Making Quality Linen and Canvas Painting Panels

Gary Kravit is an airline pilot and artist.  He also owns and operates https://theultimatetaboret.com.  You may view Gary’s art at https://garrykravitart.blogspot.com/

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Method of Restoration for Ancient Bronzes and other Alloys

Cannone nel castello di Haut-Koenigsbourg, photo by Gita Colmar

Without any preliminary cleaning the bronze object to be treated is hung as cathode into the 2 per cent. caustic soda solution and a low amperage direct current is applied.  The object is suspended with soft copper wires and is completely immersed into the solution.  In case the object is very soft and fragile or completely mineralized, fine annealed copper wire is wrapped around the object, one to two turns per inch, and electrical connections are made with several turns of this wire.  Where there is danger that object might not hold together upon the removal of the hard supporting shell, we have found it advisable to to pack the whole object in clean white sand, after making proper electrical connections, and then filling the containers with the caustic soda solution. Continue reading Method of Restoration for Ancient Bronzes and other Alloys

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Artist Methods

Como dome facade – Pliny the Elder – Photo by Wolfgang Sauber

Work in Progress…

THE VARNISHES.

Every substance may be considered as a varnish, which, when applied to the surface of a solid body, gives it a permanent lustre.  Drying oil, thickened by exposure to the sun’s heat or a fire, is a varnish and as such has often been employed.  It is, however, probable that varnishes, composed of resins dissolved in oil, have been used in very ancient times.

But it is beyond all doubt, that when the arts flourished in Greece, the composition of varnish had long been known in India, Persia, and China.  It is not then to be supposed that the Greeks were unacquainted with this art.  Yet such would have been the case if we give credit to a paragraph in Pliny, who tells us that Apelles was indebted for his unequalled colouring to the employment of a liquid which he calls “Atramentum,” with which he covered his pictures when they finished, and with which substance no other painter was acquainted.  Pliny observes, “that there is in the pictures of Apelles a certain effect, that cannot be equalled, and that tone was obtained by means of atramentum, which fluid he passed over his pictures when the painting was completely finished. Continue reading Artist Methods

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Rendering Amber Clear for Use in Lens-Making for Magnifying Glass

by John Partridge,drawing,1825

From the work of Sir Charles Lock Eastlake entitled Materials for a history of oil painting, (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1846), we learn the following:

The effect of oil at certain temperatures, in penetrating “the minute pores of the amber” (as Hoffman elsewhere writes), is still more strikingly exemplified in an invention, or perhaps and old method revived, Christian Porschinen of Königsberg, at the close of the seventeenth century (June, 1691).  He succeeded in rendering amber colourless, so as to employ it as substitute for magnifying glasses.  Zedler ( Grosses vollständiges Univ. Lexicon, art. Bersteinerner Brenn-Spiegel) describes the process.  The manufacturer placed the amber, already formed and polished for the intended use, in linseed oil exposed to a moderate fire, and suffered it to remain till it had entirely lost its yellow colour, and had become quite clear and transparent.  Zedler states that lenses so prepared are more powerful than those made of glass in igniting gunpowder (welche viel schneller in Brennen and Pulver-anzunden sind als die glasernen).

The same process was afterwards adopted for clarifying amber beads, so as to render them transparent like glass.  The method is probably most successful when the substance is not very thick.  For a further account of this invention Zedler refers to Hen. von Sanden, Disp. de Succino Electricorum principe, Königsberg, 1714.  Dreme (Der Virniss-und Kittmacher) alludes to similar methods.  “Amber boiled in linseed oil is softened so that it may be bent and compressed: opaque or clouded amber by this process becomes light and transparent.  The oil should be heated gradually, otherwise, the pieces of amber are liable to crack. ”  Such modes of clarifying amber might be employed with effect, preparatory to its solution by some of the means before indicated.

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Fox Hunting Season 1964

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Books of Use to the International Art Collector

Hebborn Piranesi

Before meeting with an untimely death at the hand of an unknown assassin in Rome on January 11th, 1996, master forger Eric Hebborn put down on paper a wealth of knowledge about the art of forgery.   In a book published posthumously in 1997, titled The Art Forger’s Handbook, Hebborn suggests the following three books as being the cornerstone to any good art forger’s library:

Thus it would stand to reason that the same books should be of great interest to the international art collector.

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Fox Hunting Season Opens 1935 – Heythrop Country at Lower Swell, near Stow-in-the-Wold, Gloucestershire

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Formulaes for Re-Creating the Old-Fashioned Drug Store Counter

A Real Soda Jerk

FORMULAS FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.

Pineapple Frappe.

Water, 1 gallon; sugar 2 pounds of water. 61/2 pints, and simple syrup. 2 1/2 pints; 2 pints of pineapple stock or 1 pint of pineapple stock and 1 pint of grated pineapple juice of 6 lemons. Mix, strain and freeze.

Roman Sour.

Wild cherry syrup, 1 ounce; lime juice 1/2 ounce, and the half of a fresh lime. Place in a suitable glass, and cracked ice and fill the glass with carbonated water. Top off with a maraschino cherry and a toothpick.

Hot Weather Delight.

Into a 10-ounce glass place half an ounce of strawberry syrup, half an ounce of raspberry syrup, half an ounce of grape syrup, one egg, one and a half ounces of plain cream. quarter glassful shaved ice. Continue reading Formulaes for Re-Creating the Old-Fashioned Drug Store Counter

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Winter Fox Hunt in Michigan, USA – Fantastic Footage

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Cleaning Watch Chains

To Clean Watch Chains.

Gold or silver watch chains can be cleaned with a very excellent result, no matter whether they may be matt or polished, by laying them for a few seconds in pure aqua ammonia; they are then rinsed in alcohol, and finally. shaken in clean sawdust, free from sand. Imitation gold and plated chains are first cleaned in benzine, then rinsed in alcohol, and afterwards shaken in dry sawdust. Genuine gold chains are first dipped in the following pickle: Pure nitric acid is mixed with concentrated sulphuric acid in the proportion of ten parts of the former to two parts of the latter; a little table salt is added. The chains are boiled in this mixture, then rinsed several times in water, afterward in alcohol, and finally dried in sawdust.

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The Shirk – An Old but Familiar Phenomena

STORE MANAGEMENT—THE SHIRK.

THE shirk is a well-known specimen of the genus homo. His habitat is offices, stores, business establishments of all kinds. His habits are familiar to us, but a few words on the subject will not be amiss. The shirk usually displays activity when the boss is around, and masterful inactivity when the boss is out of sight. Some times he makes a pretense of working, for the benefit of his fellow clerks. Now and then he comes out boldly and loafs openly, except on those occasions when the boss is in the neighborhood and perhaps not feeling any too indulgent. The shirk is quick to detect these changes in the official barometer. The shirk, of course, is always the last one at work and the first to depart. He takes all the sick leave permissible and generally manages to get a few days extra. Continue reading The Shirk — An Old but Familiar Phenomena

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The Famous Kilkenny Hunt – 1930

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Origin of the Apothecary

ORIGIN OF THE APOTHECARY.

The origin of the apothecary in England dates much further back than one would suppose from what your correspondent, “A Barrister-at-Law,” says about it. It is true he speaks only of apothecaries as a distinct branch of the medical profession, but long before Henry VIII’s time they were recognized as a distinct branch, though the distinction may not have been a legal one.

The earliest mention I remember to have seen in English of an apothecary is one I have cited before in these notes, from Bardsley’s “English Surnames.” In 1273, says Bardsley, “the Mayor of York was one John Le Espicer, aut Apotecarius.” Here “spicer” and “apothecary”‘ appear to be convertible terms, but it is clear, from the passage in Chaucer alone. “Ful redy hadde he hise apothecaries,” that these were a distinct class, and Caxton distinguishes the “physician, spicer, apotiquare” from one another.

In England as in France, “Qui est espicier n’est pas apothicaire, et qui est apothicaire est espicier,” and as time went on the difference between them grew, the apothecaries confining themselves particularly to drugs. Your correspondent is rather unfair to the apothecarics when he says, speaking of them as a separate class, that they began as quacks. They began as assistants to the physicians. Earle, in describing the physician of his day, speaks repeatedly of “his” apothecary’s shop. They were subject to the supervision of the physicians, and stood to them in much the relation enjoined by the law of the Emperor Frederick II. regulating medical practice in the Sicilies.—Chem. & Drug., Sept. 1921

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Land of Hope and Glory: British Country Life – Fox Hunting

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Mocking Bird Food

Mocking Bird Food.

Hemp seed……….2 pounds
Rape seed………. .1 pound
Crackers………….1 pound
Rice…………….1/4 pound
Corn meal………1/4 pound
Lard oil…………1/4 pound

 

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Flawed Law – The Hunting Act

Click here to read the full text of the Hunting Act – 2004

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Furniture Polishing Cream

Furniture Polishing Cream.

Animal oil soap…………………….1 onuce
Solution of potassium hydroxide…. .5 ounces
Beeswax……………………………1 pound
Oil of turpentine…………………..3 pints
Water, enough to make……………..5 pints

Dissolve the soap in the lye with the aid of heat; add this solution all at once to the warm solution of the wax in the oil. Beat the mixture until a smooth cream is formed, and gradually beat in the water until the whole is completely emulsified.

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Cleaner for Gilt Picture Frames

Cleaner for Gilt Frames.

Calcium hypochlorite…………..7 oz.
Sodium bicarbonate……………7 oz.
Sodium chloride………………. 2 oz.
Distilled water…………………12 oz.

 

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The Billesden Coplow Run

*note – Billesdon and Billesden have both been used to name the hunt.

BILLESDEN COPLOW POEM

[From “Reminiscences of the late Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq”]

The run celebrated in the following verses took place on the 24th of February, 1800, when Mr. Meynell hunted Leicestershire, and has since been known as the Billesden Coplow Run. It will only cease to interest, says a writer in the Sporting Magazine, when the grass shall grow in winter in the streets of Melton Mowbray. They found in the covert from which the song takes its name, thence to Skeffington Earths, past Tilton Woods, by Tugby and Whetstone, where the field, as many as could get over, crossed the river Soar. Thence the hounds changing their fox, carried a head to Enderby Gorse, where they lost him, after a chase of two hours and fifteen minutes, the distance being twenty-eight miles. Continue reading The Billesden Coplow Run

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The Hunt Saboteur


The Hunt Saboteur is a national disgrace
barking out loud, black mask on her face
get those dogs off,
get them off she did yell
until a swift kick from me mare
her voice it did quell
and sent the Hunt Saboteur scurrying up vale
to the full cry of hounds
drowning out her wails
whilst down in the valley
the hounds did prevail
and now on me hearth hangs a fine tail
as me and my hounds share
a bucket of ale

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Pickled Eels

Vintage woodcut illustration of a Eel

 

This dish is a favorite in Northern Europe, from the British Isles to Sweden.

Clean and skin the eels and cut them into pieces about 3/4-inch thick. Wash and drain the pieces, then dredge in fine salt and allow to stand from 30 minutes to 1 hour.  Rinse off the salt, wipe the pieces dry, and rub them with a cut glove of garlic.  Brush the eel with melted butter and broil until both sides are light brown.  As an alternative, pieces may be sautéd in olive oil or other good salad oil.

Place the pieces of cooked eel on absorbent paper.  When the pieces are cool, pack them in layers in a crock with a scattering of sliced onion, allspice, bay leaves, mustard seed, whole cloves, peppers, and mace between the layers of fish. Continue reading Pickled Eels

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Mrs. Beeton’s Poultry & Game – Choosing Poultry

To Choose Poultry.

When fresh, the eyes should be clear and not sunken, the feet limp and pliable, stiff dry feet being a sure indication that the bird has not been recently killed; the flesh should be firm and thick and if the bird is plucked there should be no discoloration of the skin.  Young male birds are considered the best.

Chickens, —The flesh of young chickens is the most delicate and easily assimilated of animal foods, which makes it especially suitable for invalids and persons whose digestion is weak.  Few animals undergo so great a change with regard to the quality of their flesh as the domestic fowl.   When quite young, cocks and hens are equally tender, but as chickens grow older the flesh of the cock is the first to toughen, and a cock a year old is fit only for conversion into soup.  A hen of the same age affords a substantial and palatable dish. This rule respecting age does not apply to capons, which when well-fed and well-dressed for the table, are surpassed by few animals for delicacy of flavour.  Even when three years old the capon is as tender as a chicken, with the additional advantage that his proper chicken flavour is more fully developed. The above remarks are applicable only to capons naturally fed and not crammed.  The latter process may produce a handsome-looking and heavy bird, but when tested by cooking its inferiority will be only too apparent.  As a rule, small-boned and short-legged poultry are generally found to be the more delicate in colour, flavour and fineness of flesh. Continue reading Mrs. Beeton’s Poultry & Game — Choosing Poultry

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Here’s Many a Year to You

Here’s many a year to you !
Sportsmen who’ve ridden life straight.
Here’s all good cheer to you !
Luck to you early and late.

Here’s to the best of you !
You with the blood and the nerve.
Here’s to the rest of you !
What of a weak moment’s swerve ?
Face the grim fence, gate, or wall again :
Ride hard and straight in the van,
Life is to dare and deserve ! ”

1908. RH Carlisle

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Proper Wines to Serve with Food

Foie gras with Sauternes, Photo by Laurent Espitallier

As an Appetizer

  • Pale dry Sherry, with or without bitters, chilled or not.  Plain or mixed Vermouth, with or without bitters. A dry cocktail.

With Oysters, Clams or Caviar

  • A dry flinty wine such as Chablis, Moselle, Champagne.

Continue reading Proper Wines to Serve with Food

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Fox Hunting – A Great British Tradition

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The Beaufort Hunt 1914

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Napoleon’s Pharmacists

NAPOLEON’S PHARMACISTS.

Of the making of books about Napoleon there is no end, and the centenary of his death (May 5) is not likely to pass without adding to the number, but a volume on Napoleon”s pharmacists still awaits treatment by the student in this field of historical research. There is no lack of material. Not that Napoleon had any faith in drugs. Even during his fatal illness at St. Helena he caused his doctors ceaseless anxiety by his petty tendency to offer any or every excuse for shirking regular doses. But he knew that others thought differently, and delighted to tell the tale of a certain bread pill administered to the Empress Marie Louise by Baron Corvisart, and its marvellous effects. He seems to have taken an intelligent interest in chemistry, and even to have studied its rudiments with Bouillon-Lagrange in his earlier days. W’hen he reorganized France after the Revolution he appreciated the collaboration of men like Chaptal, and gained their devotion and admiration by his own wonderful intellectual activity and physical energy. Continue reading Napoleon’s Pharmacists

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Fly Casting Instructions

It is a pity that the traditions and literature in praise of fly fishing have unconsciously hampered instead of expanded this graceful, effective sport.  Many a sportsman has been anxious to share its joys, but appalled by the rapture of expression in describing its countless thrills and niceties he has been literally scared away from attempting to master the difficulties which he assumes must attend such an art.  And thereby he has barred himself needlessly from an infinite wealth of sport and enjoyment. Continue reading Fly Casting Instructions

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Salmon Caviar

Salmon and Sturgeon Caviar – Photo by Thor

Salmon caviar was originated about 1910 by a fisherman in the Maritime Provinces of Siberia, and the preparation is a modification of the sturgeon caviar method (Cobb 1919). Salomon caviar has found a good market in the U.S.S.R. and other European countries where it is known as “red caviar” to distinguish it from the sturgeon or “black caviar”.  Although several attempts have been made to manufacture salmon caviar in the United States, only a few firms in the Pacific Northwest have operated successfully on a commercial scale. Their product is marketed mostly in New York and other eastern cities.  A salmon-canning firm operating in the Bristol Ba area of Alaska also prepares salmon caviar, principally for export. Continue reading Salmon Caviar

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Commercial Tuna Salad Recipe

Tom Oates, aka Nabokov at en.wikipedia

No two  commercial tuna salads are prepared by exactly the same formula, but they do not show the wide variety characteristic of herring salad.  The recipe given here is typical.  It is offered, however, only as a guide.  The same recipe with minor variations to suit the taste may be used for salmon salad.

Tuna Salad I

Ingredients. Continue reading Commercial Tuna Salad Recipe

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Commercial Fried Fish Cake Recipe

Dried Norwegian Salt Cod

Fried fish cakes are sold rather widely in delicatessens and at prepared food counters of department stores in the Atlantic coastal area. This product has possibilities for other sections of the country.

Ingredients: Continue reading Commercial Fried Fish Cake Recipe

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Making Chocolate From Tree to Treat

Donate to the YouTube site owner Gabe and he might send you some chocolate….

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Copper Kills Covid-19 and the Sun is Your Friend

The element copper effectively kills viruses and bacteria.

Therefore it would reason and I will assert and not only assert but lay claim to the patents for copper mesh stints to be inserted in the arteries of patients presenting with severe cases of Covid-19 with a slow release dosage of Copper Sulfate woven in, those in need of ventilators and on death’s edge.  I also lay claim to any and all copper mesh filtering systems for ventilator tubing and facial masks.  I have a partner in this whom will not be named, a brilliant chemist who will be entitled to split any and all financial benefit from such claims. Continue reading Copper Kills Covid-19 and the Sun is Your Friend

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Carpet Cleaner Formulae

The Ardabil Carpet – Made in the town of Ardabil in north-west Iran, the burial place of Shaykh Safi al-Din Ardabili, who died in 1334. The Shaykh was a Sufi leader, ancestor of Shah Ismail, founder of the Safavid dynasty (1501-1722). While the exact origins of the carpet are unclear, it’s believed to have been commissioned by the court for the shrine of the Shaykh, which, by the 16th century, had became a place of pilgrimage. (source: Victoria & Albert Museum)

Carpet Cleaners.

Powder Form

Sal soda…8 ounces av. (hydrated sodium carbonate)( Na2CO3∙10H2O) or soda ash.
Borax…….4 ounces av.
Both should be in powder.

  In using, this amount of material is to be dissolved in a gallon of water, then mix this with a solution of a pound of soap (any good washing soap) in 4 gallons of water. Apply this combination, preferably warm, to the carpet with a scrubbing brush, remove the lather with a wooden  scraper, and dry the carpet with a flannel cloth. Continue reading Carpet Cleaner Formulae

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Palermo Wine

Take to every quart of water one pound of Malaga raisins, rub and cut the raisins small, and put them to the water, and let them stand ten days, stirring once or twice a day. You may boil the water an hour before you put it to the raisins, and let it stand to cool.  At ten days’ end strain out your liquor, and put a little yeast to it; and at three days’ end put it in the vessel, and one sprig of dried wormwood. Let it be close stopped, and at three months’ end bottle it off.

[From: Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines, Cordials and Liquerurs From Fruits, Flowers, Vegetables, and Shrubs, Compiled by Helen S. Wright, Boston, The Page Company, Publishers, Copyright 1909, by Dana Estes and Company,  Fourth Impression, January. 1922 Printed by C.H. Simonds Company, Boston, Mass, USA]

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Historical Globes in the British Library’s Collection Come Alive Online

A terrestial globe on which the tracts and discoveries are laid down from the accurate observations made by Capts Cook, Furneux, Phipps, published 1782 / globe by John Newton ; cartography by William Palmer, held by the State Library of New South Wales

The British Library, using sophisticated filming equipment and software, have made available to the public quite stunning interactive videos of rare globes.

 

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A Video of Upmost Importance for the Sharp Young Man Seeking Success in Life

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Views of Los Angeles circa 1915

Continue reading Views of Los Angeles circa 1915

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Dame Edith Sitwell

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Patek Phillipe Service and Maintenance

Patek Phillipe hand makes the finest watches in the world.  Click here to learn more.

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Why Beauty Matters – Sir Roger Scruton

Roger Scruton – Why Beauty Matters (2009) from Mirza Akdeniz on Vimeo.

Click here for another site on which to view this video.

Sadly, Sir Roger Scruton passed away a few days ago—January 12th, 2020.  Heaven has gained a great philosopher. Continue reading Why Beauty Matters — Sir Roger Scruton

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Slaughter in Bombay


From Allen’s Indian Mail, December 3rd, 1851

BOMBAY.
MUSULMAN FANATICISM.

On the evening of November 15th, the little village of Mahim was the scene of a murder, perhaps the most determined which has ever stained the annals of Bombay. Three men were massacred in cold blood, in a house used by the Kojah caste, in open daylight, all in the middle of a densely-populated part of the town. Thirteen prisoners are in custody. Continue reading Slaughter in Bombay

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Chinese Duck Cooking – A Few Recipes

Chen Lin, Water fowl, in Cahill, James. Ge jiang shan se (Hills Beyond a River: Chinese Painting of the Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368, Taiwan edition). Taipei: Shitou chubanshe fen youxian gongsi, 1994. pl. 4:13, p. 180. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. scroll, light colors on paper, 35.7 x 47.5 cm

 

China has more ducks than any other country in the world.  For this reason the Chinese have found interesting ways of converting the fowl into many palatable dishes. The duck used is the kind that dwells in marshes.  The Muscovy duck is not a native of China and is called foreign duck.

FRIED DUCK

Clean and disjoint a young duck.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Cover the bottom of frying pan with peanut oil about half an inch deep.  When oil sizzles, put in the pieces of duck and fry slowly until a delicate brown, turning the pieces occasionally.  Mix six tablespoons Chinese saucea in half a cup of water with a piece of shredded ginger, four tablespoonful of wine, and few green onion sprouts.  Pour contents over the duck, cover, and let cook over slow fire for 20 minutes longer.

a(soyu or soy sauce)

Continue reading Chinese Duck Cooking — A Few Recipes

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The Preparation of Marketable Vinegar

It is unnecessary to point out that low-grade fruit may often be used to advantage in the preparation of vinegar.  This has always been true in the case of apples and may be true with other fruit, especially grapes.  The use of grapes for wine making is an outlet which in now to be denied, and one alternative is the manufacture of vinegar from such grapes as are undesirable for eating.  The juice makes a very excellent vinegar, thought be some to be the superior to apple-cider vinegar. Continue reading The Preparation of Marketable Vinegar

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Making Apple Cider Vinegar

The greatest cause of failure in vinegar making is carelessness on the part of the operator. Intelligent separation should be made of the process into its various steps from the beginning to end.

PRESSING THE JUICE

The apples should be clean and ripe. If not clean, undesirable fermentations may develop which will injure the quality of the finished product. Fruit which is just ripe contains the maximum amount of sugar. If the fruit is too green or over-ripe there may not be sufficient sugar present for the final production of a per cent acetic acid. Dirt, grass, leaves, rotten and wormy fruit bear millions of bacteria, some of which are sure to be of undesirable varieties. These may be the cause of bad flavors, and may make the vinegar low in acid, off-color, and turbid. Continue reading Making Apple Cider Vinegar

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English Fig Wine

Take the large blue figs when pretty ripe, and steep them in white wine, having made some slits in them, that they may swell and gather in the substance of the wine.

Then slice some other figs and let them simmer over a fire in water until they are reduced to a kind of pulp.

Then strain out the water, pressing the pulp hard and pour it as hot as possible on the figs that are imbrued in the wine.

Let the quantities be nearly equal, but the water somewhat more than the wine and figs.

Let them stand twenty-four hours, mash them well together, and draw off what will run without squeezing.

Then press the rest, and if not sweet enough add a sufficient quantity of sugar to make it so.

Let it ferment, and add to it a little honey and sugar candy, then fine it with white of eggs, and a little isinglass, and draw it off for use.

[From: Old Time Recipes for Home Made Wines, Cordials and Liquerurs From Fruits, Flowers, Vegetables, and Shrubs, Compiled by Helen S. Wright, Boston, The Page Company, Publishers, Copyright 1909, by Dana Estes and Company,  Fourth Impression, January. 1922 Printed by C.H. Simonds Company, Boston, Mass, USA]

 

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He Put a Hook in Me by Lil’ Lost Lou

Click here to visit Lil’ Lost Lou and purchase a copy of her latest album.

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Take Me to Pitcairn by Julian McDonnell

To learn more about Julian McDonnell, film director, click here.

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Cocillana Syrup Compound

Guarea guidonia

Recipe

  • 5 Per Cent  Alcohol
  • 8-24 Grain – Heroin Hydrochloride
  • 120 Minims – Tincture Euphorbia Pilulifera
  • 120 Minims – Syrup Wild Lettuce
  • 40 Minims – Tincture Cocillana
  • 24 Minims – Syrup Squill Compound
  • 8 Gram – Ca(s)ecarin (P, D, & Co.)
  • 8-100 Grain Menthol

Dose – One-half to one fluidrams (2 to 4 ct)

Guaranteed under The Food and Drug Act. June 30th, 1906 Guranty No. 6, Park, Davis & Co. Detroit Michigan

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British Craftsmanship is Alive and Well

The Queen Elizabeth Trust, or QEST, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of British craftsmanship through the funding of scholarships and educational endeavours to include apprenticeships, trade schools, and traditional university classwork.   The work of QEST is instrumental in keeping alive age old arts and crafts such as masonry, glassblowing, shoemaking, pottery, decorative painting, weaving, among others.

Artisans and artist may apply for scholarships to fund their apprenticeships and other traditional school based coursework.  QEST also works in  partnership with The Princess Foundation’s Building Arts Programme to promote a holistic approach to the building trades and related arts.  The Princess Foundation was set up in 2018 as a merger of The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community, The Prince’s Regeneration Trust, The Great Steward of Scotland’s Dumfries House Trust and The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts.

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Highlander Bible

Gout Remedies

Jan Verkolje Antonie van Leeuwenhoek was the first person to describe gout or uric acid crystals 1679.

For one suffering gout, the following vitamins, herbs, and extracts may be worth looking into:

Vitamin C Folic Acid – Folic Acid is a B vitamin and is also known as B9 – [Known food [...] Read more →

Thomas Jefferson Correspondence – On Seed Saving and Sharing

The following are transcripts of two letters written by the Founding Father Thomas Jefferson on the subject of seed saving.

“November 27, 1818. Monticello. Thomas Jefferson to Henry E. Watkins, transmitting succory seed and outlining the culture of succory.” [Transcript] Thomas Jefferson Correspondence Collection Collection 89

Vitruvius Ten Books on Architecture

VITRUVIUS

The Ten Books on Architecture

TRANSLATED By MORRIS HICKY MORGAN, PH.D., LL.D. LATE PROFESSOR OF CLASSICAL PHILOLOGY

IN HARVARD UNIVERSITY WITH ILLUSTRATIONS AND ORIGINAL DESINGS PREPARED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF HERBERT LANGFORD WARREN, A.M.

NELSON ROBINSON JR. PROFESSOR OF ARCHITECTURE IN HARVARD [...] Read more →

Cleaning Watch Chains

To Clean Watch Chains.

Gold or silver watch chains can be cleaned with a very excellent result, no matter whether they may be matt or polished, by laying them for a few seconds in pure aqua ammonia; they are then rinsed in alcohol, and finally. shaken in clean sawdust, free from sand. [...] Read more →

Blackberry Wine

BLACKBERRY WINE

5 gallons of blackberries 5 pound bag of sugar

Fill a pair of empty five gallon buckets half way with hot soapy water and a ¼ cup of vinegar. Wash thoroughly and rinse.

Fill one bucket with two and one half gallons of blackberries and crush with [...] Read more →

Mortlake Tapestries of Chatsworth

Mortlake Tapestries at Chatsworth House

Click here to learn more about the Mortlake Tapestries of Chatsworth

The Mortlake Tapestries were founded by Sir Francis Crane.

From the Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 13

Crane, Francis by William Prideaux Courtney

CRANE, Sir FRANCIS (d. [...] Read more →

Bess of Hardwick: Four Times a Lady

Bess of Harwick

Four times the nuptial bed she warm’d, And every time so well perform’d, That when death spoil’d each husband’s billing, He left the widow every shilling. Fond was the dame, but not dejected; Five stately mansions she erected With more than royal pomp, to vary The prison of her captive When [...] Read more →

Rendering Amber Clear for Use in Lens-Making for Magnifying Glass

by John Partridge,drawing,1825

From the work of Sir Charles Lock Eastlake entitled Materials for a history of oil painting, (London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1846), we learn the following:

The effect of oil at certain temperatures, in penetrating “the minute pores of the amber” (as Hoffman elsewhere writes), is still more [...] Read more →

Here’s Many a Year to You

” Here’s many a year to you ! Sportsmen who’ve ridden life straight. Here’s all good cheer to you ! Luck to you early and late.

Here’s to the best of you ! You with the blood and the nerve. Here’s to the rest of you ! What of a weak moment’s swerve ? [...] Read more →

Snipe Shooting

Snipe shooting-Epistle on snipe shooting, from Ned Copper Cap, Esq., to George Trigger-George Trigger’s reply to Ned Copper Cap-Black partridge.

——

“Si sine amore jocisque Nil est jucundum, vivas in &more jooisque.” -Horace. “If nothing appears to you delightful without love and sports, then live in sporta and [...] Read more →

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. “Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns!” he said. Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred. Home Top of [...] Read more →

Public Attitudes Towards Speculation

Reprint from The Pitfalls of Speculation by Thomas Gibson 1906 Ed.

THE PUBLIC ATTITUDE TOWARD SPECULATION

THE public attitude toward speculation is generally hostile. Even those who venture frequently are prone to speak discouragingly of speculative possibilities, and to point warningly to the fact that an overwhelming majority [...] Read more →

Beef Jerky

BEEF JERKY

Preparation.

Slice 5 pounds lean beef (flank steak or similar cut) into strips 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, 1 to 2 inches wide, and 4 to 12 inches long. Cut with grain of meat; remove the fat. Lay out in a single layer on a smooth clean surface (use [...] Read more →

Furniture Polishing Cream

Furniture Polishing Cream.

Animal oil soap…………………….1 onuce Solution of potassium hydroxide…. .5 ounces Beeswax……………………………1 pound Oil of turpentine…………………..3 pints Water, enough to make……………..5 pints

Dissolve the soap in the lye with the aid of heat; add this solution all at once to the warm solution of the wax in the oil. Beat [...] Read more →

A Conversation between H.F. Leonard and K. Higashi

H.F. Leonard was an instructor in wrestling at the New York Athletic Club. Katsukum Higashi was an instructor in Jujitsu.

“I say with emphasis and without qualification that I have been unable to find anything in jujitsu which is not known to Western wrestling. So far as I can see, [...] Read more →

Mocking Bird Food

Mocking Bird Food.

Hemp seed……….2 pounds Rape seed………. .1 pound Crackers………….1 pound Rice…………….1/4 pound Corn meal………1/4 pound Lard oil…………1/4 pound

 

Home Top of Pg. Read more →

Indian Modes of Hunting – Setting Fox Traps

Aug. 13, 1898 Forest and Stream, Pg. 125

Game Bag and Gun.

Indian Modes of Hunting. III.—Foxes.

The fox as a rule is a most wily animal, and numerous are the stories of his cunning toward the Indian hunter with his steel traps.

Palermo Wine

Take to every quart of water one pound of Malaga raisins, rub and cut the raisins small, and put them to the water, and let them stand ten days, stirring once or twice a day. You may boil the water an hour before you put it to the raisins, and let it [...] Read more →

Books Condemned to be Burnt

BOOKS CONDEMNED TO BE BURNT.

By

JAMES ANSON FARRER,

LONDON

ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW

1892

———-

WHEN did books first come to be burnt in England by the common hangman, and what was [...] Read more →

How to Distinguish Fishes

 

Sept. 3, 1898. Forest and Stream Pg. 188-189

How to Distinguish Fishes.

BY FRED MATHER. The average angler knows by sight all the fish which he captures, but ask him to describe one and he is puzzled, and will get off on the color of the fish, which is [...] Read more →

Commercial Fried Fish Cake Recipe

Dried Norwegian Salt Cod

Fried fish cakes are sold rather widely in delicatessens and at prepared food counters of department stores in the Atlantic coastal area. This product has possibilities for other sections of the country.

Ingredients:

Home Top of [...] Read more →

Seeds for Rootstocks of Fruit and Nut Trees

Citrus Fruit Culture

THE PRINCIPAL fruit and nut trees grown commercially in the United States (except figs, tung, and filberts) are grown as varieties or clonal lines propagated on rootstocks.

Almost all the rootstocks are grown from seed. The resulting seedlings then are either budded or grafted with propagating wood [...] Read more →

Catholic Religious Orders

Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the mendicant Order of Friars Minor, as painted by El Greco.

Catholic religious order

Catholic religious orders are one of two types of religious institutes (‘Religious Institutes’, cf. canons 573–746), the major form of consecrated life in the Roman Catholic Church. They are organizations of laity [...] Read more →

A Few Wine Recipes

EIGHTEEN GALLONS is here give as a STANDARD for all the following Recipes, it being the most convenient size cask to Families. See A General Process for Making Wine

If, however, only half the quantity of Wine is to be made, it is but to divide the portions of [...] Read more →

Watch Fraud on eBay

EBAY’S FRAUD PROBLEM IS GETTING WORSE

EBay has had a problem with fraudulent sellers since its inception back in 1995. Some aspects of the platform have improved with algorithms and automation, but others such as customer service and fraud have gotten worse. Small sellers have definitely been hurt by eBay’s [...] Read more →

British Craftsmanship is Alive and Well

The Queen Elizabeth Trust, or QEST, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of British craftsmanship through the funding of scholarships and educational endeavours to include apprenticeships, trade schools, and traditional university classwork. The work of QEST is instrumental in keeping alive age old arts and crafts such as masonry, glassblowing, shoemaking, [...] Read more →

Platform of the American Institute of Banking in 1919

Resolution adapted at the New Orleans Convention of the American Institute of Banking, October 9, 1919:

“Ours is an educational association organized for the benefit of the banking fraternity of the country and within our membership may be found on an equal basis both employees and employers; [...] Read more →

The Field of the Cloth of Gold

Reprint from the Royal Collection Trust Website

The meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I, known as the Field of the Cloth of Gold, took place between 7 to 24 June 1520 in a valley subsequently called the Val d’Or, near Guisnes to the south of Calais. The [...] Read more →

Modern Slow Cookers, A Critical Design Flaw

Modern slow cookers come in all sizes and colors with various bells and whistles, including timers and shut off mechanisms. They also come with a serious design flaw, that being the lack of a proper domed lid.

The first photo below depict a popular model Crock-Pot® sold far and wide [...] Read more →

Slaughter in Bombay

From Allen’s Indian Mail, December 3rd, 1851

BOMBAY. MUSULMAN FANATICISM.

On the evening of November 15th, the little village of Mahim was the scene of a murder, perhaps the most determined which has ever stained the annals of Bombay. Three men were massacred in cold blood, in a house used [...] Read more →

Looking for a Gift for the Book Collector in the Family?

Buying a book for a serious collector with refined tastes can be a daunting task.

However, there is one company that publishes some of the finest reproduction books in the world, books that most collectors wouldn’t mind having in their collection no matter their general preference or specialty.

King Arthur Legends, Myths, and Maidens

King Arthur, Legends, Myths & Maidens is a massive book of Arthurian legends. This limited edition paperback was just released on Barnes and Noble at a price of $139.00. Although is may seem a bit on the high side, it may prove to be well worth its price as there are only [...] Read more →

Sea and River Fishing

An angler with a costly pole Surmounted with a silver reel, Carven in quaint poetic scroll- Jointed and tipped with finest steel— With yellow flies, Whose scarlet eyes And jasper wings are fair to see, Hies to the stream Whose bubbles beam Down murmuring eddies wild and free. And casts the line with sportsman’s [...] Read more →

The Billesden Coplow Run

*note – Billesdon and Billesden have both been used to name the hunt.

BILLESDEN COPLOW POEM

[From “Reminiscences of the late Thomas Assheton Smith, Esq”]

The run celebrated in the following verses took place on the 24th of February, 1800, when Mr. Meynell hunted Leicestershire, and has since been [...] Read more →

Of Decorated Furniture

DECORATED or “sumptuous” furniture is not merely furniture that is expensive to buy, but that which has been elaborated with much thought, knowledge, and skill. Such furniture cannot be cheap, certainly, but the real cost of it is sometimes borne by the artist who produces rather than by the man who may [...] Read more →

Art Fraud

A la Russie, aux ânes et aux autres – by Chagall – 1911

Marc Chagall is one of the most forged artists on the planet. Mark Rothko fakes also abound. According to available news reports, the art market is littered with forgeries of their work. Some are even thought to be [...] Read more →

The Cremation of Sam McGee

Robert W. Service (b.1874, d.1958)

 

There are strange things done in the midnight sun By the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tales That would make your blood run cold; The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, But the queerest they ever did see Was that night [...] Read more →

Proper Wines to Serve with Food

Foie gras with Sauternes, Photo by Laurent Espitallier

As an Appetizer

Pale dry Sherry, with or without bitters, chilled or not. Plain or mixed Vermouth, with or without bitters. A dry cocktail.

With Oysters, Clams or Caviar

A dry flinty wine such as Chablis, Moselle, Champagne. Home Top of [...] Read more →

The Shirk – An Old but Familiar Phenomena

STORE MANAGEMENT—THE SHIRK.

THE shirk is a well-known specimen of the genus homo. His habitat is offices, stores, business establishments of all kinds. His habits are familiar to us, but a few words on the subject will not be amiss. The shirk usually displays activity when the boss is around, [...] Read more →

The Human Seasons

John Keats

Four Seasons fill the measure of the year; There are four seasons in the mind of man: He has his lusty spring, when fancy clear Takes in all beauty with an easy span; He has his Summer, when luxuriously Spring’s honied cud of youthful thoughts he loves To ruminate, and by such [...] Read more →

The Snipe

THE SNIPE, from the Shooter’s Guide by B. Thomas – 1811

AFTER having given a particular description of the woodcock, it will only. be necessary to observe, that the plumage and shape of the snipe is much the same ; and indeed its habits and manners sets bear a great [...] Read more →

Cup of Tea? To be or not to be

Twinings London – photo by Elisa.rolle

Is the tea in your cup genuine?

The fact is, had one been living in the early 19th Century, one might occasionally encounter a counterfeit cup of tea. Food adulterations to include added poisonings and suspect substitutions were a common problem in Europe at [...] Read more →

Antibiotic Properties of Jungle Soil

If ever it could be said that there is such a thing as miracle healing soil, Ivan Sanderson said it best in his 1965 book entitled Ivan Sanderson’s Book of Great Jungles.

Sanderson grew up with a natural inclination towards adventure and learning. He hailed from Scotland but spent much [...] Read more →

Cocktails and Canapés

From The How and When, An Authoritative reference reference guide to the origin, use and classification of the world’s choicest vintages and spirits by Hyman Gale and Gerald F. Marco. The Marco name is of a Chicago family that were involved in all aspects of the liquor business and ran Marco’s Bar [...] Read more →

Making Apple Cider Vinegar

The greatest cause of failure in vinegar making is carelessness on the part of the operator. Intelligent separation should be made of the process into its various steps from the beginning to end.

PRESSING THE JUICE

The apples should be clean and ripe. If not clean, undesirable fermentations [...] Read more →

Napoleon’s Pharmacists

NAPOLEON’S PHARMACISTS.

Of the making of books about Napoleon there is no end, and the centenary of his death (May 5) is not likely to pass without adding to the number, but a volume on Napoleon”s pharmacists still awaits treatment by the student in this field of historical research. There [...] Read more →

The Apparatus of the Stock Market

Sucker

The components of any given market place include both physical structures set up to accommodate trading, and participants to include buyers, sellers, brokers, agents, barkers, pushers, auctioneers, agencies, and propaganda outlets, and banking or transaction exchange facilities.

Markets are generally set up by sellers as it is in their [...] Read more →

Horn Measurement

Jul. 23, 1898 Forest and Stream, Pg. 65

Horn Measurements.

Editor Forest and Stream: “Record head.” How shamefully this term is being abused, especially in the past three years; or since the giant moose from Alaska made his appearance in public and placed all former records (so far as [...] Read more →

Sir Joshua Reynolds – Notes from Rome

“The Leda, in the Colonna palace, by Correggio, is dead-coloured white and black, with ultramarine in the shadow ; and over that is scumbled, thinly and smooth, a warmer tint,—I believe caput mortuum. The lights are mellow ; the shadows blueish, but mellow. The picture is painted on panel, in [...] Read more →

The American Museum in Britain – From Florida to Bath

Hernando de Soto (c1496-1542) Spanish explorer and his men torturing natives of Florida in his determination to find gold. Hand-coloured engraving. John Judkyn Memorial Collection, Freshford Manor, Bath

The print above depicts Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and his band of conquistadors torturing Florida natives in order to extract information on where [...] Read more →

The Crime of the Congo by Arthur Conan Doyle

 

Man looks at severed hand and foot….for refusing to climb a tree to cut rubber for King Leopold

Click here to read The Crime of the Congo by Arthur Conan Doyle

Victim of King Leopold of Belgium

Click on the link below for faster download.

The [...] Read more →

Fly Casting Instructions

It is a pity that the traditions and literature in praise of fly fishing have unconsciously hampered instead of expanded this graceful, effective sport. Many a sportsman has been anxious to share its joys, but appalled by the rapture of expression in describing its countless thrills and niceties he has been literally [...] Read more →

A Summer Memory

 

Here, where these low lush meadows lie, We wandered in the summer weather, When earth and air and arching sky, Blazed grandly, goldenly together.

And oft, in that same summertime, We sought and roamed these self-same meadows, When evening brought the curfew chime, And peopled field and fold with shadows.

I mind me [...] Read more →

Peach Brandy

PEACH BRANDY

2 gallons + 3 quarts boiled water 3 qts. peaches, extremely ripe 3 lemons, cut into sections 2 sm. pkgs. yeast 10 lbs. sugar 4 lbs. dark raisins

Place peaches, lemons and sugar in crock. Dissolve yeast in water (must NOT be to hot). Stir thoroughly. Stir daily for 7 days. Keep [...] Read more →

Commercial Tuna Salad Recipe

Tom Oates, aka Nabokov at en.wikipedia

No two commercial tuna salads are prepared by exactly the same formula, but they do not show the wide variety characteristic of herring salad. The recipe given here is typical. It is offered, however, only as a guide. The same recipe with minor variations to suit [...] Read more →

Chinese Duck Cooking – A Few Recipes

Chen Lin, Water fowl, in Cahill, James. Ge jiang shan se (Hills Beyond a River: Chinese Painting of the Yuan Dynasty, 1279-1368, Taiwan edition). Taipei: Shitou chubanshe fen youxian gongsi, 1994. pl. 4:13, p. 180. Collection of the National Palace Museum, Taipei. scroll, light colors on paper, 35.7 x 47.5 cm

 

The Hoochie Coochie Hex

From Dr. Marvel’s 1929 book entitled Hoodoo for the Common Man, we find his infamous Hoochie Coochie Hex.

What follows is a verbatim transcription of the text:

The Hoochie Coochie Hex should not be used in conjunction with any other Hexes. This can lead to [...] Read more →

A Survey of Palestine – 1945-1946

This massive volume gives one a real visual sense of what it was like running a highly efficient colonial operation in the early 20rh Century. It will also go a long way to help anyone wishing to understand modern political intrigue in the Middle-East.

Click here to read A Survey of Palestine [...] Read more →

A History of the Use of Arsenicals in Man

The arsenicals (compounds which contain the heavy metal element arsenic, As) have a long history of use in man – with both benevolent and malevolent intent. The name ‘arsenic’ is derived from the Greek word ‘arsenikon’ which means ‘potent'”. As early as 2000 BC, arsenic trioxide, obtained from smelting copper, was used [...] Read more →

Fruits of the Empire: Licorice Root and Juice

Liquorice, the roots of Glycirrhiza Glabra, a perennial plant, a native of the south of Europe, but cultivated to some extent in England, particularly at Mitcham, in Surrey.

Its root, which is its only valuable part, is long, fibrous, of a yellow colour, and when fresh, very juicy. [...] Read more →

Artist Methods

Como dome facade – Pliny the Elder – Photo by Wolfgang Sauber

Work in Progress…

THE VARNISHES.

Every substance may be considered as a varnish, which, when applied to the surface of a solid body, gives it a permanent lustre. Drying oil, thickened by exposure to the sun’s heat or [...] Read more →

Mrs. Beeton’s Poultry & Game – Choosing Poultry

To Choose Poultry.

When fresh, the eyes should be clear and not sunken, the feet limp and pliable, stiff dry feet being a sure indication that the bird has not been recently killed; the flesh should be firm and thick and if the bird is plucked there should be no [...] Read more →

Historic authenticity of the Spanish SAN FELIPE of 1690

San Felipe Model

Reprinted from FineModelShips.com with the kind permission of Dr. Michael Czytko

The SAN FELIPE is one of the most favoured ships among the ship model builders. The model is elegant, very beautifully designed, and makes a decorative piece of art to be displayed at home or in the [...] Read more →

The Hunt Saboteur

The Hunt Saboteur is a national disgrace barking out loud, black mask on her face get those dogs off, get them off she did yell until a swift kick from me mare her voice it did quell and sent the Hunt Saboteur scurrying up vale to the full cry of hounds drowning out her [...] Read more →

Producing and Harvesting Tobacco Seed

THE FIRST step in producing a satisfactory crop of tobacco is to use good seed that is true to type. The grower often can save his own seed to advantage, if he wants to.

Before topping is done, he should go over the tobacco field carefully to pick [...] Read more →

The Black Grouper or Jewfish.

 

Nov. 5. 1898 Forest and Stream Pg. 371-372

The Black Grouper or Jewfish.

New Smyrna, Fla., Oct. 21.—Editor Forest and Stream:

It is not generally known that the fish commonly called jewfish. warsaw and black grouper are frequently caught at the New Smyrna bridge [...] Read more →

Some Notes on American Ship Worms

July 9, 1898. Forest and Stream Pg. 25

Some Notes on American Ship-Worms.

[Read before the American Fishes Congress at Tampa.]

While we wish to preserve and protect most of the products of our waters, these creatures we would gladly obliterate from the realm of living things. For [...] Read more →

Books of Use to the International Art Collector

Hebborn Piranesi

Before meeting with an untimely death at the hand of an unknown assassin in Rome on January 11th, 1996, master forger Eric Hebborn put down on paper a wealth of knowledge about the art of forgery. In a book published posthumously in 1997, titled The Art Forger’s Handbook, Hebborn suggests [...] Read more →

Of the Room and Furniture

Crewe Hall Dining Room

 

THE transient tenure that most of us have in our dwellings, and the absorbing nature of the struggle that most of us have to make to win the necessary provisions of life, prevent our encouraging the manufacture of well-wrought furniture.

We mean to outgrow [...] Read more →

Indian Modes of Hunting – Musquash

Hudson Bay: Trappers, 1892. N’Talking Musquash.’ Fur Trappers Of The Hudson’S Bay Company Talking By A Fire. Engraving After A Drawing By Frederic Remington, 1892.

Indian Modes of Hunting.

IV.—Musquash.

In Canada and the United States, the killing of the little animal known under the several names of [...] Read more →

The Kalmar War

Wojna Kalmarska – 1611

The Kalmar War

From The Historian’s History of the World (In 25 Volumes) by Henry Smith William L.L.D. – Vol. XVI.(Scandinavia) Pg. 308-310

The northern part of the Scandinavian peninsula, as already noticed, had been peopled from the remotest times by nomadic tribes called Finns or Cwenas by [...] Read more →

Stoke Park – Granted by King Charles I

Stoke Park Pavillions

 

Stoke Park Pavilions, UK, view from A405 Road. photo by Wikipedia user Cj1340

 

From Wikipedia:

Stoke Park – the original house

Stoke park was the first English country house to display a Palladian plan: a central house with balancing pavilions linked by colonnades or [...] Read more →

A General Process for Making Wine

A General Process for Making Wine.

Gathering the Fruit Picking the Fruit Bruising the Fruit Vatting the Fruit Vinous Fermentation Drawing the Must Pressing the Must Casking the Must Spirituous Fermentation Racking the Wine Bottling and Corking the Wine Drinking the Wine

GATHERING THE FRUIT.

It is of considerable consequence [...] Read more →

Method of Restoration for Ancient Bronzes and other Alloys

Cannone nel castello di Haut-Koenigsbourg, photo by Gita Colmar

Without any preliminary cleaning the bronze object to be treated is hung as cathode into the 2 per cent. caustic soda solution and a low amperage direct current is applied. The object is suspended with soft copper wires and is completely immersed into [...] Read more →

The English Tradition of Woodworking

THE sense of a consecutive tradition has so completely faded out of English art that it has become difficult to realise the meaning of tradition, or the possibility of its ever again reviving; and this state of things is not improved by the fact that it is due to uncertainty of purpose, [...] Read more →

Guaranteed 6% Dividend for Life. Any takers?

Any prudent investor would jump at the chance to receive a guaranteed 6% dividend for life. So how does one get in on this action?

The fact of the matter is…YOU can’t…That is unless you are a shareholder of one of the twelve Federal Reserve Banks and the banks under [...] Read more →

King Lear

Edwin Austin Abbey. King Lear, Act I, Scene I (Cordelia’s Farewell) The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Dates: 1897-1898 Dimensions: Height: 137.8 cm (54.25 in.), Width: 323.2 cm (127.24 in.) Medium: Painting – oil on canvas

Home Top of Pg. Read more →

AB Bookman’s 1948 Guide to Describing Conditions

AB Bookman’s 1948 Guide to Describing Conditions:

As New is self-explanatory. It means that the book is in the state that it should have been in when it left the publisher. This is the equivalent of Mint condition in numismatics. Fine (F or FN) is As New but allowing for the normal effects of [...] Read more →

The Preparation of Marketable Vinegar

It is unnecessary to point out that low-grade fruit may often be used to advantage in the preparation of vinegar. This has always been true in the case of apples and may be true with other fruit, especially grapes. The use of grapes for wine making is an outlet which [...] Read more →

The Real Time Piece Gentleman and the Digital Watch Vault

Paul Thorpe, Brighton, U.K.

The YouTube watch collecting world is rather tight-knit and small, but growing, as watches became a highly coveted commodity during the recent world-wide pandemic and fueled an explosion of online watch channels.

There is one name many know, The Time Piece Gentleman. This name for me [...] Read more →

The Basics of Painting in the Building Trade

PAINTER-WORK, in the building trade. When work is painted one or both of two distinct ends is achieved, namely the preservation and the coloration of the material painted. The compounds used for painting—taking the word as meaning a thin protective or decorative coat—are very numerous, including oil-paint of many kinds, distemper, whitewash, [...] Read more →

Mudlark Regulations in the U.K.

Mudlarks of London

Mudlarking along the Thames River foreshore is controlled by the Port of London Authority.

According to the Port of London website, two type of permits are issued for those wishing to conduct metal detecting, digging, or searching activities.

Standard – allows digging to a depth of 7.5 [...] Read more →

Protecting Rare Books: How to Build a Silverfish Trap

Silverfish damage to book – photo by Micha L. Rieser

The beauty of hunting silverfish is that they are not the most clever of creatures in the insect kingdom.

Simply take a small clean glass jar and wrap it in masking tape. The masking tape gives the silverfish something to [...] Read more →

Ought King Leopold to be Hanged?

King Leopold Butcher of the Congo

For the somewhat startling suggestion in the heading of this interview, the missionary interviewed is in no way responsible. The credit of it, or, if you like, the discredit, belongs entirely to the editor of the Review, who, without dogmatism, wishes to pose the question as [...] Read more →

A Couple of Classic Tennessee Squirrel Recipes

FRIED SQUIRREL & BISCUIT GRAVY

3-4 Young Squirrels, dressed and cleaned 1 tsp. Morton Salt or to taste 1 tsp. McCormick Black Pepper or to taste 1 Cup Martha White All Purpose Flour 1 Cup Hog Lard – Preferably fresh from hog killing, or barbecue table

Cut up three to [...] Read more →

The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Wound Healing

The Effect of Magnetic Fields on Wound Healing Experimental Study and Review of the Literature

Steven L. Henry, MD, Matthew J. Concannon, MD, and Gloria J. Yee, MD Division of Plastic Surgery, University of Missouri Hospital & Clinics, Columbia, MO Published July 25, 2008

Objective: Magnets [...] Read more →

David Starkey: Britain’s Last Great Historian

Dr. David Starkey, the UK’s premiere historian, speaks to the modern and fleeting notion of “cancel culture”. Starkey’s brilliance is unparalleled and it has become quite obvious to the world’s remaining Western scholars willing to stand on intellectual integrity that a few so-called “Woke Intellectuals” most certainly cannot undermine [...] Read more →