GRAFFITI ON THE WALLS

Since there is no symbol for lipstick, the ampersand is by far my favorite! (The one other symbol that comes close for me is the @). You can imagine how happy I was when a darling friend brought me a figurine ampersand, complete with little lights and battery! Here it is at my desk keeping me company 

💄💄💄

The ampersand began life as graffiti on the walls of Pompeii. It's rival, the Tironian et, was invented by Tiro, Cicero's secretary. The ampersand, however, is "an orphan": "the closest it comes to a parent is the anonymous first century graffiti artist who scrawled it hastily across a Pompeian wall" (Keith Houston, Shady Characters, p. 64).

For me, what makes the ampersand special is its connection and popularity with the Victorians. The Victorians used the ampersand to great effect, especially as an alternative to "etc" which they wrote "&c". Great Victorian letter writers like Dickens and Gaskell and the Victorian model Jane Morris, all used the ampersand instead of "and". In the neo-Victorian novel Possession, Byatt deployed the ampersand, in her recreation of the Victorian world.

So the ampersand takes me immediately back to my beloved Victorians and Victorian writing, which, to me, is the most amazing writing ever!

Have a good evening, and have beauty always with you! 💝💋👠💄🌹💝💝😀
#ampersand #Victorians #Victorianera #graffiti #Dickens #Gaskell#lipstick #JaneMorris #Cicero #Pompeii #Byatt #Possession #letters