Category Archives: History

le retour des libraires

Posted on November 5, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

In 18th century Paris the Palais Royal housed booksellers in the galleries under the arcades and a new exhibition next month hosted by Les Enluminures will celebrate this heritage. Le Retour des libraries au Palais-Royal will run at the Les … Continue reading →

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It’s Edgar Allan Poe Season

Posted on October 24, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Here in North America we are all diving into the Halloween season with abandon this year in a vain effort to avoid the constant daily reminders of the slow motion demise of Democracy. Even without the the need to distract … Continue reading →

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Never has our future been more unpredictable

Posted on August 29, 2026 by Brian D. Butler

Never has our future been more unpredictable, never have we depended so much on political forces that cannot be trusted to follow the rules of common sense and self-interest—forces that look like sheer insanity, if judged by the standards of … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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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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