A PALAEOGRAPHER’S ADVENTURE PART 2
IN PART 1 yesterday, manuscript specialist Christopher de Hamel introduced us to the earliest surviving book known to have been in medieval England, The Gospels of Saint Augustine. Today in … Continue reading
A PALAEOGRAPHER’S ADVENTURE PART 1
RESEARCHING OLD MANUSCRIPTS is anything but musty and mundane. Palaeographer Christopher de Hamel is a Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and former Fellow Librarian at the university’s Parker Library. … Continue reading
1952 BRM 15—AN ADAGE VERIFIED PART 2
THE BRITISH MOTOR TRUST had high aspirations for its BRM 15 Grand Prix car described in Part 1. The car’s engine, especially, was replete with innovation. However, as motoring journalist … Continue reading
1952 BRM V-16—AN ADAGE VERIFIED PART 1
LAURENCE POMEROY HAD this to say about racing machinery: “The first instance of novel principle is invariably defeated by the developed example of established practice.” In his classic motor racing … Continue reading
ABDUCTING HAMLET
“HAMLET IN MODERN DRESS” has become a cliche of untraditional theater and opera. Here are a few tidbits about several innovative efforts. In fact, one of the performances, Mozart’s opera … Continue reading
ETYMOLOGY: SNARKY
THESE ARE SNARKY times, at least as witnessed by our national leader’s pronouncements. Thus, the word “snarky” is included in my Etymology for Our Times series. According to Merriam-Webster, “snarky” … Continue reading
AARRGGHH! A DIVA ROLE? AND OTHER RASCALS
I’M STREAMING VERDI’S Don Carlo as I write this. What with its complex historical theme, I’m foregoing my somnambulant practice of trusting subliminal awakening at the opera’s juicy parts. This … Continue reading
OLD STEAM ENGINES
EARLY ENGINES had their mechanicals exposed for all to admire. An excellent example of this is a beautiful steam engine offered at the Bonham & Butterfields 2010 Quail Lodge automobile … Continue reading
COUNTERING COVID-19—WORLDWIDE TACTICS
COUNTERING COVID-19 HAS become a worldwide challenge. In Science, March 20, 2020, Jon Cohen and Kai Kupferschmidt discussed responses in “Countries Test Tactics in ‘War’ Against COVID-19.” They quote World … Continue reading
ENJOYING THE HUMOR OF FRAN LEBOWITZ
CULTURAL SATIRIST Fran Lebowitz has been called a latter-day Dorothy Parker. Here are some of my favorite examples of Lebowitz’s wit gleaned from here and there. Lebowitz and Algebra. According … Continue reading
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