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19. To Make Milk Punch
By Tomas Brown Recipes for milk punch are intriguingly elusive; in one early nineteenth century receipt book they are found nestled among the ‘German method of Blackening Leather’, ‘Dr Fullers Vapour for a Quincy’ and ‘Fine Red Ink’.[1] They present themselves to us pervaded by logistic and cultural incongruities. Are they recreational or medicinal? Hot…
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20. A 1546 Christmas List
By Ellie Doran (@Elena_Doran) The Mediceo del Principato is a collection of over four million letters from the Medici court, dating from 1537 to 1743.[1] The collection has survived ‘virtually intact’ and now occupies a mile of shelf space at the Archivio di Stato di Firenze (State Archives of Florence).These letters are fascinating sources, offering insight into the personal and…
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21. ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ and the Red Scare
by Lauren Walker Frank Capra’s 1946 film, It’s a Wonderful Life, is an established Christmas favourite. However, upon release, it received mixed reviews and came $525,000 short of breaking even at the box office. It was only after entering public domain in 1974 that it became the immensely popular and acclaimed classic it is today.…
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22. A Hand-Coloured Fashion Print
By Marlo Avidon (@MarloAvidon) In the nearly two centuries between the decline of the sixteenth-century costume book and the rise of the late eighteenth and nineteenth-century fashion plate, the late seventeenth century experienced a brief resurgence in printing images of contemporary dress. Created almost exclusively in France and either depicting ambiguous, unnamed mannequins known only…
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23. Perhaps the Most Famous New Year’s Gift in Science
By Floris Winckel It’s the season of gift-giving. Some of you might be cash-strapped or lost for ideas of what to give (or indeed both). In December 1610, Johannes Kepler, imperial mathematician to the Holy Roman Emperor and one of the most renowned intellectual figures of early modern Europe, found himself in exactly this position.…
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