Miscellanies

Annie Parker’s hairwork sampler, photograph by Isabella Rosner, private collection.

‘With Her Own Hair’: A Victorian Prisoner’s Art

Arrested over 400 times, Annie Parker found redemption in intricate cross-stitch and crochet using her own hair.

Sea-faring Norseman, illuminated illustration from the Miscellany on the Life of St. Edmund, c.1130.

Medieval Icelandic Feasts

In the Icelandic sagas communal feasting served as cornerstone of celebration. A thousand years on, these cautionary tales still offer sage advice for the Yule festivities.

Hurricane, Bahamas, by Winslow Homer, 1898.

Let There Be Wind

From DIY experiments to giant offshore farms, the history of extracting electricity from air has been driven by individual innovation pursued against the headwinds of public scepticism.

Gayatri Devi with villagers in Rajasthan during her election campaign in 1962.

Jaipur’s Last Stand

The new government of an independent India sought to curtail the influence of the old princely order. When the Maharani of Jaipur entered politics in 1962, it had a popular problem to contend with.

Funchal Morning Sun by Edward Poynter, 19th century.

The Portuguese island of Madeira had the misfortune to play host to more than its fair share of expatriate religious strife in the early Victorian period. In the 1840s, tensions reached a violent crescendo.

The Dog and the Thief, by Wenceslas Hollar, 17th century.

Who’s Afraid of the Dog-Banditti?

For as long as dogs have been valued as companions, they have been a target for thieves. Their theft and ransom became a lucrative practice in the 18th century, with high-profile victims.

Destruction of the Vendôme Colonne during the Paris Commune, by André-Adolphe-Eugène Disdéri, 1871.

The Paris Commune’s Bloody Week

In May 1871, a short-lived Parisian revolution in social relations was brutally suppressed. What is the legacy of the Paris Commune, 150 years on?

The Inquisition Tribunal by Francisco de Goya, c.1808-12.

The Spanish Witches of Cartagena

The Spanish Inquisition arrived in the New World convinced of the existence of heretics and witches. Learning to navigate the Inquisitors’ demonic expectations was one way to survive, as shown by the case of Paula de Eguiluz.

President Nixon attending a table tennis exhibition in Beijing, 23 February 1972.

The Myths and Realities of Ping-Pong Diplomacy

When the United States’ table tennis team was invited to China in 1971, the trip was about far more than sporting competition. Dubbed ‘ping-pong diplomacy’, it heralded a thaw in diplomatic relations between the two nations.