About the Elocution Guy...

I made this annimated graphic based on illustrations from Gilbert Austin's Chironomia, an 1806 work that was Austin's treatise on "elocution," a method of rhetorical instruction important in Irish, English, and American universities from the late 18th century until the mid-19th century. Most of Austin's book presents his views and interpretations of other rhetoricians regarding elocution, but Chironomia is perhaps best known for these odd diagrams that were designed to teach the ideal posture for speaking in order to convey different pieces of information.

I've been fascinated by this stuff for a long time, actually. I gave an MLA presentation a number of years ago on the subject of "popular elocution," and I keep intending to revise that work into a publishable article. One of these days...

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