Sapientiae Libertas: A Humanist Triumph

mjhurst

SAPIENTIAE LIBERTAS -- A Humanist Triumph

Yet among invented games are 'pages', in which, while being played, certain traces of learning are even found, as in Tarots, and in those which are printed together with the sentences of the sacred scriptures and philosophers, by the printer Wechel of Paris. Human desire squanders all the rest, along with those like them, where money comes in the middle, and that desire is going to be felt.
(Pierre Gregoire, Syntagma Juris Universi; Lyons, 1597;
Translated by Ross Caldwell.)

That was one of the more remarkable passages which Ross discovered and translated a few years ago. Gregoire was comparing the images of Tarot to an emblematic deck published by Wechel, (famous as the original publisher of Alciato's Emblemata a decade earlier), and contrasting such philosophical games ("mixed games") with all the rest, corrupted by gambling. Sylvia Mann described such a deck when it was auctioned in 1971.

An extremely interesting and, to me, previously unknown pack with fanciful suitmarks (Cupids, Goats, Harps and Millstones) made in 1544 by Christian Wechel of Paris, whose name is recorded in d'Allemagne as a maître cartier. The main body of the cards was filled with quotations in Latin from the works of Ovid, Seneca, Horace and Plautus.
("A Choice Collection of Playing-Cards", The Journal of the Playing-Card Society
http://i-p-c-s.org/journal/1-1.html)

Although not emblems per se, such epigrams were the basis for emblems. Other accretions, including motto, image, additional quotes, etc., were typical of most emblem books, (there were thousands), but the earlier epigrammatic tradition continued in some "naked" emblem books. More than a few writers have speculated vaguely about a relationship between Tarot and the emblematic tradition, but the passage by Gregoire was the first report of such an association being seen by a contemporaneous commentator.

One particular emblem, from a famous collection published a decade after Gregoire's comment, can support a more specific and detailed comparison the Tarot sequence. It is a Stoic-humanist emblem with direct parallels to the design of the Tarot trump cycle. It comes from Otto van Veen's Emblemata Horatiana (Emblems of Horace), first printed in 1607, shortly after the publication of Cesare Ripa's Iconologia (1593, illustrated 1603) and during the height of popularity of emblem books. Alciato had begun the fashionable genre with his 1531 Emblemata, which has seen about 150 editions.

Although approaches varied, the essence of an emblem was, 1) a pithy motto, (often paradoxical), 2) an impressive epigram, (often biblical or classical), and 3) an allegorical illustration, (often obscure or idiosyncratic). When combined, these elements illuminated some idea or relationship. Horatiana's emblem #38 is comprised of the motto Sapientiae Libertas (the wise are free), an epigram from Horace, and a complex allegorical illustration. (Explanatory verses, in several languages, were added in subsequent editions.) This emblem may be seen at the following sites.

Sapientiae Libertas Text
http://tinyurl.com/p6cfb
Sapientiae Libertas Illustration
http://tinyurl.com/nsk4q

38. Sapientiæ libertas
http://tinyurl.com/s7mcx

MOTTO:
SAPIENTIAE LIBERTAS

EPIGRAM:
Who then is free? The wise man, who is lord over himself, whom neither poverty nor death nor bonds affright, who bravely defies his passions, and scorns ambition, who in himself is a whole, smoothed and rounded, so that nothing from outside can rest on the polished surface, and against whom Fortune in her onset is ever maimed. (Horace, Satire 2.7)

The idea that only the wise are free, (and every fool is a slave), is one of the so-called Stoic Paradoxes. These aphorisms, absurd when taken literally, are attention grabbing summaries of philosophical positions which require further explanation to make sense. By framing such ideas in a deliberately confounding manner, the Cynics and later the Stoics drew attention to the need for deeper reflection to get beyond "common sense". Cicero wrote a treatise, Paradoxa Stoicorum, explaining six of these puzzling aphorisms, including this one, with examples from daily life and Roman history. These paradoxes were well known in the era of emblem books and neo-Stoicism. The stimulus for this post today was the current ATS Newsletter, including a translation of Boiardo's Stoic-humanist revisioning of the Tarot deck, another example of the popularity of Stoic values, attitudes, and subject matter.

The Boiardo Poem (Tarotpedia translation)
http://association.tarotstudies.org/newsletters/news58.html
 

mjhurst

SAPIENTIAE LIBERTAS -- Figures and Attributes

The overall design of the image along with most of the individual elements can be readily understood in the context of the motto, the epigram, and the Stoic paradox being illuminated. It shows Wisdom Regnant, illustrating the Stoic virtue of Apathea. There are ten main elements in the illustration, counting eight figures and two groups of trees, and perhaps two dozen attributes and lesser features. (As usual, keep in mind that I don't read the languages and am offering my own views of the symbolism, although I did take the time to look things up rather than just making things up.)

stoic-wisdom.jpg

1. THE WISE. The subject is sapientiae, The Wise, and it is symbolized by a wise man. Apart from the beard, indicating age and indirectly suggesting wisdom, there are no conventional attributes for wisdom. (Although, cf. the plane trees, below.) In this case the figure's identity is clear from his relationship with the other figures combined with the motto: he represents The Wise. An abundance of other attributes attend The Wise. Given the emblem's motto, however, the most salient is a Liberty Cap. Nancy Jo Fox, (Liberties with Liberty, 1985) describes it as follows:

[Representations of Liberty herself were] crowned by Phrygian cap, the pilleus libertatis, bestowed upon slaves when granted freedom". The pilleus libertatis was a rounded felt cap worn by freed slaves to cover their shaved heads. The practice was known in Asia Minor and specifically Troy, also known as Phrygia to the Romans, hence the alternate name: Phrygian Cap. The Liberty Cap remained a symbol of freedom from the time of the Roman Republic through to the French Revolution, and was even a symbol of emancipation in the 19th-century United States. It was often shown hoisted on a pole. "The cap was joined to the pole as a symbol of freedom when Salturnius conquered Rome in 263 B.C. where, in a burst of inspiration, he raised the cap on a pikestaff to show that the slaves who joined his fight would be freed.

The Wise Man holds a scepter. At his feet are a bundle of fasces, a crown, a laurel wreath, and a shepherd's crook, while his foot rests on a globe. These six attributes are all symbols of victory, power, and authority. Combined with his regal position, enthroned above the surrounding figures, the scene clearly shows the triumph and sovereignty of The Wise over the other allegorical subjects. Notably, however, while the Liberty Cap is actually worn by The Wise, the crown and laurel wreath are at his feet, along with most of the other attributes of power. This indicates his scorning of ambition, as described in the epigram.

Finally, the Wise Man holds the scepter with an odd grip, his hand forming the mano fico or fig-hand gesture. The thumb protruding between the fingers is said to mimic the female genitalia, and according to Wikipedia, "the obscene connotations of the gesture may partly originate from the fact that a similar Italian word, fica, is a slang term referring to the vulva. This sexual connotation may date back to ancient Roman times; some Roman amulets combine a phallus and a mano fico gesture." The significance of this ancient gesture varies greatly with context, today often being little more than an insult like the raised middle finger. It is more traditionally used, both as gesture and as carved talisman, as a symbol of potency, good luck, or to ward off evil. Given the Wise Man's unflinching rejection of the seven threatening figures, this seems appropriate.

2. TIME. Half-hidden behind Fortuna is a bearded figure, an old man representing Time. As Cesare Ripa noted, "Time is present for he has the only influence on Fortune: with time, fortune changes." The old man is waving aloft two large shrouds behind Fortuna and her sail, visible at the left edge of the image. One of these drapes is black and the other is white, symbolizing day and night, Time's diurnal power to which man is subject. There is nothing in the epigram to directly support this figure, although Time's unusual attributes, the shrouds of night and day, might slide off of the "smooth, rounded, polished surface" of The Wise.

3. FORTUNE. Fortune is immediately identifiable by her conventional attributes of sail and rudder. She appears to be brandishing the rudder as a weapon, consistent with the epigram. She also advances on a peg leg, reflecting Horace's claim that she is maimed by her attack on The Wise.

4. POVERTY. The figure in the lower left corner might initially appear to be Folly, holding a round loaf of bread. That attribute is sometimes seen in illustrations of Psalms 14 and 53. "The fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.... Will evildoers never learn-those who devour my people as men eat bread, and who do not call on the Lord?" (Ps 14:1-4.) Moreover, Folly would be an appropriate allegory over which The Wise should triumph. However, Folly is most often shown as a male figure, and has many other conventional attributes, at least one of which might have been added to make the figure clear.

In fact, the figure represents Poverty, and the round item is a head of cabbage. I don't know of any other source in which cabbage is used as an identifying attribute for Poverty, but it makes sense, it matches the details of the illustration, and, most importantly, it is used repeatedly by Vaenius for that purpose. In several of Horatiana's emblems, allegories of Poverty are shown with cabbage as their primary attribute. In two emblems, (#39 and #62), the head of cabbage is shown with a carrot, grape leaves, and a bowl as attributes of the impoverished, perhaps indicating peasant soup or salad. In another (#64) it is shown being carried by personified Poverty. In #72, Democritus is shown with the bowl, cabbage, and grape leaf, while in #51 he is shown with the empty bowl. It's a symbol Vaenius used repeatedly to indicate poverty or Poverty, and Poverty is also consistent with the epigram, while Folly is not. In the absence of a clear identifying attribute, additional weight must be given to that evidence. Finally, Poverty, like Time, is a conventional companion of Fortune.

5/6. SACRED AND PROFANE LOVE. The next two figures are obvious and conventional and yet a bit disconcerting from a Christian perspective. The two cupids, one winged and one wingless, are traditional symbols of Sacred and Profane Love, respectively. The cherubic archer representing Sacred Love shows a quiver, while Profane Love appears to have a wine bottle slung around his waist. The surprising symbolism suggests that The Wise should be as indifferent to Sacred Love as to Profane. The neo-Stoic movement could (occasionally) include both conceptions in the category of the Passions. Whereas a Stoic-Christian wished to suppress the other passions, thereby opening the heart to Sacred Love, the Stoic-humanist might seek to suppress all the inflaming Passions. (A third archer, mostly hidden behind Profane Love and Death, holds a raised bow but no arrow is shown.)

7. DEATH. The skeleton with his shroud and dart, of course, is perfectly conventional, and Death is explicitly referenced in the epigram. No program of life's allegorical vicissitudes would be complete without the final catastrophe, Death, although it was sometimes conflated with or implied by either Time (shown as a Reaper) or Fortune (sometimes showing a corpse at the 4th position, bottom of the Wheel).

8. BONDAGE. The figure holding aloft manacles clearly represents Bondage, the literal opposite of freedom, which is also referenced by Horace. Although such an allegorical figure is relatively rare, the symbolism is clear, the contrast with Libertas is obvious, and the reference in the epigram is definitive.

9. THE PALM TREES. Again quoting Ripa, (Eichler's fatto from a later edition), the palm tree is "a symbol for victory over great odds; it was said that no matter how great a weight was placed atop its leaves, it would not bend or break under the load, but would continue to grow in spite of it. The palm tree can also be the symbol of temperance in this context, for just as it does not give in to the weight on its top, so the temperate person does not give in to passions, however strong they may be." The connections with the present emblem should be obvious.

10. THE PLANE TREES. The trees on the right side of the image are not so obviously identified. However, the plane tree (genus Platanus) has a very tall trunk and smooth bark, and according to Pliny's Natural History, they were introduced and cultivated for their shade and grew to great size. Plane trees are still cultivated in the Mediterranean, while some ancient specimens are reputed to be two thousand years old. Plane trees are also mentioned several times in the Bible. The Hebrew name for the tree, armon, means naked and refers to the fact that the outer bark peels off. But what compelling reason suggests that plane trees are illustrated here?

Plato's dialogue between Socrates (470-399 BC) and Phaedrus takes place under a plane tree. Hippocrates (c. 460 BC-c. 377 BC) also famously taught under a plane tree. Subsequent to its association with Socrates (and Hippocrates), the legendary locale was recalled by various other writers, including Virgil and Cicero, as a place for philosophical instruction. The large size and relatively smooth bark of the trees in the Sapientiae Libertas image, shown sheltering an idealized philosopher, combine to suggest that these are plane trees. Their significance is to connect The Wise with Socrates, who was himself an idealized sage according to the Stoics.
 

mjhurst

SAPIENTIAE LIBERTAS -- Comparison with Tarot

In terms of Tarot, the most interesting aspect of this allegory is the representation of life's circumstances, that over which The Wise is shown to triumph. This is what parallels the design of Tarot's trump cycle. In both designs the moral was expressed by the philosopher Denis Leary: "Life sucks -- get a helmet". In the Christian allegory of Tarot's trumps, the helmet (salvation) is provided by Faith in God and Christian eschatology, while in the Humanist allegory of the emblem the helmet (freedom) is provided by philosophy and Stoic wisdom, i.e., Apathea.

If Tarot were to have a motto, it might be the Stoic-Christian view that virtue is necessary but not sufficient. The lowest ranking Tarot trumps represent Mankind via a ranks of man with the Emperor and Pope as the highest figures. Triumphing over Mankind, the central allegory of the trump cycle is represented in the middle ranking trumps. Here are shown life's successes, (Love and Triumph), reversals (Time or Asceticism and Fortune), Betrayal and Death, along with the three Moral Virtues. Life sucks, in a medieval Stoic contemptu mundi sense, and even virtue can't save you. Triumphing over this dismal and inescapable state of affairs are the eschatological victories over the Devil and Death itself.

In the allegory of Sapientiae Libertas, a very similar view of man's lot in life is illustrated. The subject, Everyman, is implied, as is the necessity of virtue. However, the circumstances of life are detailed in a manner similar to the middle trumps. In the trumps one finds Love and the Triumphal Chariot, while in the emblem one finds Love and other attributes of triumph: crown, wreath, etc. In the trumps one finds Time and Fortune, and these are also reflected in the emblem. In the trumps one finds the Traitor (representing betrayal) and Death, while in the emblem one finds Poverty, Bondage, and Death. These works, Tarot and this emblem, both reflect Stoic views of man's condition, i.e., life sucks, and the proper regard for this life is the helmet of contemptu mundi.

The great difference between the two allegories is the manner of Mankind's reprieve. The Stoic-Humanist seeks his triumph over life's vicissitudes and the Passions via Stoic wisdom, Apathea, the freedom of The Wise. The Stoic-Christian seeks his triumph over life and death via faith, the hope of a glorious afterlife when the Devil and Death have been vanquished forever.
 

Ross G Caldwell

Hi Michael,

Thanks for this thread. It demonstrates superbly how an emblem in the proper tradition should be "read".

mjhurst said:
That was one of the more remarkable passages which Ross discovered and translated last year.

I'm getting worried about your memory - that was over *three years* ago ;)

But wasn't it just yesterday? (seriously, it's all a blur for me after 2004)

Gregoire was comparing the images of Tarot to Alciato's Emblemata, published by Wechel, and contrasting such games ("mixed games") with all the rest, corrupted by gambling. More than a few writers have speculated vaguely about a relationship between Tarot and the emblematic tradition, but this was the first report of such an association being seen by a contemporaneous commentator.

Sort of... you must have missed where Thierry Depaulis told me that Wechel had published a deck of playing cards in 1544 with aphorisms from classical authors (not the Bible however, as far as I could tell). Aeclectic discussed it on this thread -
http://tarotforum.net/showthread.php?t=30834

I went to see it London in 2005. The deck is unpublished, but it is in very good condition, and complete. I think this is what Grégoire was talking about, and not the emblem books. The card deck isn't an emblem book, unfortunately. It is a deck of 52 cards with four non-standard suits with maxims or aphorisms on every card.

Now let's see if I can find my notes on this deck, already saved, or if I have to type them out again (I didn't have time to copy out the quotes, but given the fame of the Latin authors I'm sure every one is already translated online).

Ross
 

Ross G Caldwell

Hi Michael,

mjhurst said:
The idea that only the wise are free, (and every fool is a slave), is one of the so-called Stoic Paradoxes. These aphorisms, absurd when taken literally, are attention grabbing summaries of philosophical positions which require further explanation to make sense. By framing such ideas in a deliberately confounding manner, the Cynics and later the Stoics drew attention to the need for deeper reflection to get beyond "common sense". Cicero wrote a treatise, Paradoxa Stoicorum, explaining six of these puzzling aphorisms, including this one, with examples from daily life and Roman history. These paradoxes were well known in the era of emblem books and neo-Stoicism. The stimulus for this post today was the current ATS Newsletter, including a translation of Boiardo's Stoic-humanist revisioning of the Tarot deck, another example of the popularity of Stoic values, attitudes, and subject matter.

The Boiardo Poem (Tarotpedia translation)
http://association.tarotstudies.org/newsletters/news58.html

This is lovely. I'm sorry the Association for Tarot Studies didn't give the translators' names.

Print it out, everyone! This is the first genuine translation of Boiardo's poem in English. If you're into tarot history, history is being made daily now, just by translating old sources into English.

I think you're right, Michael, to emphasize the Stoic content of the medieval Christian vision. It's often forgotten, but it is an essential component of Christianity itself, and through Boethius was a keystone of medieval thought. Stoicism is a moral reaction to fatalism, or more colorfully, the notion of fortune or destiny. I.e., you can't control the world, but you can control yourself. And therein lies freedom.

Most Christians today don't know anything about this kind of thinking, the debates about free-will or predestination, let alone how these debates were informed by Stoics and Cynics.

Ross
 

Scion

This is thrilling, meaty stuff. I've been reading quite a bit about Emblemata recently and their relation to the "standard" Kunstbuch symbolism.

Many thanks, Michael... especially for that lovely citation on the Phrygian hat, a symbolic object that's strangely meaningful to me because of my heritage.

Now to find a plane tree to stand under... :)
 

mjhurst

It's the second thing to go... I can't recall the first.

Ross G Caldwell said:
I'm getting worried about your memory - that was over *three years* ago ;)

LOL -- sounds about right.

Sort of... you must have missed where Thierry Depaulis told me that Wechel had published a deck of playing cards in 1544...

LOL -- yeah, that's the hopelessly faulty memory I live with every day. Now that you remind me, I do remember you pointing that out to me before. (Robert was just asking me about something that I had no recollection of, until he quoted it exactly and I realized it was something I'd previously quoted to him.) I used to have a steel-trap mind, but since the spring rusted it can't retain anything.

Gettin' old is not for the squeamish.

I went to see it London in 2005. The deck is unpublished, but it is in very good condition, and complete. I think this is what Grégoire was talking about, and not the emblem books. The card deck isn't an emblem book, unfortunately. It is a deck of 52 cards with four non-standard suits with maxims or aphorisms on every card.

It would still be a cool thing to see, as another example of creative playing-card design.

P.S. Looking at that thread, I also see that Kwaw found a description of the deck (and a Boiardo deck) in a 1972 article about a playing-card collection for sale.

http://tarotforum.net/showpost.php?p=673224&postcount=19
 

Ross G Caldwell

Hi Michael,

mjhurst said:
LOL -- yeah, that's the hopelessly faulty memory I live with every day. Now that you remind me, I do remember you pointing that out to me before. (Robert was just asking me about something that I had no recollection of, until he quoted it exactly and I realized it was something I'd previously quoted to him.) I used to have a steel-trap mind, but since the spring rusted it can't retain anything.

Gettin' old is not for the squeamish.

I'm right behind you. But I think it might be as much attributable to the nature of the evidence as a faulty memory... in order to remember all the factoids, one has to develop a "big picture" pretty quickly. Like a large puzzle, you find the edges first, and work inwards, putting to one side the pieces that just won't fit. Sometimes you forget about them ...

At least we're in distinguished company - Sir Michael has probably forgotten more than any of us will ever know, and it still barely shows. To keep this on topic, here's an example of how he forgot about Alciato's list of Trumps.

Dummett in 1993 writes: "Esistono due prove dirette dell'uso di un ordine di
tipo C in Italia prima XVIII secolo. L’una è un poemetto di ‘tarocchi
appropriati’ di ventidue terzine che Rodolfo Renier attribui a Giambattista
Susio... L’altra fonte è un libro del 1547 in lingua latina di Andrea
Alciato, che contiene sei esametri mnemonici per ricordare l’ordine dei
trionfi. L’ordine coincide con quello di Susio, tranne uno scambio della
Fortezza e del Carro, e anche della Papessa e dell’Imperatrice; Alciato
abitò a Milano e morì a Pavia” ("Il Mondo e l'Angelo" pp. 325, 327-8).

(There exist two direct proofs of the use of the C type order in Italy before the 18th century. The one is a short 'tarocchi appropriati' poem of twenty-two terzines which Rodolfo Renier attributed to Giambattista Susio... the other source is a book in Latin from 1547 by Andrea Alciato, which contains six mnemonic hexameters for remembering the order of the trionfi. The order coincides with that of Susio, except for an exchange of Fortitude and the Chariot, and also of the Papessa with the Empress; Alciato lived in Milan and died in Pavia.)

Dummett in 2004 - forgets Alciato as a witness to the Lombardy order –
“The order of the trumps in the Tarot de Marseille was given in Chapter 2...
Two Italian sources testify to a slightly different order, though one still
having the characteristic peculiarity that Temperance has the highest
position of any of the three Virtues, being placed as trump XIV between
Death and the Devil. The first of these sources is a poem concerning the
ladies at the court of Pavia... attributed to Giambattista Susio...The
second Italian source is Discourse delivered at Monte Regale (modern
Mondovì) in Piedmont in 1565 by Francesco Piscina... These are the only two known Italian sources dealing with the ancient order of the trumps in
Lombardy or Piedmont
: we thus have no evidence of the use in Italy of the
order they have in the Tarot de Marseille before the XVIII century.” (HGT
pp. 111-113)

Dummett in 2005, in a review of Vitali's "Il tarocchino di Bologna" (The Playing Card, 34 no. 2 (Oct.- Dec. 2005) pp. 90-92) -
"The book ends with a short section edited by Vitali, comprising tarocchi appropriati, sonnets and other verses, almost all relating to the Bolognese trumps. For me the most interesting (because I had not known it) is an excerpt from the Latin work Parergon Juris (1538) of Andrea Alciati, of which an Italian translation had been given in the general history of Tarot cards (p. 11 [of Vitali's book - R.]). Vitali prizes this for its implausible derivation of the word "tarocchi" from Greek; but I found Alciati's list of trumps of greater interest. He takes the World as the highest trump and the Angel as second highest (so not a Bolognese or Ferrarese order); he puts Justice just above Love and Fortitude above Justice; Temperance is replaced by Fame and placed between Death and the Devil. This is evidently an otherwise unknown Lombard order."

(emphases added)
!!!!!!!!!!!

It was Dummett himself who was very likely Andrea Vitali's source for the Alciato passage, since "Il Mondo e l'Angelo" is the basic guide for Italian tarot historians (Dummett of course relied on Franco Pratesi, who found the Alciato passage in an 1894 article by Ludovico Zdekauer... all duly noted by Dummett in 1993). But here in 2005, Dummett gives Vitali the credit for discovering it!

So, don't worry about a little memory loss in a subject as vast and nitpicking as this.

Ross
 

mjhurst

Hi, Ross,

Ross G Caldwell said:
At least we're in distinguished company - Sir Michael has probably forgotten more than any of us will ever know, and it still barely shows.

LOL -- yeah, that's no doubt true. Along with the comment about the "big picture" as a memory structure in which to place the details.

When I get a few moments, I'll go back and correct a couple of the mistakes you pointed out in my initial post, so it isn't so misleading. Thanks for pointing them out.
 

jmd

Just a quick note on the ATS's Newsletter and Tarotpedia - and thanks for mentioning it, Ross!

With Tarotpedia entries, so many pages still have so much work to be undertaken, with each entry being improved by its various contributors. For the Newsletter, I was, on the one hand, very conscious of not wanting to alter TP's entry (as it says it is from TP), and on the other also conscious that for this poem in particular, Huck, Ross and P Marco appear to have done the bulk of the work - that remains for all to see in the TP's Page history. I of course also remain totally unaware, for example, if the person who edited the page did so as part of a collaborative translation behind the scenes, or, as the example from the Tarot History page, as the offering of someone else (in this last example, although my own name appears in the history of edits, the page remains, in essence, the offerings of mjhurst!)

Also, contributing to TP does mean that, for better or worse, there is no personal acknowledgement for the vast offerings and effort a few people have made.

I would be more than happy to duly acknowledge Huck and Ross and P Marco (and others if that is the case) as the translators of the poem - and will alter the online version of the Newsletter with confirmation that Huck, Ross and P. Marco are in fact the translators - it is an acknowledgement that would not only be due, but gladly see publicly!

What I thought would be great - and hence the Newsletter - is that here is a piece of historical work that we now have at our disposal - and even if I do not agree with some of the implications written for the poem in its introductory page (Cf http://tarotpedia.com/wiki/Boiardo ), it is an important step in the right direction!