Thursday July 23, 2009 9:54
“Be not ashamed to study the astronomy and terrestrial philosophy of the peasantry. Purchase coal, build furnaces, watch and operate the fire. In this way and no other you will arrive at a knowledge of things and their properties.”
— Peter Severinus, 16th c. Danish Paracelsian physician
Sunday March 29, 2009 20:58
Monday March 23, 2009 21:33
20:41
These structure were so effective that their use in rivers was actually banned in the Magna Carta. Traps like this were only allowed along the coasts where stock was less likely to be depleted.
The History Blog ยป Aerial pictures reveals Norman fish trap
20:34
Men with captured alligator: Weeki Wachee Spring, Florida (via State Archives of Florida)
13:29
Sunday March 22, 2009 18:30
Rounding Cape Horn on the Parma (via National Maritime Museum)
Tuesday March 10, 2009 13:37
“The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think.”
— Horace Walpole (via quote-book) (via afternoontea)
This post was reblogged from Afternoon Tea:.
Sunday March 08, 2009 14:19
Jan Mostaert’s “West Indies Landscape” (c. 1545) depicts the artist’s imagination of the New World having never been there before. The image is a fascinating combination of European tropes of both domesticity (the standard complement of European farm animals in the lower right corner) and exoticism (the monkey in the foreground, the strange rock formations). The dress of the human subjects, though difficult to read in this regrettably small reproduction, also provides a similarly intriguing combination of cultural references, from vaguely Mongol helmets to medieval European horns.
Benjamin Schmidt uses this painting to brilliant effect in framing his opening chapter of Innocence Abroad: The Dutch Imagination in the New World, 1570-1670 in which he argues for the primacy of domestic, rather than colonial, concerns in shaping Dutch representations of the New World.
(via Wikimedia Commons)
Saturday March 07, 2009 17:40
These folks are making absolutely kickass handmade clothes in the style of workclothes from the Edwardian era. Of particular interest to me are the maritime workclothes, but everything they’re doing is great looking.
Old Town Clothing - classic British workwear - Holt, Norfolk, England
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