Tag Archives: Books

1703: Forseeing Things to Come

Posted on August 4, 2017 by corvusfugit

In 1703, the Scottish writer Martin Martin published A description of the Western Islands of Scotland. : Containing a full account of their situation, extent, soils, product, harbours, bays, tides, anchoring places, and fisheries. The ancient and modern government, religion … Continue reading →

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1806: Blessed Among the Blessed

Posted on July 29, 2017 by corvusfugit

In the third canto of the Paradiso, Dante has arrived in the lowest sphere of Heaven with his guide Beatrice, who has just given him a long lecture about the origin of spots on the moon. There, he sees just … Continue reading →

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1948: Poets’ Party

Posted on July 26, 2017 by corvusfugit

A party at the Gotham Book Mart in New York City to welcome poets Sir Osbert and Dame Edith Sitwell (seated, left of center) to the US for a series of readings. W. H. Auden is perched on the ladder … Continue reading →

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1806: Journey to the West

Posted on July 26, 2017 by corvusfugit

Katsushika Taito II: 画本西遊全伝 [Picture Book – Journey to the West] Vol. 3 (c. 1806) (source)

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2002: In the Encyclopedia

Posted on July 26, 2017 by corvusfugit

Marc Steinmetz: Radio Receiver (2002) “Sometime in the seventies an inmate of Ludwigsburg prison, Germany, built this radio on the sly and hid it inside an encyclopedia.” From a series of photographs of prison escape tools (here).

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1885: Explain Yourself!

Posted on July 26, 2017 by corvusfugit

Unattributed frontispiece for an 1885 edition of Alice’s adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-glass (source) —from the University of Florida’s “Afterlife of Alice” collection, part of the extensive Baldwin Library of Historical Children’s Literature (here). The Caterpillar and Alice … Continue reading →

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1878: The Great Physician

Posted on July 25, 2017 by corvusfugit

It is to the Nilometer [a submerged building built to measure and predict the Nile’s clarity and water level] that the island of Rods [Rhoda/Rawdah] owes its fame, and there is little else that the visitor will find worth seeing … Continue reading →

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1840: A Line Drawn Through the Eye of the Observer and the Centre of the Sun

Posted on July 24, 2017 by corvusfugit

All rainbows are portions of circles, and the eye of the observer is always opposite to the centre of the circle. The quantity of the circle seen, depends on the height of the sun above the horizon at the time … Continue reading →

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1595: Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae

Posted on July 24, 2017 by corvusfugit

Hans Vredeman de Vries: Alchemist’s Laboratory (1595) Illustration for Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae by Heinrich Khunrath

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1903: I Like Your Bright Face

Posted on July 23, 2017 by corvusfugit

  Sweet little dandelion! How yellow you are! You are not like the orange. You are made to be seen. The orange is for us to eat. I like your bright face. It looks like one of the stars. I … Continue reading →

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