The Wunderkammer of the Mild Colonial Boy, Esq., a Reactionary Tory Gentleman, who armed only with a Steampowered Babbage Engine and Pure Intentions, wanders the Time Streams and Aetheric Plane gathering an Eccentric Hodgepodge of Curiousities, Frivolities, Whimsicalities and Nonsense.
Q. Why is your Tumblelog called "My Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck by Lightning"?
A. Because "My Grandmother's Ear-Trumpet Has Been Struck by Lightning" wouldn't fit in the available space.
French Renaissance writer Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592), celebrated as the father of modern skepticism, pioneered the essay as a literary genre and penned some of the most enduring, influential essays in history.
Michel de Montaigne: The Complete Essays is now in the public domain and is available as a free download in multiple formats from Project Gutenberg.
Guinea pigs were exotic pets during the Renaissance
picture 1: Detail of The Garden of Eden by Jan Brueghel the Elder.
picture 2: Detail of The entry of the Animals into Noah’s Ark by Jan Brueghel the Elder.
(via telephonecigarettes)
Grad-school DIY: bedazzle your Moleskine with Renaissance emblems! This image, a dolphin wrapped around an anchor, represents the adage “festina lente,” or “make haste slowly.” The printer Aldus Manutius adopted it as his personal emblem.
Depicted: Ketos, (Sea Monster or Whale)
Year: 1603
Scientist/artist: Abraham Ortelius
Originally published in: Theatrum Orbis Terrarum
Now appears in: “A Ketos in Early Athens: An Archaeology of Whales and Sea Monsters in the Greek World” by Papadopoulos and Ruscillo in American Journal of Archaeology
Ortelius issued another version of his famous map in 1603, including this detail of what he identified as the Steipereidur. Despite its fearsome teeth, Ortelius considered this animal the tamest of whales, explaining that it “fights other whales on behalf of fishermen.”My class on early modern travel narratives, coupled with my lifelong interest in cartography, has made me want a tattoo of a Renaissance sea monster. There’s no way to explain a tattoo idea without sounding like a tool, but I’m attached to the idea of terra incognita, whether in the world or in oneself. I doubt I’ll ever get a tattoo—I’m more prone to buyer’s remorse than anyone I know—but it’s something to think about.
