Saturday, June 2, 2012

Horace Howard Furness Legacy, 19th Century


Introducing theater at facsimilium... with a delicious collection of 19th Century American theatrical posters from the 1890s and -some of them- images from the collection of the Charlotte Cushman Club and mainly from the Horace Howard Furness Collection, hosted at University of Pennsilvanya dedicated to the study of Shakespeare and his contemporaries and, more generally, to the English Renaissance and the history of Shakespearean theatrical presentations.

The Furness Image Collection comprises more than 2,000 prints and photographs. The majority date from the nineteenth century, but the Collection also holds earlier and later images. These images illustrate and interpret Shakespeare's plays and also document theatrical performers and performances of works by Shakespeare and other dramatists.

Horace Howard Furness (1833–1912) collected in a single source 300 years of references, antecedent works, influences and commentaries about W Shakespeare opus. Member of  the WS Society of Philadelphia and also lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania, was the intendent of the "New Variorum" editions of Shakespeare. He Studied at Germany and after returning to the US, married Helen Kate Rogers, sister of Fairman Rogers, and heir to an enormous ironmaking fortune. His son Horace Jr. donated his father's Shakespearean collection to the University of Pennsylvania, whose Horace Howard Furness Memorial Library honors both.  









Sunday, May 27, 2012

Ancient Fauna of Nebraska, 19th Century

Oreodont specimen 

Joseph Leidy (1823 – 1891) was an American paleontologist, professor of anatomy and natural history at University of Pennsylvania and later on the Swarthmore College. Very prolific, wrote several treatises about extinct fauna in North America and was a pioneer on paleontology: named and studied –although discovered by William Parker Foulke- the first complete fossilized skeleton of a dinosaur ever recovered.
Mr. Leidy also announced discoveries on the field of Parasitologism and Protozoologism: In 1846 revealed that trichinosis was caused by a parasite in undercooked meat and published “Fresh-water Rhizopods of North America” in 1879. This codex is a masterpiece, still referenced and studied today around the world.
But probably the most amazing fact on his bio arrived in 1846 as a forensic innovator:  Mr. Leidy became the first person ever to use a microscope to solve a murder mystery, analyzing blood on suspect clothes that finally confessed when Leidy demonstrated the truth.

About the "Ancient Fauna of Nebraska", is a 126 page monograph presenting information on 20 new fossil species, most of these were unique to North America and differed dramatically from known European forms. After a brief introduction of the state of American mammalian paleontology, Leidy presented detailed descriptions and illustrations for a total of 15 mammals and 5 tortoises. Featured among these are an early camel (Poebrotherium wilsoni), an oreodont (Merycoidodon culbertsonii), two rhinos (Hyracodon nebraskensis and Subhyradocon occidentalis), and a sabertooth (Hoplophoneus primaevus).

For a high resolution, pdf version of this manuscript, contact me (facsimilium AT gmail DOT com).


Native north american rhino.

Turtle casing


Introduction and description of Bad Lands (Nebraska). See map below.