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Head of Invention by a Scottish sculptor and artist Eduardo Paolozzi, 1989.
Eduardo Paolozzi (1924-2005) is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art
The sculpture is installed in front of the Design Museum in London.
Inscription on the back of the sculpture:
"Though human genius in its various inventions with various instruments may answer the same end, it will never find an invention more beautiful or more simple or direct than nature, because in her inventions nothing is lacking and nothing superfluous
Leonardo da Vinci.
London, 2017
The Our Daily Challenge group has chosen Invention as today's topic.
The bicycle is said to be one of the most important inventions of the nineteenth century. Previously, most people could only travel as far as they could walk so few left their own village. The bicycle enabled people, young men at first but later young women, to travel further afield. This had the effect of greatly increasing the likelihood of marriage outside their own locality thus diversifying the gene pool
A recent arrival at Lichfield Road, New Invention, Willenhall, Walsall. Rear window appear to lack its glazing.
20170727-FYG663J(2)a
Helps by heel spur ,easier to get by foot and more force, keep moving top end for about two minutes , good luck ,thanks for the visit
I've half-jokingly said over the decades (I date myself with that statement ;-) that the greatest invention we, as a species, have invented is the ski lift, especially the covered high-speed variety!
Picture of a ski lift at Snow Valley last weekend as my boys made their way up on their own for another run down.
No need for covered chairs here though as the weather during the day is *perfect* 99.9% of the time.
And some toiler humour as well. I think you can read all about this special Australian toilet invention from the descriptor on the lid. My friends would accuse me of enjoying toilet humour, I guess that's why I like some episodes of "Bluey" so much!
This example has been specially decorated with the added Aussie humour of the Redbacks (dangerous, potentially deadly spiders - see link below) under the toilet seat. I am not sure they would survive the special crystals used in this one but for Australians who used the old fashioned wooden Outhouse thunder box, the threat of Redback spiders was quite real!
Qantilda Museum, Waltzing Matilda Centre, Winton
I love the pavements in town after a shower, the reflections make possible an interesting photo where previously there wasn't one. This is the Alliance & Leicester at the top of Northumberland Street in Newcastle, which actually cycles through a range of colours to attract attention. The orange is best, it goes without saying ;-)
An automatic teller machine (ATM) or "cash point/hole-in-the-wall" in common parlance, is a computerised telecommunications device that provides the clients of a financial institution with access to financial transactions in a public space without the need for a cashier, human clerk or bank teller. The first mechanical cash dispenser was developed and built by Luther George Simjian and installed in 1939 in New York City by the City Bank of New York, but removed after 6 months due to the lack of customer acceptance.
Thereafter, the history of ATMs paused for over 25 years, until De La Rue developed the first electronic ATM, which was installed first in Enfield Town in North London, on 27 June 1967 by Barclays Bank. This instance of the invention is credited to John Shepherd-Barron, although various other engineers were awarded patents for related technologies at the time. Shepherd-Barron was awarded an OBE in the 2005 New Year's Honours List. The first person to use the machine was the British variety artist and actor Reg Varney!
More than you could ever want to know here:
My latest invention for splicing two or more lengths of wire together. ... Or a attaching a length of wire to an object such as a turnbuckle.
2020 Weekly Alphabet Challenge, Week 35, I for Invention
The needle threader is one of those really useful inventions. I couldn't find out when it was invented and by who ...
Kedleston Hall is a neo-classical manor house owned by the National Trust, and seat of the Curzon family, located in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of Derby. The medieval village of Kedleston was moved in 1759 by Nathaniel Curzon to make way for the manor.[2] All that remains of the original village is the 12th century All Saints Church, Kedleston.[3]
Background
The current house was commissioned in 1759 by Nathaniel Curzon and designed by Robert Adam.[4]
The Curzon family, whose name originates in Notre-Dame-de-Courson in Normandy, have been in Kedleston since at least 1297, and have lived in a succession of manor houses near to or on the site of the present Kedleston Hall. The present house was commissioned by Sir Nathaniel Curzon (later 1st Baron Scarsdale) in 1759. The house was designed by the Palladian architects James Paine and Matthew Brettingham and was loosely based on an original plan by Andrea Palladio for the never-built Villa Mocenigo.
At the time a relatively unknown architect, Robert Adam, was designing some garden temples to enhance the landscape of the park; Curzon was so impressed with his designs that Adam was quickly put in charge of the construction of the new mansion.
On the death of Richard Curzon, 2nd Viscount Scarsdale in 1977, expenses compelled the heir, his cousin (Francis Curzon), to transfer the property to the care of the National Trust.[5]
Exterior
Kedleston Hall was Brettingham's opportunity to prove himself capable of designing a house to rival Holkham Hall. The opportunity was taken from him by Robert Adam who completed the North front (above) much as Brettingham designed it, but with a more dramatic portico.
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The design of the three-floored house is of three blocks linked by two segmentally curved corridors. The ground floor is rusticated, while the upper floors are of smooth-dressed stone. The central, corps de logis, the largest block, contains the state rooms and was intended only for formal entertaining. The East block was a self-contained country house in its own right, containing all the rooms for the family's private use, and the identical West block contained the kitchens and all other domestic rooms and staff accommodation.
Plans for two more pavilions (as the two smaller blocks are known), of identical size and similar appearance, were never executed. These further wings were intended to contain, in the south-east a music room, and in the southwest a conservatory and chapel. Externally these latter pavilions would have differed from their northern counterparts by large glazed Serlian windows on the piano nobile of their southern facades. Here the blocks were to appear as of two floors only; a mezzanine was to have been disguised in the north of the music room block. The linking galleries here were also to contain larger windows, than on the north, and niches containing classical statuary.
The north front, approximately 117 yards [107 m] in length, is Palladian in character, dominated by a massive, six-columned Corinthian portico; however, the south front (illustrated right) is pure neoclassical Robert Adam. This garden facade is divided into three distinct sets of bays; the central section is a four-columned, blind triumphal arch (based on the Arch of Constantine in Rome) containing one large, pedimented glass door reached from the rusticated ground floor by an external, curved double staircase. Above the door, at second-floor height, are stone garlands and medallions in relief.
The four Corinthian columns are topped by classical statues. This whole centre section of the facade is crowned by a low dome visible only from a distance. Flanking the central section are two identical wings on three floors, each three windows wide, the windows of the first-floor piano nobile being the tallest. Adam's design for this facade contains huge "movement" and has a delicate almost fragile quality.
Hall
Marble Hall 1763, decoration completed in 1776-7
Entering the house through the great north portico on the piano nobile, one is confronted by the marble hall. Nikolaus Pevsner describes this as one of the most magnificent apartments of the 18th century in England.[6] It measures 67 feet (20 m) by 37 feet (11 m) in plan and is 40 feet (12 m) high.
Twenty fluted pink Nottingham alabaster columns with Corinthian capitals support the heavily decorated, high-coved cornice. Niches in the walls contain casts of classical statuary by Matthew Brettingham the Younger and others;[6] above the niches are grisaille panels of Homeric subjects inspired by Palladio's illustration of the Temple of Mars. The stucco in the ceiling was created by Joseph Rose in the 1770s.[6]
The floor is of inlaid Italian marble. Matthew Paine's original designs for this room intended for it to be lit by conventional windows at the northern end, but Adam, warming to the Roman theme, did away with the distracting windows and lit the whole from the roof through innovative glass skylight.
The overmantels to the fireplaces are by Joseph Rose with firebaskets by Robert Adam.[6]
At Kedleston, the hall symbolises the atrium of the Roman villa and the adjoining saloon the vestibulum.
Saloon
The saloon
The saloon, contained behind the triumphal arch of the south front, like the marble hall rises the full height of the house, 62 feet (19 m) to the top of the dome, where it too is sky-lit through a glass oculus. Designed as a sculpture gallery, this circular room 42 feet (13 m) in width was completed in 1763.
The decorative theme is based on the temples of the Roman Forum with more modern inventions: in the four massive, apse-like recesses are stoves disguised as pedestals for classical urns.[1] The paintings of ruins are by Gavin Hamilton and the grisaille panels have scenes of British worthies painted by John Biagio Rebecca.[6]
The four sets of double doors giving entry to the room have heavy pediments supported by scagliola columns, and at second-floor height, grisaille panels depict classical themes.
From the saloon, the atmosphere of the 18th-century Grand Tour is continued throughout the remainder of the principal reception rooms of the piano nobile, though on a slightly more modest scale.
State bedroom
The "principal apartment", or State bedroom suite, contains fine furniture and paintings.
The state bed was constructed by James Gravenor of Derby.[7] The state bed posts are carved to represent palm tree trunks which soar up and break into flamboyant foliage at the top, sweeping in palm-fronds behind.[8]
Drawing room
Settee by John Linnell in the Drawing Room dated from around 1765.
The drawing room with huge alabaster Venetian window is 44 feet (13 m) by 28 feet (8.5 m) by 28 feet (8.5 m). The doorcase is also alabaster. The fireplace with a scene of virtue rewarded by honour and riches is flanked by large female figures sculpted by Michael Henry Spang.[6] The gilt sofas by John Linnell date from around 1765.[9] They were commissioned by the 1st Baron Scarsdale and supplied, together with a second pair of sofas to Kedleston in 1765.
Dining room
The dining room
The dining room, with its gigantic apse, has a ceiling that Adam based on the Domus Augustana in the Farnese Gardens. The apse contains curved tables designed by Adam in 1762[6] and a giant wine cooler. The ceiling contains panel paintings of the continents by Antonio Zucchi, the seasons by Gavin Hamilton and the centre is by George Morland. The original wall panels are by Francesco Zuccarelli, Frans Snyders, Claude and Giovanni Francesco Romanelli.
Music Room
The Music Room has Ionic doorcases and delicate plaster ceiling designed by Adam. The marble chimneypiece is inlaid with Blue John. The pipe organ was second hand by John Snetzler with the case designed by Robert Adam and built by Robert Gravenor.[10] A second manual with Hautboy was added in 1824 by Alexander Buckingham.[11] The organ was restored in 1993 by Dominic Gwynn.
Library
The Library
The library contains a Roman doric doorcase leading to the Saloon. The bookcases were designed by Robert Adam[6] and built by James Gravenor of Derby.[12] The plaster ceiling is divided into octagonal patterns. The library desk was built in 1764 by James Gravenor. Wikipedia
I wrote a poem this morning Alpha Inventions Blog Traffic Booster , and cross blogged it to my Hijdaeunuchblogs at Wordpress.
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All my Flickr Hijda pictures I have been cross blogging here ..its quite a pain..but the Hijdas prefer this website to my Flickr website .
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The marvels of our past become our future relics. This was once someones dream, and it's beauty remains.
messy figuring out of the Gift Bearing Holiday Tree the boy designed....and the card that came of it...
....but next year...muhahaha!
Number 37 For 52 in 2019 :Invention
This non kink-able hose at the pool seem to me to be a must have! There are several different lengths available and I am very tempted !
Getijdemolen. De linkersluis laat het water binnen vanuit de spuitkom, de rechtersluis laat het naar zee lopen.
IJsbrandt Jansz, 1598.
Nationaal Archief, archief van de Staten van Holland en West-Friesland, inv.nr. 363
Het Nationaal Archief presenteert in samenwerking met de Technische Universiteit Delft en Kunsthal Rotterdam een veelzijdige familietentoonstelling over Nederlandse uitvindingen en innovaties in
de Kunsthal Rotterdam.
19 december 2009 t/m 21 maart 2010
A spoof, Victorian advertisement that I have just finished. Imagining a possible solution to the problems faced on the road by cyclists and motorcycle riders: a great big machine gun on the front. Copyright J B Kelly 2013.
The Pink Bear and I love our Kindle!
We think that it is one of the most wonderful inventions we know!
We love getting our books wirelessly by Whispernet, delivered directly to our Kindle, so that we can begin reading immediately!
Right now we are reading Van Gogh: The Life by Stephen Naifeh and Gregory White Smith.
It is a nearly 1000 page book...another reason we love our Kindle, for how could a little pink bear like this hold a 1000 page book?
Second collaborative artwork with one of the biggest and baddest illa's about to hit the industry, my man Mr Wan.
A universal theme is chosen and we independently create artwork which best reflects (a key word or phrase within) that theme using our signature styles.
Eventually to be released (in a very limited quantity and) a very exclusive pack of double sided cards.
Each image will be constructed using various technical printing and handicraftwork processes to ensure maximum quality and longevity.
You can see Mr Wan's 'Invention' here
Hill's Cigarettes "Scientific Inventions & Discoveries" issued in 1929.
#32 William Caxton and the printing press
A model of an invention designed by Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century, on display at the exhibition "Leonardo da Vinci, the inventions of a Genius" in Bruges, Belgium.
Fingerprints
The discovery that fingerprints are unique in each person and are left behind on everything we touch made by Jan Evangelista in 1823 was nothing short of miraculous. The even bigger breakthrough came when this discovery could be used by law enforcement to conduct...
top6.com/most-significant-breakthroughs-in-the-history-of...
by now, the world knows the back of the iphone 4 breaks if you look at it wrong. here is another corning invention that can match the corning gorilla glass on the front; corning ware on the back. chop chop, apple.
For the vast majority of human existence, the only access the bereaved had to images of those they had lost were the hazy conjurings of memory. The invention of photography changed that. Its vivid clarifying reality can bring joy, but it can also bring a stab to the heart.
Normally I only upload photographs taken by myself. But I now look in vain for further such photos of my dear late wife.
I am both envious of and grateful to the unknown photographer who took this shot at my wife's retirement from her workplace, where she had been employed and loved for over thirty years. She had then lived 72 years, and was granted only eight more. This is close to my favourite image of her, pushing aside some of my own that I am proudest of. It almost does justice to her candid gentleness, intelligence, and beauty. My only contribution is to squeeze an impressionistic portrait out of a severe cropping of a much wider angle view (hence the softness, but that is not inappropriate).
The history of printing in East Asia starts with the use of woodblock printing on cloth during the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) and later paper (in Imperial Court as early as the 1st century, or around 80 AD), and continued with the invention of wooden movable type by East Asian artisans in Song China by the 11th century. Use of woodblock printing quickly spread to other East Asian countries. While the Chinese used only clay and wood movable type at first, use of metal movable type was pioneered in Korea by the 13th century. The Western-style printing press became known in East Asia by the 16th century but was not fully adopted until centuries later.
WOODBLOCK PRINTING
Traditionally, there have been two main printing techniques in Asia: woodblock printing (xylography) and moveable type printing. In the woodblock technique, ink is applied to letters carved upon a wooden board, which is then pressed onto paper. With moveable type, the board is assembled using different lettertypes, according to the page being printed. Wooden printing was used in the East from the 8th century onwards, and moveable metal type came into use during the 12th century.
The earliest specimen of woodblock printing on paper, whereby individual sheets of paper were pressed into wooden blocks with the text and illustrations carved into them, was discovered in 1974 in an excavation of Xi'an (then called Chang'an, the capital of Tang China), Shaanxi, China. It is a dharani sutra printed on hemp paper and dated to 650 to 670 AD, during the Tang Dynasty (618-907). Another printed document dating to the early half of the Chinese Tang Dynasty has also been found, the Saddharmapunṇḍarīka sutra or Lotus Sutra printed from 690 to 699.
In Korea, an example of woodblock printing from the eighth century was discovered in 1966. A copy of the Buddhist Dharani Sutra called the Pure Light Dharani Sutra (Hangul: 무구정광대다라니경; hanja: 無垢淨光大陀羅尼經; RR: DMugu jeonggwang dae darani-gyeong), discovered in Gyeongju, South Korea in a Silla dynasty pagoda that was repaired in 751 AD, was undated but must have been created sometime before the reconstruction of the Shakyamuni Pagoda of Pulguk Temple, Kyongju Province in 751 AD. The document is estimated to have been created no later than 704 AD.
THE PRINTING PROCESS
The manuscript is transcribed onto thin slightly waxed sheets of paper by a professional calligrapher. The paper is placed face down on a block on which a thin layer of rice paste has been thinly spread and the back rubbed with a flat palm-fibre brush so that a clear impression of the inked area is left on the block. The engraving uses a set of sharp-edged tools to cut the characters with a double edged tool used to cut away any extra surfaces. The knife is held like a dagger in the right hand and guided by the middle finger of the left hand, drawing towards the cutter. The vertical lines are cut first, then the block is rotated 90 degrees and the horizontal lines cut.
Four proof-readings are normally required - the transcript, the corrected transcript, first sample print from block and after any corrections have been made. A small correction to a block can be made by cutting a small notch and hammering in a wedge-shaped piece of wood. Larger errors require an inlay. After this the block is washed to remove any refuse.
To print, the block is fixed firmly on a table. The printer takes a round horsehair inking brush and applies ink with a vertical motion. The paper is then laid on the block and rubbed with a long narrow pad to transfer the impression to the paper. The paper is peeled off and set to dry. Because of the rubbing process, printing is only done on one side of the paper, and the paper is thinner than in the west, but two pages are normally printed at once.
Sample copies were sometimes made in red or blue, but black ink was always used for production. It is said that a skilled printer could produce as many as 1500 or 2000 double sheets in a day. Blocks can be stored and reused when extra copies are needed. 15,000 prints can be taken from a block with a further 10,000 after touching up.
SPREAD OF PRINTING IN ASIA
Printing started in China in the 593 AD. Printing was promoted by the spread of Buddhism.
The Buddhist scroll known as the "Great Dharani Sutra of Immaculate and Pure Light" or "Spotless Pure Light Dharani Sutra" (Hangul: 무구정광대다라니경; hanja: 無垢淨光大陀羅尼經; RR: DMugu jeonggwang dae darani-gyeong) is currently the oldest surviving woodblock print. It was published in Korea before the year 751 A.D. during the Silla Kingdom. This Darani Sutra was found inside the Seokga Pagoda of Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju, Korea. Bulguksa Temple in Gyeongju in October 1966 within the seokgatap (释迦塔)while dismantling the tower to repair much of the sari was found with the prints. One row of the darani gyeongmun 8-9 are printed in the form of a roll. Tripitaka Koreana was printed between 1011 and 1082. It is the world's most comprehensive and oldest intact version of Buddhist canon. A reprint in 1237-51 used 81,258 blocks of magnolia wood, carved on both sides, which are still kept almost intact at Haeinsa. A printing office was established in the National Academy in 1101 and the Goryeo government collection numbered several tens of thousands.
In Japan, one thousand copies of the Lotus sutra were printed in 1009 as a pious work, not intended to be read and therefore legibility was not so important. The spread of printing outside Buddhist circles didn't develop until the end of the 16th century.
The westward movement of printing started from eastern Turkestan where printing in the Uyghur language appeared in about 1,300, though the page numbers and descriptions are in Chinese. Both blocks and moveable type printing has been discovered at Turfan as well as several hundred wooden type for Uighur. After the Mongols conquered Turfan, a great number of Uighurs were recruited into the Mongol army and after the Mongols incorporated Persia in the middle of the 13th century, paper money was printed in Tabriz in 1294, following the Chinese system. The first description of the Chinese printing system was made by Rashid-al-Din Hamadani in 1301-11 in his history of the world.
Some fifty pieces of printed matter have been found in Egypt printed between 900 and 1300 in black ink on paper by the rubbing method in the Chinese style. Although there is no transmission evidence, experts believe there is a connection.
According to the print scholar A. Hyatt Mayor, "it was the Chinese who really discovered the means of communication that was to dominate until our age." Both woodblock and movable type printing were replaced in the second half of the 19th century by western-style printing, initially lithography.
MOVABLE TYPE
CERAMIC MOVABLE TYPE IN CHINA
Bi Sheng (毕昇) (990–1051) developed the first known movable-type system for printing in China around 1040 AD during the Northern Song dynasty, using ceramic materials. As described by the Chinese scholar Shen Kuo (沈括) (1031–1095):
When he wished to print, he took an iron frame and set it on the iron plate. In this he placed the types, set close together. When the frame was full, the whole made one solid block of type. He then placed it near the fire to warm it. When the paste [at the back] was slightly melted, he took a smooth board and pressed it over the surface, so that the block of type became as even as a whetstone.
For each character there were several types, and for certain common characters there were twenty or more types each, in order to be prepared for the repetition of characters on the same page. When the characters were not in use he had them arranged with paper labels, one label for each rhyme-group, and kept them in wooden cases.
If one were to print only two or three copies, this method would be neither simple nor easy. But for printing hundreds or thousands of copies, it was marvelously quick. As a rule he kept two forms going. While the impression was being made from the one form, the type was being put in place on the other. When the printing of the one form was finished, the other was then ready. In this way the two forms alternated and the printing was done with great rapidity.
In 1193, Zhou Bida, an officer of Southern Song Dynasty, made a set of clay movable-type method according to the method described by Shen Kuo in his Dream Pool Essays, and printed his book Notes of The Jade Hall (《玉堂杂记》).
The claim that Bi Sheng's clay types were fragile and "not practical for large-scale printing" and "short lived" was refuted by facts and experiments. Bao Shicheng (1775–1885) wrote that baked clay moveable type was "as hard and tough as horn"; experiments show that clay type, after being baked in an oven, becomes hard and difficult to break, such that it remains intact after being dropped from a height of two metres onto a marble floor. Korea could have tried clay movable type, but with little success, probably due to misinterpration of Shen Kua's description "as thin as coin", which likely referred to the depth of the character matrix, not the total length of the moveable type body. The length of clay movable types in China was 1 to 2 centimetres, not 2mm, thus hard as horn. Clay type printing was practiced in China from the Song dynasty through the Qing dynasty, never "short lived". As late as 1844 there were still books printed in China with ceramic movable types.
WOODEN MOVABLE TYPE IN CHINA
Wooden movable type was also first developed around 1040 AD by Bi Sheng (990–1051), as described by the Chinese scholar Shen Kuo (1031–1095), but was abandoned in favour of clay movable types due to the presence of wood grains and the unevenness of the wooden type after being soaked in ink.In 1298, Wang Zhen (王祯/王禎), a Yuan dynasty governmental official of Jingde County, Anhui Province, China, re-invented a method of making movable wooden types. He made more than 30,000 wooden movable types and printed 100 copies of Records of Jingde County (《旌德县志》), a book of more than 60,000 Chinese characters. Soon afterwards, he summarized his invention in his book A method of making moveable wooden types for printing books. Although the wooden type was more durable under the mechanical rigors of handling, repeated printing wore the character faces down, and the types could only be replaced by carving new pieces. This system was later enhanced by pressing wooden blocks into sand and casting metal types from the depression in copper, bronze, iron or tin. This new method overcame many of the shortcomings of woodblock printing. Rather than manually carving an individual block to print a single page, movable type printing allowed for the quick assembly of a page of text. Furthermore, these new, more compact type fonts could be reused and stored. The set of wafer-like metal stamp types could be assembled to form pages, inked, and page impressions taken from rubbings on cloth or paper. In 1322，a Fenghua county officer Ma Chengde (马称德) in Zhejiang, made 100,000 wooded movable types and printed 43 volume Daxue Yanyi (《大学衍义》). Wooden movable types were used continually in China. Even as late as 1733, a 2300-volume Wuying Palace Collected Gems Edition (《武英殿聚珍版丛书》) was printed with 253500 wooden movable type on order of the Yongzheng Emperor, and completed in one year.A number of books printed in Tangut script during the Western Xia (1038–1227) period are known, of which the Auspicious Tantra of All-Reaching Union that was discovered in the ruins of Baisigou Square Pagoda in 1991 is believed to have been printed sometime during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Western Xia (1139–1193). It is considered by many Chinese experts to be the earliest extant example of a book printed using wooden movable type.
A particular difficulty posed the logistical problems of handling the several thousand logographs whose command is required for full literacy in Chinese language. It was faster to carve one woodblock per page than to composit a page from so many different types. However, if one was to use movable type for multitudes of the same document, the speed of printing would be relatively quicker.
Although the wooden type was more durable under the mechanical rigors of handling, repeated printing wore the character faces down, and the types could only be replaced by carving new pieces.
METAL MOVABLE TYPE IN CHINA
Bronze movable type printing was invented in China no later than the 12th century, according to at least 13 material finds in China, in large scale bronze plate printing of paper money and formal official documents issued by Jin (1115–1234) and Southern Song (1127–1279) dynasties with embedded bronze metal types for anti counterfeit markers. Such paper money printing might date back to the 11th-century jiaozi of Northern Song (960–1127)
The typical example of this kind of bronze movable type embedded copper-block printing is a printed "check" of Jin Dynasty with two square holes for embedding two bronze movable type characters, each selected from 1000 different characters, such that each printed paper money has different combination of markers. A copper block printed paper money dated between 1215–1216 in the collection of Luo Zhenyu's Pictorial Paper Money of the Four Dynasties, 1914, shows two special characters one called Ziliao, the other called Zihao for the purpose of preventing counterfeit; over the Ziliao there is a small character (輶) printed with movable copper type, while over the Zihao there is an empty square hole, apparently the associated copper metal type was lost. Another sample of Song dynasty money of the same period in the collection of Shanghai Museum has two empty square holes above Ziliao as well as Zihou, due to lost of the two copper movable types. Song dynasty bronze block embedded with bronze metal movable type printed paper money was issued in large scale and in circulation for a long time.
In the 1298 book Zao Huozi Yinshufa (《造活字印书法》/《造活字印書法》) of the early Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) official Wang Zhen, there is mention of tin movable type, used probably since the Southern Song dynasty (1127–1279), but this was largely experimental. It was unsatisfactory due to its incompatibility with the inking process.
During the Mongol Empire (1206–1405), printing using movable type spread from China to Central Asia.[clarification needed] The Uyghurs of Central Asia used movable type, their script type adopted from the Mongol language, some with Chinese words printed between the pages, a strong evidence that the books were printed in China.
A page from bronze movable-type book by Hua Sui, printed in 1490
During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), Hua Sui in 1490 used bronze type in printing books. In 1574 the massive 1000 volume encyclopedia Imperial Readings of the Taiping Era (《太平御览》/《太平御覧》) were printed with bronze movable type.
In 1725, the Qing Dynasty government made 250,000 bronze movable-type characters and printed 64 sets of the encyclopedic Gujin Tushu Jicheng (《古今图书集成》/《古今圖書集成》, Complete Collection of Illustrations and Writings from the Earliest to Current Times). Each set consisted of 5040 volumes, making a total of 322,560 volumes printed using movable type.
METAL MOVABLE TYPE IN KOREA
The transition from wood type to movable metal type occurred in Korea during the Goryeo Dynasty, some time in the 13th century, to meet the heavy demand for both religious and secular books. A set of ritual books, Sangjeong Gogeum Yemun were printed with movable metal type in 1234. The credit for the first metal movable type may go to Choe Yun-ui of the Goryeo Dynasty in 1234.
The techniques for bronze casting, used at the time for making coins (as well as bells and statues) were adapted to making metal type. Unlike the metal punch system thought to be used by Gutenberg, the Koreans used a sand-casting method. The following description of the Korean font casting process was recorded by the Joseon dynasty scholar Song Hyon (15th century):
At first, one cuts letters in beech wood. One fills a trough level with fine sandy [clay] of the reed-growing seashore. Wood-cut letters are pressed into the sand, then the impressions become negative and form letters [molds]. At this step, placing one trough together with another, one pours the molten bronze down into an opening. The fluid flows in, filling these negative molds, one by one becoming type. Lastly, one scrapes and files off the irregularities, and piles them up to be arranged.
While metal movable type printing was developed in Korea and the oldest extant metal print book had been printed in Korea, Korea never witnessed a printing revolution comparable to Europe's:
Korean printing with movable metallic type developed mainly within the royal foundry of the Yi dynasty. Royalty kept a monopoly of this new technique and by royal mandate suppressed all non-official printing activities and any budding attempts at commercialization of printing. Thus, printing in early Korea served only the small, noble groups of the highly stratified society.
A potential solution to the linguistic and cultural bottleneck that held back movable type in Korea for two hundred years appeared in the early 15th century - a generation before Gutenberg would begin working on his own movable type invention in Europe - when King Sejong devised a simplified alphabet of 24 characters called Hangul for use by the common people, which could have made the typecasting and compositing process more feasible.
MOVABLE TYPE IN JAPAN
Though the Jesuits operated a Western movable type printing-press in Nagasaki, Japan, printing equipment brought back by Toyotomi Hideyoshi's army in 1593 from Korea had far greater influence on the development of the medium. Four years later, Tokugawa Ieyasu, even before becoming shogun, effected the creation of the first native movable type, using wooden type-pieces rather than metal. He oversaw the creation of 100,000 type-pieces, which were used to print a number of political and historical texts.
An edition of the Confucian Analects was printed in 1598 using metal moveable type printing equipment at the order of Emperor Go-Yōzei. This document is the oldest work of Japanese moveable type printing extant today. Despite the appeal of moveable type, however, it was soon decided that the running script style of Japanese writings would be better reproduced using woodblocks, and so woodblocks were once more adopted; by 1640 they were once again being used for nearly all purposes
COMPARISON OF WOODBLOCK AND MOVABLE TYPE IN EAST ASIA
Despite the introduction of movable type from the 11th century, printing using woodblocks remained dominant in East Asia until the introduction of lithography and photolithography in the 19th century. To understand this it is necessary to consider both the nature of the language and the economics of printing.
Given that the Chinese language does not use an alphabet it was usually necessary for a set of type to contain 100,000 or more blocks, which was a substantial investment. Common characters need 20 or more copies, and rarer characters only a single copy. In the case of wood, the characters were either produced in a large block and cut up, or the blocks were cut first and the characters cut afterwards. In either case the size and height of the type had to be carefully controlled to produce pleasing results. To handle the typesetting, Wang Zhen used revolving tables about 2m in diameter in which the characters were divided according to the five tones and the rhyme sections according to the official book of rhymes. The characters were all numbered and one man holding the list called out the number to another who would fetch the type.
This system worked well when the run was large. Wang Zhen's initial project to produce 100 copies of a 60,000 character gazetteer of the local district was produced in less than a month. But for the smaller runs typical of the time it was not such an improvement. A reprint required resetting and re-proofreading, unlike the wooden block system where it was feasible to store the blocks and reuse them. Individual wooden characters didn't last as long as complete blocks. When metal type was introduced it was harder to produce aesthetically pleasing type by the direct carving method.
It is unknown whether metal movable types used from the late 15th century in China were cast from moulds or carved individually. Even if they were cast, there were not the economies of scale available with the small number of different characters used in an alphabetic system. The wage for engraving on bronze was many times that for carving characters on wood and a set of metal type might contain 200-400,000 characters. Additionally, the ink traditionally used in Chinese printing, typically composed of pine soot bound with glue, didn't work well with the tin originally used for type.
As a result of all this, movable type was initially used by government offices which needed to produce large number of copies and by itinerant printers producing family registers who would carry perhaps 20,000 pieces of wooden type with them and cut any other characters needed locally. But small local printers often found that wooden blocks suited their needs better.
MECHANICAL PRESSES
Mechanical presses as used in European printing remained unknown in East Asia.[41] Instead, printing remained an unmechanized, laborious process with pressing the back of the paper onto the inked block by manual "rubbing" with a hand tool. In Korea, the first printing presses were introduced as late as 1881-83, while in Japan, after an early but brief interlude in the 1590s, Gutenberg's printing press arrived in Nagasaki in 1848 on a Dutch ship.
Contrary to Gutenberg printing, which allowed printing on both sides of the paper from its very beginnings (although not simultaneously until very recent times), East Asian printing was done only on one side of the paper, because the need to rub the back of the paper when printing would have spoilt the first side when the second side was printed. Another reason was that, unlike in Europe where Gutenberg introduced more suitable oil-based ink, Asian printing remained confined to water-based inks which tended to soak through the paper.
WIKIPEDIA
Shot through a dirty passenger side window.
Its current owner is: www.infotech.com/about
May 2017 A new Toronto Concert Hall.
History:
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masonic_Temple_(Toronto).
Construction began November 2, 1916 when the contract was signed and approved by the Board of The Masonic Temple Company for the tearing down of an existing church and excavation. The Masonic ceremony of laying the cornerstone occurring November 17, 1917 and the first Lodge meeting taking place on New Year's Day, 1918.[2] At its peak, the Masonic Temple was home to 38 different Masonic bodies: 27 Craft Lodges, six Chapters (York Rite), two Preceptories (Knights Templar), two Scottish Rite Bodies and Adoniram Council.[2]
The hall functioned as a ballroom in the 1930s and began to host rock acts in the late 1960s.[3]
In the years before its sale to CTV, the building housed live music clubs known as The Concert Hall, and earlier, in the late 1960s, The Rock Pile, a sitting-on-the-floor style concert venue that featured not only showcases for top local talent but also appearances by major international recording stars, including Toronto's first Led Zeppelin concert on February 2, 1969, during the band's inaugural North American Tour.
Although the location remained historically significant and was added to the City of Toronto Heritage Property Inventory in 1974, the building has changed hands a number of times. In 1997, it was threatened with demolition: a developer had planned a new highrise residential building marketed to Asians, solely to exploit its "lucky" address of 888 Yonge Street, [4] It was designated under the Ontario Heritage Act in the same year.[4]
Also in the 1990s, the studio was the home of Open Mike with Mike Bullard, and was one of CTV Toronto's news bureaus. Also, notably, it has been rented as a rehearsal space by the Rolling Stones. From March 2006, the building became the broadcast home of the new MTV Canada and has hosted the Polaris Music Prize since 2009.
The building's fate was once again placed under a cloud on November 2, 2012, when Bell Media announced the moving of MTV Canada studio production to 299 Queen Street West and that the building would be sold, possibly for condominiums.[4] Bell Media officially listed the property for sale on March 4, 2013.[5] On June 17, 2013, the building was purchased by the Info-Tech Research Group for $12.5 million.[6][1] Info-Tech announced that its plans for the building include staging an annual charity rock concert in the auditorium.[7]
In 2017, it was announced that the concert hall was to permanently reopen as a public year-round music venue beginning in June for the Toronto Jazz Festival.[3][6]
List of live shows:
Date Operating Name Act Notes
1968-09-20 The Rock Pile Blood, Sweat & Tears
1968-09-21 The Rock Pile Blood, Sweat & Tears Transfusion opened.
1968-10-05 The Rock Pile Procol Harum [8]
1968-10-27 The Rock Pile The Jeff Beck Group. Rod Stewart sang. I was there. The crowd was rude!
1968-11-09 The Rock Pile Iron Butterfly
1969-02-02 The Rock Pile Led Zeppelin [9]
1969-02-23 The Rock Pile Frank Zappa [10]
1969-03-02 The Rock Pile John Mayall
1969-03-08 The Rock Pile Savoy Brown Blues Band
1969-03-16 The Rock Pile Chuck Berry
1969-03-23 The Rock Pile Spirit
1969-03-29 The Rock Pile Jethro Tull
1969-04-05 The Rock Pile John Lee Hooker
1969-04-12 The Rock Pile The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
1969-04-19 The Rock Pile Family
1969-04-26 The Rock Pile Paul Butterfield
1969-05-04 The Rock Pile Sweetwater
1969-05-11 The Rock Pile Deep Purple
1969-05-17 The Rock Pile Kensington Market
1969-05-19 The Rock Pile The Who [11] Concert Poster
1969-05-24 The Rock Pile Frank Zappa
1969-07-08 The Rock Pile Grateful Dead [12]
1969-07-12 The Rock Pile McKenna Mendelson Mainline
1969-08-18 The Rock Pile Led Zeppelin [13]
1969-09-24 The Rock Pile The Mothers of Invention [14]
1969-12-31 Masonic Temple Auditorium Alice Cooper Teegarden & Van Winkle Keith McVie, Moonshine and more...
1979-11-15 The Concert Hall City Boy [15]
1980-08-21 The Concert Hall Magazine
1980-10-17 The Concert Hall Split Enz
1980-10-18 The Concert Hall Split Enz
1980-11-18 The Concert Hall Siouxsie & The Banshees [16]
1981-03-?? The Concert Hall Blue Peteras part of the "March Hop Jump"
1981-03-12 The Concert Hall Iggy Pop
1981-05-10 The Concert Hall Plasmatics [17]
1981-06-10 The Concert Hall Goddo [18]
1981-06-19 The Concert Hall Iron Maiden [19] Reckless opened, first Canadian Iron Maiden show
1981-06-21 The Concert Hall Iron Maiden
1981-07-24 The Concert Hall Kraftwerk [20]
1981-08-30 The Concert Hall The Cure [21] First show in Toronto
1981-10-23 The Concert Hall King Crimson 2 shows
1982-??-?? The Concert Hall Public Image Ltd.
1982-07-06 The Concert Hall Duran Duran
1982-10-28 The Concert Hall Iggy Pop with The Untouchables
1982-10-29 The Concert Hall Spoons Show simulcast on CITY-TV and CHUM-FM; later released on DVD
1982-12-17 The Concert Hall SpoonsSanta Geets Xmas Party presented by CFNY-FM
1983-01-?? The Concert Hall Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five
1983-??-?? The Concert Hall Nina Hagen
1984-06-13 The Concert Hall MarillionThe Box opened
1984-07-13 The Concert Hall R.E.M.
1984-11-12 The Concert Hall The Cure
1984-12-21 The Concert Hall The Parachute Club
1985-01-19 The Concert Hall Metallica [22]
1985-03-10 The Concert Hall Run–D.M.C.
1985-03-31 The Concert Hall Venom/Slayer/Razor
1985-05-05 The Concert Hall Cabaret Voltaire
1987-??-?? The Concert Hall Boogie Down Productions with special guest Biz Markie
1987-05-31 The Concert Hall Skinny Puppy
1988-04-21 The Concert Hall Love and Rockets The Mighty Lemon Drops & The Bubblemen opened
1988-05-08 The Concert Hall Midnight Oil
1988-11-06 The Concert Hall Skinny Puppy
1990-01-12 The Concert Hall Voivod [23] Faith No More and Soundgarden opened
1990-03-30 The Concert Hall The Tragically Hip
1990-11-25 The Concert Hall Jane's Addiction The Buck Pets opened
1990-11-27 The Concert Hall The Pixies[24] Pere Ubu opened
1991-02-24 The Concert Hall The Charlatans venue moved from the Opera House
1991-04-14 The Concert Hall Happy Mondays Stereo MCs opened
1991-07-05 The Concert Hall The Tragically Hip
1991-07-09 The Concert Hall EMF
1991-09-29 The Concert Hall Jesus Jones
1991-10-29 The Concert Hall The Smashing Pumpkins [25]
1991-10-30 The Concert Hall The Smashing Pumpkins [26]
1991-11-23 The Concert Hall Billy Bragg Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy opened
1991-11-30 The Concert Hall The Pixies
1991-12-03 The Concert Hall Tin Machine [26] (David Bowie) It's My Life Tour
1992-03-30 The Concert Hall The Beautiful South The Waltons opened
1992-04-28 The Concert Hall The Charlatans Catherine Wheel opened
1992-05-04 The Concert Hall Soundgarden
1992-05-15 The Concert Hall Sugarcubes [27]
1992-05-15 The Concert Hall Beastie Boys [28]
1992-11-29 The Concert Hall Alice In Chains
1992-12-21 The Concert Hall Body Count
1993-01-25 The Concert Hall Ned's Atomic Dustbin
1993-01-29 The Concert Hall Slik Toxik
1993-02-19 The Concert Hall Inspiral Carpets
1993-03-06 The Concert Hall PanteraSacred Reich opened.
1993-03-31 The Concert Hall Rage Against the Machine
1993-04-13 The Concert Hall Midnight Oil
1993-04-27 The Concert Hall Phish
1993-05-17 The Concert Hall Danzig Nudeswirl and Proper Grounds opened.
1993-06-15 The Concert Hall The Flaming Lips Porno for Pyros opened.
1993-10-06 The Concert Hall Bad Religion Green Day and Doughboys opened.
1993-10-18The Concert Hall Stone Temple Pilots The Mighty Mighty Bosstones opened.
1993-10-24 The Concert Hall Primus Melvins opened.
1993-10-28 The Concert Hall Rage Against the Machine Quicksand opened.
1993-11-21 The Concert Hall The Lemonheads Redd Kross opened.
1993-12-06 The Concert Hall Green Day
1994-02-23 The Concert Hall Tool Failure opened.
1994-04-06 The Concert Hall Phish[29]
1994-05-16 The Concert Hall Rollins Band
1994-11-18 The Concert Hall Anvil
1996-04-03 The Concert Hall Foo Fighters
1996-04-18 The Concert Hall Rusty
1996-04-27 The Concert Hall Bob Dylan[30]
1996-04-28 The Concert Hall Bob Dylan[31] Aimee Mann opened.
1996-05-11 The Concert Hall Dave Matthews Band [32]
1996-05-31 The Concert Hall The Band High on the Hog tour. The Mahones opened.
1996-06-14 The Concert Hall Cocteau Twins
1996-07-06 The Concert Hall Finn Brothers
1996-08-18 The Concert Hall Steve Earle[33]
1996-09-20 The Concert Hall Sloan
1996-10-27 The Concert Hall Billy Bragg Robyn Hitchcock and Deni Bonet opened
1996-11-22 The Concert Hall James Brown
1997-04-18 The Concert Hall Rusty
1997-06-09 The Concert Hall The Tragically Hip [34]
1997-10-01 The Concert Hall Paul Weller
1998-06-27 The Concert Hall Cibo Matto
2016-05-06 Info-Tech Research Group Luke & The Apostles
2016-06-02 Info-Tech Research Group Platinum Blonde
2016-09-09 888 Yonge Karl Wolf GLB V after party.
Toronto’s architectural gems—the Masonic Temple at Davenport and Yonge from Now Magazine
24
FE
The Masonic Temple, at 888 Yonge Street, was constructed in 1917, during the chaotic days of the First World War. Today, the building is appreciated by those interested in the city’s architectural heritage, but judging by comments posted on the internet, it is viewed by some as an ugly structure of brick and limestone that is not worth preserving. Despite one’s view of the building, it has a rich heritage, and I believe that it is worthy of being saved from demolition. To aid in its preservation, in 1974 the Masonic Temple was designated a Heritage Property.
Designed in the Italian Renaissance Revival Style by architect W. J. Sparling, the six-storey structure contains an auditorium that has hardwood flooring and a decorated ceiling. It seats 1200 persons, including the wrap-around gallery. The Masonic Society (Freemasons) included the ballroom/concert hall in their new building as a means to raise revenue from rentals to support the costs of maintaining the premises.
John Ross Robertson (1841-1918) was a prominent Mason, and founder of the now defunct Toronto Telegram newspaper. He was one of the prime motivators behind the construction of the building, located on the northwest corner of Yonge Street and Davenport Road. When the Masons chose this site, a church was located on the property. It was estimated that the cost of the Temple would be $175,000, but by the time it was completed, the cost was $220,864. After the church on the site was demolished, construction began. The final stone for the new Temple was put in place on 17 November 1917 and the structure was consecrated with corn, oil, and wine. The first lodge meeting was held on 1 January 1918. On the upper floors, which were reserved solely for the use of the Masons, there were patterned tiled flooring and many Masonic carvings.
During the 1930s, the Masonic Temple was one of the most popular ballrooms in Toronto. Every New Year’s Eve, tickets disappeared long in advance of the date. Bing Crosby once crooned within its walls, and Frank Sinatra hosted an event there. Throughout the years, many famous entertainers have performed in the hall—Tina Turner, The Ramones, David Bowie, and Led Zeppelin, who held their first Toronto concert there in 1969. In 1970, it was leased by a company known as the “Rockpile.” During the 1980s, it was rented by various groups, but the income never exceeded the costs of maintaining the building. In 1998, the property was sold to CTV, for use as a TV studio. The show, “Open Mike with Mike Bullard” was broadcast from the premises. In 2006, it became home to Bell Media (MTV), but they departed in 2012.
During the 1950s, I was in the Masonic Temple on several occasions to attend events. The view from the gallery, looking down onto the stage area was quite impressive. I remember the ornate plaster trim around the auditorium and the ornate carvings that decorated the space. As a teenager, I considered any event held within the walls of the Temple to be a special occasion, especially since the restaurants on Yonge Street were within walking distance. In that decade, the “Pickin’ Chicken,” south of College Street, Fran’s at Yonge and College, and Basil’s Restaurant at Yonge and Gerrard, were the gastronomic highlights of the “the strip.” Walking south from Davenport and Yonge to below College Street was less of a problem for me in those years, especially when my teenage hunger could be satiated by “chicken in a wicker basket with fries” at the PIckin’ Chicken, a toasted club sandwich at Basil’s, or rice pudding at Fran’s. Julia Child, eat your heart out!
Yonge Street has greatly changed today, although I am not certain that the culinary level of the avenue has improved much. However, the Masonic Temple remains, proudly resisting the onslaught of the modern era. I sincerely hope that a modern role will be found for the building, and that it will not be demolished. It would be a pity to have its ornate facade become a mere shell to add dignity to another faceless high rise condominium of glass and steel, lacking any value beyond the price of the suites per square foot.
♫♪♫ The Submarines - Modern Inventions
I dues siluetes a la deriva, desolades... vivint, aprofitant un temps que s'ha aturat només per elles, a Barcelona; 14 d'abril de 2008.
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Poema recitat de Miquel López Crespí - Aquests carrers mullats sota la pluja