Editing Anagram (section)

==History==

Anagrams can be traced back to the time of the ancient Greeks, and were used to find the hidden and mystical meaning in names.<ref>''[https://archive.org/details/ofanagramsmonogr00wheauoft Of Anagrams]'', By H.B. Wheatley pg. 72, printed 1862 T. & W. Boone, New Bond Street, London</ref>
They were popular throughout Europe during the [[Middle Ages]], for example with the poet and composer [[Guillaume de Machaut]].<ref>[http://www.hoasm.org/IID/Machaut.html Guillaume de Machaut], "Here of a Sunday Morning", [[WBAI]]</ref> They are said to date back at least to the Greek poet [[Lycophron]], in the third century BCE; but this relies on an account of Lycophron given by [[John Tzetzes]] in the 12th century.<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Lycophron |volume=17 |page=153 }}</ref>

In the [[Talmud]]ic and [[Midrash]]ic literature, anagrams were used to [[Talmudical hermeneutics|interpret]] the [[Hebrew Bible]], notably by [[Eleazar of Modi'im]]. Later, [[Kabbalah|Kabbalists]] took this up with enthusiasm, calling anagrams [[temurah (Kabbalah)|''temurah'']].<ref>Isaac Broydé, "Anagram " in ''Jewish Encyclopedia'', 1906 [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1450-anagram full text]</ref>

Anagrams in [[Latin language|Latin]] were considered witty over many centuries. ''Est vir qui adest'', explained below, was cited as the example in [[Samuel Johnson]]'s ''[[A Dictionary of the English Language]]''. They became hugely popular in the [[early modern period]], especially in Germany.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://medium.com/in-medias-res/secrets-of-a-lost-art-part-1-latin-anagrams-aa05739e5400 |title = Secrets of a Lost Art, part 1: Latin Anagrams - in Medias Res|date = 6 May 2018}}</ref>

Any historical material on anagrams must always be interpreted in terms of the assumptions and spellings that were current for the language in question. In particular, spelling in English only slowly became fixed. There were attempts to regulate anagram formation, an important one in English being that of [[George Puttenham]]'s ''Of the Anagram or Posy Transposed'' in ''The Art of English Poesie'' (1589).

===Influence of Latin===
As a literary game when Latin was the common property of the literate, Latin anagrams were prominent.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://medium.com/in-medias-res/secrets-of-a-lost-art-part-1-latin-anagrams-aa05739e5400 |title = Secrets of a Lost Art, part 1: Latin Anagrams - in Medias Res|date = 6 May 2018}}</ref> Two examples are the change of ''[[Ave Maria]], gratia plena, Dominus tecum'' (Latin: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord [is] with you) into ''Virgo serena, pia, munda et immaculata'' (Latin: Serene [[virginity of Mary|virgin]], pious, clean and [[Immaculate Conception|spotless]]), and the anagrammatic answer to [[Pilate]]'s question, ''Quid est veritas?'' (Latin: What is truth?), namely, ''Est vir qui adest'' (Latin: It is the man who is here). The origins of these are not documented.

Latin continued to influence letter values (such as I = J, U = V and W = VV). There was an ongoing tradition of allowing anagrams to be "perfect" if the letters were all used once, but allowing for these interchanges. This can be seen in a popular Latin anagram against the [[Jesuits]]: ''Societas Jesu'' turned into ''Vitiosa seces'' (Latin: Cut off the wicked things). Puttenham, in the time of [[Elizabeth I]], wished to start from ''Elissabet Anglorum Regina'' (Latin: Elizabeth Queen of the English), to obtain ''Multa regnabis ense gloria'' (Latin: By thy sword shalt thou reign in great renown); he explains carefully that H is "a note of [[Aspirated consonant|aspiration]] only and no letter", and that Z in [[Zeta|Greek]] or Hebrew is a mere SS. The rules were not completely fixed in the 17th century. [[William Camden]] in his ''Remains'' commented, singling out some letters—[[Æ]], K, W, and Z—not found in the classical [[Roman alphabet]]:<ref>Cited in Henry Benjamin Wheatley, ''Of anagrams: a monograph treating of their history'' (1862); [https://archive.org/details/ofanagramsmonogr00wheauoft online text.]</ref>

{{Blockquote|The precise in this practice strictly observing all the parts of the definition, are only bold with H either in omitting or retaining it, for that it cannot challenge the right of a letter. But the Licentiats somewhat licentiously, lest they should prejudice poetical liberty, will pardon themselves for doubling or rejecting a letter, if the sence fall aptly, and  "think it no injury to use E for Æ; V for W; S for Z, and C for K, and contrariwise.|William Camden|''Remains''}}

===Early modern period===
When it comes to the 17th century and anagrams in English or other languages, there is a great deal of documented evidence of learned interest. The lawyer [[Thomas Egerton, 1st Viscount Brackley|Thomas Egerton]] was praised through the anagram ''gestat honorem'' ('he carries honor'); the physician [[George Ent]] took the anagrammatic motto ''genio surget'' ('he rises through spirit/genius'), which requires his first name as ''Georgius''.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Stephen|editor-first=Leslie|editor-link=Leslie Stephen|dictionary=[[Dictionary of National Biography]]|title=ENT, SIR GEORGE, M.D. (1604–1689)|url={{google books|id=_OPQAAAAMAAJ&hl|page=377|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=15 September 2019|date=1889|edition=1st|publisher=[[Smith, Elder & Co.]]|volume=XVII|page=377}}</ref> [[James I of England|James I's]] courtiers discovered in "James Stuart" "a just master", and converted "Charles James Stuart" into "Claims [[King Arthur|Arthur]]'s [[Arthur's Seat|seat]]" (even at that point in time, the letters I and J were more-or-less interchangeable). Walter Quin, tutor to the future Charles I, worked hard on multilingual anagrams on the name of father James.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|editor-last=Lee|editor-first=Sidney|editor-link=Sidney Lee|dictionary=[[Dictionary of National Biography]]|title=QUIN, WALTER (1575?–1634?)|url={{Google books|id=NMk9Mc0QnxwC&pg|page=111|plainurl=yes}}|access-date=21 September 2019|edition=1st|date=1896|publisher=[[Smith, Elder & Co.]]|volume=XLVII|page=111}}</ref> A notorious murder scandal, the Overbury case, threw up two imperfect anagrams that were aided by typically loose spelling and were recorded by [[Simonds D'Ewes]]: "Francis Howard" (for [[Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset]], her maiden name spelled in a variant) became "Car findes a whore", with the letters E hardly counted, and the victim [[Thomas Overbury]], as "Thomas Overburie", was written as "O! O! a busie murther" (an old form of "murder"), with a V counted as U.<ref>[http://www.earlystuartlibels.net/htdocs/overbury_murder_section/H21.html Early Stuart Libels]</ref><ref>[http://www.earlystuartlibels.net/htdocs/overbury_murder_section/H22.html Early Stuart Libels]</ref>

[[William Drummond of Hawthornden]], in an essay ''On the Character of a Perfect Anagram'', tried to lay down rules for permissible substitutions (such as S standing for Z) and letter omissions.<ref>[[Henry Benjamin Wheatley]], ''On Anagrams'' (1862), p. 58.</ref> [[William Camden]]<ref>''Remains,'' 7th ed., 1674.</ref> provided a definition of "Anagrammatisme" as "a dissolution of a name truly written into his letters, as his elements, and a new connection of it by artificial transposition, without addition, subtraction or change of any letter, into different words, making some perfect sense appliable (i.e., applicable) to the person named." [[John Dryden|Dryden]] in ''[[MacFlecknoe]]'' disdainfully called the pastime the "torturing of one poor word ten thousand ways".<ref>
<poem>
Thy genius calls thee not to purchase fame
In keen iambics, but mild anagram:
Leave writing plays, and choose for thy command
Some peaceful province in acrostic land.
There thou may'st wings display and altars raise,
And torture one poor word ten thousand ways.
</poem></ref>

[[Eleanor Davies (poet)|"Eleanor Audeley"]], wife of [[Sir John Davies]], is said to have been brought before the [[High Commission]]{{clarify|reason=Which High Commission? Linked article has no relevant content|date=January 2017}} in 1634 for extravagances, stimulated by the discovery that her name could be transposed to "Reveale, O Daniel", and to have been laughed out of court by another anagram submitted by [[Sir John Lambe]], the [[Dean of Arches|dean of the Arches]], "Dame Eleanor Davies", "Never soe mad a ladie".<ref>''Oxford Book of Word Games''</ref><ref>[[Hugh Trevor-Roper]], ''Archbishop Laud'' (2000), p. 146.</ref>

An example from France was a flattering anagram for [[Cardinal Richelieu]], comparing him to [[Hercules]] or at least one of his hands (Hercules being a kingly symbol), where ''Armand de Richelieu'' became ''Ardue main d'Hercule'' ("difficult hand of Hercules").<ref>H. W. van Helsdingen, ''Notes on Two Sheets of Sketches by Nicolas Poussin for the Long Gallery of the Louvre'', Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for the History of Art, Vol. 5, No. 3/4 (1971), pp. 172–184.</ref>

===Modern period===
Examples from the 19th century are the transposition of "[[Horatio Nelson]]" into ''Honor est a Nilo'' (Latin: Honor is from the [[Battle of the Nile|Nile]]); and of "[[Florence Nightingale]]" into "Flit on, cheering angel".<ref>{{Cite EB1911 |wstitle=Anagram |volume=1 |page=910}}</ref> The Victorian love of anagramming as recreation is alluded to by the mathematician [[Augustus De Morgan]]<ref>In his ''[[A Budget of Paradoxes]]'', p. 82.</ref> using his own name as an example; "Great Gun, do us a sum!" is attributed to his son [[William De Morgan]], but a family friend [[John T. Graves|John Thomas Graves]] was prolific, and a manuscript with over 2,800 has been preserved.<ref>Robert Edoward Moritz, ''On Mathematics and Mathematicians'' (2007), p. 151.</ref><ref>Anna Stirling, ''William De Morgan and His Wife'' (1922) p. 64.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cats/13/3491.htm |title=AIM25 home page |access-date=6 March 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606051531/http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cats/13/3491.htm |archive-date=6 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

With the advent of [[surrealism]] as a poetic movement, anagrams regained the artistic respect they had had in the [[Baroque period]]. The German poet [[Unica Zürn]], who made extensive use of anagram techniques, came to regard obsession with anagrams as a "dangerous fever", because it created isolation of the author.<ref>Friederike Ursula Eigler, Susanne Kord, The Feminist Encyclopedia of German Literature (1997), pp. 14–5.</ref> The surrealist leader [[André Breton]] coined the anagram ''Avida Dollars'' for [[Salvador Dalí]], to tarnish his reputation by the implication of commercialism.