Tag: 1500s

The river has three names. Ptolemy called it the Rha. The Russians called it the Volga. The Tartars called it Edel. Sebastian Münster knew all three, and he...

The document names the commander. It names his role. It describes his method of entry. It specifies the mechanism: rivers dried up, bronze gates...

Jacques de Vaulx, Les premières Œuvres, 1584. Southern hemisphere projection centred on the Antarctic Pole. The landmass labelled Australle Montz (Australia Mountains) is rendered...

In 1912, a Polish book dealer named Wilfrid Voynich was working through a collection of old manuscripts at the Villa Mondragone, a Jesuit college...

We all know Humpty Dumpty. The rhyme is so familiar that it rarely invites discomfort: a figure perched on a wall, a fall, a...