I came across something really cool today. Well, it’s really cool if you’re me. If you’re not me, perhaps not so cool. In one of the boxes of materials from one of the lay preachers is a manuscript book of hymns. I haven’t checked yet, but I am assuming this preacher didn’t compose the hymns, but rather transcribed them out of the larger and heavier printed collection of Methodist Hymns. (Pick up any hymnal from almost any Protestant denomination and check out how many of them were written by Charles Wesley, prominent eighteenth-century Methodist.) Here’s the cool part: at the beginning of this collection is a five-page essay written by this preacher on how to preach well.

Why is this cool? Because first of all, I have yet to find detailed written guidelines for or by Methodist preachers. Wesley published an elocution guide early in the century, but it doesn’t go into much detail about preaching itself. Second of all, this little essay is chock full of practical advice like how long to preach (“No one ever complained that a sermon was too short.”) and how to pick a hymn that suits the subject of your sermon, but not to worry if you realize after everyone’s started singing that you’ve made a bad choice. More than an elocution guide, it’s a snapshot of the cultural expectations and assumptions that went along with Methodist lay preaching at this time.

There is other nifty stuff in this box of material, as well, but I can’t reveal all of my research nuggets, now can I?

Because there is so much material like this that is, as far as I can tell, largely uncharted by the librarians here, it takes a long time to find the things I’m looking for. Things that may or may not exist, in fact. I’m not looking for things that I know are in there. I’m looking for things and hoping to find them. On the other hand, the payoff is pretty big, in my opinion, because scholars have not really written about this material in the way that I plan to (and, in the dissertation, have).

I had dinner at Wagamama last night, a trendy noodle & curry place in the Printworks, “the North Westís newest and most innovative entertainment venue.” I had the yasai katsu curry, fried vegetables with curry, rice, and a salad. Yummy.

Wagamama has a chic twenty-first century decor, with a high ceiling, lots of stainless steel, indirect lighting, and bench seating at long tables bolted to the floor. The mega-hip servers – one young gent had a mohawk Frank Gehry could have designed – take your order on wireless handhelds that presumably transmit your order back to the kitchen. This set-up must have costa pretty penny, so I wonder how it contributes to cost-saving. Maybe it’s just an investment in their post-modern image.

Whatever they’re doing, it’s working, because at 5:30 – early for a dinner crowd – they were doing a brisk business.

Wow, I guess it’s going to get interesting.

This May Manchester will be hosting the UEFA Champions League Final, the world’s biggest single sporting event of 2003 and to celebrate, Manchester City Council will present Festival Europa, a showcase of top quality events and attractions bringing a party atmosphere to the city during the football fever. Up to 50,000 extra visitors are expected to spend over £10 million in Manchester during the run up to The Final and the Festival will ensure that both fans and visitors experience the delights the city has to offer.

Thanks, L, for sending me a link to the journey planner on the official public transport site for greater Manchester. Very nice.

Yeah, I know I need to come up with better titles. Give me a break. I have about 10 minutes to post this.

First day in the library. Wow. There is so much stuff. It’s exciting but also a bit overwhelming. Just focusing on finding my way right now.

One of the librarians archivists bought me a cup of coffee this afternoon and talked with me about my project. He shared a great deal of advice and information that will prove useful. The collection is just amazing. One of his points is that so much Methodist history is based on nineteenth-century printed sources, including editions of eighteenth-century journals and letters, and many of the editors of those editions stripped out any references that they thought would cast early Methodism in a bad light. Looking at the manuscript originals, however, results in a very different picture.

One more thing before I’m out of time. We used to think there were no surviving sermons of female Methodist preachers of the C18, but just a few months ago, 150 sermons by Mary Fletcher were discovered in manuscript form. They will be published soon. Amazing.