In His Own Image Author:Frederick Rolfe General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1901 Original Publisher: John Lane, The Bodley Head Subjects: Fiction / Anthologies Fiction / Classics Fiction / Literary Fiction / Short Stories Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the origi... more »nal. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: VJ Being An Epick Of Sangiorgio, Protector Of The Kingdom THE next morning, at nine, we were at San Giorgio ad Velum Aureum. Among the herbs on the floor, there was an unusual quantity of rosemary and thyme; and the scent was delicious. I brought an arm- full of pure primroses, to scatter round the altar of Sangiorgio. I showed to Toto the bulla, tied on the baldaquin of the basilican altar, without which no priest, save the Santo Padre, may officiate there. The eunuchs of the papal quire misbehaved, as usual, in a box on the epistle- side. What an annoying mass it was! Just a series of florid soli, during which the disengaged singers sat and chatted at the back of their tribune, took snuff, and apparently made up their betting books, while the conductor smacked time with a roll of music. At the beginning of Gloria in excelsis Deo, a priest came from the sacristy to say a low mass at the altar of Sangiorgio: and, in his wake, we promptly skipped. Here, we worshipped the relicks, -- most admirable relicks, -- the head of the lance of Sangiorgio, a large piece of red silk from the cross of his pennon, and his veritable skull; the last having a facial angle as undoubtedly as Greek as that of the Hermes of the Heraion. Toto had not seen these treasures before. His gorgeous eyes dilated, and he was ardently appreciative. The Gloria of the basilican altar ended at the moment when we finished hearing o...« less