James Dougal Fleming Book order

The exploration of sixteenth-century intellectual history is central to this work, which delves into Timothie Bright's contributions to the development of early modern shorthand. J. D. Fleming examines Bright's innovative techniques and their impact on communication and record-keeping during the period. The book intertwines Bright's life and work with broader cultural and scholarly trends, highlighting the significance of shorthand in the evolution of written language and its role in shaping modern literacy.

This book examines the seventeenth-century project for a „real“ or „universal“ character: a scientific and objective code. Focusing on the Essay towards a real character, and a philosophical language (1668) of the polymath John Wilkins, Fleming provides a detailed explanation of how a real character actually was supposed to work. He argues that the period movement should not be understood as a curious episode in the history of language, but as an illuminating avatar of information technology. A non-oral code, supposedly amounting to a script of things, the character was to support scientific discourse through a universal database, in alignment with cosmic truths. In all these ways, J. D. Fleming argues, the world of the character bears phenomenological comparison to the world of modern digital information—what has been called the infosphere. 

Focusing on interpretation, this book explores John Milton's approach to hermeneutics, advocating for openness and recognition rather than secrecy and hidden meanings. It integrates various early modern discourses to establish historical context and employs Hans-Georg Gadamer's philosophy to support its theoretical framework, offering a fresh perspective on Milton's literary contributions.