By way of a few forceable legislative acts made between 1633 and 1634 the Catholic Church in England and Wales, was abolished by King Henry VIII . Under the Reign of Henry's daughter Mary 1553-1558, Catholicism was reinstated and supported... Continue Reading →
Special Collections and Archives / Casgliadau Arbennig ac Archifau
Those of us who have been left bemused by the sudden rise of high-street botox booths, tanning shops, nail salons and eyebrow bars can take some comfort from this curious work by John Bulwer which suggests that, even as far back in 1653, people have always been astonished at the lengths to which some would go to transform their bodies in the name of fashion.
In Anthropometamorphosis: Man Transform’d, or The Artificial Changeling, Bulwer’s aim, according to the full title, is to expose the “mad and cruel gallantry, foolish bravery, ridiculous beauty, filthy fineness, and loathsome loveliness of most nations, fashioning & altering their bodies from the mould intended by nature”. Bulwer describes in detail how people around the world artificially modify their appearance, noting that every nation has a “particular whimzey as touching corporall fashions of their own invention.”
The book is divided into 23 sections covering all types of…
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As always within human sciences the way we categorize things determine what those things are. In archaeology it is called contextualization, in order to see the forest for the trees, sometimes it is necessary to take a step back from... Continue Reading →
This is a very common looking book from the outside, it was probably bound in the in the low countries in the seventeenth century. It doesn't tell me much more, but that is a start. Finding and buying books, as... Continue Reading →
In my next montly catalogue Fascicule no VI I will be Listing there Editions of Orinda's Poems The Unauthorized very rare edition of 1664 (#717G) The first Authorized edition of 1667 And the fourth edition of 1678! It is not... Continue Reading →
Tonight I'll begin now, where I am or rather what i'm (re) Reading again and again.. On being blue: a philosophical inquiry By William Gass is one of my favorite books, "This small but memorable treatise, written "for all who... Continue Reading →
Today uploading Images is taking forever, so I don't have as many images as this book deserves, really there are 218 woodcuts in here it is hard to choose and the binding is quite nice too! Virgil Solis b. 1514,... Continue Reading →
When I say "really rare" without a modifier, I mean Absolute rarity id est one copy recorded, or no copies listed in bibliographies, then the modifiers come in, no copy listed in the US, no copy on the Market since... Continue Reading →
Glasgow Incunabula Project update (17/4/13).
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