Category Archives: History

So you’re going to New York City

Posted on January 5, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Book lovers and bibliophiles who are heading to New York City this year will have an embarrassment of choices when it comes to special exhibitions at some of the city’s premier institutions. The Morgan Library & Museum‘s Come Together: 3,000 Years … Continue reading →

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Alice is back home

Posted on December 27, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Christ Church Oxford and the Bodleian Libraries have become joint owners of an exceptionally rare first edition of Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the most important of only 22 known surviving copies of the first and subsequently withdrawn edition. The book … Continue reading →

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Where in the world is the Republiko of Zendia

Posted on August 7, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

How do you find a republic that never existed ? During the 1950s Cold War, U.S Army cryptologist Lambros D. Callimahos created the mythical  “Republiko of Zendia” to use in wargaming for U.S. military intelligence codebreakers simulating the invasion of … Continue reading →

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Landlord’s Game

Posted on July 29, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

In 1904, Elizabeth Magie patented “The Landlord’s Game” the original version of what we now know as Monopoly. Her goal wasn’t entertainment. It was education. Magie designed the game to highlight the dangers of wealth inequality and unchecked capitalism, showing … Continue reading →

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Incomprehensible

Posted on June 7, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Over the years I have had the opportunity to visit the UK many times and on every trip I find myself baffled by the overwhelming variety of accents and dialects. Patrick Foote of Name Explain investigated why the UK, a … Continue reading →

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Apologies in advance

Posted on June 6, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Apologies in advance for what may be a flurry of random posts about my recent experiences while traveling in Japan. I had so many wonderful experiences and also moments of recognition involving random things that I stumbled upon. In that … Continue reading →

Posted in Asia, Books, History, Tech, Tourism, Writing | 1 Comment

A Tale of Two Cities

Posted on June 3, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I have always been intrigued by the many cities within cities in Europe that hide traces of their early Roman incarnations. Over the years when I’ve visited London I have sought out those barely hidden remnants of ancient Londinium . … Continue reading →

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Dickensian Celebration

Posted on June 2, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

To celebrate the exact 155th anniversary of Charles Dickens‘s death and the 100th anniversary of the opening of the Charles Dickens Museum in London, the museum will be free of charge to all visitors on June 9 when it will … Continue reading →

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Bookstore Tourism: NYC

Posted on May 10, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Many booklovers mistakenly believe that Strand is the oldest bookstore in New York City, but Argosy has it beat by two years. Argosy is located at 116 East 59th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues in Midtown Manhattan, it occupies an entire six-story townhouse with various sales floors … Continue reading →

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“We are all living in Orwell’s world now”

Posted on May 1, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

“We are all living in Orwell’s world now” – The New York Times, 29 March The Orwell Festival is returning to Bloomsbury, London, this month with an interesting line-up of events exploring some of the urgent themes and questions arising from … Continue reading →

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