Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon (1997)
Read Professor Irwin Corey's acceptance speech for Pynchon's 1974 National Book Award for Gravity's Rainbow.
Also, have a look at Douglas Kløvedal Lannark's exhaustive documenting of "love" in Gravity's Rainbow.
M
Macaroni
21; an English dandy of the 18th century who affected Continental ways; [Etymology]; Macaronic, 330
MacClenaghan, Reverend
260; "rousing Evangelist" in Philadelphia; 293
Macclesfield
190; Bradley's superior; 192; 193; 557; 558
Macheath
455; Macheath is a character from The Beggar's Opera written in 1728 by John Gay. The Beggar's Opera tells the story of a love triangle between the highwayman Macheath, his fence's daughter Polly and the jailer's daughter Lucy (who is pregnant with his child). Upon discovering the marriage of Macheath and his daughter, Peachum, the fence, determines to have Macheath sent to Newgate. Polly warns him but Macheath is betrayed by the whores he frolics with and is confined to Newgate. Lucy finds him there and being assured by MacHeath that the marriage was all in Polly's mind, helps him to escape. Macheath is again captured and is sentenced to be hung. As he is to be hung the jailor brings in four other wives - "with a child apiece." Macheath pronounces it too much and says he is ready to be hanged. At this point, in a scene aside, the author (the Beggar) is persuaded to change the ending from a hanging to a happy ending. Accordingly Macheath has to settle on one wife only (Polly). [More from The Contemplator's Short History of John Gay and The Beggar's Opera]
Mackay, Captain
658; "and the Highland Forty-second"
Madeira
134; island off the north coast of Africa, north of the Canary Islands; occupied by the Portugese since the 16th century
Magnetism
298; 688
Maire, Father Christopher
215; Jesuit Priest; "Mr. Emerson's distant Cousin Ambrose, of Godless London" 227; 691; "Boscovich and" 699
Majordomo
419; butler
Malays
67
Manatee Bay
175; in St. Helena
Mandeville, Jack
349; of Mohawks, 746
Man in the Iron Mask
373; See Marthioly
Mantua-Maker
143
Many Worlds Theory
46; Orreries, 177; 180; 393; 556; 706
Mappemondes
95; medieval maps of the world, derived from the Latin words mappa mundi. The first early Christian maps are divided in three parts with the three continents Asia, Africa and Europe. The division into three parts is said to derive from the split between the sons of Noah after the deluge. Asia went to the offsping of Sem, Africa to the children of Cham and Europe to the children of Japhet. In the 8th century, the maps usually are arranged like a big "T" within an "O": The three continents surrounded by the ocean are separated by the "T", whereas the "T" itself represents two major rivers, one the Tanais and one the Nile. [Website with images]
Maquilleuses
525: make-up artists, specifically ladies
Marfak
310; Latitude-Star
Maria Theresa
546
Marine, Matthew
445; on M-D Line crew
Marlborough
551
Marsten Moor
594; moor, northern England, near York. On July 2, 1644, during the Civil War, it was the scene of a great victory of the Parliamentarians, led by Oliver Cromwell, over the Royalists.
Marthioly, Iron-Mask
373; French spy?; 420
Mary & Joseph
632; Biblical parents of Jesus Christ
Mary and Meg
243; a collier (ship that carries coal); 245
Maskelyne, Edmund ("Mun")
131; Nevil's brother; 213; 728; 748; 770
Maskelyne, Reverend Dr. Nevil (1732-1811)
74; English astronomer who was appointed Astronomer Royal in 1765; he was also an ordained minister; his sister Margaret married Baron Robert Clive of Plassey (aka "Clive of India") in 1753; 105; and Christopher Smart,116; 126; 212; 251; longitude, 322; elevation to H.M. Astronomer, 436; 479; 691; 719; "as A.R." 720; Biography of Maskelyne; [MORE]; [Website]
Mason, Anne
20; Charles' 17-year-old sister
Mason, Anne Damsel
205; Charles' mother
Mason, Charles (1728-86)
7; Royal Astronomer, 16; with Vrou Vroom, 87; "Tyburn Charlie" 109; how he and Rebekah first met, 167; remembering Rebekah's face, 211; melancholy, 290; a Cadastral Surveyor, 401; mysterious cabin, 413; 440; commence the Line, 444; discussing the letter to Bradley w/Dixon, 42-45, 249-51; 478; sharing his paranoia w/Dixon, 479; recalling riots of 1755, 502; meets Eliza, 536; Field Journal, 554; Eleven Days, 556-57; flight, 560; in Maryland, 571; Prelude to Radiance, 700; accosted by Rebekah, 703; discovers Uranus, 708; agrees to view Transit of Venus from So. Ulster, 719; "speaks in hurried and forc'd rhythms" 721; dream, 721-23; prays to see Rebekah's face in the Comet, 725; Heavenly Dome, 725; "true Phlegmatick" 735; "Another small-town eccentric absorb'd back into the Weavery" 748; "Return to America" 758; A Biography; Mason's Journal Entries
Mason, Charles, Sr.
202; Charles' father who is a baker; remarried, 751
Mason, Doctor Isaac
184; Charles' youngest son by Rebekah; 199
Mason, Mary
751; Charles' second wife
Mason, Rebekah
52; Charles' first wife, who died young; her tombstone at Sapperton Church gives her date of death as February 13th, 1759, and the epitath includes the phrase "Wife of Charles Mason, Jun'r. A. R. S. (Associate of the Royal Society); 109; 164; story, 167-84; 346; 536-41; 703
Mason, William
184; Charles' oldest son; 491
Masons, The
269; 287; 290; 358; 533; 690
Mason-Dixon Line
246; Commissioners, 291; Zhang's Feng-Shui analysis, 542
Masturbation
171
mathesis
194; The Greek word mathesis (akin to the Sanscrit manas - the mind) denoted the whole of human knowledge, including what nowadays involves mathematics, science, and philosophy; 630: "called into being by Mathesis alone"; 473.13; 194.14. ["Mad Mathesis" is a character appears in Lewis Carroll's A Tangled Tale [Read it] in which each knot of the tale embodies a mathematical question.
Matson, Ralph
578
Matthew Walker
55; a type of knot
Maureen
392; baker at the Inn whose pastries are fattening Dixon
Mauve
28; Bodine's girl who lives with Hepsie in Portsea
Mayer
730; his Lunar Tables; 768
McClean, Archibald
457; father of Mo & Nathe, on M-D Line crew; of Swedesboro, 712
McClean, Moses
7; camp commissary on M-D Line crew, and brother of Nathe
McClean, Nathanial
322; on M-D Line crew, and brother of Moses; 445; 451; 573
McEntaggart
723; in Ulster; 724
McFee, Light-Fingers
610
McNoise, Topman
404; at town meeting in New York
McNutley, Mr.
454; on M-D Line crew
McNutley, Gwen
455; wife of Mr. McNutley
McTiernan
723
Mead, Mr.
32; 247
Medmenham Circle
418; aka Hellfire Club, held orgies at Medmenham Abbey, the home of Sir Francis Dashwood; See also Wilkes, John; Sandwich, Lord
Medusa
517
mee-shugginah
280; slang derived from Yiddish, meaning "insane" or "crazy"
Megan
641; "another of Michael's batch"
Mens Rea
321; Latin: "criminal intent"
Mentrix
534; female mentor
mephitic
391; possessing a noxious odor; 412; 557
Mercury
98; ship that takes Mason to St. Helena
Meridien
150; a velvet one from France
Merry Ghosts
766; Haunted Inn in York which Charles and son Doc visit
Mesmer, Dr. Friedrich Anton, or Franz (1734-1815)
216; Austrian physician who founded mesmerism (1772), based on the belief in the existence of a power called "animal magnetism"; 268; 272
Mesopotamia
405
Messages
145; 245; 252; elevation of Franklin's spectacles, 266; 287-88; 289; 318; 309; 321; 479; 513; Boreal Phenomenon, 516; fortune cookies, 526; 528; 567; worm waiting for a sign, 590; Alchemist symbols, 594; 740; 757; 772
Metcalf, John "Blind Jack" (1717-1810)
702; John Metcalf, commonly known as "Blind Jack of Knaresborough," the first great English road-maker; [And the Rebellion of 1745 and More]
Metropolis
128; 233; 464; 488; 559; 601; 658; 685; 702
Micrometer
707
Miller, Joe (1684-1738)
279; Joe Miller was a famous English comic actor. His name has become a bit of a synonym for great coarse humor, because after he died somebody published a collection of such and put JM's name on the title: Joe Miller's Jest-Book, or the Wit's Vade Mecum ["guidebook"]. There was a Batman comic way about 10-15 years ago where the Joker stole the original Joe Miller joke book from the Gotham museum.
Miller of Wherr
734
Milton
266; 596
Minchinhampton
169; a small village a few miles southwest of Stroud, where the Peaches live; where they're buried, 184
Mingoes
663; American Indian tribe
Mira
107
Mirror
129; 130; 287; 298; 413; 519; 525; 603; 720; 768
Mischianza
6; "that memorable farewell Ball stag'd in '77 by the British who had been Occupying the City, just before their Withdrawal from Philadelphia"; held on May 18, 1777, "the famous tilt and tournament called the "Mischianza" took place. It was given in honor of Sir William Howe by the officers of his army, on the occasion of his recall to England, superseded in his command by Sir Henry Clinton." (From A Short History of the City of Philadelphia)
Mispick, Mr.
267; "pharmacist" in Philadelphia
Mithras
219
Mitre, The
183; tavern in London; 213; Mason sees Dr. Johnson there, 744
Mobility
214; crowd of common folk, or mob (derived from Latin: mobile vulgas) - compare with "nobility"
Mobrays
590; antidraconical family; Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, EARL OF Nottingham, Earl Marshal(c.1366-1399, Venice [Italy]), English lord whose quarrel with Henry of Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford (later King Henry IV, reigned 1399-1413), was a critical episode in the events leading to the overthrow of King Richard (reigned 1377-99) by Bolingbroke. The quarrel dominates the first act of William Shakespeare's play Richard II.
Mohawk
531; American Indian tribe; 572
moiré
389
Mokko-Mokko
57
Molinos, Miguel (1640-96)
Christian mystic who taught the direct relationship between the soul and God through contemplative prayer. His followers were called Molinists or Quietists; persecuted by Zarpazo in Spain, 543
Molly & Dolly
271; "students of the Electrickal Arts" and attractive female acquaintances of B. Franklin's
Moment of D
413; refers to one of the fundamental constants of physics which is designated by the Greek letter 'mu' followed by a subscript small 'd' and is formally known as the 'deuteron-magnetic moment.'
Monology
497
Montague, Lady
691; "Pope and"; 694
Montague's
564; tavern in New York that is headquarters to the local Sons of Liberty
Montieth
509
Moon, The
116; "punch house on Cock Hill on St. Helena
Mopery
165; Rebekah' pet name for Mason, "mopery" is the act of moping, vagrancy or dawdling; Rebekah's pet name for Mason; ["Mopery" comes up fairly often in Gravity's Rainbow]
Moran
576; friend of Tom Hynes
Moravians
306; A Christian sect which had its origin in ancient Bohemia and Moravia in what is present-day Czechoslovakia. The Moravian Church traces its origins to followers of John Hus, the Bohemian martyr who was burned at the stake in 1415, and dates its formal beginning from 1457, when one group of the Hussites took the Latin name of Unitas Fratrum, or Unity of the Brethren. The Moravians began establishing communities in the US, particularly in Bethelehem, Pennsylvania, and Winston-Salem, North Carolina, in the early 18th century. Other settlement congregations were established in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. All were considered frontier centers for the spread of the gospel, particularly in mission to the American Indians. [Moravian Website]
Mortmain
27
Morton, Mr.
45; Secretary of the Royal Society at time of M-D Line; 50; 270; 437
Motrix
15; Latin: "engine" or "motor" (as in "vis motrix" = "motor force" aka "soul"); 104; 451
Mounds
597; 746
Mount Vernon
273
Mournival, Nick
115; "mournival": (from Oxford Dictionary): Now only hist. 1530 [Fr mournifle XVI, (now) slap, taunt; of unkn. origin] cards 1. A set of four aces, kings, queens or knaves in one hand 2. transf. A set of four (things or persons) - 1711; Florinda's fiancé proprietor of Jenkin's Ear Museum, 175
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus
268
Mu
22
Mun
Munchausen, Baron
349-50; Refers to Rudolph Erich Raspe's Baron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia, first published, anonymously, in London in 1785. A later, enlarged edition of 1793, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, is the more well known version. Cherrycoke, narrating in 1786, would be referring to the original version; 358; 720
Munden's Point
108; on St. Helena, pair of Gallows
Murray
458; friend of N. McClean's; 573
Musick
172-173; 262-65; Surf Music, 264; Glass Armonica, 268, 272;
Mustapha
103
mutatis mutandis
533; Latin: "the necessary changes having been made"
Myers, Kit
460; on M-D Line crew
Mythology
Creation myth, 620; "White Women or Black Dogs" 635; Black Dog, 643; "Elves' Treasury" 661; Nation of Giants, 662
