littératures

Chantal Schütz. The smell of the ink-horn. 62nd annual meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, Renaissance Society of America, Mar 2016, Boston, United States. ⟨halshs-01403570⟩