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Historical Bibliography Updated: June 17, 2026

A new discourse of a stale subject, called the Metamorphosis of Aiax. Written by Misacmos to his friend Philostilpnos.

Publication Details

London: R. Field, 1596 CE.

Harington invented a water-closet in which the disposal of excreta was for the first time controlled by mechanical means. He published several tracts on the device, the first appearing in 1596. These were elegantly reprinted by the Chiswick Press in an edition limited to 100 copies (1814). “Ajax” is a pun on “a jakes”, an Elizabethan name for a privy. Critical, annotated edition by E. S. Donno, New York, Columbia Univ. Press, 1962.

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Thematic Classifications

Catalog MetadataReference Information
Entry Number#1594
Permanent Linkhttps://hom-sveltekit.fly.dev/entry/1707
Author Bio LinkWikipedia ↗
External URLa-new-discourse-of-a-stale-subject-called-the-metamorphosis-of-aiax-written-by-misacmos-to-his-friend-philostilpnos

Geographic Context

Publication place: London

Mentioned in annotation: New York; Columbia, SC