Sir Oliver Style, his Verse, and the Smyrna Earthquake of 1688

Oliver Style, the son of a Kentish baronet, was working in Smyrna, Turkey, when in 1688 the port city was devastated by an earthquake. Thousands were killed. Style survived (though apparently seriously injured), returned to England, and wrote a descriptive, deeply personal 'Advice to a painter&...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Seventeenth century Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 467 - 490
Main Author Pickering, Oliver
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Durham Routledge 03.05.2024
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
17th century
3rd Baronet, c. 1656-1703
Earthquakes
Literary criticism
Oliver
Poetry
Prose
Style
Turkey
Turkey
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Summary:Oliver Style, the son of a Kentish baronet, was working in Smyrna, Turkey, when in 1688 the port city was devastated by an earthquake. Thousands were killed. Style survived (though apparently seriously injured), returned to England, and wrote a descriptive, deeply personal 'Advice to a painter' poem about the event. Over the years until his death in 1703 he composed more than twenty other poems, which reflect on his life and inevitable death, and, with considerable bitterness, survey the folly, cruelty and suffering of mankind. This body of work, scarcely studied, survives in a single contemporary manuscript held in Leeds University Library. The essay discusses Style's life and family background, describes the manuscript, appraises the poems in some detail, and places Style's description of the Smyrna earthquake in the context of contemporary prose accounts. It concludes with an annotated edition of his 139-line earthquake poem.
ISSN:0268-117X
2050-4616
DOI:10.1080/0268117X.2024.2321367