Category Archives: History

Happy 200th Anniversary Frankenstein

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

This week marks the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley’s classic science fiction novel Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. The teenage author created the iconic tale after the poet Byron challenged her to come up with an original … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, Film, History, Writing | Tagged , | Leave a comment

London to Cairo in 7 Days by Train

Posted on January 3, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Throughout the 20th century European railway companies often incorporated route maps on their advertising posters. Due to size and design limitations, the cartographers involved in the map production often created distorted and geographically confusing maps. Still, the posters were attractive … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Europe, History, Maps, Middle East, Public Transport, Tourism | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

2017 In Retrospect

Posted on December 31, 2017 by Brian D. Butler
Posted in History, USA | Tagged | Leave a comment

Mapping the Past

Posted on December 27, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

In one of my frequent sojourns down the rabbit-hole of the internet, I stumbled on these wonderful 19th century railway maps. The map above was created by Joseph Beers in 1884 to depict the railroads of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His … Continue reading →

Posted in Europe, History, Maps, Public Transport | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Winter Is Coming

Posted on December 20, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Tomorrow marks the  winter solstice —the shortest day and longest night of the year. In the northern hemisphere, the solstice also marks the official start of winter. Here on the east coast of the U.S., the solstice will be happen at … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Europe, History, Tourism | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The Matter of Jerusalem

Posted on December 7, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

During the last few days, Jerusalem has once again been at the top of the world news. The clever short film below, which was inspired by a new exhibition on medieval manuscripts at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, reminds us that the … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Books, Film, History, Libraries, Maps, Museums | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Underground Design

Posted on November 23, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Frequent visitors to Travel Between The Pages will by now indulge my interests in maps, public transportation systems, and design. This brand new series of very cool maps from Blue Crow Media was just launched with a brilliant two-sided cartographic … Continue reading →

Posted in Architecture, Art, Europe, History, Maps, Photography, Public Transport | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

It Takes A Train To Cry

Posted on November 5, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

Deutsche Bahn (DB), the German rail operator, recently decided to name twenty-five new high-speed trains after historic figures. They crowdsourced suggestions and received more than 19,000 proposals. A jury then selected the final names, including one that has some folks scratching their heads: Anne … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Public Transport | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Dance Macabre

Posted on October 31, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

 La portentosa vida de la muerte (The Prodigious Life of Death) by Joaquín Bolaños, is a late 18th century Mexican novel that stars Death as a female protagonist ( la muerte in Spanish is a feminine noun).  The story begins in the Garden … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, History, South America, Writing | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Monsters In Philadelphia

Posted on October 13, 2017 by Brian D. Butler

With Frankenstein and Dracula, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker created two of history’s most memorable monsters. Two hundred years after Frankenstein was published, pages from Mary Shelley’s manuscript will make their only appearance in the United States, to be displayed for the first … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Museums, Tourism, USA, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment