Good words can last for many lifetimes, if they are printed on paper.

Professional archivists do not consider CDs, DVDs, videos and other technological methods as permanent records. Only “hard copy,” or paper, is permanent.

For some time I have been researching a tiny booklet of verse which was donated to the Windham Historical Society. I cannot imagine how difficult it must have been to read the original, printed in 1797, unless readers had very strong magnifying glasses and an excellent light source. There are 52 pages in this 2.5-by-4-inch booklet – and only the front cover is gone!

The title is Court of Comus; a Selection of the Newest Songs. It was published in London and was used in entertainment for the well-to-do, when performers would recite poetry, dance and sometimes end up in what we’d consider a wild party! These performances have been compared to Mardi Gras.

It’s a little strange to read the word “disconsolate” when the “s” appears as the letter “f,” but that’s how old this paper booklet is, tied together with string and still in good readable condition. Consider all the changes, advancements and inventions in the world of communication since 1797.

Who in Windham, Massachusetts (our town in 1797) would have owned such a booklet at a time when no one except men who studied for the ministry would have known how to read? The only person to come to mind would be Parson Peter Thatcher Smith, who had been living on River Road for over 30 years at that time. Though there is no proof this was his booklet, he and his associates, the upper class or gentry, would be familiar with books.

More than 200 years from the publishing date, readers can learn a little about language, humor, occupations, attitudes and life in general in the late 1700s.

This little book will be preserved for many generations to come at the historical society. We can’t say the same for text messages, digital anything or statistics on discs. We have seen beautiful photographs taken with digital cameras and transferred to the computer monitors, but if they’re not printed on the proper paper, they may be lost when the next technological “improvement” comes along.

For now, we’ll enjoy reading about The Disconsolate Sailor and Poor Jack’s Return, and picturing Parson Smith and his crowd, in their wigs and velvet coats, enjoying a chortle or two at the Newest Songs of 1797!

See you in a couple of weeks.