-NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER-
The Literary Lord Peter
An Annotated Edition of Dorothy Sayers' Busman's Honeymoon
This Project
This website is part of a "culminating experience" project for my master's degree at Fort Hays State University. It is also something I've wanted to do for almost twenty years! I have gone through one of my favorite books, Busman's Honeymoon, by Dorothy Sayers, and tried to discover each literary allusion and find its source. I have also explained many words or phrases that were peculiar to the early 1900s, at which time this book takes place (it was published in 1937). And I have provided several Latin and French translations to help the vast majority of us who are not fluent in those languages! Some explanations are provided below.
Who Is This?
No, sadly, it's not the real Lord Peter Wimsey, but a picture of my great-grandfather, Charles ("Chic") Sale, a character actor. This photo was taken in the 1920s and gives an idea of how Lord Peter may have appeared earlier in his detective career, before his marriage to Harriet Vane. In an article entitled "How I Came to Invent the Character of Lord Peter Wimsey" (Harcourt Brace News, July 15th 1936), Sayers says of her creation, "I do not as a matter of fact remember inventing Lord Peter Wimsey . . . He walked in complete with spats and applied in an airy don’t-care-if-I-don’t-get-it way for the job of hero."
Who Am I?
My name is Ali Garner and I have been a fan of Dorothy Sayers' mysteries since my mother introduced me to them when I was in my teens. One of my favorite things about the books is Lord Peter's penchant for peppering his conversation with literary allusions. I love poetry and literature, and I'm especially fond of British mysteries. I currently teach English at Brigham Young University-Idaho, my dream job.
About This Website
The text for the book is found on the Gutenberg Project website. No changes to the text have been made. Each chapter of Busman's Honeymoon, starting with the Introduction, is in the menu (click the "more" button for a drop-down menu that shows more of the chapters). Four of the chapters were too long to be included on a single page, so they are divided into two parts. Highlighted in yellow in the text are all of the quotes, allusions, and other things that I felt could use further explanation. Notes and information are provided on the right hand side of the text. On a few occasions I have been able to include the full text of short poems, but much more frequently I have instead provided a link to a website (Bartleby, The Poetry Foundation, and others) where the poem can be read in its entirety. There are some other links to websites that provide more information. I did not include links to Shakespeare's plays (which are quoted 44 times!) or to the Bible because they are so long, but I gave specific information as to where each quote can be found. I was as thorough as possible in discovering each instance of allusion or quotation, but if I've missed any please let me know! A link to contact me is provided at the bottom of this page.
Translations
Except where indicated, the French and Latin translations are my own. I studied French in college and did my best to be as accurate as possible, but again, suggestions from those more fluent than I are welcomed.