A country house inscription

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John W.
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A country house inscription

Post by John W. »

Yesterday I visited Hammerwood Park near East Grinstead, an attractive country house designed in 1792 for John Sperling by the distinguished architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe, who subsequently moved to America and did much work on the US Capitol and White House, as well as other commissions.
My visit involved a guided tour, and I only acquired a guidebook at the end. Leafing through the latter last night, I belatedly discovered that the reverse of the capitals of the west portico contains the following inscription:

ΤΗϹ ΤΟΥ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ϹΠΕΡΛΙΝΓΟΥ ΕΠΑΥΛΕΩϹ ΠΡΟΣΤΥΛΗ ΠΡΩΤΗ. ΑΡΧΙΤΕΚΤΩΝ ΛΑΤΡΩΒΕ. ΕΠΟΙΕ ΤΟΝ ΑΨΘΒ ΕΝΕΑΥΤΟΝ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝ ΤΗϹ ΧʹΜΒʹ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΔΑϹ.

In the version above I have corrected some errors of punctuation and spacing found in the guidebook’s transcription: pending another visit it is unclear whether those errors are to be found in the inscription itself, or have been introduced in transcription. Be that as it may, I think the intended sense is as follows:

‘This is the first portico of the country house of John Sperling. The architect was Latrobe. He constructed it in the 1792nd year of Jesus Christ and the second year of the 642nd Olympiad.’

The text gives rise to a few issues, on which I’d be most grateful for your views:

(i) The date of 1792 (which must be what is intended here) is given as ΑΨΘΒ – should this not be ΑΨϘΒ, since the table in Smyth (section 347) indicates that koppa denotes 90?

(ii) The ΑΨΘΒ is followed (or preceded) by no Greek numerical symbol, whereas the Guidebook transcription suggests that ΧʹΜΒʹ has two. Can this be correct, and what might one expect in terms of numerical symbols for these dates in an inscription?

(iii) I would have expected datives, rather than accusatives, to denote the time of construction – would others have expected this too?

(iv) ΕΝΕΑΥΤΟΝ is presumably an error for ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΝ – or does the form ΕΝΕΑΥΤΟΝ actually exist?

I presume the inscription was provided by Latrobe himself, who was something of a linguist. Anyway, I’d be most grateful for comments on the points identified above, so that I am forearmed for my next visit!

Many thanks,

John

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jeidsath
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Re: A country house inscription

Post by jeidsath »

I can't find a picture, but here is video of the inscription.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vIj6fWRl8-A
“One might get one’s Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato." "In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German scholars have improved Greek so much.”

Joel Eidsath -- jeidsath@gmail.com

John W.
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Re: A country house inscription

Post by John W. »

Joel - many thanks for this, which looks as if should answer at least some of my queries (ΑΨΘΒ, for example, should be ΑΨϟΒ, with a small form of koppa, rather than a theta).

Best wishes,

John

John W.
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Posts: 426
Joined: Sat Feb 04, 2012 12:23 pm

Re: A country house inscription

Post by John W. »

Unfortunately, the video doesn't show the last part of the inscription, but, with the help of photographs from the owner, I''ve been able to revise the transcription as follows:

ΤΗϹ ΤΟΥ ΙΩΑΝΝΟΥ ϹΠΕΡΛΙΝΓΟΥ ΕΠΑΥΛΕΩϹ ΠΡΟΣΤΥΛΗ ΠΡΩΤΗ. ΑΡΧΙΤΕΚΤΩΝ B. ϜΕ. ΛΑΤΡΩΒΕ. ΕΠΟΙΕ ΤΟΝ ΑΨϞΒ ΕΝΕΑΥΤΟΝ ΙΗϹΟΥ ΧΡΙϹΤΟΥ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝ ΤΗϹ ΧʹΜΒʹ ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΔΑϹ.

Several questions remain:

(i) the architect Latrobe's initials were B. H. (for Benjamin Henry), yet in the inscription they appear as B. ϜΕ. I I wonder if the intention was to write ͰΕ, with the first letter being ‘heta’; if so, the combination could be intended to represent the first two letters of ‘Henry’. From the image I have seen, however, the first letter of the two definitely seems to have an intentional upper horizontal stroke, which gives it the form of a digamma; can anyone explain this (unless it is simply a carving error)?

(ii) ΕΝΕΑΥΤΟΝ must, I think, be a mistake for ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΝ - or is anyone aware of an alternative spelling with Ε instead of Ι?

(iii) can anyone suggest why the lunate sigma is used in all but one instance (ΠΡΟΣΤΥΛΗ)?

(iv) the references to the year of construction are in the accusative case (ΤΟΝ ΑΨϞΒ ΕΝΕΑΥΤΟΝ ... ΚΑΙ ΤΟΝ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΟΝ ...). I would have expected the use of the dative case here (ΤΩΙ ΑΨϞΒ ΕΝΕΑΥΤΩΙ ... ΚΑΙ ΤΩΙ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΩΙ ...), to denote the year in which the construction occurred; do you agree?

(v) the use of the Greek numeral symbol seems somewhat sporadic, with two of the three letters in ΧʹΜΒʹ having such symbols, but apparently none of those in ΑΨϞΒ. I'm unfamiliar with how such symbols are used in conjunction with groups of letters; can anyone shed any light on what numerical symbols one might expect to find in these two instances?


My apologies for raising all these questions, but I'm rather out of my comfort zone here. Input from all would be very much appreciated, not least from anyone versed in the conventions of inscriptions and/or manuscripts.

Many thanks,

John

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