Add MS 88942/1/13

This notebook is the first of the etymological series S-Z (Add MS 88942/1/13-25) and at the same time the first of a smaller subseries of five notebooks ('S' series Add MS 88942/1/13-17) within the series 'S-Z'.

The notebook starts with notes on Egyptian hieroglyphics and mythology and continues with etymological notes on Greek and various modern European languages, including names of places and Greek gods. Talbot included later revisions in pencil. It continues with Add MS 88942/1/14. The series S-Z contains a few random notes on ancient coins and translations, but mainly comprises notes on the etymology of names of mythological characters and places, as well as etymological notes on various languages, including English. Talbot makes numerous references to journal articles published at the time. The series is therefore not only a preparation for Talbot’s Hermes, or Classical and Antiquarian Researches (1838-1839), but also for the more detailed publication English Etymologies (1847). Hermes promised a new view on classical Antiquity, comprising the Antiquities of Greece, Italy and Egypt and Etruscan mythology, using a mixture of more familiar classical material and lesser known writers. Some reviews of Hermes were positive, pointing out Talbot's depth of research and knowledge, highlighting the stimulating etymological connections made. Precisely the speculative element and the lacking philological framework and knowledge of European research of Indo-European languages, however, lead to some criticsim. The Antiquity of the Book of Genesis Illustrated by Some New Arguments (published in 1838 with a run of 200 and selling slightly better than Talbot's other antiquarian publications) expanded on the idea of allusions to Biblical stories in different histories and mythologies.

Further notebooks outside this series dating from around 1838 (Add MS 88942/1/7-12) contain early and amended drafts for Talbot's Hermes, some of them with markings and corrections by Talbot. See also: English Etymologies Series A-L dating from 1840-1848 (Add MSS 88942/1/26-36), which probably continues with the much later 1855 notebook 'M' (Add MSS 88942/37).

Notebook started: 12 Dec 1836.