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Two hundred years ago this month, the War of 1812 began. This three-year conflict with Britain was, as one recent commentator observed, “the Jan Brady of American conflicts for good reason: not only was it book-ended by two vastly more significant wars, but its causes weren’t sexy, its conclusions were muddy, and its most famous... Continue reading “The American Star, 1817” ›
Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a man of many talents and many interests, but he is best known as the creator of the world’s most famous detective, Sherlock Holmes. Conan Doyle published his first story in 1879, while he was a medical student at the University of Edinburgh. After completing his studies, Conan Doyle made... Continue reading “The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle (1892)” ›
Secotan priest In 1590 the Frankfurt printer and engraver Theodor deBry published a folio edition of Thomas Hariot’s Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia with engraved illustrations based on John White’s watercolor paintings. DeBry’s engravings were the first images of indigenous North Americans that most 16th century Europeans had ever... Continue reading “A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1590), by Theodor deBry, Thomas Hariot, and John White” ›
A genteel English woman of the 18th century had few resources to fall back on if her husband proved unable to support her financially. A girl’s education generally emphasized elegant accomplishments like drawing, music, and fine needlework, rather than practical skills. So when Elizabeth Blachrie Blackwell’s neer-do-well husband landed in a London debtor’s prison in... Continue reading “A Curious Herbal, By Elizabeth Blackwell (1739)” ›
The author’s object in this work, was to place before the reader a constant succession of characters and incidents; to paint them in as vivid colours as he could command; and to render them, at the same time, life-like and amusing. Charles Dickens In February of 1836 the young publisher William Hall dropped in unannounced... Continue reading “The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, by Charles Dickens (1836-37)” ›
Alan Alexander Milne (1882-1956) never intended to be a children’s author. A former editor at Punch magazine, Milne was by 1924 a successful playwright and author of several volumes of essays and poetry for adults. When he announced to his editors (at Methuen in London and Dutton in New York) that his next manuscript was... Continue reading “Winnie-the-Pooh, by A. A. Milne (1926)” ›
I WRITE the Wonders of the CHRISTIAN RELIGION, flying from the Depravations of Europe, to the American Strand: And, assisted by the Holy Author of that Religion, I do, with all Conscience of Truth, required therein by Him, who is the Truth it self, Report the Wonderful Displays of His Infinite Power, Wisdom, Goodness, and... Continue reading “Magnalia Christi Americana, by Cotton Mather (1702)” ›
If one says “Red” (the name of a color) and there are 50 people listening, it can be expected that there will be 50 reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different. Josef Albers, Interaction of Color (1963) The artist Joseph Albers (1888-1976) was born in... Continue reading “Formulation : Articulation, by Josef Albers (1972)” ›
Joseph Franz von Goez’s 1783 adaptation of Lenardo und Blandine “in 160 impassioned designs” may be the world’s first graphic novel. Based on a ballad by German poet Gottfried August Bürger, Goez’s book tells the story of doomed lovers Lenardo and Blandine in a series of captioned copper etchings. Bürger’s poem is itself based on... Continue reading “Lenardo und Blandine, illustrated by Joseph Franz von Goez (1783)” ›
Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) is now best known as portrait painter of some of the most famous figures of Renaissance Europe, including Erasmus, Thomas More, and King Henry VIII of England. But as a young artist in his native Basel, Holbein also worked as an illustrator, producing drawings that would be reproduced in woodcuts... Continue reading “Images of the Old Testament, by Hans Holbein (1549)” ›