The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman · Chapter
Endnotes explained
The endnotes provide scholarly references, corrections, and digressive commentary on various topics including baptism by injection, the works of Hafen Slawkenbergius, astrological predictions, and a remarkable account of a fetus raised to a
What happens
The endnotes provide scholarly references, corrections, and digressive commentary on various topics including baptism by injection, the works of Hafen Slawkenbergius, astrological predictions, and a remarkable account of a fetus raised to adulthood through artificial incubation. They also include legal citations, textual clarifications, and notes on the Shandy family manuscripts.
Themes in this chapter
Knowledge and Philosophy
The endnotes engage with scholastic debates, medical theories, and astrological claims, reflecting the novel's preoccupation with systems of knowledge and their absurdities.
Digression and Narrative Form
The endnotes themselves are a digressive apparatus, correcting errors, citing obscure sources, and adding layers of commentary that mirror the novel's narrative style.
Characters to notice
- Tristram Shandy
Mentioned as being led into error regarding Lithopædus.
- Walter Shandy
Returns thanks to the chapter clerk of Rochester for the copy of the excommunication; his compliments to orators; his manuscript works are noted.
- Hafen Slawkenbergius
His work 'De Nasis' is referenced as extremely scarce; his story-telling Latin is noted.
- Mr. Yorick
Implied through reference to 'my father's Life of Socrates' which will be printed.
- Obadiah
Not directly mentioned in these excerpts.
- Susannah
Not directly mentioned in these excerpts.
Key passages
“The Romish Rituals direct the baptizing of the child, in cases of danger, before it is born;—but upon this proviso, That some part or other of the child’s body be seen by the baptizer:—But the Doctors of the Sorbonne, by a deliberation held amongst them, April 10, 1733—have enlarged the powers of the midwives, by determining, That though no part of the child’s body should appear,—that baptism shall, nevertheless, be administered to it by injection—par le moyen d’une petite canulle—Anglicè a squirt.”
Catholic rituals allow emergency baptism before birth only if a part of the child is visible, but the Sorbonne doctors in 1733 ruled that midwives could baptize by injection even if no part is seen.
This note discusses a theological and medical debate about baptism methods, reflecting the novel's interest in absurd scholastic distinctions.
“The author is here twice mistaken; for Lithopædus should be wrote thus, Lithopædii Senonensis Icon. The second mistake is, that this Lithopædus is not an author, but a drawing of a petrified child.”
The author made two errors: the correct name is Lithopædii Senonensis Icon, and it is not an author but an illustration of a fossilized fetus.
This correction highlights the novel's playful engagement with scholarly errors and misattributions.
“Ce Fœtus n’étoit pas plus grand que la paume de la main; mais son père l’ayant éxaminé en qualité de Médecin, & ayant trouvé que c’etoit quâlque chose de plus qu’un Embryon, le fit transporter tout vivant à Rapallo, ou il le fit voir à Jerôme Bardi & à d’autres Médecins du lieu.”
This fetus was no larger than a palm, but its father, a doctor, determined it was more than an embryo and had it taken alive to Rapallo to show to other physicians.
This anecdote about a premature fetus being raised to adulthood echoes the novel's themes of birth, life, and the boundaries of nature.