These vultures remind me a bit on an old lady, carrying her feather boa on a family celebration and watching deprecatingly the young people around who are dancing and celebrating life. nevertheless, somehow I like these birds so much! :-D

The southern beginning of the Kärnter Straße (in English: "Carinthian Street"), with the Vienna State Opera on the left and the Palais Todesco on the right, city of Vienna, Austria

 

Some background information:

 

The Kärntner Straße is one of the most famous streets in the center of Vienna. It begins near the Vienna Ring Road on Karlsplatz, leading past the Vienna State Opera and north to Stephansplatz in the center of Vienna. At Stephansplatz, the Kärnter Straße meets the Graben. Together with the Graben and Kohlmarkt, the Kärntner Straße forms Vienna's so-called "Golden U" of inner-city shopping streets, which offer upscale stores and are pedestrian zones.

 

The Kärntner Straße already existed in Vienna during the city's time as a Roman settlement. In the Middle Ages, it connected the city center with the city wall's Carinthian Gate, which stood near today's Vienna State Opera. Its extension was an important connection to port cities such as Venice and Trieste, and the street itself was an important commercial location. The name of the street refers to the southern Austrian state of Carinthia, which lies in the direction of the aforementioned port cities.

 

During the 19th century, the Kärnter Straße was widened from 9 to 17 meters, which resulted in many new historicist buildings being erected, among them several palaces, many of which have endured until the present day. After the old city walls were demolished to be replaced by the Vienna Ring Road, the Kärntner Straße was lengthened, now leading south to Karlsplatz instead of stopping at the city gate.

 

Representative department stores and an arcaded shopping gallery were built on the street. The Kärntner Straße experienced an economic golden age, hosting several distinguished stores and hotels and being one of the Viennese high society's favored places. During the building of the Vienna metro in 1974, the Kärntner Strasse was redesigned as a pedestrian zone. Today, the street is one of the city's major shopping streets, being home to several upscale hotels, stores and coffee houses. Furthermore, it has also become a major tourism hotspot.

 

The Vienna State Opera (in German: "Wiener Staatsoper") is a historic opera in the city of Vienna. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans of the architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg, Eduard van der Nüll and Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" (in German: "Wiener Hofoper") in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria, but became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921.

 

The building, however, was not particularly well-received by the public, as its construction was overshadowed by an unexpected issue: the level of the Ringstraße in front of the building was raised by a metre after construction had already commenced. Hence the new opera house was likened to "a sunken treasure chest" and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 in the Battle of Königgrätz, was deprecatingly referred to as "the Königgrätz of architecture".

 

Today, the Wiener Staatsoper is one of the busiest opera houses in the world producing 50 to 60 operas in a repertory system per year and ten ballet productions in more than 350 performances. It is quite common to find a different opera being produced each day of a week. The Staatsoper employs over 1,000 people. As of 2008, the annual operating budget of the Staatsoper was 100 million euros with slightly more than 50% as a state subsidy.

 

The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are also recruited from the Vienna State Opera's orchestra. Beyond that the building is the home of the Vienna State Ballet and hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season. At this event, the auditorium of the Vienna State Opera is turned into a large ballroom. The ball is one of the highlights of the Viennese carnival season and a venue of the Viennese society resp. all people from Vienna and elsewhere, who consider themselves being very important. Sometimes, the Opera Ball gives occastion to protests, in which the self-proclaimed "elite" is being critized for being so reactionary and conceited, due to its oppulent display of wealth.

 

Vienna is the capital, most populous city, and also one of nine states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million residents. Its larger metropolitan area has even a population of nearly 2.9 million, representing almost one-third of the country's total number of inhabitants. Vienna is the cultural, economic, and political center of Austria, the fifth-largest city by population in the European Union, and the most populous of the cities on the river Danube.

 

In 2001, Vienna‘s city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But in July 2017, it was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger, due to a high-rise project on the Heumarkt (in English: "Hay Market"). A variety of architectural styles have been preserved in Vienna, including Romanesque and Baroque architecture. And the Vienna Secession, an art movement closely related to Art Nouveau, has left many architectural traces in Vienna too.

 

Vienna has a long-standing tradition of art and culture, encompassing theater, opera, classical music, and fine arts. The city is renowned for its rich musical heritage, having been home to many celebrated classical composers, including Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner, Haydn, Mahler, Mozart, Schoenberg, Schubert, Johann Strauss I, and Johann Strauss II.

 

The Austrian capital is home to three opera houses and numerous museums, some of them focussing on the paintings of old masters or modern painters. But Vienna is also famous for its delicacies, like "Wiener Schnitzel", "Apfelstrudel" as well as several kinds of specialty coffees and sausages. Hence, the city is a great destination for a multi-day cultural trip and gourmet tour.

Terror struck the citizens of Alegab, Bialya today when a woman calling herself “Insect Queen” struck the central downtown area with a host of what seemed to be large killer bees. These bees, some estimated to be the size of a small horse, caused terror and havoc yesterday morning on the bustling Alegab streets. In the chaos, visiting American reporter and author of the book “My Experiences with Gotham Cults”, Jack Ryder, went missing. Luckily, newly formed United States government agency Task Force X was dispatched to handle the situation. Recently assembled by the US special forces branch, Task Force X, the self-deprecatingly self-titled ‘Suicide Squad’, was formed to handle bizarre international incidents just as this. In a matter of hours, The Task Force had eliminated the bees, captured “Insect Queen”, and miraculously, rescued Jack Ryder.

 

About the incident and their success, Task Force X teammate and noted Physicist Jess Bright had this to say:

“Now, I may not know much about the Clade Anthophilia, Doctor Grace has more expertise in that field, but a bee is a bee no matter the size. We simply created and sprayed them down with a mild insecticide, which was specially engineered by myself to cause no harm to human beings, and removed their stingers. It was a simple matter of science and diligence.”

 

--Excerpt from a newscast presented by Ronald Troupe, September 2018.

 

----------------------------------------

Real short issue today, stand by for longer transmission.

This wild thing is a prickly beauty!

But someome call it deprecatingly "weed" :-(

"The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper, IPA: [ˈviːnɐ ˈʃtaːt͡sˌʔoːpɐ]) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, and designs by Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" (Wiener Hofoper) in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the Vienna Court Opera, the original construction site chosen and paid for by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.

 

The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from the Vienna State Opera's orchestra. The building is also the home of the Vienna State Ballet, and it hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season.

 

The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.

 

The Ministry of the Interior had commissioned a number of reports into the availability of certain building materials, with the result that stones long not seen in Vienna were used, such as Wöllersdorfer Stein, for plinths and free-standing, simply-divided buttresses, the famously hard stone from Kaisersteinbruch, whose colour was more appropriate than that of Kelheimerstein, for more lushly decorated parts. The somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein (also known as Solnhof Plattenstein) was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, and stone from Jois was used as a cheaper alternative to the Kaiserstein. The staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble.

 

The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building. Due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour: Eduard Hauser (still in existence today), Anton Wasserburger and Moritz Pranter. The foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863.

 

The building was, however, not very popular with the public. On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the Opernringhof). Moreover, because the level of Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to "a sunken treasure chest" and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the Battle of Königgrätz), was deprecatingly referred to as "the 'Königgrätz' of architecture". Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building. The opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on 25 May 1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) were present.

 

Towards the end of World War II, on 12 March 1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes. The State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper.

 

Lengthy discussion took place about whether the opera house should be restored to its original state on its original site, or whether it should be completely demolished and rebuilt, either on the same location or on a different site. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the opera house as it had been, and the main restoration experts involved were Ernst Kolb (1948–1952) and Udo Illig (1953–1956).

 

The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have a functioning opera house again by 1949. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern. The submissions had ranged from a complete restructuring of the auditorium to a replica of the original design; Boltenstern decided on a design similar to the original with some modernisation in keeping with the design of the 1950s. In order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre (stalls) was reduced, and the fourth gallery, which had been fitted with columns, was restructured so as not to need columns. The façade, entrance hall and the "Schwind" foyer were restored and remain in their original style.

 

In the meantime, the opera company, which had at first been performing in the Volksoper, had moved rehearsals and performances to Theater an der Wien, where, on 1 May 1945, after the liberation and re-independence of Austria from the Nazis, the first performances were given. In 1947, the company went on tour to London.

 

Due to the appalling conditions at Theater an der Wien, the opera company leadership tried to raise significant quantities of money to speed up reconstruction of the original opera house. Many private donations were made, as well as donations of building material from the Soviets, who were very interested in the rebuilding of the opera. The mayor of Vienna had receptacles placed in many sites around Vienna for people to donate coins only. In this way, everyone in Vienna could say they had participated in the reconstruction and feel pride in considering themselves part owners.

 

However, in 1949, there was only a temporary roof on the Staatsoper, as construction work continued. It was not until 5 November 1955, after the Austrian State Treaty, that the Staatsoper could be reopened with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio, conducted by Karl Böhm. The American Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, was present. The state broadcaster ORF used the occasion to make its first live broadcast, at a time when there were only c. 800 televiewers in the whole of Austria. The new auditorium had a reduced capacity of about 2,276, including 567 standing room places. The ensemble, which had remained unified until the opening, crumbled in the following years, and slowly an international ensemble formed.

 

In 1945, the Wiener Mozart-Ensemble was formed, which put on world-renowned guest performances and became known particularly for its singing and playing culture. The Austrian conductor Josef Krips was the founder and mentor, who had only survived the Nazi era (given his Jewish heritage) thanks to luck and help from colleagues. At the end of the war, Krips started the renovation of the Staatoper, and was able to implement his aesthetic principles, including the departure from the Romantic Mozart ideal with a voluminous orchestral sound. Instead, qualities more associated with chamber music were featured, as well as a clearer, lighter sound, which would later come to be known as "typically Viennese". Singers who worked with Krips during this time were Erich Kunz, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Wilma Lipp, among others.

 

As early as 1947, the Mozart-Ensemble was playing guest performances at the Royal Opera House in London, with Mozart's Don Giovanni. Richard Tauber, who had fled from the Nazis, sang Don Ottavio; three months later he died, and was remembered for singing with "half a lung" in order to fulfil his dream, many other artists became associated with the Mozart-Ensemble, for example Karl Böhm, but their role was still greatly peripheral, in a straightforward or assisting role. This was the beginning of Krips' worldwide career, which would take him to the most prominent houses in the world. Until his death in 1974, Krips was regarded as one of the most important Maestri (conductors/music directors) of the Staatsoper.

 

On 1 July 1998, a historical broadcast took place, as Austria undertook its first presidency of the European Union. Fidelio was broadcast live from the Vienna State Opera to the 15 capital cities of the EU.

 

Vienna (/viˈɛnə/; German: Wien [viːn]) is the national capital, largest city, and one of nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's most populous city, with about 1.9 million inhabitants (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of the country's population), and its cultural, economic, and political center. It is the 6th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union.

 

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Vienna was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitants. Today, it is the second-largest German-speaking city after Berlin. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations, OPEC and the OSCE. The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In July 2017 it was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger. Additionally to being known as the "City of Music" due to its musical legacy, as many famous classical musicians such as Beethoven and Mozart who called Vienna home. Vienna is also said to be the "City of Dreams", because of it being home to the world's first psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Vienna's ancestral roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city. It is well known for having played a pivotal role as a leading European music center, from the age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic center of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque palaces and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.

 

Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first (in a tie with Vancouver and San Francisco) for the world's most livable cities. Between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne. In 2018, it replaced Melbourne as the number one spot and continued as the first in 2019. For ten consecutive years (2009–2019), the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey of hundreds of cities around the world. Monocle's 2015 "Quality of Life Survey" ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world "to make a base within." The UN-Habitat classified Vienna as the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. The city was ranked 1st globally for its culture of innovation in 2007 and 2008, and sixth globally (out of 256 cities) in the 2014 Innovation Cities Index, which analyzed 162 indicators in covering three areas: culture, infrastructure, and markets. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is often used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the world's number-one destination for international congresses and conventions. It attracts over 6.8 million tourists a year.

 

Evidence has been found of continuous habitation in the Vienna area since 500 BC, when Celts settled the site on the Danube. In 15 BC the Romans fortified the frontier city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north.

 

Close ties with other Celtic peoples continued through the ages. The Irish monk Saint Colman (or Koloman, Irish Colmán, derived from colm "dove") is buried in Melk Abbey and Saint Fergil (Virgil the Geometer) served as Bishop of Salzburg for forty years. Irish Benedictines founded twelfth-century monastic settlements; evidence of these ties persists in the form of Vienna's great Schottenstift monastery (Scots Abbey), once home to many Irish monks.

 

In 976, Leopold I of Babenberg became count of the Eastern March, a district centered on the Danube on the eastern frontier of Bavaria. This initial district grew into the duchy of Austria. Each succeeding Babenberg ruler expanded the march east along the Danube, eventually encompassing Vienna and the lands immediately east. In 1145 Duke Henry II Jasomirgott moved the Babenberg family residence from Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria to Vienna. From that time, Vienna remained the center of the Babenberg dynasty.

 

In 1440 Vienna became the resident city of the Habsburg dynasty. It eventually grew to become the de facto capital of the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) in 1437 and a cultural center for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. Hungary occupied the city between 1485 and 1490.

 

In the 16th and 17th centuries Christian forces twice stopped Ottoman armies outside Vienna, in the 1529 Siege of Vienna and the 1683 Battle of Vienna. The Great Plague of Vienna ravaged the city in 1679, killing nearly a third of its population.

 

In 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars, Vienna became the capital of the newly formed Austrian Empire. The city continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Vienna remained the capital of what became the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city functioned as a center of classical music, for which the title of the First Viennese School (Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven) is sometimes applied.

 

During the latter half of the 19th century, Vienna developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße, a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and a major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically. In 1918, after World War I, Vienna became capital of the Republic of German-Austria, and then in 1919 of the First Republic of Austria.

 

From the late-19th century to 1938 the city remained a center of high culture and of modernism. A world capital of music, Vienna played host to composers such as Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler and Richard Strauss. The city's cultural contributions in the first half of the 20th century included, among many, the Vienna Secession movement in art, psychoanalysis, the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern), the architecture of Adolf Loos and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. In 1913 Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin all lived within a few kilometres of each other in central Vienna, some of them becoming regulars at the same coffeehouses. Austrians came to regard Vienna as a center of socialist politics, sometimes referred to as "Red Vienna"(“Das rote Wien”). In the Austrian Civil War of 1934 Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss sent the Austrian Army to shell civilian housing such as the Karl Marx-Hof occupied by the socialist militia." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

"The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper, IPA: [ˈviːnɐ ˈʃtaːt͡sˌʔoːpɐ]) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, and designs by Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" (Wiener Hofoper) in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the Vienna Court Opera, the original construction site chosen and paid for by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.

 

The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from the Vienna State Opera's orchestra. The building is also the home of the Vienna State Ballet, and it hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season.

 

The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.

 

The Ministry of the Interior had commissioned a number of reports into the availability of certain building materials, with the result that stones long not seen in Vienna were used, such as Wöllersdorfer Stein, for plinths and free-standing, simply-divided buttresses, the famously hard stone from Kaisersteinbruch, whose colour was more appropriate than that of Kelheimerstein, for more lushly decorated parts. The somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein (also known as Solnhof Plattenstein) was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, and stone from Jois was used as a cheaper alternative to the Kaiserstein. The staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble.

 

The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building. Due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour: Eduard Hauser (still in existence today), Anton Wasserburger and Moritz Pranter. The foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863.

 

The building was, however, not very popular with the public. On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the Opernringhof). Moreover, because the level of Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to "a sunken treasure chest" and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the Battle of Königgrätz), was deprecatingly referred to as "the 'Königgrätz' of architecture". Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building. The opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on 25 May 1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) were present.

 

Towards the end of World War II, on 12 March 1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes. The State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper.

 

Lengthy discussion took place about whether the opera house should be restored to its original state on its original site, or whether it should be completely demolished and rebuilt, either on the same location or on a different site. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the opera house as it had been, and the main restoration experts involved were Ernst Kolb (1948–1952) and Udo Illig (1953–1956).

 

The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have a functioning opera house again by 1949. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern. The submissions had ranged from a complete restructuring of the auditorium to a replica of the original design; Boltenstern decided on a design similar to the original with some modernisation in keeping with the design of the 1950s. In order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre (stalls) was reduced, and the fourth gallery, which had been fitted with columns, was restructured so as not to need columns. The façade, entrance hall and the "Schwind" foyer were restored and remain in their original style.

 

In the meantime, the opera company, which had at first been performing in the Volksoper, had moved rehearsals and performances to Theater an der Wien, where, on 1 May 1945, after the liberation and re-independence of Austria from the Nazis, the first performances were given. In 1947, the company went on tour to London.

 

Due to the appalling conditions at Theater an der Wien, the opera company leadership tried to raise significant quantities of money to speed up reconstruction of the original opera house. Many private donations were made, as well as donations of building material from the Soviets, who were very interested in the rebuilding of the opera. The mayor of Vienna had receptacles placed in many sites around Vienna for people to donate coins only. In this way, everyone in Vienna could say they had participated in the reconstruction and feel pride in considering themselves part owners.

 

However, in 1949, there was only a temporary roof on the Staatsoper, as construction work continued. It was not until 5 November 1955, after the Austrian State Treaty, that the Staatsoper could be reopened with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio, conducted by Karl Böhm. The American Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, was present. The state broadcaster ORF used the occasion to make its first live broadcast, at a time when there were only c. 800 televiewers in the whole of Austria. The new auditorium had a reduced capacity of about 2,276, including 567 standing room places. The ensemble, which had remained unified until the opening, crumbled in the following years, and slowly an international ensemble formed.

 

In 1945, the Wiener Mozart-Ensemble was formed, which put on world-renowned guest performances and became known particularly for its singing and playing culture. The Austrian conductor Josef Krips was the founder and mentor, who had only survived the Nazi era (given his Jewish heritage) thanks to luck and help from colleagues. At the end of the war, Krips started the renovation of the Staatoper, and was able to implement his aesthetic principles, including the departure from the Romantic Mozart ideal with a voluminous orchestral sound. Instead, qualities more associated with chamber music were featured, as well as a clearer, lighter sound, which would later come to be known as "typically Viennese". Singers who worked with Krips during this time were Erich Kunz, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Wilma Lipp, among others.

 

As early as 1947, the Mozart-Ensemble was playing guest performances at the Royal Opera House in London, with Mozart's Don Giovanni. Richard Tauber, who had fled from the Nazis, sang Don Ottavio; three months later he died, and was remembered for singing with "half a lung" in order to fulfil his dream, many other artists became associated with the Mozart-Ensemble, for example Karl Böhm, but their role was still greatly peripheral, in a straightforward or assisting role. This was the beginning of Krips' worldwide career, which would take him to the most prominent houses in the world. Until his death in 1974, Krips was regarded as one of the most important Maestri (conductors/music directors) of the Staatsoper.

 

On 1 July 1998, a historical broadcast took place, as Austria undertook its first presidency of the European Union. Fidelio was broadcast live from the Vienna State Opera to the 15 capital cities of the EU.

 

Vienna (/viˈɛnə/; German: Wien [viːn]) is the national capital, largest city, and one of nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's most populous city, with about 1.9 million inhabitants (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of the country's population), and its cultural, economic, and political center. It is the 6th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union.

 

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Vienna was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitants. Today, it is the second-largest German-speaking city after Berlin. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations, OPEC and the OSCE. The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In July 2017 it was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger. Additionally to being known as the "City of Music" due to its musical legacy, as many famous classical musicians such as Beethoven and Mozart who called Vienna home. Vienna is also said to be the "City of Dreams", because of it being home to the world's first psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Vienna's ancestral roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city. It is well known for having played a pivotal role as a leading European music center, from the age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic center of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque palaces and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.

 

Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first (in a tie with Vancouver and San Francisco) for the world's most livable cities. Between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne. In 2018, it replaced Melbourne as the number one spot and continued as the first in 2019. For ten consecutive years (2009–2019), the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey of hundreds of cities around the world. Monocle's 2015 "Quality of Life Survey" ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world "to make a base within." The UN-Habitat classified Vienna as the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. The city was ranked 1st globally for its culture of innovation in 2007 and 2008, and sixth globally (out of 256 cities) in the 2014 Innovation Cities Index, which analyzed 162 indicators in covering three areas: culture, infrastructure, and markets. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is often used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the world's number-one destination for international congresses and conventions. It attracts over 6.8 million tourists a year.

 

Evidence has been found of continuous habitation in the Vienna area since 500 BC, when Celts settled the site on the Danube. In 15 BC the Romans fortified the frontier city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north.

 

Close ties with other Celtic peoples continued through the ages. The Irish monk Saint Colman (or Koloman, Irish Colmán, derived from colm "dove") is buried in Melk Abbey and Saint Fergil (Virgil the Geometer) served as Bishop of Salzburg for forty years. Irish Benedictines founded twelfth-century monastic settlements; evidence of these ties persists in the form of Vienna's great Schottenstift monastery (Scots Abbey), once home to many Irish monks.

 

In 976, Leopold I of Babenberg became count of the Eastern March, a district centered on the Danube on the eastern frontier of Bavaria. This initial district grew into the duchy of Austria. Each succeeding Babenberg ruler expanded the march east along the Danube, eventually encompassing Vienna and the lands immediately east. In 1145 Duke Henry II Jasomirgott moved the Babenberg family residence from Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria to Vienna. From that time, Vienna remained the center of the Babenberg dynasty.

 

In 1440 Vienna became the resident city of the Habsburg dynasty. It eventually grew to become the de facto capital of the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) in 1437 and a cultural center for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. Hungary occupied the city between 1485 and 1490.

 

In the 16th and 17th centuries Christian forces twice stopped Ottoman armies outside Vienna, in the 1529 Siege of Vienna and the 1683 Battle of Vienna. The Great Plague of Vienna ravaged the city in 1679, killing nearly a third of its population.

 

In 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars, Vienna became the capital of the newly formed Austrian Empire. The city continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Vienna remained the capital of what became the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city functioned as a center of classical music, for which the title of the First Viennese School (Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven) is sometimes applied.

 

During the latter half of the 19th century, Vienna developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße, a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and a major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically. In 1918, after World War I, Vienna became capital of the Republic of German-Austria, and then in 1919 of the First Republic of Austria.

 

From the late-19th century to 1938 the city remained a center of high culture and of modernism. A world capital of music, Vienna played host to composers such as Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler and Richard Strauss. The city's cultural contributions in the first half of the 20th century included, among many, the Vienna Secession movement in art, psychoanalysis, the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern), the architecture of Adolf Loos and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. In 1913 Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin all lived within a few kilometres of each other in central Vienna, some of them becoming regulars at the same coffeehouses. Austrians came to regard Vienna as a center of socialist politics, sometimes referred to as "Red Vienna"(“Das rote Wien”). In the Austrian Civil War of 1934 Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss sent the Austrian Army to shell civilian housing such as the Karl Marx-Hof occupied by the socialist militia." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

"The Vienna State Opera (German: Wiener Staatsoper, IPA: [ˈviːnɐ ˈʃtaːt͡sˌʔoːpɐ]) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll, and designs by Josef Hlávka. The opera house was inaugurated as the "Vienna Court Opera" (Wiener Hofoper) in the presence of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It became known by its current name after the establishment of the First Austrian Republic in 1921. The Vienna State Opera is the successor of the Vienna Court Opera, the original construction site chosen and paid for by Emperor Franz Joseph in 1861.

 

The members of the Vienna Philharmonic are recruited from the Vienna State Opera's orchestra. The building is also the home of the Vienna State Ballet, and it hosts the annual Vienna Opera Ball during the carnival season.

 

The opera house was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstrasse commissioned by the Viennese "city expansion fund". Work commenced on the house in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nüll. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style by the renowned Czech architect and contractor Josef Hlávka.

 

The Ministry of the Interior had commissioned a number of reports into the availability of certain building materials, with the result that stones long not seen in Vienna were used, such as Wöllersdorfer Stein, for plinths and free-standing, simply-divided buttresses, the famously hard stone from Kaisersteinbruch, whose colour was more appropriate than that of Kelheimerstein, for more lushly decorated parts. The somewhat coarser-grained Kelheimerstein (also known as Solnhof Plattenstein) was intended as the main stone to be used in the building of the opera house, but the necessary quantity was not deliverable. Breitenbrunner stone was suggested as a substitute for the Kelheimer stone, and stone from Jois was used as a cheaper alternative to the Kaiserstein. The staircases were constructed from polished Kaiserstein, while most of the rest of the interior was decorated with varieties of marble.

 

The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building. Due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. Three Viennese masonry companies were employed to supply enough masonry labour: Eduard Hauser (still in existence today), Anton Wasserburger and Moritz Pranter. The foundation stone was laid on 20 May 1863.

 

The building was, however, not very popular with the public. On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the Opernringhof). Moreover, because the level of Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to "a sunken treasure chest" and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the Battle of Königgrätz), was deprecatingly referred to as "the 'Königgrätz' of architecture". Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg died from tuberculosis so neither architect saw the completion of the building. The opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on 25 May 1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) were present.

 

Towards the end of World War II, on 12 March 1945, the opera was set alight by an American bombardment. The front section, which had been walled off as a precaution, remained intact including the foyer, with frescoes by Moritz von Schwind, the main stairways, the vestibule and the tea room. The auditorium and stage were, however, destroyed by flames as well as almost the entire décor and props for more than 120 operas with around 150,000 costumes. The State Opera was temporarily housed at the Theater an der Wien and at the Vienna Volksoper.

 

Lengthy discussion took place about whether the opera house should be restored to its original state on its original site, or whether it should be completely demolished and rebuilt, either on the same location or on a different site. Eventually the decision was made to rebuild the opera house as it had been, and the main restoration experts involved were Ernst Kolb (1948–1952) and Udo Illig (1953–1956).

 

The Austrian Federal Chancellor Leopold Figl made the decision in 1946 to have a functioning opera house again by 1949. An architectural competition was announced, which was won by Erich Boltenstern. The submissions had ranged from a complete restructuring of the auditorium to a replica of the original design; Boltenstern decided on a design similar to the original with some modernisation in keeping with the design of the 1950s. In order to achieve a good acoustic, wood was the favoured building material, at the advice of, among others, Arturo Toscanini. In addition, the number of seats in the parterre (stalls) was reduced, and the fourth gallery, which had been fitted with columns, was restructured so as not to need columns. The façade, entrance hall and the "Schwind" foyer were restored and remain in their original style.

 

In the meantime, the opera company, which had at first been performing in the Volksoper, had moved rehearsals and performances to Theater an der Wien, where, on 1 May 1945, after the liberation and re-independence of Austria from the Nazis, the first performances were given. In 1947, the company went on tour to London.

 

Due to the appalling conditions at Theater an der Wien, the opera company leadership tried to raise significant quantities of money to speed up reconstruction of the original opera house. Many private donations were made, as well as donations of building material from the Soviets, who were very interested in the rebuilding of the opera. The mayor of Vienna had receptacles placed in many sites around Vienna for people to donate coins only. In this way, everyone in Vienna could say they had participated in the reconstruction and feel pride in considering themselves part owners.

 

However, in 1949, there was only a temporary roof on the Staatsoper, as construction work continued. It was not until 5 November 1955, after the Austrian State Treaty, that the Staatsoper could be reopened with a performance of Beethoven's Fidelio, conducted by Karl Böhm. The American Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles, was present. The state broadcaster ORF used the occasion to make its first live broadcast, at a time when there were only c. 800 televiewers in the whole of Austria. The new auditorium had a reduced capacity of about 2,276, including 567 standing room places. The ensemble, which had remained unified until the opening, crumbled in the following years, and slowly an international ensemble formed.

 

In 1945, the Wiener Mozart-Ensemble was formed, which put on world-renowned guest performances and became known particularly for its singing and playing culture. The Austrian conductor Josef Krips was the founder and mentor, who had only survived the Nazi era (given his Jewish heritage) thanks to luck and help from colleagues. At the end of the war, Krips started the renovation of the Staatoper, and was able to implement his aesthetic principles, including the departure from the Romantic Mozart ideal with a voluminous orchestral sound. Instead, qualities more associated with chamber music were featured, as well as a clearer, lighter sound, which would later come to be known as "typically Viennese". Singers who worked with Krips during this time were Erich Kunz, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Wilma Lipp, among others.

 

As early as 1947, the Mozart-Ensemble was playing guest performances at the Royal Opera House in London, with Mozart's Don Giovanni. Richard Tauber, who had fled from the Nazis, sang Don Ottavio; three months later he died, and was remembered for singing with "half a lung" in order to fulfil his dream, many other artists became associated with the Mozart-Ensemble, for example Karl Böhm, but their role was still greatly peripheral, in a straightforward or assisting role. This was the beginning of Krips' worldwide career, which would take him to the most prominent houses in the world. Until his death in 1974, Krips was regarded as one of the most important Maestri (conductors/music directors) of the Staatsoper.

 

On 1 July 1998, a historical broadcast took place, as Austria undertook its first presidency of the European Union. Fidelio was broadcast live from the Vienna State Opera to the 15 capital cities of the EU.

 

Vienna (/viˈɛnə/; German: Wien [viːn]) is the national capital, largest city, and one of nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's most populous city, with about 1.9 million inhabitants (2.6 million within the metropolitan area, nearly one third of the country's population), and its cultural, economic, and political center. It is the 6th-largest city by population within city limits in the European Union.

 

Until the beginning of the 20th century, Vienna was the largest German-speaking city in the world, and before the splitting of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city had 2 million inhabitants. Today, it is the second-largest German-speaking city after Berlin. Vienna is host to many major international organizations, including the United Nations, OPEC and the OSCE. The city is located in the eastern part of Austria and is close to the borders of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. These regions work together in a European Centrope border region. Along with nearby Bratislava, Vienna forms a metropolitan region with 3 million inhabitants. In 2001, the city center was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In July 2017 it was moved to the list of World Heritage in Danger. Additionally to being known as the "City of Music" due to its musical legacy, as many famous classical musicians such as Beethoven and Mozart who called Vienna home. Vienna is also said to be the "City of Dreams", because of it being home to the world's first psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. Vienna's ancestral roots lie in early Celtic and Roman settlements that transformed into a Medieval and Baroque city. It is well known for having played a pivotal role as a leading European music center, from the age of Viennese Classicism through the early part of the 20th century. The historic center of Vienna is rich in architectural ensembles, including Baroque palaces and gardens, and the late-19th-century Ringstraße lined with grand buildings, monuments and parks.

 

Vienna is known for its high quality of life. In a 2005 study of 127 world cities, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked the city first (in a tie with Vancouver and San Francisco) for the world's most livable cities. Between 2011 and 2015, Vienna was ranked second, behind Melbourne. In 2018, it replaced Melbourne as the number one spot and continued as the first in 2019. For ten consecutive years (2009–2019), the human-resource-consulting firm Mercer ranked Vienna first in its annual "Quality of Living" survey of hundreds of cities around the world. Monocle's 2015 "Quality of Life Survey" ranked Vienna second on a list of the top 25 cities in the world "to make a base within." The UN-Habitat classified Vienna as the most prosperous city in the world in 2012/2013. The city was ranked 1st globally for its culture of innovation in 2007 and 2008, and sixth globally (out of 256 cities) in the 2014 Innovation Cities Index, which analyzed 162 indicators in covering three areas: culture, infrastructure, and markets. Vienna regularly hosts urban planning conferences and is often used as a case study by urban planners. Between 2005 and 2010, Vienna was the world's number-one destination for international congresses and conventions. It attracts over 6.8 million tourists a year.

 

Evidence has been found of continuous habitation in the Vienna area since 500 BC, when Celts settled the site on the Danube. In 15 BC the Romans fortified the frontier city they called Vindobona to guard the empire against Germanic tribes to the north.

 

Close ties with other Celtic peoples continued through the ages. The Irish monk Saint Colman (or Koloman, Irish Colmán, derived from colm "dove") is buried in Melk Abbey and Saint Fergil (Virgil the Geometer) served as Bishop of Salzburg for forty years. Irish Benedictines founded twelfth-century monastic settlements; evidence of these ties persists in the form of Vienna's great Schottenstift monastery (Scots Abbey), once home to many Irish monks.

 

In 976, Leopold I of Babenberg became count of the Eastern March, a district centered on the Danube on the eastern frontier of Bavaria. This initial district grew into the duchy of Austria. Each succeeding Babenberg ruler expanded the march east along the Danube, eventually encompassing Vienna and the lands immediately east. In 1145 Duke Henry II Jasomirgott moved the Babenberg family residence from Klosterneuburg in Lower Austria to Vienna. From that time, Vienna remained the center of the Babenberg dynasty.

 

In 1440 Vienna became the resident city of the Habsburg dynasty. It eventually grew to become the de facto capital of the Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) in 1437 and a cultural center for arts and science, music and fine cuisine. Hungary occupied the city between 1485 and 1490.

 

In the 16th and 17th centuries Christian forces twice stopped Ottoman armies outside Vienna, in the 1529 Siege of Vienna and the 1683 Battle of Vienna. The Great Plague of Vienna ravaged the city in 1679, killing nearly a third of its population.

 

In 1804, during the Napoleonic Wars, Vienna became the capital of the newly formed Austrian Empire. The city continued to play a major role in European and world politics, including hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Vienna remained the capital of what became the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The city functioned as a center of classical music, for which the title of the First Viennese School (Haydn/Mozart/Beethoven) is sometimes applied.

 

During the latter half of the 19th century, Vienna developed what had previously been the bastions and glacis into the Ringstraße, a new boulevard surrounding the historical town and a major prestige project. Former suburbs were incorporated, and the city of Vienna grew dramatically. In 1918, after World War I, Vienna became capital of the Republic of German-Austria, and then in 1919 of the First Republic of Austria.

 

From the late-19th century to 1938 the city remained a center of high culture and of modernism. A world capital of music, Vienna played host to composers such as Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler and Richard Strauss. The city's cultural contributions in the first half of the 20th century included, among many, the Vienna Secession movement in art, psychoanalysis, the Second Viennese School (Schoenberg, Berg, Webern), the architecture of Adolf Loos and the philosophy of Ludwig Wittgenstein and the Vienna Circle. In 1913 Adolf Hitler, Leon Trotsky, Josip Broz Tito, Sigmund Freud and Joseph Stalin all lived within a few kilometres of each other in central Vienna, some of them becoming regulars at the same coffeehouses. Austrians came to regard Vienna as a center of socialist politics, sometimes referred to as "Red Vienna"(“Das rote Wien”). In the Austrian Civil War of 1934 Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss sent the Austrian Army to shell civilian housing such as the Karl Marx-Hof occupied by the socialist militia." - info from Wikipedia.

 

Summer 2019 I did a solo cycling tour across Europe through 12 countries over the course of 3 months. I began my adventure in Edinburgh, Scotland and finished in Florence, Italy cycling 8,816 km. During my trip I took 47,000 photos.

 

Now on Instagram.

 

Become a patron to my photography on Patreon.

-The building was the first major building on the Vienna Ringstraße commissioned by the controversial Viennese "City Expansion Fund". Work commenced on the building in 1861 and was completed in 1869, following plans drawn up by architects August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Nül. It was built in the Neo-Renaissance style.

 

The decision was made to use dimension stone for the exterior of the building. Due to the monumental demand for stone, stone from Sóskút, widely used in Budapest, was also used. The foundation stone was laid on May 20, 1863.

 

The building was, however, not very popular with the public. On the one hand, it did not seem as grand as the Heinrichshof, a private residence which was destroyed in World War II (and replaced in 1955 by the Opernringhof). Moreover because the level of Ringstraße was raised by a metre in front of the opera house after its construction had begun, the latter was likened to "a sunken treasure chest" and, in analogy to the military disaster of 1866 (the Battle of Königgrätz), was deprecatingly referred to as "the 'Königgrätz' of architecture". Eduard van der Nüll committed suicide, and barely ten weeks later Sicardsburg suffered a fatal heart attack so neither architect saw the completion of the building. The opening premiere was Don Giovanni, by Mozart, on May 25, 1869. Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth (Sissi) were present.

3D red/cyan anaglyph created from glass plate stereo negative at Library of Congress - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog at:

www.loc.gov/pictures/

 

LOC Title: Alexandria, Virginia. Slave pen. Interior view

 

Date: Circa 1862

 

Photographer: Not Identified

 

Notes: A stereograph of a small section of the infamous "Slave Pen" complex in Alexandria, Va., where for over 30 years (1828 - 1861) slave traders conducted their business, operating a holding pen for enslaved people, who were transported to the deep south and sold to work the cotton plantations.

 

In May 1861, the Union army occupied Alexandria and took control of this site, converting it into a military prison. During the Civil War, all manner of prisoners would have passed through here - Confederates prisoners en route to other prisons, Union soldiers arrested for petty or major offenses, and civilians that ran afoul of military authority.

 

The individual cells that you see here were evidently not part of the original slave holding area, and were still under construction by Union forces when this photograph was taken, according to a 1987 archeological study of the site:

 

"Assumptions have been made in the past about the physical

character of the site when used by the slave traders,

based on photographs taken in the 1860's. Careful analysis

of surviving photographs now suggests that the small pens illustrated, which were previously interpreted as slave holding units, were actually constructed during the Union occupation for incarcerated soldiers or townspeople."

 

The 1987 report also includes a description for this same stereograph:

 

"This detail from a Civil War era photograph shows the whitewashed walls of the interior complex, probably on the men's side. Note that doors are under construction, probably using old wooden troughs or barrels as lumber. Iron strapping has not yet been placed on the cell windows."

 

Link to the full 189-page 1987 report in pdf format: www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/archaeol...

 

Given that the "Slave Pen" was converted to a military prison, with the majority of its population being Union soldiers, held for "drunk and disorderly" conduct, I think it explains why the photographer included a guard standing next to Union soldiers, seemingly locked-up, posing behind bars. It would be interesting to know if these were actual prisoners, or other guards enlisted for the photograph.

 

For additional background, below are various newspaper articles from the Library of Congress digital collection that make reference to the "Slave Pen."

----------------------------------------------------

The Holmes County Republican

Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio, Thursday, May 24, 1860

 

Dark Life at the Capital.

"Occasional,” the Washington correspondent of the Philadelphia Press, gives the following: "One of those cases which awaken the sympathies of all men came to my knowledge the other day, and it is of so interesting a character that I cannot refrain from giving it to the world. An estimable colored man, well known in Washington, called upon me on Monday, with tears in his eyes and said: “I have bad news to tell you. My wife, with whom I have lived happily for twenty years, was sold by her master on the 19th of March, and is now in the slave pen at Alexandria, and will be sent by the slave-trader to the extreme South unless I can raise $800 by Saturday to buy her back to my bosom, and to give to our poor children their faithful and devoted mother. We have had eleven children, of whom seven are now alive. On inquiry, I found that the woman was an honest and trustworthy servant; and I know her husband to be one of the best fellows of his race. A subscription was immediately started, and I hope we shall be enabled to rescue her from her impending doom. I am not disposed to enter into an argument against slavery, but is it not a galling reflection, that here, in the District of Columbia, that this infernal traffic in human flesh is carried on, and that a slave pen is within sight of the Washington Monument….”

--------------------

National Republican

Tuesday, May 28, 1861

 

THE SLAVE BARRACCON -- CAPTURE OF CAVALRY.

“….The next point of interest was the magazine of Price, Birch, & Co, dealers in slaves, as large letters over the door informed the public. At this corner, the squadron of cavalry mentioned yesterday was captured by the Michigan regiment and Sherman's battery. Their quarters for horses and men were in the slave pen. The Michigan regiment had received orders to fire, when Sherman's battery whirled up before them, and brought the cavalry within easy range. The slave cavalry then threw out a white flag and surrendered. Only one escaped. Entering the slave pen, we found grinning behind a grate, a swarthy F. F. V., armed with a knife. He deprecatingly assured us that he had kept the knife to protect his wife and children. We learned that arms had been found secreted in his house, and he resisted a search with this knife. The pen which he ornamented is about fifty feet square, open above, and surrounded by walls twenty feet high, with brick flooring, and dungeons underneath.

 

In the back yard we found a happy African, surrounded by Zouaves and Michiganders. When the building was seized he was the sole occupant of the slave-pen. He was liberated by the Zouaves, who picked the lock, and has been adopted by the Michiganders as their cook. He likes cooking, but says he must have a musket if fighting is to be done. He was raised in Prince George's county, Maryland, and is consigned for sale in Virginia on account of the owner's fear that the property would be unsafe in Maryland. He thoroughly appreciates this unexpected change of masters.

 

The Zouaves are apparently determined to free all slaves they find in confinement. They broke into another pen, by knocking a hole a foot square in a brick wall, but found nothing. Thirty slaves had been carried off shortly before, and embarked from a point in the woods.”

--------------------

The Local News

Monday Evening, November 11, 1861

Alexandria Va.

The Military Court

 

"The Military Court held its usual session at the Court House, this morning Judge Freese presiding. There were a large number of cases of unimportant character before the Court, being cases of drunkenness and disorder- the soldiers having been paid recently, the Court docket has, for some days past, been larger than usual.

 

Those who have been merely drunk are generally fined one dollar, or imprisoned in the slave pen one day on bread and water. – Disorderly persons are fined a greater amount.

 

Whenever a prisoner is before the Court for the first time, on a charge of drunkenness only, he is allowed to go scott free, if he names the place in Alexandria at which he procured the intoxicating beverage. In that case the liquor seller is held responsible for the drunkenness, and is generally fined five dollars.

 

Arrest – One of the Police Guard yesterday arrested a little girl, who wore a red and white cape, alledging the colors of the cape were obnoxious. The mother of the girl accompanied her to the office of the Provost Marshal, where she stated that the article of dress had been made four years since. Capt. Griffith promptly ordered the release of the little lass, and directed the guard to devote his attention in future to weightier matters than the clothing of children.”

--------------------

The Cleveland Morning Leader

Cleveland, Thursday Morning, February 13, 1862

 

The Alexandria Slave Pen - - The Difference between Rebel Prisoners and Our Own. [Dispatch to the Philadelphia Inquirer.]

 

"The old slave pen in Alexandria, to the burning shame of our officers though it be, is still used as a guard house for the soldiers. There are no windows and but one door; no roof ever it, except a narrow strip over one corner to keep off the pelting storm or cold and poisonous malaria that fills the air at night. A stream of filthy water runs through the centre, and the floor is of brick - - always cold, damp, and dirty. Here the soldiers are placed who are arrested for any cause. If a man overstays his time from camp, gets into a quarrel with another soldier or a Secesh, if he comes into town without a pass, or violates any of the orders, away he is marched into this den.

 

The Rebels used it as a place of punishment for slaves or a storehouse for " property," alias negroes. We deprecate their conduct for inhumanity, and then degrade our own troops by putting them upon a level with the "property." We do not question the propriety of arresting the soldiers for divers offences, for it is absolutely necessary to maintain order and discipline, but why when Rebel soldiers are taken, when Secesh emissaries and spies are arrested, are they taken to good quarters, in clean houses, and well provided for? There is a grievous wrong here that should be remedied at once.....

 

Last Tuesday night, a private of the New York Sixty-third was placed in this pen intoxicated. He laid down on the only vacant space in bed, snow and slush over three inches deep, and next morning, when the iron grate was swung open he was carried out a corpse. An inquest was held, and a surgeon testified that he died from drunkenness and exposure; but the surgeon-in-chief says he was frozen to death…..”

-------------------------

Chicago Daily Tribune

February 24, 1862

 

The Committee on the conduct of the War are investigating the conduct of Gen. Montgomery, who has charge of military affairs at Alexandria. Messrs. Odell and Gooch were authorized to proceed to that city and examine into the matter. They have made their report. It appears that within the last few months some three thousand soldiers have been imprisoned in the famous slave pen of Price & Co. The inhuman treatment of our poor soldiers beggars description. The matter has been reported to the Secretary of War.

------------------------

The Alexandria Gazette

April 17, 1863

 

Military Orders

Provost Marshal's Office,

Alexandria, Va., April 2, 1863.

 

"Notice is hereby given that all thieves, pickpockets and burglars, and persons found in this city, after the 10th of April, 1863, who are not engaged in any honest calling, and have no visible means of support, except gambling and thieving, will be arrested, and confined in the slave-pen, and, at the expiration of their confinement, be sent across the Potomac.

By order of H. H. WELLS, Lieut. Colonel and Provost Marshal, Alexandria, Va."

----------------------------

The Alexandria Gazette

Saturday Evening, June 13, 1863

 

“A few days since, while Daniel Golden, of company A, First District of Columbia regiment, with a number others, was unloading a lot of muskets from a wagon at the slave pen in Alexandria, one of the muskets, which had been carelessly left loaded, was discharged, the contents entering the body of Golden killing him instantly. He leaves a wife and family, two of his sons being drummers in the same regiment in which he was serving.”

-----------------------

The Alexandria Gazette

December 16, 1865

 

"Last night, about half-past eight o'clock, a rencountre occurred on the upper end of Prince street, between two members of the one hundred and ninety fifth 0hio regiment, stationed in this city, in which Rorick, of Co. E was shot three times -- in the breast, stomach and head -- by Ganty, of Co. A. Rorick, is not expected to survive his injuries. Ganty is confined in the slave pen."

------------------------

Cleveland Daily Leader

Thursday, December 28, 1865

 

"Riot at Alexandria.

Washington, December 27. -- The Alexandria Journal, in giving an account of a riot there on Christmas, says: Whisky flowed in streams from many Restaurants, and it was dealt out liberally to colored people as well as to white. Early in the morning it was observed that the reconstructed were all armed. Rioting commenced at an early hour in the morning, and by one o'clock in the afternoon had assumed such fearful proportions that the Mayor found it necessary to call on the military to suppress it. Three companies of Hancock's veterans were ordered out, and proceeded to arrest all found in a rioting or disorderly conduct. Many persons were dangerously and seriously wounded before the military appeared on the scene of action. Between fifty and a hundred of the ringleaders were sent to the slave pen, and there compelled to remain during the balance of the day. Some them were released yesterday morning, while the more guilty, are still in confinement….”

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Red/Cyan (not red/blue) glasses of the proper density must be used to view 3D effect without ghosting. Anaglyph prepared using red cyan glasses from The Center For Civil War Photography / American Battlefield Trust. CCWP Link: www.civilwarphotography.org/

3D red/cyan anaglyph created from glass plate stereo negative at Library of Congress - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog at:

www.loc.gov/pictures/

 

LOC Title: Alexandria, Virginia. Slave pen. Interior view

 

Date: Circa 1862

 

Photographer: Not Identified

 

Notes: A stereograph of a small section of the infamous "Slave Pen" complex in Alexandria, Va., where for over 30 years (1828 - 1861) slave traders conducted their business, operating a holding pen for enslaved people, who were transported to the deep south and sold to work the cotton plantations.

 

In May 1861, the Union army occupied Alexandria and took control of this site, converting it into a military prison. During the Civil War, all manner of prisoners would have passed through here - Confederates prisoners en route to other prisons, Union soldiers arrested for petty or major offenses, and civilians that ran afoul of military authority.

 

The individual cells that you see here were evidently not part of the original slave holding area, and were still under construction by Union forces when this photograph was taken, according to a 1987 archeological study of the site:

 

"Assumptions have been made in the past about the physical

character of the site when used by the slave traders,

based on photographs taken in the 1860's. Careful analysis

of surviving photographs now suggests that the small pens illustrated, which were previously interpreted as slave holding units, were actually constructed during the Union occupation for incarcerated soldiers or townspeople."

 

The 1987 report also includes a description for this same stereograph:

 

"This detail from a Civil War era photograph shows the whitewashed walls of the interior complex, probably on the men's side. Note that doors are under construction, probably using old wooden troughs or barrels as lumber. Iron strapping has not yet been placed on the cell windows."

 

Link to the full 189-page 1987 report in pdf format: www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/archaeol...

 

Given that the "Slave Pen" was converted to a military prison, with the majority of its population being Union soldiers, held for "drunk and disorderly" conduct, I think it explains why the photographer included a guard standing next to Union soldiers, seemingly locked-up, posing behind bars. It would be interesting to know if these were actual prisoners, or other guards enlisted for the photograph.

 

For additional background, below are various newspaper articles from the Library of Congress digital collection that make reference to the "Slave Pen."

----------------------------------------------------

The Holmes County Republican

Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio, Thursday, May 24, 1860

 

Dark Life at the Capital.

"Occasional,” the Washington correspondent of the Philadelphia Press, gives the following: "One of those cases which awaken the sympathies of all men came to my knowledge the other day, and it is of so interesting a character that I cannot refrain from giving it to the world. An estimable colored man, well known in Washington, called upon me on Monday, with tears in his eyes and said: “I have bad news to tell you. My wife, with whom I have lived happily for twenty years, was sold by her master on the 19th of March, and is now in the slave pen at Alexandria, and will be sent by the slave-trader to the extreme South unless I can raise $800 by Saturday to buy her back to my bosom, and to give to our poor children their faithful and devoted mother. We have had eleven children, of whom seven are now alive. On inquiry, I found that the woman was an honest and trustworthy servant; and I know her husband to be one of the best fellows of his race. A subscription was immediately started, and I hope we shall be enabled to rescue her from her impending doom. I am not disposed to enter into an argument against slavery, but is it not a galling reflection, that here, in the District of Columbia, that this infernal traffic in human flesh is carried on, and that a slave pen is within sight of the Washington Monument….”

--------------------

National Republican

Tuesday, May 28, 1861

 

THE SLAVE BARRACCON -- CAPTURE OF CAVALRY.

“….The next point of interest was the magazine of Price, Birch, & Co, dealers in slaves, as large letters over the door informed the public. At this corner, the squadron of cavalry mentioned yesterday was captured by the Michigan regiment and Sherman's battery. Their quarters for horses and men were in the slave pen. The Michigan regiment had received orders to fire, when Sherman's battery whirled up before them, and brought the cavalry within easy range. The slave cavalry then threw out a white flag and surrendered. Only one escaped. Entering the slave pen, we found grinning behind a grate, a swarthy F. F. V., armed with a knife. He deprecatingly assured us that he had kept the knife to protect his wife and children. We learned that arms had been found secreted in his house, and he resisted a search with this knife. The pen which he ornamented is about fifty feet square, open above, and surrounded by walls twenty feet high, with brick flooring, and dungeons underneath.

 

In the back yard we found a happy African, surrounded by Zouaves and Michiganders. When the building was seized he was the sole occupant of the slave-pen. He was liberated by the Zouaves, who picked the lock, and has been adopted by the Michiganders as their cook. He likes cooking, but says he must have a musket if fighting is to be done. He was raised in Prince George's county, Maryland, and is consigned for sale in Virginia on account of the owner's fear that the property would be unsafe in Maryland. He thoroughly appreciates this unexpected change of masters.

 

The Zouaves are apparently determined to free all slaves they find in confinement. They broke into another pen, by knocking a hole a foot square in a brick wall, but found nothing. Thirty slaves had been carried off shortly before, and embarked from a point in the woods.”

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The Local News

Monday Evening, November 11, 1861

Alexandria Va.

The Military Court

 

"The Military Court held its usual session at the Court House, this morning Judge Freese presiding. There were a large number of cases of unimportant character before the Court, being cases of drunkenness and disorder- the soldiers having been paid recently, the Court docket has, for some days past, been larger than usual.

 

Those who have been merely drunk are generally fined one dollar, or imprisoned in the slave pen one day on bread and water. – Disorderly persons are fined a greater amount.

 

Whenever a prisoner is before the Court for the first time, on a charge of drunkenness only, he is allowed to go scott free, if he names the place in Alexandria at which he procured the intoxicating beverage. In that case the liquor seller is held responsible for the drunkenness, and is generally fined five dollars.

 

Arrest – One of the Police Guard yesterday arrested a little girl, who wore a red and white cape, alledging the colors of the cape were obnoxious. The mother of the girl accompanied her to the office of the Provost Marshal, where she stated that the article of dress had been made four years since. Capt. Griffith promptly ordered the release of the little lass, and directed the guard to devote his attention in future to weightier matters than the clothing of children.”

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The Cleveland Morning Leader

Cleveland, Thursday Morning, February 13, 1862

 

The Alexandria Slave Pen - - The Difference between Rebel Prisoners and Our Own. [Dispatch to the Philadelphia Inquirer.]

 

"The old slave pen in Alexandria, to the burning shame of our officers though it be, is still used as a guard house for the soldiers. There are no windows and but one door; no roof ever it, except a narrow strip over one corner to keep off the pelting storm or cold and poisonous malaria that fills the air at night. A stream of filthy water runs through the centre, and the floor is of brick - - always cold, damp, and dirty. Here the soldiers are placed who are arrested for any cause. If a man overstays his time from camp, gets into a quarrel with another soldier or a Secesh, if he comes into town without a pass, or violates any of the orders, away he is marched into this den.

 

The Rebels used it as a place of punishment for slaves or a storehouse for " property," alias negroes. We deprecate their conduct for inhumanity, and then degrade our own troops by putting them upon a level with the "property." We do not question the propriety of arresting the soldiers for divers offences, for it is absolutely necessary to maintain order and discipline, but why when Rebel soldiers are taken, when Secesh emissaries and spies are arrested, are they taken to good quarters, in clean houses, and well provided for? There is a grievous wrong here that should be remedied at once.....

 

Last Tuesday night, a private of the New York Sixty-third was placed in this pen intoxicated. He laid down on the only vacant space in bed, snow and slush over three inches deep, and next morning, when the iron grate was swung open he was carried out a corpse. An inquest was held, and a surgeon testified that he died from drunkenness and exposure; but the surgeon-in-chief says he was frozen to death…..”

-------------------------

Chicago Daily Tribune

February 24, 1862

 

The Committee on the conduct of the War are investigating the conduct of Gen. Montgomery, who has charge of military affairs at Alexandria. Messrs. Odell and Gooch were authorized to proceed to that city and examine into the matter. They have made their report. It appears that within the last few months some three thousand soldiers have been imprisoned in the famous slave pen of Price & Co. The inhuman treatment of our poor soldiers beggars description. The matter has been reported to the Secretary of War.

------------------------

The Alexandria Gazette

April 17, 1863

 

Military Orders

Provost Marshal's Office,

Alexandria, Va., April 2, 1863.

 

"Notice is hereby given that all thieves, pickpockets and burglars, and persons found in this city, after the 10th of April, 1863, who are not engaged in any honest calling, and have no visible means of support, except gambling and thieving, will be arrested, and confined in the slave-pen, and, at the expiration of their confinement, be sent across the Potomac.

By order of H. H. WELLS, Lieut. Colonel and Provost Marshal, Alexandria, Va."

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The Alexandria Gazette

Saturday Evening, June 13, 1863

 

“A few days since, while Daniel Golden, of company A, First District of Columbia regiment, with a number others, was unloading a lot of muskets from a wagon at the slave pen in Alexandria, one of the muskets, which had been carelessly left loaded, was discharged, the contents entering the body of Golden killing him instantly. He leaves a wife and family, two of his sons being drummers in the same regiment in which he was serving.”

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The Alexandria Gazette

December 16, 1865

 

"Last night, about half-past eight o'clock, a rencountre occurred on the upper end of Prince street, between two members of the one hundred and ninety fifth 0hio regiment, stationed in this city, in which Rorick, of Co. E was shot three times -- in the breast, stomach and head -- by Ganty, of Co. A. Rorick, is not expected to survive his injuries. Ganty is confined in the slave pen."

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Cleveland Daily Leader

Thursday, December 28, 1865

 

"Riot at Alexandria.

Washington, December 27. -- The Alexandria Journal, in giving an account of a riot there on Christmas, says: Whisky flowed in streams from many Restaurants, and it was dealt out liberally to colored people as well as to white. Early in the morning it was observed that the reconstructed were all armed. Rioting commenced at an early hour in the morning, and by one o'clock in the afternoon had assumed such fearful proportions that the Mayor found it necessary to call on the military to suppress it. Three companies of Hancock's veterans were ordered out, and proceeded to arrest all found in a rioting or disorderly conduct. Many persons were dangerously and seriously wounded before the military appeared on the scene of action. Between fifty and a hundred of the ringleaders were sent to the slave pen, and there compelled to remain during the balance of the day. Some them were released yesterday morning, while the more guilty, are still in confinement….”

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Red/Cyan (not red/blue) glasses of the proper density must be used to view 3D effect without ghosting. Anaglyph prepared using red cyan glasses from The Center For Civil War Photography / American Battlefield Trust. CCWP Link: www.civilwarphotography.org/

Cavendish Mews is a smart set of flats in Mayfair where flapper and modern woman, the Honourable Lettice Chetwynd has set up home after coming of age and gaining her allowance. To supplement her already generous allowance, and to break away from dependence upon her family, Lettice has established herself as a society interior designer, so her flat is decorated with a mixture of elegant antique Georgian pieces and modern Art Deco furnishings, using it as a showroom for what she can offer to her well heeled clients.

 

Today however we have headed east of Cavendish Mews, down through St James’, around Trafalgar Square and up Charing Cross Road, where, near the corner of Great Newport Street, Lettice is visiting A. H. Mayhew’s*, a bookshop in the heart of London’s specialist and antiquarian bookseller district, patronised by her father, Viscount Wrexham. It is here that Lettice hopes to find the perfect birthday present for the son of the Duke of Walmsford, Selwyn Spencely. The pair have made valiant attempts to pursue a romantic relationship since meeting at Lettice’s mother, Lady Sadie’s, Hunt Ball the previous year. Yet things haven’t been easy, their relationship moving in fits and starts, partially due to the invisible, yet very strong influence of Selwyn’s mother, Lady Zinnia, the current Duchess of Walmsford. Selwyn is not one to make a fuss about his birthday, but under Lettice’s persistent pressure, he has acquiesced and agreed to an intimate dinner with Lettice at The Savoy Hotel** in a few weeks. This gives Lettice just enough time to find a present for Selwyn. As Lettice lingers out the front of Mr. Mayhew’s, peering through his tall plate glass windows that proudly bear his name and advertise that he does purchase libraries of old books, she hopes that somewhere amidst the full shelves inside, there is the book she hopes to give to Selwyn that will further solidify her commitment to him in his eyes.

 

She sighs and walks up to the recessed door of the bookshop which she pushes open. A cheerful bell dings loudly above her head, announcing her presence. As the door closes behind her, it shuts out the general cacophony of noisy automobiles, chugging busses and passing shoppers’ conversations dissipates, the shop enveloping her in a cozy muffled silence produced by the presence of so many shelves fully laden with volumes. She inhales deeply and savours the comforting smell of dusty old books and pipe smoke. The walls are lined with floor to ceiling shelves, all full of books: thousands of volumes on so many subjects. Sunlight pours through the tall shop windows facing out to the street, highlighting the worn Persian and Turkish carpets whose hues, once so bright, vivid and exotic, have softened with exposure to the sunlight and any number of pairs of boots and shoes of customers, who like Lettice, searched Mayhew’s shelves for the perfect book to take away with them. Dust motes, something Lettice always associates with her father’s library in Wiltshire, dance blithely through beams of sunlight before disappearing without a trace into the shadows.

 

Lettice makes her way through the shop, wandering along its narrow aisles, reaching up to touch various Moroccan leather spines embossed with gilt lettering of titles and authors, until she nears the middle of the shop, where sitting at his desk before a small coal fire, smoking his pipe, sits the bespectacled Mr. Mayhew in his jacket, vest and bowtie, carefully checking titles on his desk’s surface against a hand written inventory. The portly, balding gentleman is so wrapped up in his work that he appears not to notice Lettice as she stands before him.

 

“Good afternoon Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice says, her clipped tones slicing through the thick silence of the shop.

 

“Ahh,” Mr. Mayhew sighs with delight as he realises who is standing before him, removing his gold rimmed spectacles and setting them aside atop his old cash box featuring an old photograph of a Georgian Mansion cut from an old book that could not be salvaged and sold. “Why if it isn’t my favourite Wiltshire reader herself.” He takes one final pleasurable puff of his pipe before putting it aside.

 

Lettice rolls her eyes and smiles indulgently. “I’m quote sure you say that to every reader whom you know well, Mr. Mayhew.”

 

“Ahh,” the old man remarks, lifting himself out of the comfort of the well worn chair behind his desk, wiping his hands down the front of his thick black barathea vest. “But not every reader I know as well as you come from Wiltshire, Miss Chetwynd.” He reaches out and takes Lettice’s dainty glove clad hand in his and raises it to his lips.

 

“You kiss me like I’m the Queen, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice laughs.

 

“Well, you are royalty, of a sort, to me, Miss Chetwynd,” Mr. Mayhew replies as he releases her hand. “You and your father.”

 

“Yes,” Lettice muses happily. “I don’t suppose you have many customers who are such avid collectors or rare antiquarian editions of Goethe*** as my father.”

 

“Now, now, Miss Chetwynd, you play your own part in the success of Mayhew’s,” the old bookseller chortles. “Thanks to you showing an interest in fine editions yourself, under your father’s wonderful tutelage.”

 

“Well, I’d hardly classify myself as a collector, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice scoffs. “At least not like my father is, but then I live in a neat modern flat in Mayfair which does not afford me the space of a library like my father has.”

 

“More’s the pity, Miss Chetwynd.” Mr. Mayhew opines. “I feel every home should have a library.”

 

“You’d be far wealthier if they did, Mr. Mayhew.”

 

“That may be true, Miss Chetwynd,” Mr. Mayhew agrees. “But you misjudge my motivations.” he chides Lettice mildly. “I didn’t establish my little bookshop simply to make money. What a ludicrous idea that any shopkeeper would set up his establishment simply to make money, when he can take equal measure of profit and pleasure from his endeavours. I have a great love of books, Miss Chetwynd, both the written word and the engraving,” He waves his hands expansively at the floor to ceiling bookshelves around him, filled with hundreds of volumes on all manner of subjects. “As well you know. And I feel that a house is not a home without at least a small library of books.”

 

“Then I suppose my flat may be classified as a home in your eyes, Mr. Mayhew, since I do have a number of beautiful volumes from you in my own bookshelves.”

 

“Of course you do, my dear Miss Chetwynd.” the old man purrs pleasurably. “You are a discerning woman of good taste.”

 

“And deep pockets, just like my father.” Lettice laughs good-heartedly.

 

“Now, what is it that I can entice you to add to your bookshelves today, Miss Chetwynd?” He steps out from behind his cluttered desk and speaks as he moves. “Now let me see. I did recently get a splendid edition of some Georgian interior designs that might appeal to you. Did you find that Regency cabinet maker’s book I found for you, useful, Miss Chetwynd?”

 

“Oh I did Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice replies, acknowledging one of a number of fine and rare books the old bookseller has found Lettice since her move to London and the establishment of her interior design business.

 

“Splendid! Splendid!” Mr. Mayhew clucks, clapping his hands in delight.

 

“However, it isn’t me that I’ve come looking for a book for.” Lettice quickly adds before Mr. Mayhew begins the task of locating the book of Georgian interiors unnecessarily.

 

“Oh,” the bookseller replies a little downheartedly. “Well, I’m afraid I don’t have any new antiquarian versions of Gothe that I think His Lordship would like.” He scratches his balding head. “Although I do have quite a fine newly published edition of Padraic Colum’s**** ‘The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived Before Achilles’***** illustrated by Willy Pognay, which luckily for you, Miss Chetwynd,” He wags a chubby finger at Lettice. “I forgot to mention to your father when he ordered his last shipment of books.”

 

“Oh I’m not looking for a book for my father either, Mr. Mayhew, at least not today.”

 

“Oh?” the older gentleman turns back to Lettice. “Your friend Mr. Bruton perhaps?”

 

“No, not him either, Mr. Mayhew.”

 

“Then who are you looking for a volume for, Miss Chetwynd? You know I have no head for guessing games, and I have no doubt that a lady as sociable as you would be well connected to many a distinguished person who would enjoy a volume from my humble little establishment.”

 

“You are a flatterer, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice laughs, blushing at the bookseller’s remark. She pauses for a moment before continuing. “I am actually looking for a book on architecture today. A very close friend of mine, who just happens to be a budding architect, is celebrating their birthday soon.”

 

“Ahh,” Mr. Mayhew replies. “And would this budding young architect happen to have recently had success with a commission for a house in Hampstead, Miss Chetwynd?” he asks discreetly.

 

“You are well informed in here, aren’t you, Mr. Mayhew?” Lettice gasps in surprise.

 

Mr. Mayhew smiles enigmatically and taps his nose knowingly. “Well, contrary to popular belief, I do occasionally have my eye drawn to the social pages of the London newspapers by Mrs. Mayhew, especially when she recognises the name of the daughter of one of my most regular and loyal customers.”

 

“Well, suppose you and your social informant were correct,“ Lettice begins discreetly.

 

“Yes, Miss Chetwynd?” Mr. Mayhew coaxes with a wry smile.

 

“And assume that the aforementioned up-and-coming architect expressly stated the fact that he was particularly enamoured in older English architecture for his own amusement.”

 

“Yes, Miss Chetwynd?”

 

“If you wanted to show your sincerity and your interest in the architect’s personal amusement, what would you recommend, Mr. Mayhew?”

 

“Well, Miss Chetwynd. I’d certainly want to give him something very special indeed.”

 

“Yes, I thought you might say that, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice smiles.

 

“Then I have not disappointed you, my dear Miss Chetwynd.” Mr. Mayhew returns her smile.

 

“You never disappoint me, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice counters. “But you never cease to surprise me.” she adds with the heavy implication that she hopes he can find for her the perfect birthday present for Selwyn.

 

“Then let Mayhew’s not let you down on that count either, Miss Chetwynd.”

 

“You never do, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice replies with a sigh of comfort, releasing a pent-up breath she didn’t realise she had been holding.

 

Mr. Mayhew picks up his spectacles and puts them on the bridge of his nose again before looking around him, squinting as he considers what volumes lie on the shelves in the darkened, cosy interior of his bookshop. As a proprietor who knows his stock well – almost like one would know a family – he says, “I think I might have just the thing. Please, take a seat, Miss Chetwynd.” He indicates to the chair on the opposite side of the desk to his own. “If I may beg your indulgence, I won’t be too long.”

 

“You may, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice replies.

 

The bookseller makes a small bow before he bustles off, disappearing amidst the bookshelves.

 

Lettice perches herself on the edge of the rather hard Arts and Crafts wooden seat and peruses Mr. Mayhew’s cluttered desk which is piled with old leather volumes, some of which speak of times long ago with their worn covers and aged pages. On the corner of the desk, precariously balanced and in danger of falling off if the proprietor were to push the books further across his desk, sits a photograph of Mrs. Mayhew in a dainty gilt frame. Next to it sits a desk calendar, set to the wrong date. Lettice listens and hears Mr. Mayhew muttering quietly behind a bookshelf nearby as he searches for what he hopes to find. Discreetly she changes the date on the calendar to the correct date for the old bookseller, smiling as she does so. In front of the photo and calendar sits a small brass pot of ink in which stands a quill feather pen, the fibres of which are yellow with age and dust. She toys with it in an amused fashion.

 

“Here we are, Miss Chetwynd!” Mr. Mayhew replies triumphantly as he returns holding two thick volumes in his arms. He pauses as he catches Lettice stroking the quill on his desk. “What’s your penmanship like, Miss Chetwynd?”

 

Lettice turns around and smiles up at the old, balding bookseller. “Nowhere near as good as yours, I’ll wager, Mr. Mayhew.” she laughs. “Especially with this old implement. I prefer a fountain pen. I think you must be the only man left in London who uses a quill pen.”

 

“Oh, I’m sure I’m not the only man in London who still uses one,” he replies as he squeezes around the corner of his desk and returns to his side of it, dropping the volumes with a soft thud atop several other closed books. “After all, I’m sure the King has to use a quill to sign the edicts and official documents that he has to witness.”

 

“I’m sure even His Majesty uses a fountain pen now, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice assures him. “I know Queen Mary does.”

 

“Ahh, where is your sense of romance for the art of writing, Miss Chetwynd? You must admit that if Miss Austen penned beautiful pieces of literature like ‘Persuasion’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice’ with a quill pen, that there is still a good reason to use one.”

 

“I don’t think Miss Austen had the luxury of the fountain pen being invented when she was alive, Mr. Mayhew,” Lettice laughs. “Or I am sure she would have used one as an alternative to a quill.”

 

“Perhaps, Miss Chetwynd,” Mr. Mayhew says with a cheeky smile. “But I’ll have you know that the fountain pen was actually invented before Miss Austen’s death in the early 1800s.”

 

“Is that so, Mr. Mayhew?”

 

“Indeed it is, Miss Chetwynd. It was invented in England by a man named Frederick Fölsch in 1809.”

 

“My goodness, Mr, Mayhew! Once again, I am amazed by your knowledge of such things.”

 

The bookseller basks in Lettice’s praise for a few moments before adding somewhat self-deprecatingly, “It does help that I work in a bookshop, surrounded by such knowledge, Miss Chetwynd.” He coughs and clears his throat. “Now, thinking of books, here are two volumes I think your young architect friend might like.”

 

He presents Lettice with a thick grey bound volume with black lettering embossed boldly upon its front.

 

“The Mansions of England in the Olden Times******,” Lettice reads aloud. “Pictured by Joseph Nash.”

 

“I’m afraid it is only volume two of a four volume set from 1840, Miss Chetwynd, but it is still very beautiful. ‘The Mansions of England in the Olden Times’ is considered to be Joseph Nash’s master work. He was a wonderful watercolourist, as you will see.” He indicates with open hands for Lettice to open the volume. “I think your friend might appreciate the watercolours therein.”

 

With the reverence her father taught her to have for books, particularly old and rare ones, Lettice gingerly opens the volume. Her hand gently caresses the beautifully marbled end papers before she starts turning the old pages catching the slight waft of the mixture of dust and woodsmoke of an old library, as she turns the pages.

 

“This book smells faintly like my father’s library, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice remarks.

 

“Well, I did acquire this from the family of the late Earl of Ellenborough*******, as the library stamp inside indicates. Sadly there are many estates that are now having to part with their treasures, since they can no longer afford to keep them.”

 

“Yes,” Lettice muses sadly. “I’m only grateful that Pater is not in that position, and he can keep his beautiful library at Glynes.”

 

“As am I, Miss Chetwynd.” acknowledges the bookseller.

 

Lettice pauses at a plate featuring the withdrawing room of Bramall Hall in Cheshire. The painting of the grand room with its ornate Elizabethan ceiling, oak panelled walls and stained glass is populated with matching Elizabethan characters: a couple by the fire, a woman in a bay window and a small child in the foreground on the edge of a rather large carpet. Her nose screws up slightly in distaste.

 

“Not to your liking, Miss Chetwynd?” Mr. Mayhew asks, picking up on her slight change in expression.

 

“Possibly not to the liking of the intended recipient, Mr. Mayhew. However renown a watercolourist Joseph Nash was, I don’t think my friend would like the rooms populated with imagined characters of the era. It seems a little fey.” She closes the book carefully and gently moves it aside.

 

“Then perhaps this will be more to your friend’s tastes.”

 

The old bookseller hands over a buff coloured volume of ‘The Royal Palaces, Historic Castles and Stately Homes of Great Britain’********.

 

Lettice accepts it and flips through the pages, and quickly discovers Clendon, the family seat of the Duke and Duchess of Walmsford, and Selwyn’s ancestral family home in Buckinghamshire, amongst the plates.

 

“I think my friend is intimately familiar with many of these houses and castles, Mr. Mayhew, so I fear it may not hold the appeal to him as it might for another reader.” She closes the volume.

 

“Does your friend have a particular era of architecture that he likes, Miss Chetwynd?” the bookseller asks solicitously, anxious to gain a good sale from Lettice if at all possible.

 

“Well, he does like John Nash’s********* work,” Lettice replies. “Especially the work he did around Regent’s Park.”

 

Mr. Mayhew thinks for a moment before replying. “Then I may be able to render assistance, Miss Chetwynd, although I will warn you, it may be a costly gift.”

 

“I don’t mind, Mr. Mayhew.” Lettice says steadfastly. “Selw… err, my friend’s happiness has no price.”

 

“Very well, Miss Chetwynd. Please wait here a moment.”

 

Mr. Mayhew slips away through the narrow aisles lined with full bookshelves again, this time disappearing through a door at the far end of the shop which is obviously a storeroom where the bookseller keeps things that are yet to be put on display, or items that may only be shown to certain customers. He returns a few minutes later with a smart half Morocco binding with gilt lettering which he places before her.

 

“This is a volume of John Nash’s architectural drawings including his designs for the Royal Pavilion built for the Prince Regent in Brighton, Marble Arch, Buckingham Palace, his collaboration with James Burton on Regent Street and his best-known collaborations with Decimus Burton of Regent's Park and its terraces and Carlton House Terrace.”

 

Lettice gasps as she carefully looks through the large book at the wonderful neoclassical and picturesque style architectural drawings in the book. Page after page of exquisitely rendered images show with clarity every detail of some of John Nash’s most famous buildings. When Lettice turns to a page showing the details of Buckingham Palace she sighs and says, “Mr. Mayhew, yet again you never cease to amaze me with what you have within your shop. I think you have just found me, the perfect birthday gift.”

 

*A. H. Mayhew was once one of many bookshops located in London’s Charring Cross Road, an area still famous today for its bookshops, perhaps most famously written about by American authoress Helene Hanff who wrote ’84, Charing Cross Road’, which later became a play and then a 1987 film starring Anne Bancroft and Anthony Hopkins. Number 56. Charing Cross Road was the home of Mayhew’s second-hand and rare bookshop. Closed after the war, their premises is now the home of Any Amount of Books bookshop.

 

**The Savoy Hotel is a luxury hotel located in the Strand in the City of Westminster in central London. Built by the impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan opera productions, it opened on 6 August 1889. It was the first in the Savoy group of hotels and restaurants owned by Carte's family for over a century. The Savoy was the first hotel in Britain to introduce electric lights throughout the building, electric lifts, bathrooms in most of the lavishly furnished rooms, constant hot and cold running water and many other innovations. Carte hired César Ritz as manager and Auguste Escoffier as chef de cuisine; they established an unprecedented standard of quality in hotel service, entertainment and elegant dining, attracting royalty and other rich and powerful guests and diners. The hotel became Carte's most successful venture. Its bands, Savoy Orpheans and the Savoy Havana Band, became famous. Winston Churchill often took his cabinet to lunch at the hotel. The hotel is now managed by Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. It has been called "London's most famous hotel". It has two hundred and sixty seven guest rooms and panoramic views of the River Thames across Savoy Place and the Thames Embankment. The hotel is a Grade II listed building.

 

***Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 – 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature and aesthetic criticism, and treatises on botany, anatomy, and colour. He is considered to be the greatest German literary figure of the modern era.

 

****Padraic Colum was an Irish poet, novelist, dramatist, biographer, playwright, children's author and collector of folklore. He was one of the leading figures of the Irish Literary Revival.

 

*****”The Golden Fleece and the Heroes who Lived Before Achilles” was a novel written by Padraic Colum, illustrated by Hungarian artist Willy Pognay, published by the Macmillan Company in 1921.

 

******”The mansions of England in the Olden Times” was a four volume set published between 1839 and 1849 by English watercolourist and lithographer, Joseph Nash (1809 – 1878) who specialised in historical buildings. The four volume set is considered to be his major life’s work.

 

*******Edward Law, 1st Earl of Ellenborough, born in 1790, was a British Tory politician. He was four times President of the Board of Control and also served as Governor-General of India between 1842 and 1844. He died in 1844.

 

********”The Royal Palaces, Historic Castles and Stately Homes of Great Britain” is an interesting work on the Royal palaces, historic castles and stately homes of Great Britain. With an informative introduction by John Geddie, followed by the plates. Published in 1913 by Otto Schulze and Company, it features ninety-six full-page monochrome photograph plates including Buckingham Palace, Balmoral Castle, Kensington Palace and Edinburgh Castle.

 

*********John Nash (18 January 1752 – 13 May 1835) was one of the foremost British architects of the Georgian and Regency eras, during which he was responsible for the design, in the neoclassical and picturesque styles, of many important areas of London. His designs were financed by the Prince Regent and by the era's most successful property developer, James Burton. Nash also collaborated extensively with Burton's son, Decimus Burton.

 

This dark, cosy and slightly cluttered bookshop may appear real to you, but it is in fact made up of pieces from my 1:12 miniatures collection.

 

Fun things to look for in this tableau include:

 

All the books that you see lining the shelves of Mr. Mayhew’s bookshop are 1:12 size miniatures made by the British miniature artisan Ken Blythe. So too are all the books you see both open and closed on Mr. Mayhew’s desk. Most of the books I own that he has made may be opened to reveal authentic printed interiors. In some cases, you can even read the words, depending upon the size of the print! I have quite a large representation of Ken Blythe’s work in my collection, but so little of his real artistry is seen because the books that he specialised in making are usually closed, sitting on shelves or closed on desks and table surfaces. Therefore, it is a pleasure to give you a glimpse inside one of the books he has made. To give you an idea of the work that has gone into this volume and the others, the books contain dozens of double sided pages of images and writing. What might amaze you even more is that all Ken Blythe’s opening books are authentically replicated 1:12 scale miniatures of real volumes. “The mansions of England in the Olden Times” was a four volume set published between 1839 and 1849 by English watercolourist and lithographer, Joseph Nash (1809 – 1878) who specialised in historical buildings. The four volume set is considered to be his major life’s work. “The Royal Palaces, Historic Castles and Stately Homes of Great Britain” is an interesting work on the Royal palaces, historic castles and stately homes of Great Britain. With an informative introduction by John Geddie, followed by the plates. Published in 1913 by Otto Schulze and Company, it features ninety-six full-page monochrome photograph plates including Buckingham Palace, Balmoral Castle, Kensington Palace and Edinburgh Castle. To create something so authentic to the original in such detail and so clearly, really does make this a miniature artisan piece. Ken Blythe’s work is highly sought after by miniaturists around the world today and command high prices at auction for such tiny pieces, particularly now that he is no longer alive. I was fortunate enough to acquire pieces from Ken Blythe prior to his death about four years ago. His legacy will live on with me and in my photography which I hope will please his daughter. I hope that you enjoy this peek at just two of hundreds of his books that I own, and that it makes you smile with its sheer whimsy!

 

Also on the desk are some old leatherbound volumes, and to the left stands a calendar with its back facing the camera, Mr. Mayhew’s pot of ink and quill pen, a cashbox tin with a historical building image on its top and a pair of Mr. Mayhew’s spectacles. All these I acquired from Kathleen Knight’s Dollhouse Shop in the United Kingdom.

 

The Chippendale desk itself is made by Bespaq, and it has a mahogany stain and the design is taken from a real Chippendale desk. Its surface is covered in red dioxide red dioxide leather with a gilt trim. Bespaq is a high-end miniature furniture maker with high attention to detail and quality.

 

The photos you can see in the background, all of which are all real photos, are produced to high standards in 1:12 size on photographic paper by Little Things Dollhouse Miniatures in Lancashire. The frames are from various suppliers, but all are metal.

 

The aspidistra in the blue jardiniere in the background, the pipe and pipestand, and the map also came from Kathleen Knight’s Dollhouse Shop in the United Kingdom.

 

The gold flocked Edwardian wallpaper is beautiful hand impressed paper given to me by a friend, which inspired the whole “Cavendish Mews – Lettice Chetwynd” series.

3D red/cyan anaglyph created from glass plate stereo negative at Library of Congress - Prints & Photographs Online Catalog at:

www.loc.gov/pictures/

 

LOC Title: Alexandria, Virginia. Slave pen. Interior view

 

Date: Circa 1862

 

Photographer: Not Identified

 

Notes: A stereograph of a small section of the infamous "Slave Pen" complex in Alexandria, Va., where for over 30 years (1828 - 1861) slave traders conducted their business, operating a holding pen for enslaved people, who were transported to the deep south and sold to work the cotton plantations.

 

In May 1861, the Union army occupied Alexandria and took control of this site, converting it into a military prison. During the Civil War, all manner of prisoners would have passed through here - Confederates prisoners en route to other prisons, Union soldiers arrested for petty or major offenses, and civilians that ran afoul of military authority.

 

The individual cells that you see here were evidently not part of the original slave holding area, and were still under construction by Union forces when this photograph was taken, according to a 1987 archeological study of the site:

 

"Assumptions have been made in the past about the physical

character of the site when used by the slave traders,

based on photographs taken in the 1860's. Careful analysis

of surviving photographs now suggests that the small pens illustrated, which were previously interpreted as slave holding units, were actually constructed during the Union occupation for incarcerated soldiers or townspeople."

 

The 1987 report also includes a description for this same stereograph:

 

"This detail from a Civil War era photograph shows the whitewashed walls of the interior complex, probably on the men's side. Note that doors are under construction, probably using old wooden troughs or barrels as lumber. Iron strapping has not yet been placed on the cell windows."

 

Link to the full 189-page 1987 report in pdf format: www.alexandriava.gov/uploadedFiles/historic/info/archaeol...

 

Given that the "Slave Pen" was converted to a military prison, with the majority of its population being Union soldiers, held for "drunk and disorderly" conduct, I think it explains why the photographer included a guard standing next to Union soldiers, seemingly locked-up, posing behind bars. It would be interesting to know if these were actual prisoners, or other guards enlisted for the photograph.

 

For additional background, below are various newspaper articles from the Library of Congress digital collection that make reference to the "Slave Pen."

----------------------------------------------------

The Holmes County Republican

Millersburg, Holmes County, Ohio, Thursday, May 24, 1860

 

Dark Life at the Capital.

"Occasional,” the Washington correspondent of the Philadelphia Press, gives the following: "One of those cases which awaken the sympathies of all men came to my knowledge the other day, and it is of so interesting a character that I cannot refrain from giving it to the world. An estimable colored man, well known in Washington, called upon me on Monday, with tears in his eyes and said: “I have bad news to tell you. My wife, with whom I have lived happily for twenty years, was sold by her master on the 19th of March, and is now in the slave pen at Alexandria, and will be sent by the slave-trader to the extreme South unless I can raise $800 by Saturday to buy her back to my bosom, and to give to our poor children their faithful and devoted mother. We have had eleven children, of whom seven are now alive. On inquiry, I found that the woman was an honest and trustworthy servant; and I know her husband to be one of the best fellows of his race. A subscription was immediately started, and I hope we shall be enabled to rescue her from her impending doom. I am not disposed to enter into an argument against slavery, but is it not a galling reflection, that here, in the District of Columbia, that this infernal traffic in human flesh is carried on, and that a slave pen is within sight of the Washington Monument….”

--------------------

National Republican

Tuesday, May 28, 1861

 

THE SLAVE BARRACCON -- CAPTURE OF CAVALRY.

“….The next point of interest was the magazine of Price, Birch, & Co, dealers in slaves, as large letters over the door informed the public. At this corner, the squadron of cavalry mentioned yesterday was captured by the Michigan regiment and Sherman's battery. Their quarters for horses and men were in the slave pen. The Michigan regiment had received orders to fire, when Sherman's battery whirled up before them, and brought the cavalry within easy range. The slave cavalry then threw out a white flag and surrendered. Only one escaped. Entering the slave pen, we found grinning behind a grate, a swarthy F. F. V., armed with a knife. He deprecatingly assured us that he had kept the knife to protect his wife and children. We learned that arms had been found secreted in his house, and he resisted a search with this knife. The pen which he ornamented is about fifty feet square, open above, and surrounded by walls twenty feet high, with brick flooring, and dungeons underneath.

 

In the back yard we found a happy African, surrounded by Zouaves and Michiganders. When the building was seized he was the sole occupant of the slave-pen. He was liberated by the Zouaves, who picked the lock, and has been adopted by the Michiganders as their cook. He likes cooking, but says he must have a musket if fighting is to be done. He was raised in Prince George's county, Maryland, and is consigned for sale in Virginia on account of the owner's fear that the property would be unsafe in Maryland. He thoroughly appreciates this unexpected change of masters.

 

The Zouaves are apparently determined to free all slaves they find in confinement. They broke into another pen, by knocking a hole a foot square in a brick wall, but found nothing. Thirty slaves had been carried off shortly before, and embarked from a point in the woods.”

--------------------

The Local News

Monday Evening, November 11, 1861

Alexandria Va.

The Military Court

 

"The Military Court held its usual session at the Court House, this morning Judge Freese presiding. There were a large number of cases of unimportant character before the Court, being cases of drunkenness and disorder- the soldiers having been paid recently, the Court docket has, for some days past, been larger than usual.

 

Those who have been merely drunk are generally fined one dollar, or imprisoned in the slave pen one day on bread and water. – Disorderly persons are fined a greater amount.

 

Whenever a prisoner is before the Court for the first time, on a charge of drunkenness only, he is allowed to go scott free, if he names the place in Alexandria at which he procured the intoxicating beverage. In that case the liquor seller is held responsible for the drunkenness, and is generally fined five dollars.

 

Arrest – One of the Police Guard yesterday arrested a little girl, who wore a red and white cape, alledging the colors of the cape were obnoxious. The mother of the girl accompanied her to the office of the Provost Marshal, where she stated that the article of dress had been made four years since. Capt. Griffith promptly ordered the release of the little lass, and directed the guard to devote his attention in future to weightier matters than the clothing of children.”

--------------------

The Cleveland Morning Leader

Cleveland, Thursday Morning, February 13, 1862

 

The Alexandria Slave Pen - - The Difference between Rebel Prisoners and Our Own. [Dispatch to the Philadelphia Inquirer.]

 

"The old slave pen in Alexandria, to the burning shame of our officers though it be, is still used as a guard house for the soldiers. There are no windows and but one door; no roof ever it, except a narrow strip over one corner to keep off the pelting storm or cold and poisonous malaria that fills the air at night. A stream of filthy water runs through the centre, and the floor is of brick - - always cold, damp, and dirty. Here the soldiers are placed who are arrested for any cause. If a man overstays his time from camp, gets into a quarrel with another soldier or a Secesh, if he comes into town without a pass, or violates any of the orders, away he is marched into this den.

 

The Rebels used it as a place of punishment for slaves or a storehouse for " property," alias negroes. We deprecate their conduct for inhumanity, and then degrade our own troops by putting them upon a level with the "property." We do not question the propriety of arresting the soldiers for divers offences, for it is absolutely necessary to maintain order and discipline, but why when Rebel soldiers are taken, when Secesh emissaries and spies are arrested, are they taken to good quarters, in clean houses, and well provided for? There is a grievous wrong here that should be remedied at once.....

 

Last Tuesday night, a private of the New York Sixty-third was placed in this pen intoxicated. He laid down on the only vacant space in bed, snow and slush over three inches deep, and next morning, when the iron grate was swung open he was carried out a corpse. An inquest was held, and a surgeon testified that he died from drunkenness and exposure; but the surgeon-in-chief says he was frozen to death…..”

-------------------------

Chicago Daily Tribune

February 24, 1862

 

The Committee on the conduct of the War are investigating the conduct of Gen. Montgomery, who has charge of military affairs at Alexandria. Messrs. Odell and Gooch were authorized to proceed to that city and examine into the matter. They have made their report. It appears that within the last few months some three thousand soldiers have been imprisoned in the famous slave pen of Price & Co. The inhuman treatment of our poor soldiers beggars description. The matter has been reported to the Secretary of War.

------------------------

The Alexandria Gazette

April 17, 1863

 

Military Orders

Provost Marshal's Office,

Alexandria, Va., April 2, 1863.

 

"Notice is hereby given that all thieves, pickpockets and burglars, and persons found in this city, after the 10th of April, 1863, who are not engaged in any honest calling, and have no visible means of support, except gambling and thieving, will be arrested, and confined in the slave-pen, and, at the expiration of their confinement, be sent across the Potomac.

By order of H. H. WELLS, Lieut. Colonel and Provost Marshal, Alexandria, Va."

----------------------------

The Alexandria Gazette

Saturday Evening, June 13, 1863

 

“A few days since, while Daniel Golden, of company A, First District of Columbia regiment, with a number others, was unloading a lot of muskets from a wagon at the slave pen in Alexandria, one of the muskets, which had been carelessly left loaded, was discharged, the contents entering the body of Golden killing him instantly. He leaves a wife and family, two of his sons being drummers in the same regiment in which he was serving.”

-----------------------

The Alexandria Gazette

December 16, 1865

 

"Last night, about half-past eight o'clock, a rencountre occurred on the upper end of Prince street, between two members of the one hundred and ninety fifth 0hio regiment, stationed in this city, in which Rorick, of Co. E was shot three times -- in the breast, stomach and head -- by Ganty, of Co. A. Rorick, is not expected to survive his injuries. Ganty is confined in the slave pen."

------------------------

Cleveland Daily Leader

Thursday, December 28, 1865

 

"Riot at Alexandria.

Washington, December 27. -- The Alexandria Journal, in giving an account of a riot there on Christmas, says: Whisky flowed in streams from many Restaurants, and it was dealt out liberally to colored people as well as to white. Early in the morning it was observed that the reconstructed were all armed. Rioting commenced at an early hour in the morning, and by one o'clock in the afternoon had assumed such fearful proportions that the Mayor found it necessary to call on the military to suppress it. Three companies of Hancock's veterans were ordered out, and proceeded to arrest all found in a rioting or disorderly conduct. Many persons were dangerously and seriously wounded before the military appeared on the scene of action. Between fifty and a hundred of the ringleaders were sent to the slave pen, and there compelled to remain during the balance of the day. Some them were released yesterday morning, while the more guilty, are still in confinement….”

------------

Red/Cyan (not red/blue) glasses of the proper density must be used to view 3D effect without ghosting. Anaglyph prepared using red cyan glasses from The Center For Civil War Photography / American Battlefield Trust. CCWP Link: www.civilwarphotography.org/

Tiffany Trump: My Father's 'Desire for Excellence Is Contagious' #Tiffany, #Father, #Maples, #Trump, #Marla, #Self, #Deprecatingly, #Year, #Old, #Biden, #Six, #Theta #Contfeed

 

Check out here >> cofd.co/gb70s

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

British author Caitlin Moran long time columnist for The Times is wickedly funny and highly informative as to what women are up against in this revealing memoir from 2010. I had no idea how eradicating pubic hair had become so important in the lives of straight women. (I didn’t even know what waxing was. No one told me that doing this to one’s nether regions was even a thing. And I promptly asked for confirmation of this from first available straight woman I saw in person.)

 

And that’s just the beginning of this no holds barred book on the passages of womanhood told with a heightened instinct for what is funny, outrageous and true while updating me on the nuanced status of sexism thinly coded in jabs at female functions. As an unabashed feminist since her discovery of Germain Greer at age thirteen (the author gives a wee disclaimer here about disagreeing with Greer about excluding trans women then never mentions trans identities again) as she addresses all the various material aspects of being a woman chapter by chapter from first period, to what to call your breasts, to being fat, to doing research on lap dancing. And all while telling her own story of growing up poor with 7 siblings, finding her way in the patriarchal landscape and roaming around London pubs making an ass of herself while writing for the music scene. Her intelligent, opinionated and illuminating voice offers self-deprecatingly funny yet unapologetic insights into what it takes to be a woman in today’s world. I fully appreciated the update from this competent writer nearly 20 years my junior.

 

But happily for the reader her story is not one of how there aren’t any decent men. She has a supportive male friend who points out himself how frequently men project onto women their own shortcomings. Thus she can go from worse boyfriend ever to marrying a decent man, to birthing babies, to having an abortion, developing a career, aging and all the other things women face as a working mother. And once again I am in awe of women birthing and being a mum in some of the most frank writing on these topics fully informed by a feminist perspective.

 

She also confirms that straight women and gay men are natural allies because both are—in the eyes of patriarchy— in the loser’s camp. To which she gamely explains why women haven’t even had a chance to prove they are not losers. And though she does mention lesbians quite a bit as a category of admirable people she does not describe a single relationship with one. This is clearly treacherous territory. (Lesbians have no natural allies. Only unnatural ones with straight male friends which is akin to being a lion tamer if the man is single and/or hungry. Heh.)

 

The author’s life reminded me that childless lesbians really are different from heterosexual women. We are more like men in the sense that our hetero counterparts have so much more to navigate before they can even get out the door or out of their own way. In that sexist programming has forced women to center men in all things while lesbians just never get on that boat. In this sense I think lesbians owe it to our straight sisters to lend a compassionate ear. (I who am largely ignored by lesbians owing to being too exotic to relate to have made my friendship with straight women on this basis. While finding lovers among bisexual women who have a broader appreciation for all manner of relationships.)

 

Reading this account was exotic to me in a way that I hope my book will be to my straight counterparts. I was grateful for this intimate look into the commonalities of such a life while also appreciating the talent and straight shooting gal of this voice as a woman and as a writer.

This one commemorates all the women who contributed to the Second World War. As you can see, they all wore tasteful dresses, had nice hair, took their hats off when they found stairs and stared at light bulbs while smiling self-deprecatingly. Without them we'd all be speaking Japanese and smiling self-deprecatingly. And we wouldn't be able to afford stairs. Or nice hats. And we'd no longer be white!

 

The above caption has been checked by professionals and contains no double entendres. This was not easy. Quite the reverse.

 

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Sweater by gypsy-witch

 

Getting the motivation to photoshop has been a chore lately. This is from a session from a traveling model, Nicolette. She is a blast to work with. In all truth, it was an off day for me socially (communicating the ideas and eventually just losing steam), but having some space between when I took these and now allows me to actually see potential in what I self-deprecatingly thought of as a wasted session.

 

FYI, Acros pushes to 400 pretty nicely. It wasn't intentional - I lost track of what film was in what back of the Hassie. I might reupload this one cropped though...

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

When you hear it languishing

and hooing and cooing, and sidling through the front teeth,

the Oxford voice

or worse still

the would-be Oxford voice

you don’t even laugh any more, you can’t.

 

For every blooming bird is an Oxford cuckoo nowadays,

you can’t sit on a bus nor in the tube

but it breathes gently and languishingly in the back of

your neck.

 

And oh, so seductively superior, so seductively

self-effacingly

deprecatingly

superior.

 

We wouldn’t insist on it for a moment

but we are

we are

you admit we are

superior.

I think there must have been something in the air this weekend. It's not really hard to figure out, of course--a beautiful wedding, towering redwoods, pools of sunlight amid the shadows cast by the trees. Who wouldn't feel a little romantic?

 

Juliette always says that her older brother and sister-in-law have the best relationship, and, you know, I think she's onto something. I haven't seen many couples that fit together as well as they do. I remember telling them that once and they responded self-deprecatingly, saying something like "Oh, you should see us fight." But, of course, everybody fights with the people close to them sometimes. Not everybody has fun together, and not everybody is affectionate with each other, and not everybody is so obviously in love, especially after multiple decades of marriage. It's really something special, and I always like getting to spend time with them.

 

--

 

Nikon D40, Nikkor 35mm f/1.8 DX

f/1.8, 1/4000, ISO 200

 

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He has spent six months on the International Space Station. He answered all questions with enthusiasm; he's fascinating and self-deprecatingly funny. He made it worth the sad trek out to the tweetup tent on what got closest to being the morning of the launch.

taken by my daughter

 

"plate pub. Fores, 6 Apr. 1812 (A. de R. xii. 48). Lady Hertford (left) and John Bull face each other in front of a puppet theatre, whose small scale is shown by its relation to these two large three-quarter length figures. Lady Hertford's raised left arm is behind the curtain (left) from which her hand emerges, holding the four strings attached to the wrists and toes of Perceval, the only puppet on the stage, whose background is a realistic view of the screen of Carlton House. He wears his Chancellor of the Exchequer's gown, and bows deprecatingly, as if making a speech. A paper, 'Delicate Investigation', projects from his pocket. In her right arm are four puppets (left to right): (?) Wellesley, (?) Buckingham (see No. 11861), (?) Temple, Sidmouth. Behind her head two discarded puppets hang perpendicularly, back to back: Grenville (left) and Grey. On the proscenium: 'Regency Theatre', in large letters with a scroll: 'Nunc aut Nunquam'. John Bull, a yokel in a smock, holding his hat and cudgel, scratches his head, exclaiming: "Laud! Laud! be they all your own meaking what a clever Leady thee must be. whoy there beant such another in all Hertford." She answers: "Yes Jonny they are all manufactured by me & my Son. I can make them do any thing, the[y] work so easy, only Perceive all the gestures of this Lawyer like Gentleman with the delicate investigation in his pocket, he is my principal actor & always ready to take any part—those Grey & Green-vile looking figures behind me are so stiff & stubborn that I cannot do any thing with them, & am obliged to put them aside, Why I have had the Honor of performing before the Prince Regent, & he has given me permission to write up, Performer to his Royal Highness." Her hair is dressed with two circlets simulating a crown, and with the Prince's feathers. She is much décolletée; and on her belt are the words 'Fide et Amo[re]', the Hertford motto. In front of the stage is a playbill: 'Theatre Royal Hertford—The Piece call'd Secret Influence will be continued some time longer, a Revived piece in one Act call'd The Petition Regegted [sic] will be performed in the course of a few days to which will be added the Baggatelle the Cits in the Suds or How can you help it—NB no person permitted to peep behind the Curtain but the Performers.' A copy of a satire by Williams of 6th April 1782. Hand-coloured etching" British Museum

Arielle welcomes the audience to DL's Zodiac-themed hafla. She opens the show with a tribute to Taurus by dancing her version of a Paso Doble. With her usual whimsical humor, Arielle self-deprecatingly called it "Paso BS". :-)

Photo by Bill Tricomi

WHY NORMAN ROCKWELL MATTERS

 

What kind of art has the power to charm millions of Americans?

 

It’d be a good question to pose to Norman Rockwell, that famed painter of quaint, funny scenes depicting mid-20th-century American life. His works were reproduced ceaselessly on magazine covers in the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s—and their appeal was immense. By the 1940s, Time magazine had already christened Rockwell as “probably the best-loved U.S. artist alive,” while the New York Times had affectionately compared his paintings to Mark Twain’s novels.

 

On the other hand, the fine art world’s burgeoning band of critics, led by Clement Greenberg, derided his work as too sentimental, saccharine, and commercial. “You have to put Rockwell down, down below the rank of minor artist,” insisted Greenberg, the leading champion of Abstract Expressionist painting. “He chose not to be serious.”

 

But Rockwell did have a serious side, and he often surprised his massive fan base by making pictures that cut deep. “Most of the time, I try to entertain with my Post covers,” he explained. “But once in a while, I get an uncontrollable urge to say something serious.” His later paintings from the 1960s and ’70s advocated for freedom of speech and the Civil Rights Movement, and even his most playful compositions often hinted at shifting gender roles, class divides, democratic values, and acceptance of all races and religions.

 

By that time, Rockwell had a captive audience—and they listened. “His work has helped define how to convey a message that may not be broadly palatable, or may have something controversial in it, in a way that gets people to look and think—people who may be on the other side of the issue,” said Barbara Tannenbaum, curator of photography at the Cleveland Museum, who helped bring a survey of Rockwell’s work at the Akron Museum of Art in 2007. “That’s certainly relevant these days.”

 

This summer, the enduring relevance of Rockwell’s work—from the whimsical to the provocative—is celebrated in shows at the New York Historical Society and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The market is also taking the artist seriously: A group of his paintings and illustrations headlined a recent Sotheby’s sale of American art, collectively selling above the high estimate, with one canvas fetching over $8 million. (The auction record for a single Rockwell painting is $46 million, reached in 2013 for perhaps his most famous work, Saying Grace, 1951.)

 

All of these events point to a steadily mounting—if overdue—interest from the art world in Rockwell’s talents: his deft skill as a figurative and narrative painter, and his ability to translate keen social observation into works with broad appeal.

 

FINDING HIS SOAPBOX

 

Norman Rockwell was born in 1894 in New York City to Nancy and Jarvis Rockwell, an agent in the then-booming textile industry. As a young boy, Rockwell might have gleaned early inspiration from his maternal grandfather, an English painter known for meticulous genre paintings, portraits, and pictures of animals. While his father wasn’t as artistically inclined, he encouraged his son’s early interest in drawing; as Jarvis read Dickens books aloud, the young Rockwell would illustrate their unfolding dramas.

 

In later years, Rockwell sweetly and self-deprecatingly described his young self as awkward, bespectacled, and bumbling. In 1904, at the age of 10, he discovered his “monstrous Adam’s apple, narrow shoulders, long neck, and pigeon toes,” as he later wrote. But he learned to ignore his “shortcomings” whenever he started to draw. By 1907, he had resolved to become an illustrator.

 

Rockwell’s ascent to commercial success came fast. After quitting high school in 1910, he devoted himself completely to studying his craft at the National Academy of Design and the Art Students League.

 

“I put everything into my work. A lot of artists do that: their work is the only thing they’ve got that gives them an identity,” he later wrote. “I feel that I don’t have anything else, that I must keep working or I’ll go back to being pigeon-toed, narrow-shouldered—a lump.”

 

By his late teens, Rockwell was landing gigs doing illustration and art direction for magazines like Boys’ Life, and had begrudgingly adopted the nickname “Boy Illustrator.” At age 22, he’d already had three paintings reproduced in one of the country’s most popular magazines, the Saturday Evening Post.

 

The 1920s were a bustling time for publishing, and illustrators benefitted. Newspapers and magazines were the “sole media for the broad dissemination of news and information,” as historian Elizabeth Miles Montgomery pointed out in her Rockwell biography. Significantly for Rockwell, they were also “the primary source of new images for most people.”

 

“In a lot of ways, the magazine industry in the mid-20th century was directly responsible for establishing the American Dream,” Stephanie Plunkett, chief curator at the Norman Rockwell Museum, told Artsy, “creating a sense of who we are, what we could be, what we could look like, what our values could be.”

 

It was in this environment that Rockwell found his launchpad. At its height, the Saturday Evening Post had a circulation of some 3 million, and Rockwell became one of the staff’s favorite cover illustrators; over the course of his 47 years working for magazine, from 1916 until 1963, Rockwell illustrated 322 covers. Editors latched onto the wit and charm of his work, and his “sensitive feeling for humanity,” as Kenneth Stuart, the Post’s art editor, once wrote. The accessibility of his pictures also matched the magazine’s broad readership. “No guide is needed for Norman’s work,” he continued. “The warmth of his understanding reaches them. People experience his paintings.”

 

ILLUSTRATING AMERICA

 

The works that made Rockwell famous depicted all sorts of Americans going about their lives. He showed them experiencing both daily travails and simple pleasures: puberty, dating, a lonely game of Solitaire, a delicious midsummer skinny dip. We see throngs of loose-tongued town gossips and glimpse inside glowing barbershops, where groups of old men gather to strum away at instruments. Rockwell’s imagery contended with current events, too: historic sports matches, a child going off to war, contentious elections. In one work from 1944, a tattooist scrawls “Betty” across a sailor’s bulging arm. The punchline comes upon noticing the six other names (like Mimi and Olga) crossed out above it.

 

No matter what their backdrops were, however, Rockwell’s characters hooked readers with a quality of sentimentality and nostalgia, often oozing charm and humor. They were almost all lovable, thanks to the humanity he brought to them. In a 1945 New Yorker profile of Rockwell, writer Rufus Jarman pointed out one critic’s view that the artist “would probably be incapable of painting a really evil person.” This, of course, wasn’t strictly true; Rockwell possessed a rare skill for painting figures and nuanced facial expressions. But early in his career, he made a conscious decision to depict subjects to whom Americans could respond and relate. His characters were expressive, emotional, inquisitive, and apt to make mistakes. In this way, they were relatable—and America fell in love with them for it.

 

“Rockwell considered himself to be a visual storyteller,” explained Plunkett. “He was an extraordinary draftsman and an exceptional compositionalist, but maybe his greatest strength was his ability to enter the American psyche. People responded to his art because they saw the best of themselves in it.”

 

Thomas Buechner, a director of the Brooklyn Museum in the 1960s, found a similar power in Rockwell’s work: “The point of these pictures is to communicate the emotion to the viewer so that he can either experience it himself or react to it as an outsider,” he wrote.

 

Take Rockwell’s 1951 canvas Saying Grace, perhaps his most famous work—voted by Post readers as their all-time favorite cover, and the painting that would later shatter Rockwell’s auction record in 2013. It depicts a curious scene in which an old woman and little boy pray in the middle of a rowdy diner. Strapping young men, who look like they have a rebellious side (one dangles a cigarette nonchalantly from his mouth, à la James Dean), watch inquisitively. “They’re looking on, they might be curious, they might not agree, but there’s still a dignity, a respect to their reaction,” explained Plunkett. In other words, Rockwell painted a world in which very different people were able to get along, or, at the very least, respect each other’s opinions.

 

Rockwell spent much of his time passionately observing people around him in New York, where he lived until 1939, and later, in Vermont and Massachusetts. He watched their daily routines, private rituals, and mercurial emotions, using it all as fodder for his paintings. He described his project as “showing the America I knew and observed to others who might not have noticed.”

 

While his paintings often contained elements of caricature, Rockwell also strove for authenticity, especially when it came to finding just the right subject. Often, he’d invite the strangers he observed into his studio to sit for him. “He has dragged people out of theaters, from behind store counters, out of trucks, and off tractors and persuaded them to pose for him,” Jarman chronicled. “He has deserted one of his own wedding-anniversary parties, which was being held in a New York restaurant, because he had spotted someone across the room who looked like a good model.”

 

Rockwell spent hours, sometimes days, with various sitters, directing them to pose or smile as he sketched or photographed them. Later, he’d combine these studies into intricate narrative compositions. This approach, in which Rockwell connected directly with the American people as part of his process, also extended to the act of painting itself. “I’m trying not to paint the head,” he once said. “I want to feel it. I don’t paint it, I caress it.”

 

A POLITICAL TURN

 

It was part of Rockwell’s mission to reach as many Americans as possible, but he faced limitations—the Post’s conservative outlook chief among them. As Plunkett explained, “Showing people of color in roles other than service industry roles, for instance, wasn’t possible for him at the Post.” At one point, Rockwell recalled being directed to paint over a person of color he’d included in one of his group pictures, because it was against the magazine’s policy.

 

Still, Rockwell tried his best to inject a liberal, socially conscious viewpoint into his illustrations for the magazine. Overtly political content began to creep in as early as the 1940s, with covers exploring World War II, the draft, the Space Race, and weighty elections between Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Thomas E. Dewey. One piece, Which One? (Undecided Voter; Man in Voting Booth) (1944), explored voter indecision—both a timely and timeless subject. (Last year, The New Yorker’s Peter Schjeldahl discussed the resonances between the difficult decision Rockwell’s voter faced in 1944, and the waffling of a large swath of Americans in the 2016 election.)

 

Rockwell’s first overtly political work, however, wasn’t originally intended for the Post. As the story goes, in 1942, the artist shot out of bed at 2 a.m. one night with an idea. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s 1941 speech about the preservation of democratic values (in the face of war with Germany’s totalitarian regime) had stuck with Rockwell, and he wanted to help promote what had become known as Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms”: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.

 

“He was really struck by those ideals,” explained Plunkett, “and he wanted to find a way to convey them to a public he knew would have a hard time—as he did—grappling with big questions, like: ‘What are we really deciding to protect?’ ‘What does freedom really look like?’ His feeling that art can have an impact beyond entertainment came to him at that time.”

 

Promptly, Rockwell set to work on a quartet of paintings depicting these four freedoms. The Post ended up running them as a series of covers. They became an instant sensation, and the original canvases went on to tour the country, being used to subsequently raise almost $133 million in war bonds via exhibition tickets and poster sales. (This summer, all four of the original paintings are on view at the New York Historical Society.)

 

Rockwell was emboldened, but it wasn’t until 1963, when he left the Post and started working with the liberal publication Look magazine, that he began to address more controversial issues—namely, his support of civil rights. Consciousness-raising became his modus operandi, led by a 1963 painting, The Problem We All Live With, which became a cover image for Look. It was inspired by both the 1954 Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled the unconstitutionality of school segregation, and, in particular, the story of Ruby Bridges, the first black child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Public School in New Orleans.

 

The painting shows a young black girl being escorted into school, enduring a volley of tomatoes and a corridor marked by hateful graffiti. At the time, the American public’s response was mixed. Some criticized the painting for its support of civil rights or, on the other side, lambasted Rockwell for supposed hypocrisy: as one reader wrote, “Just where does Norman Rockwell live? Just where does your editor live? Probably both of these men live in all-white, highly expensive, highly exclusive neighborhoods. Oh what hypocrites all of you are!”

 

But many people across racial lines applauded the cover, seeing it as a positive example of the Civil Rights Movement’s growing momentum. Afterwards, Rockwell went on to paint numerous pictures that called for both racial and religious equality. (It’s worth noting that, while Rockwell occasionally made humorous paintings questioning traditional gender roles, he never overtly addressed equal rights for women or the emerging feminist movement of the 1960s.)

 

The Problem We All Live With continues to resonate. In 2011, President Barack Obama brought the painting to the White House to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Bridges’s historic walk. (Today, Bridges sits on the board of the Norman Rockwell Museum.) Significantly, the loan also coincided with the emergence of the Black Lives Matter movement, born out of response to police violence against Americans of color.

 

BROAD APPEAL, WITH A PUNCH

 

As beloved as Rockwell’s work was by many Americans, he contended with constant criticism—especially from the fine art world—during his life. “Most painters are less responsive to Rockwell than are the readers of the Post,” wrote Jarman in 1945. “They either ignore his work altogether or actively object to it, holding that it is too photographic, that it is not spontaneous, that it is too sweet, or simply that it is not art at all.”

 

But Rockwell did have a band of supporters who recognized both his rare painterly skill and his work’s unique power to communicate important messages of hope and acceptance to the masses. German painter and political satirist George Grosz praised Rockwell for both his “excellent technique, great strength, and clearness of touch that the old masters had.” He lauded the populist appeal of his work, too: “His things are so universal that he would be appreciated everywhere.”

 

Even as early as the 1960s, as Rockwell’s pictures became more political, Brooklyn Museum director Thomas Buechner predicted that the painter’s work would stand the test of time. “When this last half century is explored by the future, a few paintings will continue to communicate with the same immediacy and veracity that they have today. I believe that some of Mr. Rockwell’s will be among them,” he wrote.

 

Buechner predicted correctly, and a growing number of curators and critics over the past 15 years have begun to reassess and highlight Rockwell’s influence in earnest. “The art of Norman Rockwell keeps getting better,” wrote The New Yorker’s Schjeldahl in 2016, “as the funny or sweet covers that he created for The Saturday Evening Post become history paintings.” Rightly, he described the whimsy in Rockwell’s paintings not as trivial, but as depicting “precisely observed facts squared with deeply serious hopes.”

 

It’s this delicate balance of optimism and hard observation that Rockwell mastered, and it’s helped to power the continuous broad appeal of his work.

 

When the Akron Art Museum launched the somewhat controversial expansion of its building in 2007, its curators chose to mount a survey of Rockwell’s work as the museum’s first blockbuster. “The show was a way to get people in the door, especially those skeptical about the expansion,” explained Tannenbaum. “It’s an art that seems familiar, that’s approachable. But there are also many layers to it.”

 

Tannenbaum went on explain that Rockwell’s work offered something to everyone: “If you were an artist that was interested in painting or narrative art, this was a wonderful lesson in both history and techniques and processes that remain vital. If you were somebody for whom contemporary art was a bit foreign, this was familiar and still very beautiful. And if you were someone who was interested in issues, you could dig into his politically based work, too.” It is the museum’s second highest-attended show to date, topped only by an M.C. Escher retrospective.

 

The overarching message of Rockwell’s work is one of inclusion, and as the fine art world becomes less insular and exclusive, the artist’s work is being given a platform yet again.

 

It’s telling, perhaps, that the most prominent private collectors of Rockwell’s work are the famous film directors Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who specialize in crafting blockbusters of their own. In 2010, their respective Rockwell holdings came together in an exhibition at D.C.’s Smithsonian American Art Museum, which called the artist a “masterful storyteller who could distill a narrative into a single frame” and alluded to his influence on contemporary film.

 

Still, despite Rockwell’s popular appeal, the canon has yet to fully embrace his work. The Whitney Museum of American Art—whose new building launched with a collection show called “America is Hard to See”—does not have a single work by the artist in its collection.

 

Perhaps only time will tell when it comes to Rockwell’s full acceptance by the art establishment. But his supporters are hopeful. “He was a great American genre painter who had a very unique and particular connection with his audience,” Plunkett continued, “and whose work has a timeless ability to reflect who we believe we can be—the very best in us.”

 

AJ Hunsucker

Spanish fans came in so many different characters it was great. Not pictured are the numerous Matador's in full costume. Again there's nothing but goodwill between the fans of both nations.

 

On the way to the game, the Irish fans self deprecatingly tease the Spanish fans about the countries worsening economic state. "You're going down with the euro" was one of the chants.

Architect A. E. Doyle would self-deprecatingly call this design a “big dry goods box punched full of holes for light.”

 

This photo is pre-Macy's remodel.

An actor-manager, dramatist and poet laureate, Cibber produced some thirty plays during his long career. From 1709 to 1733, he managed theatre companies at Drury Lane and the Queen's Theatre making him one of the first in a long line of actor-managers who dominated the London theatre scene. Cibber had made his name on the London stage in 1696 playing the foppish character Sir Novelty Fashion in his own play 'Love's Last Shift'. Soon after, he became one of the leading actors of the day. In 1730, Cibber was appointment as Poet Laureate yet his verses had few admirers, particularly Alexander Pope. But even Cibber acknowledged, self-deprecatingly, that he himself did not think much of his verses.

 

National Portrait Gallery, London. Purchased, 1896.