Words and sphragistic and diplomacy and Fletcher School

We are not yet finished meeting the neighbors at our SPH block party. If we talk to them for a minute and listen to their stories, we will find they all have a fascinating past and even a possible present utility though they are largely ignored by the surrounding society. We only have time for one here. The next page has others. Sphragistic. Just saying the word can be daunting. Whereas I love the word sphingine, and could endlessly repeat it, I find it hard to say "sphragistic." Try it. Again. The letters "ph" represent only one consonant in Greek--phi-- and so it didn't appear unusual to a Greek to use it, though it is to us. Greek has several consonants that carry two sounds in English, and when they are put together in one word that the English language has appropriated, we can sometimes choke on the word. A good example of this is the word "phthsis" (a medical term which I will eventually reclaim for normal people in these pages, and which is a word suggesting a degenerative disease). Well, let's return to sphragistic. It means the study of seals or signet rings. The Greek word is simply "sphragis (seal)," but the only family member of "sphragis" that came into English was "sphragistic." Interestingly enough, sphragistic (note that the field is not sphragistics) is a subfield of ancient and early modern diplomacy. Kings each had their seals, which they affixed to documents. Determination of authenticity, based on shape, size, color, application, etc. was a crucial speciality. I suppose its modern equivalent might be a cross between handwriting expertise and cryptology. Yet its use isn't necessarily confined to the early modern and ancient period. For example, the Croatian History Museum has a "sphragistic" collection, consisting of nearly 800 seals divided into 14 categories and ranging from seals that are several hundred years old to those from the 20th century. But, in general, it is a field that has disappeared, much like the study of heraldry. At one time one had lions rampant on gules or vert all over the place; now the only place one sees examples of heraldry is in older texts or in modern hunting lodges where rich white guys want to try to tap into their Scottish and English heritage. But one will search the catalogue of the Fletcher School of Diplomacy, for example, in vain for a course in "sphragistic." What a loss. I did tell my son, however, that if he wants to assure himself entry into an Ivy League college in Fall 2005, he should put in his personal statement or essay that he is interested in studying political science and sphragistic. The admissions office will be completely confused but they will think they have a genius on their hands and will not deny admission. I think my son will ignore my advice.

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