Category Archives: History

It’s all relativity

Posted on July 19, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

In 1936, Isamu Noguchi spent nearly eight months working on his first public commission, a sculptural frieze composed of cement with added pigment on a 72-foot-wide wall at the Abelardo L. Rodríguez Market in Mexico City. A mix of figuration … Continue reading →

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Hotel Retro

Posted on May 6, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Letterform Archive has published a new large format peel and stick book Hotel Retro: Vintage Luggage Labels from Tokyo to Buenos Aires. A 330-sticker-long journey through this new age of global travel by train and sea designed by San Francisco agency MacFadden & … Continue reading →

Posted in Africa, Asia, Europe, History, Tourism, Travel Writing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

N is for New York

Posted on May 5, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Those of you who stop by this site on a regular basis are likely aware of my interest in cities, urban transit and city planning. These subjects don’t suggest a topic for a children’s book, but in 1937 New York … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, History, USA | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

France and Canada share a border (really)

Posted on April 29, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Canada and France share a maritime border, despite the ejection of France from North America in the Seven Years’ War. Article 6 of the 1763 Treaty of Paris allowed France to retain the tiny islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon in the … Continue reading →

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A rare literary find and more stuff you need to see

Posted on April 27, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

A papyrus of part of the Iliad has been discovered in a Roman-era tomb of mummies in Egypt. “The papyrus contains a passage from Book II of Homer’s Iliad, specifically the section known as the ‘Catalogue of Ships’…” from the … Continue reading →

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Five Centuries of Vulgarity

Posted on March 1, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Green’s Dictionary of Slang has become available as a free website, giving you access to an even more updated version of the dictionary. Collectively, the website lets you trace the development of slang over the past 500 years. The website allows lookups … Continue reading →

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Cartography comes to Harlem (apologies to Chester Himes)

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Elmer Simms Campbell is famous for his decades of work as an illustrator for some of the most popular U.S. periodicals, such as Esquire, Playboy, and Cosmopolitan,  during the mid to late 20th century.  In 1939, Campbell became the first … Continue reading →

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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 →

Posted in Cartography, History, Libraries, Maps, USA | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment