A Pinch Of Snuff

Oh Snuff! our fashionable end and aim!
Strasburgh, Rappee, Dutch, Scotch! whate’er thy name!
Powder celestial! quintessence divine!
New joys entrance my soul, while thou art mine.
Who takes - who takes thee not? Where’er I range
I smell thy sweets from Pall Mall to the ‘Change.
By thee assisted, Ladies kill the day,
And breathe their scandal freely o’er their tea:
Nor less they prize thy virtues when in bed,
One pinch of thee revives the vapour’d head,
Removes the spleen, removes the qualmish fit,
And gives a brisker turn to female wit,
Warms in the nose, refreshes like the breeze,
Glows in the head, and tickles in the sneeze.
Without it, Tinsel, what would be thy lot?
What, but to strut neglected, and forgot.
What boots it for thee to have dipt thy hands.
In odours wafted from Arabian lands?
Ah! what avails thy scented solitaire,
Thy careless swing, and pertly-tripping air,
The crimson wash, that glows upon they face,
Thy modish hat, and coat that flames with lace!
In vain thy dress, in vain thy trimmings shine,
If the Parisian snuff-box be not thine.
Come to my nose, then, Snuff, nor come alone,
Bring Taste with thee, for taste is all thy own.

A Pinch Of Snuff - A poem published in Smoke Rings & Roundelays by Wilfred Partington.

A Pinch of Snuff was originally published in a book titled The Shrubs of Parnassus in 1760, written by J. Copywell, which was a pseudonym of William Woty.

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Snuff legend and lore brings us a dastardly tale of Jesuits’ Snuff…

Jesuits’ Snuff

Scented snuffs were sometimes made to conceal poison.

In 1712, the Duc de Noailles presented the Dauphiness of France with a box of Spanish snuff, a luxury in which she delighted. It was charged with poison, which she inhaled; and five days after receiving the gift she died, complaining of sharp pain in the temples.

This excited much attention, and great fear prevailed of “accepting a pinch” on the one hand and offering it on the other. It became a general belief that such poisoned snuff was used in Spain, and by Spanish emissaries, to clear away political opponents, and that the Jesuits also adopted it for the purpose of secretly poisoning their enemies.

Hence it was termed “Jesuits’ Snuff”, and a great dread of it was felt for a considerable time.

Another instance of the fatal use of snuff is to be found in an anecdote of the Duc de Bourbon, grandson of the great Conde.

He took Santeuil the poet to a great entertainment, compelled him to drink a large quantity of champagne, and ultimately poured his snuff-box, filled with Spanish snuff into the poet’s wine.

This produced a violent fever, of which Santeuil died, amid excruciating agonies, within fourteen hours.

The above account of Jesuits’ Snuff has been taken from Tobacco Talk & Smokers’ Gossip.

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All About Snuff And Snuff Taking was a book published by The Society of Snuff Grinders, Blenders and Purveyors.

A link to All About Snuff And Snuff Taking, (which is a hard to get snuff book) is included in the Snuff Books & Literature category top right.

The book is occasionally to be found listed for sale online and as such can command much more than it’s original cover price of just 95p!

Published by the now sadly defunct Society of Snuff Grinders, Blenders and Purveyors; with contributions from and descriptions of, the main players in the snuff tobacco industry operating in the UK in the early to mid 1980’s.

As some of you may know, I have a ‘thing’ about collecting snuff books. I’m always on the lookout for titles when visiting old book shops, as well as searching out copies of snuff books online.

I have today received in the post my very own copy of All About Snuff And Snuff Taking, it was a copy previously owned by a library in Cornwall and then sold on to a book dealer.

The snuff book is nicely covered in a protective plastic sleeve and apart from having a library slip glued to the inside front page, (to record the ‘due date’ of return should it ever have been booked out.) it is in mint condition.

Fortunately for me, my copy doesn’t seem to have been that popular with the users of the library and has never been booked out. Across the slip in capitals and red ink is stamped the word ‘withdrawn’.

All About Snuff And Snuff Taking is 36 pages long and utilises the front and back inside and the back outside cover to cram as much information as possible into it!

It is divided into sections as below.

1. This Gracious Custom
2. Snuff Taking Through The Ages
3. How Your Snuff Is Made
4. Types Of Snuff - And Their Uses
5. From Social Pleasure To Medical Prescription
6. The Secret Art Of Blending
7. The Beauty Of The Snuff Box
8. Who Takes Snuff And Why?
9. Snuff Taking And Health
10. List Of Members’ Snuffs

On the inside front cover are names of members of The Society of Snuff Grinders, Blenders and Purveyors. Many are happily still familiar today, several of the snuff companies listed have been bought out. Most thankfully are still in available even though the companies have changed hands; although in the section ‘List Of Members Snuffs’, we see tantalising references to snuff blends no longer in production.

On the inside back cover are contact details (one suspects that are long out of date!) of The Society of Snuff Grinders, Blenders and Purveyors.

On the outside back cover are instructions on How To Partake Of A Pinch Of Snuff, taken from a book published in 1857, titled Tobacco and written by A. Steinmetz - on further research it would appear that A. Steinmetz also wrote a book on gambling titled The Gaming Table: Its Votaries And Victims and others including, The History Of The Jesuits, Japan And Her People, The Romance Of Dueling!

A. Steinmetz’s instructions are published on numerous snuff websites and I’m sure at some point I’ll do him the honour of publishing them here too!

As I read the opening pages, I felt proud to be a part of the continuation of ‘This Gracious Custom’!

If you’re trying to get hold of a copy of All About Snuff And Snuff Taking, please visit the Snuff Books & Literature section top right for details of possible book sites to search.

I’ll print further extracts from All About Snuff And Snuff Taking as and when I have a chance.

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The Snuff Taker

…. before I budge an inch
I hail Aurora with a pinch;
After three cups of morning tea
A pinch most gratful is to me;
If then by chance the post arrive,
My fingers still the deeper dive.
When gallant Nelson gains his point,
I sink in deep to middle joint;
And soon as e’er the work he clinches,
Oh, then I take the pinch of pinches!
But if our heroes chance to fail,
I seldom go beyond the nail.
If I on ancient classics pore,
Or turn their learned pages o’er,
I take a pinch at every pause,
A tribute of my just applause.
Whene’er I dip in page historic,
Or pass an hour in wit with Yorick,
I relish more each paragraph
If season’d with a pinch and laugh.
Or if discussing subjects curious,
I revel in a pinch luxurious;
E’en joyous friends and claret rosy,
Insipid are sans pinches cosy.
Whate’er I do, where’er I be,
My social box attends on me;
It warms my nose in winter’s snow,
Refreshes midst midsummer’s glow;
Of hunger sharp it blunts the edge,
And softens grief, as some allege.
Thus, eased of care or any stir,
I broach my freshest canister;
And freed from trouble, grief, or panic,
I pinch away in snuff balsamic;
For rich or poor, in peace or strife,
It smoothes the rugged path of life.

The Rev. W. King of Marlow 1788

Several other snuff related poems are included in books listed in the snuff book section

The Snuff Taker.

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A Pinch Of Snuff By Dean Snift of Brazen-Nose, published in 1840.

I’ve been on the lookout for ‘A Pinch Of Snuff’, (no, not the nasal snuff variety, but this time in book format!) for several months now. If you want to see a list of snuff related books, please check the Snuff Books section.

A Pinch Of Snuff is according to the inside cover, ‘Composed of Curious particulars and original anecdotes of snuff taking; as well as a review of snuff, snuff boxes, snuff shops, snuff takers and snuff papers; with the moral and physical effects of snuff.’

A Pinch Of Snuff was published in 1840 and sometimes can be found in the ebay snuff category or by searching through the amazon snuff books list.

I had been ‘pipped to the post’ on this particular snuff book on ebay snuff auctions several times, so set my maximum spend limit at £35.00.

I eventually ‘won’ (the word ‘won’ always makes me smile when using ebay - it’s almost like they want you to forget that you’ve paid hard earned cash for a item - ’whoo-hoo… I won… I WON!’) A Pinch Of Snuff at £31.34 plus £1.99 postage and packing, making a grand total of all the ‘threes’… To see the seller’s description whilst it’s still live click here.

My copy of A Pinch Of Snuff is a bit battered and dog eared - as you would expect for a book published in the 1840’s; it’s missing the fabric cover on the front and back, a few pages are stained, it has hand written notes in pencil and pen on a few pages and some of these have been rubbed out… I love it!

Inside cover of my copy of A Pinch Of Snuff.

The opening introduction is ‘To The Refined And Social Snuff Taker’; through the introduction, the author welcomes me to the world of snuff taking and makes me feel like I’m a member of an exclusive snuff taker’s club.

A Pinch Of Snuff has 152 pages of written word and few extra ‘blanks’ either side at the begining and end. The book has numerous illustrations and is divided up into the following sections and chapters;

Introduction
The Refined And Social Snuff-Taker.

A Pinch Of Snuff
Man A Snuffing Animal, Lady Snuffers, Introduction Of Tobacco (Nicot, Raleigh, Drake), The Pouncet Box, Sneezing Powder, Louis XIV, Papal Persecution Of Snuff, Restoration, Anne To George Era.

The Influence Of Snuff
Remedy For Headache And Weak Sight, Perfumed Snuff Injurious, Sneezing, Sociability, Sterne, Swift, Poetic Inspirations, Song.

Varieties Of Snuff
Rappee, Carotte, Montagne, Etrenne, Bureau, Bolangaro, Martinique, Princeza, Welsh, LuddyFoot’s Irish Blackguard, Lambkin’s Cork, Paris, Facon De Paris, Scotch, Masulipatam, Cephalic, Grimstone’s Eye Snuff, Lord Rochester, Natchitoches, Mathews, Hardham’s 37, Violet Strasburg, Queen Charlotte, Gillespie, Prince’s Mixture, Macouba, Latakia, Anstruther And Norcot Mixtures, Varieties, Snuff Monopoly In France, Process Of Snuff Making, Dutch And English Tobacco Merchants, Jesuits’ Snuff, Misstatements Corrected, A Snuff Song.

Snuff Shops, Signs And Papers
Fribourg And Treyer, Fribourg And Pontet, Pontet Junior, Watton, Harrison, The Skinners, Kilpack, Procter, Currey, Taylor, Beynon And Stocken, Hudson, Arnet, Pain, Edwards, Highlanders, Black Boys, Female Figure, Quaint Device, Snuff Paper, Charades.

Snuff Boxes
Inappropriate Receptacles, French Taste, Chinese Fox Hunt, Laurence Kirk, James Sandy, Cumnoc, Curious Boxes, Sarcophagus, Robert Burns, William Pitt, Duke Of Gloucester, Napoleon And Louis XVIII, Gold Wicker, Diamonds, Hogarth, Mulberry Tree, Platoff, Moorish Box, Nelson’s Coffin, Emperor Of Austria, Ninety-Second Mull, Song.

Snuff Taking
Snuff A Tell-Tale, Duchesse De Berri, Nose Hunger, Stolen Pinch, Pledging In Snuff, Sneezing, Catullus, Cowley, An-Upset, Robbery, Madness, Execution, How To Smooth Snuff, Stage Snuff, Test Of Love, A Taker’s Courtesy, Ma Tabatiera, Longevity, A Black Pinch, Surrender To Snuff, Pupil’s Bribery, A Disinfector, Bloomfield, Late Sittings, Deliberate Aim, Extract, Airing Snuff, Attitiudes, Noses “Bottle, Grecian, Snub or Roman”, The Handkerchief, Patterns, A Slip Of The Tongue.

Snuff Takers
George IV, King Of Hanover, Dukes Of Cambridge and Sussex, Princess Hesse Homburg, Dukes Of Devonshire And Buccleuch, Marquis Of Ely, Lords Alvanley, Airlie, Arbuthnot, Panmure and Abercrombie, Louis XVIII, Duke Of Orleans, Frederick The Great, Mr’s Siddons, John Kemble, Brummel, Sir Henry Cooke, Theatrical Touchstone, Dramatic Sensor, Steevens The Commentator, Count Boralowski, Donald Macpherson, Earl Of Harrington, Prince Talleyrand, Prince Metternich, Napoleon, Lady Holland, Acrostic.

The book finishes with a acrostic snuff poem titled My Pinch Of Snuff, which I will share at a later date.

Well that’s about it for my most recently purchased snuff book. I will add snippets from A Pinch Of Snuff occasionally to this news blog.

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To My Nose

Knows he that never took a pinch,
Nosey! the pleasure thence which flows?
Knows he the titillating joy
Which my nose knows?

Oh, nose! I am as fond of thee
As any mountain of its snows!
I gaze on thee, and feel that pride
A Roman knows!

Anonymous

To My Nose is printed in a book titled ’A Pinch Of Snuff’ By Dean Snift published in 1840 and sometimes can be found for sale online - see the Snuff Books section for details.

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Snuff by Ursula Bourne, a 32 page book packed with information on snuff with over 40 illustrations; is now available through Snuff Store.

On the back cover of Snuff, the publisher gives a short description of the snuff book’s contents.

‘A surprising number of people in Britain take snuff regularly, though proportionally far fewer than a hundred years ago. There are still many varieties of snuff available from specialist tobacco shops. In common with many other habits, snuff-taking was accompanied by a range of accessories which are illustrated in this book. A snuffer needed a snuff box of one or two compartments to carry his snuff around, and if he used a bottle he would also need a spoon, a handkerchief and other items. He even needed to know the etiquette of indulging the habit to the best effect for himself while causing the least offence to others. In this book the author explains how snuff first came to Europe, then to Britain, and its history to the present day. She describes how it is made, the firms famous in the trade and the names they gave to some of the infinite varieties they offered for sale or made up to individual requirements.’

Snuff by Ursula Bourne, contains chapters covering; 

The history of snuff.
Snuff making and selling.
Snuff accessories.
Why take snuff?
Concludes with suggested further reading.

The snuff book is filled with interesting illustrations, some of which include snuff manufacturing, snuff shops, reproduction of images from antique snuff books and the like.

We have also linked several other snuff books here.

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