It's About Time: October 2015

Friday, October 30, 2015

Martha Jane Canary 1852-1903, known as Calamity Jane, had her own idea of a "costume"

Calamity Jane wearing what she called the "costume of my sex."

Martha Jane Canary (1852-1903), known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman & professional scout, known for her claim of being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok & fighting for Indians. Late in her life, she appeared in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Unlike Annie Oakley, her performances did not involve sharpshooting or roping or riding, merely Jane appearing on stage in buckskins reciting her adventures - "which metastasized with each telling." She was also known for wearing men's attire.

Martha Jane Canary (1852-1903), known as Calamity Jane on a horse

Martha Jane Canary (1852-1903), known as Calamity Jane

Calamity Jane, Gen. Crook's Scout. Copyrighted by H. R. Locke 1895

Calamity Jane, out of men's attire, posing in 1903 next to the grave of her friend Wild Bill Hickok on Mt. Moriah above Deadwood, South Dakota.

Famed attorney Clarence G. Darrow (1857-1938) compared Witchcraft to Capital Punishment

Clarence G. Darrow (1857-1938), eminent lawyer & scholar, is quoted in the Harrisburg "Patriot," Feb. 21, 1929:

"Belief in witchcraft cannot, in itself, be thought a crime. If it is there would be but few of us really innocent. Not so many years ago our best people & devout Christians not only believed in witches but guaranteed their celestial happiness by murdering them.

"We placidly admit that there are sections of our country where people are isolated by their own customs & thought, or by geography, & live quaintly a century & a half behind our little more enlightened communities. But we forget that a mere century & a half takes us almost back to Cotton Mather & the stake. Then witches were hanged for the glory of God & for the peace of mind of those who thought they had been or might be bewitched. There are today groups of people who have advanced but little in mentality beyond the ignorant frenzy that glorified in hangings.

1925 Photo of Clarence G. Darrow (1857-1938)

"Even today a literal interpretation of the Bible would force us to believe in witchcraft & sorcery. And those simple folk of which that Curry boy is a product hold strictly to the Word just as they find it. To them the Witch of Endor is very real. The devil is real. Spells are real. In their world, furnished by traditions, myths & Old World lore, handed down unchanged from one generation to another, there are evil spirits as certain as a flying railroad train bearing down on a motorist stalled on the tracks...

"Our belief in capital punishment as a deterrent is just another form of witchcraft. Apart from the mass desire for revenge, there is a subconscious desire to rid ourselves of what we believe to be an evil person. We look in vain for any proof that executions have had any effect on crime. When England punished by death everything from bread & sheep stealing to wholesale killing, crime was far more general than it is today. Education & the training of youth in trades & profession has diminished crime, never the death penalty.

"Isn't there every reason to believe that the crime of murder is a symptom. In the York case it was clearly a symptom of a prevailing ignorance, a condition which should never be allowed to exist in the State of Pennsylvania."

Friday, October 23, 2015

Illuminated Manuscripts - 15C Craftsmen & Shopkeepers in Nuremberg, Germany

Textile Dyer. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

In 14C Germany, a wealthy trader by the name of Mendel established a charitable endowment in the city of Nuremberg, called Twelve Brothers House Foundation (Zwölfbrüderhausstiftungen). A dozen older citizens were given a place to live in exchange for their performing work duties. In the 15C, Mendel's grandson began having sketches made of each of the brothers engaged in their chosen craft together with detailed notes about the tools & practices relating to their work.

Bookbinder. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Organ Pipe Maker Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Brewer. Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Cooper Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Butcher. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Baker Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Candlestick Maker. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Goldsmith. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Carpenter. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Stonemason. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Court Messenger. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Apothecary. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Gardener. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Roof Repairer. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Glaizer. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Leatherworker. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Gunsmith. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Armour Maker. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Metal Worker. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Bell Maker. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Nailsmith. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Merchant. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Swordsmith. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Knifesmith. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Tailor. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Weaver. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

Hatmaker. Landauer Twelve Brother's House manuscript Nuremberg City Library, Germanic National Museum Amb 279.2 ° Folio 0a recto (Landauer I)

In the most strict definition of the term, an illuminated manuscript only refers to manuscripts decorated with gold or silver, but in both common usage and modern scholarship, the term is now used to refer to any decorated or illustrated manuscript from the Western traditions.

15C 16C Sewing indoors - Illuminated Manuscripts - Spinning, Carding, Combing, & Weaving

Women Carding, Combing and Weaving Wool (detail). Boccaccio. Le Livre des cléres et nobles femmes. MS Fr. 12420, fol. 71; French 1403. Bibliotèque Nationale, Paris.

Minerva (fol. 13) and Tanaquil (fol. 70v), De mulieribus claris (BNF Fr. 598), beginning of the 15th century

Valerius Maximus. Facta et Dicta Memorabilia. MS Harley 4375, fol. 179; French c. 1475. British Library, London. Woman Spinning with distaff

Weaving, spinning, carding wool, and combing flax. MS Royal 16 Gv, f. 56, British Library, London France 1400s

Women using the reel, 1400s Illuminated manuscript from the Koninklijke Bibliotheek

Woman spinning on a great wheel turned by a crank. MS 17, Musee Dobree, Nantes France 1500s

The Holy Family at Work. Mary is at the loom. Book of Hours of Catherine of Clèves, decorated by the Dutch artist, the Clèves Master, c. 1440.

Jean Bourdichon (c 1457-1521) The Four Social Conditions - Work

Ludolph of Saxony Vita Christi Miniatures attributed to Jacques de Besançon Paris 1490s Sp Coll MSS Hunter 36-39

Mistress Yseult de Lacy

Pallas and Arachne at the loom BL Royal 17 E IV

Why blog & share resources?

On March 4, 2011, Emile de Bruijn of the National Trust in the UK, wrote on his blog "Treasure Hunt" of making history & art available to all: "Traditionally art history has been inherently elitist & exclusive, both socially & intellectually. Art tended to be commissioned by the upper classes. Connoisseurship was seen as a superior, refined skill & the products of art-historical scholarship were guarded almost as fiercely as the art itself."

On May 29, 2012, William Noel, now Director of Special Collections Center & Director of Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies. University of Pennsylvania, told The TED Blog, "...digital data is not a threat to real data, it’s just an advertisement that only increases the aura of the original, so there just doesn’t seem to be any point in putting restrictions on the data. There is the further fact that the data is funded by taxpayers’ money. So it didn’t seem fair to limit what taxpayers could do with the data that they paid for."

On February 7, 2017, Thomas P. Campbell, Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, announced a new policy: all images of public-domain artworks in the Museum's collection are now available for free & unrestricted use. "We have been working toward the goal of sharing our images with the public for a number of years. Our comprehensive & diverse museum collection spans 5,000 years of world culture & our core mission is to be open & accessible for all who wish to study & enjoy the works of art in our care. Increasing access to the Museum’s collection & scholarship serves the interests & needs of our 21C audiences by offering new resources for creativity, knowledge, & ideas."