Category Archives: Museums

I will make rhapsodies from grains of sleep.

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

Dorothea Tanning, the Surrealist artist and writer, who made it from the small town of Galesburg, Illinois, to the center of New York’s avant-garde art world, lived until she was 101, but she never got the major museum survey she … Continue reading →

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Your AI Travel Guide

Posted on February 7, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

I am still dubious when it comes to AI travel tools. I’ve tried out some AI trip planning with disappointing results. But how about navigating tourist sites with your very own AI travel guide, ready to reveal the stories behind … Continue reading →

Posted in apps, Architecture, Art, Asia, Europe, Maps, Museums, Public Transport, Tech, Tourism, USA | Tagged , | 1 Comment

A Book of Marvels

Posted on January 26, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

The Book of the Marvels of the World, an illustrated guide to the globe filled with oddities, curiosities, and wonders for the medieval armchair traveler exhibition opened this week at The Morgan Library & Museum in New York City. Running … Continue reading →

Posted in Art, Asia, Books, Europe, History, Libraries, Maps, Middle East, Museums, Travel Writing | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Oh, horror upon horror!

Posted on January 19, 2025 by Brian D. Butler

No writer has the ability to evoke a sense of horror and dread more effectively than Edgar Allan Poe, born on January 19, 1809, in Boston, Massachusetts. Poe’s parents were actors. Their brilliant and unstable son grew up to be a … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, History, Libraries, Museums, Restaurants, USA, Writing | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Bookstore Tourism, Season Art, End of the Year Mischief

Posted on December 28, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

The Poetry Pharmacy is a new London bookshop, on Oxford Street, offering tonics for all sorts of emotional ailments. Calm, comfort, inspiration: whatever you’re searching for, there’s a book of poetry, philosophy or psychology to help you find it. “…because … Continue reading →

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“For every five people who read this book four will go insane.”

Posted on December 2, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Charles Fort’s Book of the Damned: “For every five people who read this book“, wrote novelist/playwright Ben Hecht, “four will go insane”. If you are feeling courageous, the book is available for free right here. In 2020, Stéphanie Colaux discovered an … Continue reading →

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IDK but you may be interested too

Posted on November 2, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

Best of lists are always subjective but can be helpful if you’re planning a trip. Here’s one from a newspaper that has gotten some bad press of late. A list of the 20 best art museums in America, including the Wadsworth … Continue reading →

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A history of witches and wizards

Posted on October 30, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

London’s Wellcome Collection is featuring a very timely book from 1720 on witchcraft and wizardry. The history of witches and wizards: giving a true account of all their tryals in England, Scotland, Swedeland, France, and New England; with their confession … Continue reading →

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“Renaissance Baedeker”

Posted on October 25, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

I first learned about the 15th century incunabula Mirabilia Romae while I was researching a magazine article on the history of the travel guidebook. One of the earliest European printed guidebooks, the Mirabilia Urbis Romaea is a geographically arranged inventory of … Continue reading →

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General Headquarters

Posted on October 14, 2024 by Brian D. Butler

When I first read about a lost board game called “General Headquarters” that was created by Kurt Vonnegut, I was certain that it was an elaborate internet hoax. But, apparently I was wrong. Vonnegut’s life was not without its ironies. … Continue reading →

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