ANAGRAM

ANAGRAM, Anacramma, a Transposal of the Letters of a Name; or a Combination thereof in some new manner, so as to exhibit one or more Words, either to the Advantage or Disadvantage of the Person to whom it belongs. See NAME. The Word is formed from the Greek ἀναγράμματα (anagrammata), I write backwards. Thus, the Anagram of Galenus is Augelus; that of Logica, Caligo; that of Loraine, is Alerion; on which account it was, that the Family of Lorrain took Alerions for their Armoury. Calvin, in the Title of his Institutions, printed at Strasburg in 1539, calls himself Alewinus, which is the Anagram of Calvinus, and the Name of an eminently learned Person in the Time of Charlemaign, who contributed greatly to the Restoration of Learning in that Age. Barclay, in his Argevis, anagrammatizes Calvinus by a less creditable Name, Usaulca; and Rabelais, to be revenged of the same Calvin, who had made an Anagram of his Name, found in that of Calvin, Fan Cul. Such as keep close to the Definition of Anagram, take the Liberty to omit or retain the Letter H, and that Letter only; but such as stand up for the poetical Licence, make bold sometimes to use E for U, V for W; S for Z, and G for K; and vice versa. See ALPHABET. This way of writing was scarce known among the Ancients: Daurat, a French Poet in the Reign of Charles IX, is usually said to be the first that broached it. Yet Lycophron, who wrote under Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 280 Years before Christ, appears to have been no Stranger to the Art of making Anagrams. Cauterus, in his Prolegomena to Lycopbron, gives us two of his Pieces in this Kind; the first on the Name of King Ptolemy, Πτολεμαῖος (Ptolemaios), in which he found ἀπὸ μέλιτος (apo melitos), of Honey; to insinuate the Sweetness and Mildness of that Prince. The second was on Queen Arsinoe, Ἀρσινόη (Arsinoe), of whom he made Ἰὼ ἡ Ἥσση (Io he Hesse), Juno’s Violet. The Cabalists among the Jews are professed Anagrammatists; the third Part of their Art, which they call Mura, i.e. changing, being nothing but the Art of making Anagrams, or of finding hidden and mystical Meanings in Names: which they do by changing, transposing, and differently combining the Letters of those Names. Thus, of נח (Noah’s) the Letters of Noah’s Name, they make חן (Grace): of משיח (Messiah), they make ישמח (he shall rejoice). There are two manners of making Anagrams; for, 1°, some only consist in dividing a single Word into several: Thus the Enigma of the God Terminus, mentioned by Aulus Gellius, Lib. XII. c. 6. is founded on the Anagram T2R Minus: and thus Sustineamus yields sus tinea mus. This Kind alone seems to have been used among the Romans. The second, is where the Order and Situation of the Letters is changed: Such are those abovementioned; and also these, Rema, Maro, Amor; Julius, Livius; Corpus, Porcus, Procus, Spurco. To find all the Anagrams any Name will admit of; algebraically, see the Article COMBINATION. The finest and happiest of all the Anagrams extant, is that on the Question put by Pilate to Jesus Christ; Quid est veritas? which anagrammatically make, Est vir qui adest: The Anagram, here, is the best, and justest Answer that could possibly be given. Besides the ancient kind of Anagram, there have been new ones invented; as, the Mathematical Anagram, invented in 1680; by which the Abbot Czrelaz found, that the eight Letters of the Name of Louis XIV. made Vrai Heros, i.e., true Hero.



We are now likewise furnished with the Numerical Anagram; where the numeral Letters (i.e., such as in the Roman cyphering stood for Numbers) taken together, according to their numerical Values, express some Epoch: Of which kind is that Distich of Godart on the Birth of the late French King, in the Year 1638, on a Day wherein there was a Conjunction of the Eagle with the Lion’s Heart: eXorlens, DeLphIn aGVILe CorDIjUnVe LeonIs — CongrEss NV gaLLos Ie LerItlagVe reseCte.

ANAGRAM