Throughout history, many famous writers and artists have relied on the use of an amanuensis (a person employed to write or type what another dictates or to assist with manuscripts). Here are notable examples:
Writers:
1. John Milton - The author of Paradise Lost dictated his work to various amanuenses, including his daughters, after becoming blind in his later years.
2. Henry James - The novelist used an amanuensis later in life due to problems with his hands. He would dictate his stories and revisions to a secretary, which influenced his writing style to become more elaborate and conversational.
3. Charles Dickens - While Dickens often wrote extensively himself, he occasionally dictated portions of his works to an amanuensis, particularly when pressed for time.
4. Friedrich Nietzsche - Due to failing eyesight and physical ailments, Nietzsche relied on his sister and other helpers to transcribe his writings in his later years.
5. Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Coleridge often dictated his poetry and philosophical musings to his friends and assistants due to his reliance on laudanum and general health issues.
6. James Joyce - During the writing of Finnegans Wake, Joyce's deteriorating eyesight necessitated the use of assistants, including Samuel Beckett, who would take dictation.
7. Winston Churchill - Churchill, known for his prodigious writing output, frequently dictated to secretaries who acted as his amanuenses, helping him produce speeches, books, and essays.
Artists:
1. Leonardo da Vinci - Leonardo is believed to have employed assistants in his workshops, and while not strictly an amanuensis, his students and apprentices often helped with documenting his ideas and creating preliminary drawings.
2. Michelangelo - Michelangelo had assistants who helped document and manage his voluminous correspondence and contracts.
3. Henri Matisse - In his later years, Matisse relied on assistants to execute his cut-out artwork as he directed them due to his physical limitations.
4. Francisco Goya - During his later years, Goya may have relied on assistants to help with the physical execution of some of his works while he directed the creative process.
These examples highlight how the use of an amanuensis has supported the creative output of some of history’s most celebrated figures, allowing them to overcome physical challenges or time constraints.
THE ETYMOLOGY OF AMANUENSIS
In Latin, the phrase servus a manu translates loosely as "slave with secretarial duties." (The noun manu, meaning "hand," gave us words such as manuscript, which originally referred to a document written or typed by hand.) In the 17th century the second part of this phrase was borrowed into English to create amanuensis, a word for a person who is employed (willingly) to do the important but sometimes menial work of transcribing the words of another. While other quaint words, such as scribe or scrivener, might have similarly described the functions of such a person in the past, these days we're likely to call him or her a secretary or an administrative assistant.
Usage: "...My sons acted en amanuensis while I was injured."
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