Greetings, folks! We just put up a new episode over on the Bookworm History YouTube channel. It’s a quick field trip to see the New Croton Dam and Reservoir. Click on the title card to check it out, I hope you like it! And, as always, thanks for stopping by!
Greetings, folks! I just put a pair of new episodes up over on the Bookworm History YouTube channel. The first is called “Water for New York City” and is all about New York’s early attempts at creating a sustainable water source. What do street gangs, fatal duels, and pastoral parks have to do with New York’s water supply? Click the title card below to find out!
Next, I decided to do some searching outside of the library and set out to find any remaining pieces of the Old Croton reservoirs in Manhattan. It’s a little different from my normal programming, but I hope you enjoy it!
I’ve been working on these projects for over a month now and it’s been a lot of fun and a lot of work. Check them out, let me know what you think, and, as always, thanks for stopping by!
While doing the research for my episode on the Old Yorkville and Murray Hill Reservoirs (click here for that!) I came across a few other odd and interesting stories of New York City and Central Park.
Continue reading “Central Park Oddities”
It was October, 1777, and the Continental Army had a problem. Although they had just won a resounding victory at Saratoga, they were just as soundly defeated further south at Forts Montgomery and Clinton, key strategic outposts on the Hudson River. With the victory at Fort Montgomery the British quickly set about tearing down the lanky chain the Colonists had stretched across the river to impede the British Navy. Now the Hudson River, and important cities like Poughkeepsie (Continental ship-building hub), Kingston (the state capital), and Albany (the second largest settlement in the state after New York City) lay wide open to attack.
Greetings, folks! We’ve got a new episode up over on the Bookworm History YouTube channel all about the history behind Alexandre Dumas’ classic “The Three Musketeers”! Click the title card to check it out!
And, as always, thanks for stopping by!
Thanks to a new Google Doodle the internet is all abuzz with talk of Elizabeth Cochrane. Born 151 years ago today, Cochrane, better known as Nellie Bly, was many things. Investigative journalist. Author. World traveler. Record breaker. She was also something that is largely forgotten: a board game.
The game was released in 1890 to capitalize on Bly’s recent “Round-the-world” trip, which she accomplished in a record-breaking 72 days. The board design was first printed in black and white on the front page of the New York World, the newspaper that Bly wrote for and the one who sponsored her trip. The full game was produced by McLoughlin Bros., a Brooklyn-based game manufacturer famous for their fun and colorful sets.
For more about Nellie Bly and her record-breaking race around the world (yes, she was racing another woman although she didn’t find out about it until she was halfway home) check out “Eighty Days” by Matthew Goodman.
Greetings, folks! Just posted a new episode over on the Bookworm History channel all about the story behind “The Travels of Sir John Mandeville” by Sir John Mandeville! Click on the image below to check it out!
And, as always, thanks for stopping by!
A little background. I first stumbled across the “Hypnerotomachia Poliphili” when I was in high school. It was used as a plot device in “The Rule of Four” by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason (think what “The Last Supper” was in “The DaVinci Code” only better) and although I knew that much of what they wrote about the book was fictional I was overjoyed to discover that such a weird and mysterious book did actually exist. Even better Jocelyn Godwin had recently finished the first English translation, which had been published to coincide with the 500th anniversary of the book’s original printing in 1499. I was thrilled! I lived in a smaller town without many bookstores but there was this new website called “Amazon” that I had heard radio ads for (yes, none of those things were all that long ago). The “Hypnerotomachia” would be the first book I’d order online and I eagerly awaited its arrival. When it was finally delivered I unpacked that box like I was Indiana Jones revealing the Ark of the Covenant. I removed the dust jacket, opened the front cover, started to read, and…
…
Holy crap, this is the most boring book ever written.
Continue reading “The Incongruity of Hastening Slowly”
Just finished up a brand new episode over on our YouTube channel! This time we’re going off in search of the mythical monarch Prester John! Join us, won’t you? Click the title card to watch!
In researching the history behind Rafael Sabatini’s swashbuckling “Captain Blood” (click here to check out that episode) I came across a story that is as weird as it wild. Although Sabatini never said explicitly what inspired him to dub his pirate with the moniker “Blood” it would not be outside the realm of reason to presume he borrowed it from one Thomas Blood. While not a pirate, Thomas was certainly a rogue, brigand, and a thorn in the side of authority. His most notable exploit, and the one for which he is most remembered, is his sensational (and nearly successful) attempt to steal the Crown Jewels of Great Britain from the Tower of London. For punishment Blood earned himself a royal pardon and a royal pension. And if that sounds improbable, just keep reading. Continue reading “The Inglorious Tale of Thomas Blood and the Crown Jewels”
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