Category: links

the unnecessary forgery: the Vinland Map

So I stepped into this one:
Post to my author Facebook page: Good news! Finally got my blog working again. Taking suggestions for post topics. Comment: Your favorite biblio fakes and forgeries.
I’m not (currently?) writing about biblio fakes but given my enduring fascination with the Voynich manuscript they’re not completely outside my wheelhouse. My favorite is the one I first encountered on my Dad’s bookshelf as a kid: the Vinland map.

Vinland Map HiRes

Purported to be the earliest documentation of pre-Columbian Viking presence in America, its written on 15th century parchment and bound with a genuine 15th century document (the Tartar Relation). Yale University acquired the map in the 1960s and was sufficiently convinced of its authenticity to write the academic tome I found in my Dad’s library, though experts had doubts from the start. After multiple studies and analyses over the years, Yale confirmed it as a fake just this past fall: the ink is dates to the 1920s at the earliest.

As (bad?) luck would have it, Yale published their book in 1965 at about the same time that archaeological finds in L’Anse aux Meadows confirmed a pre-Columbian Viking presence in the Americas.

In my rush around the internet to put together this post, I didn’t find anything on on who specifically forged the Vinland Map or why.  I can only guess that someone in the 1920s was so desperate to prove the Vikings got to America first they were willing to invent evidence to “prove” it. So what we wind up with is a forgery created to prove something…that turned out to be true anyway. I love the irony.

Even so, I keep my Dad’s battered copy of “The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation” for sentimental reasons.

My dad's copy of The Vinland Map and the Tartar relation, worn slipcover and all

Analysis unlocks secret of the Vinland Map — it’s a fake (search Google News for “Vinland Map forgery” and you can find a dozen articles in the same vein)
The Vinland Map and the Tartar Relation 1996 reissue – despite all doubts Yale University released a 30th anniversary version of their 1965 study that you can still buy from their website
Those of you who want to dive down the rabbit hole can watch all 6 hours of the 2018 “Vinland Map Rediscovered” symposium [YouTube] describing the research findings.

Link dump 10/13/2021

A little clutch of links for your midweek perusal:

short sentences

Black people are not the enemy. They are protesting because asking nicely doesn’t seem to work.

Most of the protestors are quite peaceful. Some are violent but given the confusion and outright disinformation it’s difficult to winnow out who’s responsible for what.

Some of those bad actors are undoubtedly cops. No, not all cops. Just enough of them. It doesn’t take many. [too many links to cite – who do you think started all this?]

A pandemic isn’t a great time to be protesting. But arguably police brutality and white supremacy are also public health threats so protesting still makes sense. If you’re protesting, reduce your chances of infection. If you’re not, you can still help the protestors’ efforts.

For what it’s worth, I stand with the protestors.

 

biweekly links 4-22-2020

A few of my favorite things to look at to keep my mind off everything:

A UK Museum Challenged Bored Curators Worldwide to Share the Creepiest Objects in Their Collections. Things Got Really Weird, Fast: oh, be still my heart!  But obviously not as still as that sheep’s heart run through with nails. And the Twitter thread is only 3 days in.

Meanwhile #tussenkunstenquarantaine (“between art and quarantine”) over at Instagram continues what the Getty kicked off. Just remember it’s all fun and games until someone drags Bosch into this.

 

Not Bosch, but awfully clever. Original by Rudolf II Fave Arcimboldo.

11 Fashion Museum Experiences You Can Access Online: and this in addition to the Christian Dior exhibit video [YouTube] making the rounds.

And still more non-fashion must-see online exhibitions of the moment.

How are you amusing/distracting yourself? How are you keeping sane?

plague diaries: more adventures in isolation

Sign: Warning! Due to Covid-19 Playground is closed. Playground equipment is not sanitized. Any use is at your own risk!
Sign at the neighborhood playground. Courtesy Dan Philpott, who still remembers to take his phone everywhere.

I’ve not walked much this week due to pollen – my eyes have itched most of the week. But in the interest of keeping my car battery charged I took a drive around the neighborhood.

Everything is in bloom now: what was just a mist of green buds on the trees are full leaves now. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom and it was nice to see them, as the Cherry Blossom Festival is largely canceled .

Though, a good chunk of the festival has gone virtual and it’s not the only event that’s bringing the outside world inside. As I type this I’m finally going to the (virtual) Haçienda, 30 years after my pseudo-goth teenage self got turned away at the doors of the real deal.

The county is requiring face masks while shopping as of Monday. My husband stocked up on masks back in January when covid19 was a blip on almost no one’s radar, but given that healthcare professionals need any surgical-grade PPE available I’m considering switching my mask making efforts from respirator covers to masks for the public. Though save one friend who asked for some, I’ve got no idea how to get these to anyone.

Tangentially, masks might be required but there are crickets on where these masks are supposed to come from. Though I’ve got a pretty good idea. In this instance, I don’t mind. I CAN sew and have time to do so and these are people’s lives. I can set my feminism aside for now, on this subject.

On free (“free”?) time: without a commute and working from home I’ve strangely got more of it. I can take a 10-minute break from my laptop to pin some things together/sew a few seams, fold some laundry, or continue reorganizing the Blu-Ray collection. All of these things that fell by the wayside a month ago.

But while according to my Fitbit housework burns more calories than I expected I’m still not getting anywhere as much exercise as I need, weekly Facetime-linked footwork notwithstanding. My clothes are tighter, I’m more sluggish, and more irritable. Maybe dancing around the house to the virtual Haçienda rave will burn off some of this angst.

the plague diaries: pleasures and wayward distractions

So, week 1 of full-time telework + social distancing and I’m hanging together.

It’s not been total lockdown – I’ve taken a couple of walks in the park though it’s tricky finding a time when everyone isn’t having the same idea. I think everyone is still sorting out the difficulties of keeping 6 feet distance (the entrance to the park is narrow enough that really only one person can go in or out at a time, so pauses to sniff the roses hold up everyone). Also it’s still rainy and chilly. So I’m still doing a lot indoors. But I’m making good use of my time (because anxiety hates idleness).

Yes! This is biweekly links with a theme! First off, keeping active:

Rockville Fencing Academy coach Aklesso’s at-home workout (YouTube): the footwork in particular works up a sweat. The blade work I’m not sure I have enough room to do – I risk both my basement wall and ceiling trying the “around the back” infighting seen at 18:00.

Vermont Fencing Alliance’s cat toy fencing drills #1 (YouTube): because I have cat toys…everywhere. Though I will likely make a tennis-ball-in-sock target of my own I may well find my cats chasing it because it’s in the house, so it must be theirs.

Keeping my brain moving:

Masterclass: Neil Gaiman Teaches the Art of Storytelling: this link probably shows up on your social media all the time and so may not need more props from me but 2 lessons in I think it’s worth the hype. This is also social – I’m taking it with a couple of friends. And if it goes well there are any number of other writing classes to take (hey, look at that, I posted a writing thing!)

Helping out:

Calling All People Who Sew And Make: You Can Help Make Masks For 2020 Healthcare Worker PPE Shortage: there are some mask patterns floating around out there for homemade PPE. At first I was skeptical as there’s no way I can make something equivalent to the protection of medical-grade filters. But, a friend who works in public health (hi Lydia!) assured me it’s necessary due to shortages – something is better than nothing. And sewing is something I can do. I’m using Mark Lewis’ pattern because it includes a pocket for additional filters. Not sure where I’ll send them yet but there are plenty of options.

rectangles of scrap fabric with chalk marks 7 and 8
Just waiting on the rest of the supplies.

MarylandUnites: I have reservations about Governor Hogan but overall I think he’s handling the coronavirus crisis well—in part by consolidating ways to help on this one handy page. I’ve made two donations: cash to my local food bank and blood to the Red Cross (which is safe and desperately needed). I’m sure every state will come up with similar efforts in the coming weeks if they haven’t already – Google is your friend.

Round red sticker: I make a difference. American Red Cross. Allison, 1:27.
The first time I’ve donated since 9/11. I should get into a regular habit.

biweekly links 2-26-2020

Apologies for no post last week – I was out of town and failed to plan ahead. Don’t worry, I’ll try and write something of substance soon!

Prague uncovered: Emperor Rudolf II’s tunnel brings the Vltava to Stromovka: almost 5(!) years ago I visited recovered alchemy lab Speculum Alchemiae and was fascinated that Emperor Rudolf II was so determined to visit his alchemists in private that he had a tunnel dug under the Vltava from this lab to his castle. And then I could find no more details about it – neither the museum itself nor Charles University had any information for me. So imagine how thrilled I was when this popped up in my Google Alerts! Note: these are a whole different set of tunnels, created to feed river water to Rudolf’s private lakes, but it gives some idea of the early modern technology behind the creation.

“Theire Soe Admirable Herbe”: How the English Found Cannabis: the English didn’t “discover” cannabis until the 17th century, and while they were interested in its medicinal properties they did take it recreationally as well.

Could weather hold the secret to history’s greatest ghost ship mystery?: I never expected to find weird news at AccuWeather, but, these are weird times. Spoiler: famed ghost ship the Mary Celeste wasn’t the victim of aliens or sea monsters but a temporary abandonment made permanent by a sudden storm. Not as fun a story but certainly plausible.

biweekly links 12–2019

“All unperfect and incorrect”: Tracy Borman on the discovery of an Elizabethan gem: interesting for what it tells us about early modern writing practices as well as Elizabeth herself. Elizabeth’s handwriting is only evident in corrections, as most of the translation was transcribed by someone else.But don’t take my word for it – the digitized version is already available.

The Year in Aliens: TL;DR: apart from that silliness at Area 51 in September the 2017 NYT UFO article has been vindicated… in part. Note that no one’s making a hard and fast claim that what the Navy pilots saw are extraterrestrials. But the fact that they’re acknowledging them as something to be taken seriously is still noteworthy.

Man and woman in bed. man wakes up in shock. Woman: What's wrong? Man: It just dawned on me. There are no aliens. No Area 51. None of it is true. Woman: How can you be so sure? Man: If there was...you think Trump could've kept his fat mouth shut? Woman: Aww. Man: Right?
NOT MINE, credit where credit is due: Check out Least I Could Do. A couple of years old but still makes a good point, IMHO.

The Silent Twins: Part 1, Part 2: When I first encountered the story of the Gibbons sisters in a BBC dramatization it was so strange I thought it had to be fiction. This 2 part podcast goes deep into this disturbing case of folie a deux. Tangential: they were aspiring authors and copies of June’s vanity-published “Pepsi Cola Addict” are still in (extremely limited) circulation.

Mysterious Phantom Photographed on Ghost Tour in Baltimore, Maryland: a month late, but local (to me) so still relevant. It’s a damn shame I’ve never gone on any of the local ghost tours – these tend to be something I do on vacation, not at home. Perhaps I should rethink that in the new year.

biweekly links 11-20-2019

Archives everywhere this week, plus a change of pace at the end:

The Internet Archive Is Digitizing & Preserving Over 100,000 Vinyl Records: Hear 750 Full Albums Now: though a fervent vinyl fiend as a teenager I’ve embraced the digital revolution with both arms – I still marvel that the heavy record crates I used to have to haul (up stairs, both ways) to my 1990s college radio show now fit on an object the size of a pack of cards with room to spare. And the Boston public library vinyl collection is just the tip of Archive.org’s audio iceberg: behold.

Speaking of archives, Extra-terrestrial collection touches down: The University of Manitoba Archives receives local UFO collections: this time it’s UFO researcher Chris Rutowski’s papers. Why do the Canadians get all the good UFO archives?

Finally, The Casebook Project has digitized the medical records of astrologer-physicians Simon Forman and John Napier.

John Cleese at desk: ...and now for something completely different

Lest you think all I do is look at archives all day (I wish!): David Bowie wanted to play the role of Rorschach in Terry Gilliam’s ‘Watchmen’ adaptation: my gut impulse is “would watch”. Incredibly it sounds like Alan Moore was on board with this adaptation as well. What do you think?

biweekly links 10-16-2019

Literary mysteries: 5 Books that remain a mystery to the greatest minds of humanity: Plus another 4 in part 2 of this article. Of course, it kicks off with the Voynich manuscript but I’d not heard of the Prodigiorum Ac Ostentorum Chronicon or the Rohonc Codex.

The Artist Who Embraced the Occult and Defied the Surrealists: the first time I heard of Ithell Colquhoun was in China Mieville’s “The Last Days of New Paris” and I always meant to follow up but good Google Alert-fu got ahead of me and found this article about her embrace of the occult. Most of the surrealists had an interest in the occult but Colquhoun’s systematic study set her apart and ultimately alienated her from her artistic peers. I’m especially intrigued by her use of automatism – automatic writing, but with art. Now I definitely need to read up on her, along with Doreen Valiente, Rosaleen Norton, and other 20th c. women occultists.

Head2 by Ithell Colquhoun - male and female figures entwined
Not an example of Colquhoun’s automatism, but one of the only public domain versions of her art I could find (courtesy Wikipedia). You can find more at Ithell Colquhoun’s officlal website.
Archivist delighted to comb through mountain of late UFO researcher’s records: and I’m delighted to discover that late UFO researcher Stanton Friedman had the foresight to donate his records to the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick. Nothing’s likely to be available for a while, at least online – the archivists have 300+ (!) boxes to wade through – but this means his years of research won’t mildew away in a forgotten garage or similar. Agree with Friedman or not, I’m all for the preservation of historical materials, particularly about unusual topics.