Introduction by
Don Seltzer

The notes for Thirteen Gun Salute begin with a four page outline, summarizing the proposed plot, apparently drawn up before POB started writing the book. Another dozen pages are more detailed chapter notes, created as the writing progressed. There is a single summary page, calculating chapter lengths and noting start/finish dates, with actual "working" days spent on writing. Approximately 30 pages of short, "scrap" notes are also included.

The first outline page is interesting in that it is labeled XIII and XIV for the two books that would become Thirteen Gun Salute and Nutmeg of Consolation. In fact POB begins with "A tentative outline, dividing the main tale in two, ..." with both books to be a fairly short 90,000 words each. The first book is to end with some type of disaster such as the ship running aground. To further enhance their predicament, they will have recently received a letter carrying the rumours of bank failures. But POB is already planning ahead by leaving someone such as Sir Joseph Blaine, or Sophie Aubrey, or Diana Villiers with a power of attorney, so that everything will be happily resolved when they return at the end of book XIV.

#1 They set sail with the Orkney seamen's song. A note about declaring the semi-offical nature of the cruise. The new seasick purser provides the foil for Stephen Maturin and Martin to explain the basics of seamanship. The Surprise is to chase a French ship, either a large privateer or a navy corvette, into the Irish Sea, culminating in its sinking or capture.

#2 The purpose of the chase is to make them late in arriving in Lisbon, giving time for Sir Joseph Blaine to arrive in time to change their plans.  Some notes about Sam and the Patriarch of Lisbon. POB wonders what season it is, because of importance in specifying the butterflies, birds, and
monsoon. Decides that it is to be June or July, and the monsoons will need to be revised.

#3 Blaine describes the revised plan, with the Surprise continuing on to Pacific to harass US whalers and fur traders. The frigate Diane, perhaps escorting an Indiaman, will carry out a mission to Pulo Prabang. The two ships would then rendezvous, maybe in the South China Sea. Returning eastward in the Surprise to Chile, Stephen would conduct an important mission. A note about Padeen.

#4 Having laid out the plan, they return to England for Jack's
reinstatement and appointment to the Diane, maybe in the House of Parliament. A reference to a naval victory and a friend who had never seen any combat.

#5 The voyage to India and the East Indies. The beginning of letters carrying rumours of bank failures. A reference to Lord Macaulney's journey, and whether accompanied by an envoy. A note that he should be a Malay expert that hates Ledward.

#6 Arrival at Pulo Prabang, with orchids, a Buddhist sanctuary, and court intrigues. A note to check Wallace for types of annuals and birds. A Dutch anatomist.

#7 The plotting continues, but the French run low on hard money because of Wray's embezzlement. A note on the Buddhist sanctuary, which is to have a lake and an island, with orangutangs and orchids, "the lot". 

Susan Wenger continues.

Don Seltzer began the Thirteen Gun Salute outline earlier. Here is the rest of it: (note that the numbering is O'Brian's - this is his outline of how he's going to prepare Thirteen Gun Salute and the following book Nutmeg of Consolation). 

7. continues with the chief of the French mission dying of a fever. There's a note for Ledward or Wray to seduce one of the Sultan's boys - with the note "Spleen" in the middle of the plot outline. 

8. They miss their rendezvous and cruise, with the envoy impatient to reach Batavia or Madras, and strike in an uninhabited rock island. The envoy goes off to Batavia while the ship is repaired. (POB had a note to himself to see "Abbott" to check his facts/story). 

9. There's a storm, and the ship is damaged, and must be cut down to a schooner. 

10. Fighting with Malays, purser killed, they think the envoy could not have survived. Then, (crossed out, because he's going to use it in the next book instead): The Malays withdraw, but burn the hull of the ship. The same page that had the above, continued with his plans for book XIV, The Nutmeg of Consolation. I note that this page was harder for me to read than the other - I'm guessing that he wrote it with his other hand. XIV (Nutmeg of Consolation) 

1. Very brief retrospect. The Malays are routed, but the burn the ship as they go. 

2. Shows the Surprise with a small fleet of U.S. whalers and fur-traders. 

3. NOTE 3 WAS ORIGINALLY To Chile: SM's contacts - O'BRIAN THEN RENUMBERED THE REST OF HIS NOTES WITH A NEW 3. 

3. To New South Wales, with a note to himself that the monsoons will not serve - he probably had a monsoon chunk he'd originally planned to insert here. 

4. Observations on the ports then get to. 

5. Rescue of Padeen 

6. Platypus episode. 

7. The South Sea and Peru and Chile - Sam in an important role here. Because this page was hard for me to read, other members of the group may wish to add or make corrections here. 

Go to Table of Contents.

Outline page 4 continues on with the more detailed plan for book XIII

A note, carried over from the previous page, suggests that after the Surprise spends a convincing enough time harrassing US ships in S. America, it could chase a fur trading ship as far as the China Sea. That would set up a rendezvous with Aubrey and the Diane. Jointly, they could do battle with the French ships.

Jack Aubrey takes command of the Diane and they sail to Pulo Prabang. A series of short notes follows:
- check Wallace for orchids, and orangutans-famous anatomist van Buren, who is a leading authority on the spleen - someone in Sultan's service, maybe a paederist {not clear if POB is referring to van Buren here} - the French entourage - "SM dissects Wray (I have written a little piece of dialogue for this)"- Stephen uses some of his own money in the cause to discredit the French mission

The Diane sets off for the agreed rendezvous with Surprise, but strikes on an uncharted reef. POB then notes that he should use Abbot's version of the subsequent attacks of the Malays. Eventually, the Surprise comes to the rescue, summoned by either a long boat or a schooner built from the wreck. One possibility has the Surprise hauling the Diane off the rocks, so they can both set out happily in search of the French, ending with "many prizes, many prizes." {an echo of one of the sailors' songs from chapter 1}

Offers or previews to publishers,
Plans for his own direction to knit multiple books,
Summaries to serve as reminders to himself during future books,
Stream of consciousness notes for later organization.

Clearly POB could channel and focus his creative flow concretely enough to be guided by words produced and the size of books.

John

-------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 12:20:05 -0400
From: Gregg Germain <gregg@head-cfa.harvard.edu>
Subject: [SeaRoom] POB's notes

What I found interesting in the first listing of his notes was the
occurrence of events to provide for future arrangements. I know that writers do this, but it's a tribute to POB's writing skills that NOTHING in his stories seemed contrived or put there for expedience: it all flowed naturally even though they might have been wholly artificial.

--- Gregg

-------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 13:14:44 -0400
From: Don Seltzer <dseltzer@draper.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] POB's notes [LL]
---
Gregg Germain <gregg@head-cfa.harvard.edu> wrote:

What I found interesting in the first listing of his notes was the occurrence of events to provide for future arrangements. I know that >writers do this, but it's a tribute to POB's writing skills that NOTHING in his stories seemed contrived or put there for expedience: it all flowed naturally even though they might have been wholly  artificial.

In some cases, I found it surprising which plot elements POB considered important at the planning stage, and which popped up in the course of writing. And in view of his supposed attitude towards endings ("are endings really important"), he seems in this instance to have specifically plotted a two-part cliff-hanger, with a clear goal of ending the first on a down note of impending disaster, the second to conclude on an upbeat note with a return home ("assured felicity" is the term he actually used in his notes).

Regarding the splitting of the plot into two books, this is something that he did repeatedly. NOC was originally to end with the mission to Chile.  Apparently, he found that he had too many pages and decided to end it with New South Wales. As you will see, in the planning for this additional book, he again tentatively thought about making it two books, eventually splitting off TL and WDS.

Don Seltzer

-------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 22:48:01 CEST
From: John Hutson <jkhutson@hotmail.com>
Subject: RE: [SeaRoom] TGS Outline 1 [LL]
---
One of O'Brian's notes for Thirteen Gun Salute that Don Seltzer summarizes and offers for discussion is:

#7 The plotting continues, but the French run low on hard money because of Wray's embezzlement. A note on the Buddhist sanctuary, which is to have a lake and an island, with orangutangs and orchids, "the lot".

Two questions:

1) From my memory (sorry, I don't have the text at hand) the French are highly embarrassed and disabled by the lack of funds. But I don't remember anything about this being due to Wray's embezzlement. (Not that I would put such a deed past him.) Did I miss this, or did the final plot change?

2) More intriguing, I think, is the suggestion that has been made on SeaRoom that Maturin's mountain paradise is actually Krakatua. If that is the case, it certainly adds an immense poignancy to the whole interlude. Any suggestion from the notes that O'Brian had this in mind?

John Hutson, in Sarajevo

-------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 17:20:41 -0400 (EDT)
From: Chris Moseley <moseleyc@math.unc.edu>
---
On Tue, 18 Apr 2000, John Hutson wrote:

 1) From my memory (sorry, I don't have the text at hand) the French are  highly embarrassed and disabled by the lack of funds. But I don't remember  anything about this being due to Wray's embezzlement. (Not that I would put  such a deed past him.) Did I miss this, or did the final plot change?  I don't believe it's explained in TGS. This explanation makes sense, since the French leader was portrayed as a careful man. He was ordered to take Ledward along as consultant (for good reason) but unfortunately taking Ledward meant taking Wray, who by then was completely useless, dissipated, and held in contempt by all. After Ledward took Abdul, one might expect Wray to indulge in high-stakes gambling, and he had no funds of his own.

Chris Moseley
Graduate student, Mathematics moseleyc@math.unc.edu
UNC Chapel Hill

-------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 16:01:21 -0700 (PDT)
From: Susan Wenger <susanwenger@yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: [SeaRoom] TGS Outline 1 [LL]

An excellent catch! O'Brian added the part about the funds having been embezzled by Wray AFTER he'd written at least through that piece of the outline - that part is at the bottom of his page with an arrow pointing to the part about the French being short of cash. He could have added that note to himself immediately after writing that line of his outline, or he could have gone back at any time later and added it to his outline.

- Susan

-------------------
Date: Tue, 18 Apr 2000 21:03:35 -0500
From: Ned Fleming <ned@cjnetworks.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] TGS Outline 1 [LL]

Don Seltzer wrote:

> created as the writing progressed. There is a single summary page, calculating chapter lengths and noting start/finish dates, with actual  "working" days spent on writing. Approximately 30 pages of short, "scrap"  notes are also included.
>
> The first outline page is interesting in that it is labelled XIII and XIV  for the two books that would become Thirteen Gun Salute and Nutmeg of  Consolation. 

What I find interesting is how skimpy his notes were (or appear to be). A mind as keen as O'Brian's would have (must have?) held an outline far more detailed than what has been presented here, else how could he have written the things? 3 or 4 sentences per chapter? Man, that's sparse! This is a writer who plays it close to the vest.

I'm not a writer, so I have no real idea how they work, but another favorite writer of mine, James Ellroy (who writes in a style and genre utterly unlike O'Brian -- see "White Jazz"), wrote an outline of 350+ pages for his latest, yet-to-be-released work of fiction. I believe his previous fiction book ("American Tabloid") comprised 300 outline pages.

Whereas O'Brian was a recluse and a clinchpoop with his personal life, Ellroy has written the most remarkable and baring autobiography ("My Dark Places") I have ever read. Perhaps the length of notes and outlines is related to the ability to bare one's soul beforehand.

Ned Fleming
-------------------
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 2000 08:58:10 -0400
From: Don Seltzer <dseltzer@draper.com>
Subject: [SeaRoom] TGS Outline 2 [LL]
---
Susan Wenger, in summarizing the second page of the TGS/NOC outline wrote:
>Because this page was hard for me to read, other members
>of the group may wish to add or make corrections here.

Here are my additions, mostly the margin notes.
-
XIV {later to be named Nutmeg of Consolation}

1. Very brief retrospect. The Malays are routed, but the burn the ship as they go.

2. Shows the Surprise with a small fleet of U.S. whalers and fur-traders. {a margin note about sea otter skins, and whether they might be sold in Canton}

5. Rescue of Padeen and maybe others (bush-rangers?) by Jack Aubrey {margin note - Stephen Maturin might be held as a captive for either ransom or hanging} {note added later - Stephen might be rescued by Padeen from "the equivalent of IRA" - I'm not certain that POB wrote "IRA" here- } {margin note - discussion between a priest and Stephen regarding the nature of spying and intelligence, and doing dirty work of the English}

7. The South Sea and Peru and Chile - Sam in an important role here, but must not be involved in too many rescues.

------------
Some additional thoughts and questions:
The wreck of the Diane is closely based upon the 1817 voyage of the Alceste, carrying envoy Lord Jeffrey Amherst to China. In his outline and later notes, POB makes frequent reference to Abbott's account, and Lord Macaulay and John M'Leod. M'Leod was the ship surgeon of the Alceste who wrote a book of the voyage, but who were Abbott and Macaulay?

Don Seltzer

-------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 17:58:47 -0700 (PDT)
From: Deb Blackburn <dlblackburn@yahoo.com>
Subject: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander

To POB Group

Thank you for POB's manuscript version of the opening of Master and Commander.  This rough draft has cleared up a sort of mystery that I sometimes run into. Why it is that I sometimes find a sentence with an extra/alternate word. I see now that it was part of the O'Brian creative process.  He had meant to go back and make a choice.  Now it is up to the reader.

Example in The Ionian Mission: 1st paragraph on pg 70, "But now he had been wounded in three several places: Example in Post Captain: 3rd paragraph of pg 236, '. .. and the cabin was filled with the opening movement of Boccherini's Corelli sonata, . . . (although Corelli may have been meant to be cello).

I don't post much, but spend a lot of time reading and
re-reading the canon.
Deb Blackburn

-------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 22:53:35 -0400 (EDT)
From: Chris Moseley <moseleyc@math.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander
---
On Fri, 21 Apr 2000, Deb Blackburn wrote:

> Example in The Ionian Mission: 1st paragraph on pg 70, "But now he had been wounded in three several places:

I believe that in this case O'Brian is using an older sense of 'several', meaning 'separate' or 'distinct'. See Webster's 1913 unabridged dictionary, online at

http://humanities.uchicago.edu/forms_unrest/webster.form.html

Chris Moseley
Graduate student, Mathematics moseleyc@math.unc.edu
UNC Chapel Hill

-------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 23:36:27 -0400 (EDT)
From: Batrinque@aol.com
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander
---

<< This rough draft has cleared up a sort of mystery that I sometimes run into.  Why it is that I sometimes find a sentence with an extra/alternate word.  I see now that it was part of the O'Brian creative process.  He had meant to go back and make a choice. >>

I am not sure that is the case. My understanding is that the way POB wrote, the manuscript such as we saw for the first couple pages of M&C was only the first step, and that it would be rewritten (and typed) before submission. I think that when POB uses an extra/alternative word, he is doing that deliberately to better define, refine the image he is presenting, creating.

Bruce Trinque
-------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 23:32:52 -0400
From: John Berg <johnberg@mindspring.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander
---
Given the two points of view expressed below, it will be interesting to see the differences between manuscript and book for those books that Mary supported, after Mary , and in Dublin where for two years the University provide support. I had understood that POB prepared manuscripts, Mary typed them, and revisions were very few. Dean King in POB's bio states that at times POB would type the first typescript version, and at other times the publisher might. The notes suggest a much more organized POB than POB ever admitted. One can reasonably assume that POB thought his way was everyone's way and therefore not worthy of comment.

John L. Berg, 
-------------------
Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2000 22:36:49 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Muldoon <rasty_9@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander
---
My reading of this passage is that this wasn't an alternate word. POB was referring to a Boccherini sonata which was written 'after Corelli,' i.e. in homage to Corelli. If so, it is not one of B.'s well known works; at least I couldn't find a reference to it on the net. But it could be because Boccherini wrote tons of chamber music.

-------------------
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 11:36:12 -0400 (EDT)
From: Batrinque@aol.com
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander
---
In a message dated 4/22/00 12:54:40 AM Eastern Daylight Time, johnberg@mindspring.com writes:

<< The notes suggest a much more organized POB than POB ever admitted. One can reasonably assume that POB thought his way was everyone's way and therefore not worthy of comment.
>>

I strongly concur. From the notes I have examined, courtesy of Don Seltzer, the notes reveal a very organized, methodical working pattern, starting with coming up with a general plot idea, followed by breaking that plot idea into individual chapter groupings, then expanding upon each chapter idea, and only then commencing the "actual" writing. This is not to say that POB did not change his mind along the way, but he had clearly organized in his mind a quite thorough outline before starting the genuine chapter-by-chapter writing. He was also very conscious of the number of words written and of the time it took him to complete each section.

Bruce Trinque

-------------------
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 16:38:26 -0400 (EDT)
From: Batrinque@aol.com
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander

<< I think that when POB uses an extra/alternative word, he is doing that deliberately to better define, refine the image he is presenting, creating.>>

A further thought on this question of "extra" POB words used in describing something: A few years back and undoubtedly due to a temporary shortage of oxygen flowing to my brain, I decided to try translating for myself some short sections of Homer's Iliad to get a firsthand impression of what the original is like. (Due to a long-term shortage of brain oxygen, I collect translations of the Iliad and the Odyssey -- something like 18 or so of each at present.) And although I have real no knowledge of ancient Greek, with a decent lexicon or two in hand plus a parallel text edition of the Iliad such as that from the Loeb Library of Classics, it is possible to get some idea of the style of the original. And what overwhelmingly struck me during this endeavor was Homer's use of multiple descriptors. I would not be at all surprised if POB was influenced stylistically by Homer.

Bruce Trinque
-------------------
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 15:09:12 -0700 (PDT)
From: Susan Wenger <susanwenger@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander

Nice modeling of the technique, Bruce. You make a very convincing argument.

As for the handwritten v typed versions, I noticed in the Lilly notes that O'Brian occasionally makes notes to himself to see page __ of the typed manuscript, so he can keep himself consistent. He is astonishingly aware of his word-count - he would plan in advance for a chapter to be, for example, short, 10,000 at the most, i.e. about 33 1/2 ms pages, and he was well aware of how many manuscript pages would translate into how many final typed pages.

Susan Wenger

-------------------
Date: Sat, 22 Apr 2000 19:31:08 -0400
From: u1c04803 <u1c04803@mail.wvnet.edu>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] Re: The Original Opening of Master and Commander

> From: Susan Wenger <susanwenger@yahoo.com

> O'Brian ... is astonishingly aware of   his word-count - ... and he was well aware of how many  manuscript pages would translate into how many final  typed pages.

Not surprising for someone who for many years made a living translating, which is often paid by the word, or page of so many words.

Go to Table of Contents.

Afore the wind, afore the wind
God send, God send
Fair weather, fair weather
Many prizes, many prizes

Many prizes, many prizes was a note he was planning to end "The Nutmeg of Consolation" on, but I don't recall that making it into the book.

He did pick out a shanty for hauling which he used:

Heisa, heisa
Vorsa, vorsa
Vou, vou
One long pull.
More power
Young blood
More mud.

Here's something to mull on: when he finalized the chapter, there were two versions used, "More mud" was changed to "Ha ha ha hough." Why? The one makes as much sense as the other! Why did he use a direct quote, and then change the end of it?

 Susan
------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:56:51 +0000
From: sdwilson <scott.wilson@uregina.ca>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] LiL NOTES: Predicting page length

Susan Wenger wrote:

>Who would have expected that he started out with a very  firm outline AND WORDCOUNT in advance of the whole book! What surprises me is the the seeming casualness with which chapters are structured. They pretty much seem to start and end without any particular reason. There are jumps within chapters as big as any between. To me, the chapters are entirely forgettable: I never think of anything by chapter, merely as occurring at some point in the book. The chapters could be omitted entirely without affecting the books.

This is explained, in part, by the news that books and chapters were portioned out by word-number. The chapters perhaps served more as administrative place-holders than literary devices.

Scott
------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 15:39:13 -0700 (PDT)
From: Susan Wenger <susanwenger@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] LiL NOTES: Predicting page length

--- sdwilson <scott.wilson@uregina.ca> wrote:
> > This is explained, in part, by the news that books and chapters were  portioned out by word-number. The chapters perhaps  served more as administrative place-holders than literary devices.  If I understand you correctly: In which case you'd expect the chapters to be of uniform length - if a 320-page book had 10 chapters, administrative place-holding would dictate that each chapter should have 32 pages; or if the book was 360 pages and each chapter was apportioned 30 pages, there would be 12 chapters. O'Brian's chapters are of all different lengths.
scott wilson
------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 17:01:21 +0000
From: sdwilson <scott.wilson@uregina.ca>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] LiL NOTES: Predicting page length

Susan Wenger wrote:

>In which case you'd >expect the chapters to be of uniform length

Not me! He clearly made them any length that suited. The numbers were possibly guidelines. I'm just commenting on the lack of internal cohesiveness to a typical POB chapter.

Internally cohesive but externally incoherent,

Scott

------------

Date: Mon, 24 Apr 2000 14:58:57 -0400
From: "W. M. McLaughlin" <mike@shentel.net>
Subject: [SeaRoom] Predicting page length

Recently, Susan Wenger wrote:

>O'Brian occasionally makes notes to himself to see page __ of the typed manuscript, so he can >keep himself consistent. He is astonishingly aware of his word-count - he would plan in advance for a chapter to be, for example, short, 10,000 at the most, i.e. about  33 1/2 ms pages, and he was well aware of how many manuscript pages would translate into how many final typed pages.

My Aunt/Godmother was Kathleen McLaughlin of the New York Times. She had also worked for the Chicago Tribune and the St. Louis Post Dispatch. She gave me a trip to New York as a high school graduation present, staying with her, and with her as a guide. We were talking about her work one evening, and discussed word count and page count. She demonstrated how accurately she could predict her own word count. She pulled out some nice stationery, and asked who she should write. I suggested another of my aunts. She then asked me to suggest a word length
for the letter, between 150 and 500 words. I said 250. She then wrote my Aunt Agnes a letter about my trip to New York, and what we had done together. She typed it in one steady stream, speaking the sentences aloud as she wrote them. It sounded much like one of her letters to me and my parents. Then she pulled the paper out, and said to count it.  250. Of course.

It was a wonderful trip.

Go to Table of Contents.

Interesting: the next page of notes is marked for "IX or X" on top, and at the bottom it is marked "for XIV" _ I guess it was an idea he didn't use earlier, and saved for a later book. Or perhaps this was added much later while organizing his papers, and he simply mislabeled.

Pursuit of enemy (Shelmerstonians assert she is no smuggler)

The Surprise pursues an enemy vessel, of extraordinary speed. Surprise is too deeply laden this early in the voyage and the winds are too light for her to benefit in the chase. Stephen using a telescope realizes with inward horror that an Irish rebel he knows, named perhaps Connel, is aboard. [Note: in the book, the name is changed to Robert Gough]

SM moves mass of iron near the compass, and the chase escapes. [NOTE: In the book, Stephen contemplates doing so, but it wouldn't work _ in the notes, O'Brian intended for him to actually do so].

O'Brian then made a note for his discourse on intelligence vs spying _ hatred of all tyranny but intelligent systematic state tyranny far above all.

Perhaps to be included in the next chapter, in a discussion with an Irish dissident, perhaps a priest. This portion is circled, with the note "for XIV

[Note: this was in fact delayed until the next book, NOC, and the priest is Stephen's cousin]

The next page of notes is said to be the rest of the second chapter, but depending upon length, might be a separate chapter.

It includes a reference to T S Raffles A History of Java _ and LL. [Gary Brown suggest that this is a reference to the London Library]

He also has a scribble: Uno nunca sabe que hacer [one never knows what to do]

There are several false starts crossed out in his notes but still readable:

some pages to show the ship at sea __ some music someone instructed by SM & Martin _ Rock of some encounters (? Sail together) 13 guns as MP Rock of Lisbon Dangerous bar

SM consults almanac JA: Are you working out when we shall pick up the trades? SM Never in life. The trade winds I leave to you entirely: what I am looking for is my daughter's saint's day. It was the day (NOTE: He had Copts crossed out, Ethiopians (and in the book wound up with Ethiopian Copts) so strangely honour Pontius Pilate; was the day Padeen would have been hanged but for your kindness. I shall have a Mass said for his intention when at last we get ashore.

CROSSED OUT A letter about SM's headstrong crocodile half. Diana Villiers feels ridiculous but ok.

He also considers a piece about spying which he crossed out:

spying implies betrayal _ a spy is a mercenary creature who obtains and sells confidential information acquired from his friends by false pretenses. The intelligence_agent, the disinterested intelligence agent on the other hand, is required to do none of these odious things.

A note about Sir Joseph Blaine: "I must collate all the notes before I set out on him & his exposition"

In lieu of all his crossed out sentences, he has a note to himself:

This I may be able to use in NSW or possibly before.

(In Lisbon it would have come too close to the earlier explanation of SM's attitude)

These summaries are based upon original notes provided by the courtesy of the Lilly Library, Bloomington, IN.

Go to Table of Contents.

The detailed notes for Chapter 3 of TGS are contained on two pages. The first page is headed somewhat paradoxically by a reminder relating to the end of the next book, NOC:

-------First Page--------

"DO NOT FORGET THE PLATYPUS
(what was the then state of knowledge?)"

The notes for the chapter begin with Stephen Maturin observing that Padeen would have been hanged that day if Jack Aubrey had not been able to use his influence to have his sentence commuted to transportation to New South Wales. A naval friend of Jack's was supposed to command the transport, but unfortunately died, leading to poor treatment of Padeen.

Sir Joseph Blaine arrives in a hurry at Lisbon to tell them of the leak of the Surprise's true mission to the Spanish, probably by the same unknown highly-placed traitor who had protected Ledward and Wray. The Foreign Office had tried to convince the Spanish authorities that it was really the French that had planned to subvert the S. American colonies, by producing the plans captured from the Diane. The Spanish were pleased to receive the names of some French sympathizers, but remained dubious of British intentions.

Here POB remarks to himself "unhappily I cannot inject back into the earlier book", since this would be very important in regard to Stephen's motivation. Some foreshadowing can be created by Blaine's earlier insistance to put into Lisbon in case of a change of plans. 

Another reminder about including Sam's elevation to priest in Chile or Peru due to Stephen's intervention, possibly with a meeting with the Patriarch of Lisbon.

On the bottom of the page is a totally unrelated note concerning POB's quartz watch. This was probably written in August of 1988, and he observes that on 4 August 1984, the watch was 6 months old, having been bought on 5
January 1984. He concludes that the watch has been running for 4 years & 7 months.

-------Next page------

The second page of notes concentrates on the roles of Wray and Ledward [or "Ledwidge" as he mistakenly writes]. The bit about Blaine arriving in Lisbon and the change of plans is repeated, but with more detail of the French mission to a place in the Far East identified as only X. Ledwidge and Wray are included in the mission because they are now useless in Paris, viewed with contempt. On the plus sign, they can contribute with "Ledwige's" language abilities and other skills, since the mission's chief is really a figurehead.

The British are to counter with their own mission, carried by the frigate Diane, captained by the newly reinstated Aubrey. The Surprise is to carry on with attacking US whaling ships and China fur traders in Pacific, but
with an arranged rendezvous with the Diane in the Far East [another slip, referring to the frigate as Diana]. Jumping ahead to the end of the book, he writes:

" Yes: & then, when Diana runs on the rocks in the Abbot manner, the Surprise can come & rescue them"

The bottom half of the page jumps ahead to a later chapter, outlining a short piece with dialogue. In the foreign X, Stephen is to meet with a well-known expert in anatomy, bringing him a cadaver. Much of the conversation that follows is used in chapter 8:

"There is another, larger, in the town if you would like him [it]."

Anatomist, 'This is a European.'

SM, making an incision, 'Yes. So is the other, both English renegadoes. I was acquainted with this one in London, a Mr. Wray.'

'As fresh a cadaver as ever I have had the pleasure of dissecting opening: I am very much obliged to you, colleague. Death was caused by this bullet wound, I see.'

'Just so. That was the case with his companion too, the heavier one, and it was equally recent. Perhaps they had been fighting.'

Dr. __ looked attentively at SM's face & after a moment he said 'Have you arranged this with the Vizir?'

'Certainly, with a proper consideration. He observed that he had no concern with infidels; that we might do what ever we pleased; & that he was sure we should be discreet & that there would be no recognizable remains. Shall we start with the head?"

--End of notes--

I find it interesting that one of the eventual changes in the book was to specify that the wound was caused by a rifle bullet, perhaps to better suggest who the assassins were. 
Don Seltzer

These summaries are based upon original notes
provided through the courtesy of the Lilly Library,
Bloomington, IN.

Go to Table of Contents.

what was Stephen (POB?) to get by the end? A happy marriage, personal surgeon to the King. freedom of Catalan under a "good" king, Ireland showing progress toward their "good" king? Or perhaps, SM begins his
memoirs, including his adventures with Jack, Jack's youth, SM's youth including his secret first wife,

3. And we know POB summarized each book after submission as a reminder for the next books.

Can anyone see changes in POB's work that suggest an interest in his estate, his contributions to posterity, or the hereafter?

John

-------
Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 15:45:07 -0700 (PDT)
From: Susan Wenger <susanwenger@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] [LiL] Thirteen Gun Salute Chapter IV(a)

Especially during the last few years, he was very conscious of his own mortality - he may have limited each
book to conserve himself for the final tour de force.

ASSUMPTION: he made himself a plan that there would be 20 books in the series: (we know now that he DID indeed make this sort of advance plan, at least to the extent that books 13 and 14 were sketched in advance, rather than one book at a time).

His outline would lay out the subject matter for each book, general thoughts for stuff he wanted to include,
specific battles/historical events that each book would be based on. Thus, if he had a particular piece he
wanted to use, he'd already know that it would not fit into book 15, but he'd also be confident that it WOULD
eventually be covered in book 18.

This seems very plausible to me. He was researching a fairly narrow field, a very limited time period, very
specific events - whatever source material he found that he thought would be suitable, he'd know a few books in advance where it was going to fit in, and refine his outline.

So why limit a particular book to a particular number of pages? He was cranking out, say, 5 pages a day. If book 13 ran 400 pages instead of 300, he'd "lose" 20 days of his precious time on earth, lessening by 20 days the likelihood of finishing his opus 7 books later. If 300 would cover the material, AND also would satisfy the
publisher, there's no need to extend that particular book. That doesn't close his options - if he needed more
space, he could run more pages. It was just an outline.

Another possibility: he wasn't LIMITING himself to 300 pages, he was simply ESTIMATING his page-count. This was important in terms of promising his publisher a completed  manuscript by a certain date - there's the combination of 1) them telling him that if it's completed by June 30 it can come out in time for Christmas shopping, it can come  out ON Trafalgar Day, or whatever their reasoning was, AND 2) they would certainly be ASKING him, when can we expect the finished product; and if he knew he was running 5 pages a day and the total would be 300 pages, he could tell them with reasonable confidence that, allowing 2 weeks for a vacation, 4 weeks for research, and 2 weeks for his grape harvest, he will have it to them by May 25.

- Susan Wenger

-------
Date: Mon, 08 May 2000 21:26:43 -0400
From: "Kettering, Kenneth C." <kck@rssm.com>
Subject: [SeaRoom] [LiL] Thirteen Gun Salute Chapter IV(a)
Sender: owner-scuttlebutt@admin.listbox.com

<<Does setting up a framework of this sort make the end result any less artistic?>>

It's not unprecedented. I understand that most if not all of Dickens' novels were originally published as magazine serials. I don't have the details, but I expect that Dickens would have been subject to a very rigid
space limitation for each installment (not to mention a requirement that each installment end with a suitable cliff-hanger). The result seems to strike the critical world as artistic -- though I must admit that I myself
have never much cared for Dickens.

I would be quite willing to attribute POB's rigid adherence to his outline and word counts as being simply a work habit that has no very rational basis. I have always been curious about the work habits of writers and
scholars I admire, on the theory that if I emulate them perhaps some of their genius will rub off on me. But I abandoned that theory many years ago after seeing that their habits differed wildly. Some writers go for weeks
without touching the typewriter and then churn out thousands of words in a manic spasm; others adhere so religiously to a daily word count that they abandon the day's work in the middle of a sentence. "Adherence to an advance outline" vs. "making it up as you go" is another dimension, but practice of the successful seems equally scattered along that axis. 
John asked: <<Can anyone see changes in POB's work that suggest an interest
in his estate,...>>

The quality of the series falls off so palpably in The Commodore, and the books from then on are so mechanical and lacking in affect, that I always felt that POB wrote them with his left hand. It's tempting to ascribe his main motive for turning out such relatively inferior work as being interest in his estate, but of course it's possible to imagine other reasons. I had hoped that Dean King's bio would supply some informed speculation on this point, but for better or for worse it didn't.

Ken Kettering

-------
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 04:45:45 -0700 (PDT)
From: Susan Wenger <susanwenger@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] [LiL] Thirteen Gun Salute Chapter IV(a)

--- "Kettering, Kenneth C." <kck@rssm.com> wrote:

> <<Does setting up a framework of this sort make the end  result any less artistic?>>
>
> It's not unprecedented. I understand that most if not all of Dickens' novels were originally published as magazine serials.
>

The fact that he had an outline doesn't mean that he adhered to it.

Speaking just for myself, when I write, I make an outline, just so I won't forget important stuff I want to
put in at some point. As I go along, I constantly modify my outline - and when I have so many changes that I'm
having trouble following my own guides, I re-write the whole thing and discard my original outline.

In O'Brian's case, he dated some few of his notes pages; I haven't studied them enough to see if they are indeed sequential, and he didn't date many of them, so perhaps we're not going to know the sequence of his chapter outlines; but I already see that he did NOT entirely follow his own outline, including his page counts.

The outlines may have been just doodles while he was thinking. I doubt that he rigidly followed his own
planned page counts.

Susan Wenger

-------
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 14:26:01 -0400
From: David H Spencer <spencer@panix.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] [LiL] Thirteen Gun Salute Chapter IV(a)

>Don Seltzer wrote:
>> I must admit that I find this regimentation to be somewhat disallusioning.
>> Perhaps earlier in the canon POB was following a more artistic path, ...

William Nyden wrote:
>Query: Does setting up a framework of this sort make the end result any less artistic?

Of course not. Art is the product, not the method.

A more professional method is likely to produce a better result. The more artistic path is the more disciplined path.

The Romantic fantasy that great art flows from the consiousness to the page or canvas is as ridiculous as it is widespread. Unfortunately, the Abstract Impressionists and Jackson Pollock gave it new impetus in painting just as the Modernists finally succeeded in killing it in literature.

The Koran is the only great work of the last two millenea that has flowed directly from God onto the page.

The effortless flow of Romantic poetry seems to be the inspiration for the unfortunate idea that undisciplined inspiration is the artistic path. But Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley and Keats labored very, very hard to produce the effect of effortlessness.

The consummate master of the novel, Henry James, built his novels up almost as an architect, designer and builder build up a great building. He started with an idea -- sometimes a theme, sometimes a scene -- that one
could summarize in a single sentence. Then he would build the structure of the novel around that idea, then fill in the stucture. His notebooks and letters are a great artist at work.

Discipline is the soul of art. The sonnet is the consummate poetic form in English because it is consummately disciplined and wholly foreign. (I'm fond of ottava rima for the same reason, but Byron exhausted it for
English. Carrying off that tour de force was an act of unique genius.)

-------
Date: Tue, 09 May 2000 18:05:25 -0400
From: Adam Quinan <quinans@interlog.com>
Subject: Re: [SeaRoom] [LiL] Thirteen Gun Salute Chapter IV(a)

> I must admit that I find this regimentation to be somewhat disallusioning.
> Perhaps earlier in the canon POB was following a more artistic path, but
> here he is specifying in advance that each book shall be ten chapters, and
> each chapter shall be 10 000 words, further divided into so many pages for
> each point. And when he deviates from his plan, he sometimes reproaches
> himself.


Arthur Ransome had an unusual method (to me with my linear mind) of writing his books. He would prepare a fairly detailed outline of each chapter of the book beforehand and then he'd start writing a chapter wherever he fancied in whatever order he fancied. There were then extensive revisions to ensure that continuity was maintained. I can't think how that would work and my mind wouldn't be able to do it, but it is demonstrated by the unfinished books he left. I presume POB actually wrote his chapters in order
--
Adam Quinan

-------
Date: Thu, 11 May 2000 21:48:17 -0400
From: "W. M. McLaughlin" <mike@shentel.net>
Subject: [SeaRoom] [LiL] Outlining

>Arthur Ransome had an unusual method [...]of
>writing his books. He would prepare a fairly detailed outline of each
>chapter of the book beforehand and then he'd start writing a chapter
>wherever he fancied in whatever order he fancied. There were then
>extensive revisions to ensure that continuity was maintained.

When I started work as a "Technical Manuals Writer (Ordnance)" I asked my new boss what was done in cases of "writer's block."

He told me that it was prevented by two measures.

One was by preparing a detailed outline for all assigned jobs (manuals). The outlines were reviewed and approved, and scheduled, before actual writing began. The outline could be changed if required, but changes had to be approved before being used. It was relatively easy to find one outline section or another to expand into draft text.
The other measure was assigning several different jobs to each writer. In addition, each writer had assist roles helping review the work of other writers.

As a result each writer had several jobs, each at a different stage of completion, plus the reviewing of other works.
A writer could largely pick his/her own task within those assigned, to suit whatever needed to be done in order to move the overall work ahead. One morning you might write steadily on project A, followed that afternoon
by working with artists and photographers on project B. The next morning you would review another writer's draft of project C, and then participate in a meeting with engineers and users in the afternoon to develop an
outline for your next project D.

While it sounds like confusion, the end result was that you always had several choices of what to work on, and over the course of several weeks, made progress on them all.

Incidentally, we wrote to a quota, one and a half final, printed, pages per work day. New writers had simple tasks, experienced ones had more complex stuff, same quota. We were writing about weapons, so there were
multiple reviews at several stages of development, but, in general, we met our quotas over a year.

Of course, it was not fiction. We hoped.

Mike = W. M. McLaughlin = <mike@shentel.net>

3000
6500

[NOTE FROM SUSAN WENGER: I CAN'T GET THOSE LINED UP
RIGHT: IT'S SUPPOSED TO SHOW ADDITION - HE'S ADDING THE
MILES FOR THE JOURNEY]

Perhaps I could say 150 miles a day to India Ocean with the monsoon, i.e. 43 days: plus a little while with
Raffles - say 2 months

O'Brian's conclusion: They will sail in early June, reach the Cape or S of Cape in early August, and arrive in Pulo Prabang towards the end of September

Still trying to figure out how to accomplish that, O'Brian has Jack Aubrey wrestle with the problem of
timing: Aubrey could say, "I shall see how things go.  If we cannot catch the SW monsoon I shall keep S in the
westerlies and try to catch the SE trades. But the monsoon would be by much the best.

{NOTE from Susan: That is NOT Aubrey's manner of speaking: "By much the best" is an O'Brianism; I could
hear Maturin say that but not Aubrey.}

These summaries are based upon original notes provided
through the courtesy of the Lilly Library, Bloomington, IN.

Go to Table of Contents.

Feel free to use any of this in Searoom if you wish. Meanwhile, thank you for letting me "rabbit on" in a muddled way.

Anthony

-------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 08:37:45 -0400
From: Don Seltzer <dseltzer@draper.com>

Thanks to Anthony and Lois for spotting the discrepancy of jangle/justle. I was using POB's notes, which do state the poem as "When the bells jangle...". Just a mistake on his part, later corrected in the final manuscript, or was there some original non-English version that POB translated differently from Housman?

Don Seltzer


-------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 15:54:03 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charlezzzz@aol.com

<< The moon has sunk, and the Pleiades. It is the middle hours of the night  and my hour/moment/youth flees. But I sleep alone.

>>

Anthony Clover convincingly ties this poem of Sappho's (Anthony's own translation, and a vy pleasant translation it is--especially with the ingenious, and rather Greekishly suitable, three-headed word) to a poem by AE Houseman. And somewhere in the canon, if I remember rightly, Maturin thinks of this very poem, feeling that "it is the same for both."

What think ye, masters, of this rather distant adaptation?

Lady moon's gone.
All Seven Sisters, too.
I lie in sweaty darkness,
Justling, alone.

Charlezzzz, thinking that there's bats in the Attic.

-------------
Date: Thu, 18 May 2000 20:29:38 -0400
From: u1c04803 <u1c04803@mail.wvnet.edu>

Here's another comment on the Housman lines in your notes,

When the bells justle in the tower
The Hollow night amid
Then on my tongue the taste is sour
O all I ever did.
ch V, Thirteen Gun Salute.

It's by M. Hardcastle, an O'Brian reader, but not a Searoom participant (yet).

"> The history of this particular poem turns out to be rather odd. It was  first `officially' printed after Housman's death, in his brother's    memoir of him (`A.E.H.'). Before that it had been circulated in 1930 on, of all things, a Christmas card, described as `A Fragment  preserved by oral tradition and said to have been composed by
> A.E. Housman in a dream'. Housman did dream in verse, according to  A.E.H., but in a letter written in 1934 he says that ```Fragment  composed in a dream'' I do not know or have forgotten.' It certainly looks like Housman to me (and presumably to Housman's brother, who  would not otherwise have included it), and it doesn't have the feel of  anything that could have been written in the early 19th century; nor does it look to me like a classical translation (Housman's poetry was  not really strongly influenced by his work as a classicist, or so he  claimed). But there's just enough doubt about its authorship and origin that it could conceivably have `really' been translated by the unfortunate Mr Fox of O'Brian's book. How much of this history O'Brian
> knew I can't say: I think it's certainly not inconceivable that he knew it all and that the inclusion of the poem is a kind of erudite joke."

Lois

Go to Table of Contents.

O'Brian's page of notes for Chapter VI is fairly full:

He has some notes to himself: Trochar for dropsy

{Note from Susan Wenger: Dropsy is a form of morbid edema _ retention of excess fluid in a body cavity: the trochar (or trocar) is a surgical instrument used for withdrawing such fluid from a cavity}

JA born 1770 _ {at last! A definitive date! Lissuns had previously guessed 1771}. Monsoon season April_October SW, October to April NE. Raffles was born at sea.

This is followed by some notes which he omitted from Chapter V: Batavia Rumours brought by indiamen, rumours from overland couriers, of bank failures and financial crises in England. Financial crises in UK, banks suspending payment right and left, including many country banks, including Smith's). There will be some change in behaviour when Fox learns about the UK banks.

O'Brian jots notes about Stephen's banker in Pulo Prabang: Chinese? Macao? Penang? He must cover the banker's correspondent in Pulo Prabang; his official suite, servants.

When they get to Pulo Prabang, the French are already there, but their frigate is gone: the hands had already made trouble ashore. The Dianes will be confined because of the poor behaviour of the French; but ladies may come aboard? Or 12 at a time will be given leave.

Van Buren receives Maturin very kindly; he is [CROSSED OFF: ANTI_ENGLISH?] anti_French. Mrs. van Buren a Dyak? {NOTE: In the book itself, she is Malay} Someone, perhaps Raffles, perhaps a friend, spoke of the Buddhist sanctuary at Kumai.

The Sultan's reception. The French are there. Ledward is impassive, but Wray is much shocked to see Stephen and Jack, and is taken poorly. The French envoy is bowed to, but the renegadoes {Ledward and Wray} are ignored. Fox is cruelly moved at seeing Ledward and Wray, but he makes a good speech. At the feast, Abdul Ganymede leers at Ledward or Wray. {O'Brian hasn't decided yet who the beneficiary of Abdul's favors will be}.

Stephen and Jack talk on the subject of Ganymede. {NOTE: This was a humorous piece in TGS _ Jack talking of Ganymede the moon, and Stephen misinterpreting his words as applying to Ganymede the servant}.

On van Buren's recommendation, Stephen goes to the Chinese banker. Perhaps he is the only banker in Pulo Prabang and the French also deal with him _ (?) or is he a cousin to the banker they deal with?

Anyhow, this starts a connexion by which Stephen gets copies of French envoy's (Duplessis') official diary.

Jack and maybe Stephen provide Fox with arguments against French treaty: quite useless European wood, even 32_gun sloop takes a year to build, to allow for seasoning of lumber, and then the maneuvering has to be learned: Royal Navy and even East India Company are very strong. The vizier and some counsellors waver.

Although England's offers are better than the French, there is no firm commitment This is because of Ganymede. "A dangerous game!" {Note from Susan Wenger: I find it interesting to note where O'Brian inserts a specific wording like this _ elsewhere he has a straight outline, a fact he wants to work in, a source; but here he wrote the actual words he wished to use: "A dangerous game!" Why? Why was this seemingly innocuous wording so important to him that he jotted it into his notes?}

The Sultan goes hunting. (?) Tigers, rhinoceros, elephants. Stephen goes to Kumai. Jack stays to survey the coast.

In O'Brian's second page of notes for Chapter Six of Thirteen Gun Salute, he wonders if the French shipwrights should be Spanish?

It took him 13 ‡ pages to get to Pulo Prabang. He wants to allow another 13 in this chapter. (Note: in his whole_book outline, he'd alloted 10 pages to get to Pulo Prabang _ he's gone over his allotment, but that's all right). He must work in the Chinese banker in this chapter _ wonders if he should name this banker Li or Liao? The banker's cousin, Han Wu, deals with the French, and has a Pondicherry clerk. {NOTE FROM SUSAN WENGER: Before O'Brian began the Aubrey_Maturin series, he wrote several stories (as Richard Patrick Russ) for boys magazines. Many of them involved the same stereotypical characters: Derrick the boy, Sullivan his Irish uncle, Olaf Svenssen, a Swedish mate, and a Chinese cook named Li Han. It seems O'Brian retains the notion of what a Chinese name should be}.

Orchid and fruit trees. Stephen asks van Buren about the vizier's councillors, and who he can buy, who is anti_French.

"I should like SM to have the rough copies of the French mission's official diary. Pretty nearly day by day _ waste_paper basket."

This will be through the Pondicherry clerk _ he will pay in cash and a promise of protection to India.

One possibility POB considers and then crosses out: Van Buren could introduce Stephen to Malay notables who understand the forest _ Stephen could go hunting with them, and make his proposals in that fashion. POB considers this to the extent of planning to show possibly the rarer orchids? Peacocks more likely.

This is followed by some encircled notes to himself: "See 'spleen' in Encyclopedia Britannica." "See Club_foot. ?Operable then?"

Van Buren, club_footed, was already an ally. Possibly O'Brian considered having Stephen operate on his club_foot?

The word "spleen" is repeated _ this was going to be a highlight of the episode!

Considering other possibilities: perhaps the Pondicerries play Stephen for a sucker, but are detected by wpb (Who is that?) and brought to reason?

The chapter would close with Stephen looking into a brothel, and seeing the Spanish shipwrights.

_ Susan WengerGo to Table of Contents.

Go to Table of Contents.