Category Archives: History

Ghost Words

Posted on April 20, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

What does palimpsest mean? 1 : writing material (such as a parchment or tablet) used one or more times after earlier writing has been erased. 2 : something having usually diverse layers or aspects apparent beneath the surface.   One … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Middle East, Museums, Tech, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Mystery, History & some Cartography

Posted on April 14, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

One of the joys of being vaccinated against Covid-19 has been the ability to return to bookstore browsing. On my most recent visit to our local indie bookshop (shout out to Newtown Bookshop ) I picked up a copy of … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, History, Maps, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

A little nostalgic story

Posted on April 7, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Books were an extraordinarily important part of my childhood and I tend to wax nostalgic when I run across a story online about one that I actually owned and read. This week, I happened on a piece about a book … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Books, History, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Mad For Alice

Posted on April 6, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

I’ve been mad for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books since I borrowed my first copy from my local library as a young child. Any museum or library show on the beloved classics is sure to get my attention. So, I sat … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Europe, History, Museums, Theater, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Paris For Free

Posted on March 30, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Every time that I visit Paris, I go to the Louvre. In fact, on some trips I have gone twice in a week. It doesn’t look as though I’ll be popping in to France’s most iconic museum for quite a while. … Continue reading →

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Time Travel Is Possible

Posted on March 29, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Although I hide it well, I have been a little obsessed with London for decades. I don’t know why, maybe it was my love for British Invasion music from the 60s or a childhood crush on Marianne Faithfull . Who … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, Film, History, Maps, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Strange Case

Posted on March 28, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

New York City’s amazing Morgan Library has scanned the entire handwritten manuscript to Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  and it’s now available for paging through and reading online. The manuscript of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella “The Strange … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Film, History, Libraries, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Will the museum deserve an Oscar

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Film lovers won’t be able to visit in-person until the doors open to the public on  September 30, 2021, but new the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures  programming will soon be available online. The pre-opening program includes a screening of … Continue reading →

Posted in Animation, Architecture, Art, Film, History, Museums, Tourism, USA | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

in America when the sun goes down

Posted on March 15, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

Last Friday would have been Jack Kerouac’s 99th birthday. One of the online commemorations linked to this extraordinary clip from a 1959 television appearance on the Steve Allen Show. Kerouac reads from On the Road while Allen plays some bluesy jazz … Continue reading →

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NYC’s Tiniest Tourist Attraction

Posted on March 12, 2021 by Brian D. Butler

At the corner of Christopher Street and Seventh Avenue South in the West Village, in front of the iconic Village Cigars store, lies this blink-and-you’ll-miss-it mosaic embedded in the sidewalk. The  triangle’s enigmatic message: “Property of the Hess Estate Which Has … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, History, Tourism, USA | Tagged , | 2 Comments