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Friday, February 03, 2023

SAXON HENRY

Author | Journalist | Content Strategist | The Modern Salonnière
SAXON HENRY
Author | Journalist | Content Strategist | The Modern Salonnière
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Category: Travel

I have always enjoyed travel but since I have hit upon the idea of writing literary adventures that happen as I’m gallivanting, I can’t wait to book trips to the cities where my favorite literary heroes and heroines have lived.

I’ve had some thrills along the way. Imagine my surprise when I found a museum dedicated to a French Empress in Parma, Italy! When Napoleon I was exiled, Marie Louise of Austria took her role as the Duchess of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, holding court in the Riserva Palace on Strada Melloni. I have another shocking surprise during my walk-through of her former home there so I urge you to read Rococo Style in Italy to see the other French courtier I found there!

In Stalking Petrarch in Parma, I return to the Italian town where I visited as many places as I could find where the poet might have walked, his role as a clergy in the region guaranteeing I set foot in at least two places he’d visited often. It was such a thrill for me! My post Seeing with New Eyes find me in Paris shadowing the places where Edith Wharton and her lover Morton Fullerton had lived or met as secret lovers. Paris is one of my favorite cities for literary adventuring.

Beyond my own literary travel adventures, I am inspired by design or art that brings a place alive. In Traveling Through the Looking Glass, I am inspired by Timothy Oulton’s design of the Glazebrook House Hotel in the UK, his references to Lewis Carol’s Alice in Wonderland the perfect segue between design and literature. And in Impressions of Venice, I illustrate one of Sophia Khan’s favorite books A Daughter of Venice with her striking watercolors of the Italian town. You really should click through to see her art—it’s hauntingly beautiful.

Sir Thomas More
Cultural Explorations Literature Travel

The Utopia of Sir Thomas More

Saxon Henry April 21, 2022 Anne BoleynCardinal WoolseyEnglandHans Holbein the YoungerHenry VIIIHouse of TudorMedieval TimesRoyal CourtiersTudor Era

This essay exploring the physical utopia of Sir Thomas More is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…

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Milan Duomo
Creative Writing Literature Travel

Percy Bysshe Shelley in Milan

Saxon Henry February 10, 2022 books of letterscathedrals to exploreDante Alighierifamous writersItalypoetryRome

This essay channeling Percy Bysshe Shelley in Milan is included in my book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book feature similar literary…

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Daunt Books in London is also featured in Bookstores. Image © Horst A. Friedrichs.
Books Cultural Explorations Travel

Bookstores

Saxon Henry May 9, 2021 American poetsEnglandErnest Hemingwayfamous writersLondonLost GenerationNew York CitynovelistsParis

I’ve had a long and passionate love affair with bookstores since I can remember. Some of my finest hours have been spent perusing shelves to…

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Winslow Homer's The Fisher Girl
Art Nature Writing Travel

Winslow Homer In Situ

Saxon Henry February 17, 2021 authenticitynonfiction writerspainters

This essay examining the pragmatic attitudes of Winslow Homer is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…

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Two tango dancers in Buenos Aires
Books Cultural Explorations Travel

Tatty Wreckage in Buenos Aires

Saxon Henry December 15, 2020 American poetsfamous writerskeeping diariesnovelists

This essay about my frame of mind in Buenos Aires is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…

View More Tatty Wreckage in Buenos Aires
Ernest Hemingway in Paris
Creative Writing Literature Travel

Life Lessons from a Research Library

Saxon Henry November 17, 2020 American poetsBeinecke LibraryEdith Whartonfamous writersGertrude Steinkeeping diarieslibrariesLost Generationnovelistssummer reading list

This essay exploring the life lessons I have learned from a research library is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…

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A detail from Francesco Melzi’s “Leda and the Swan” housed in the Uffizi Gallery.
Art Mythology Travel

Debating Da Vinci in Milan

Saxon Henry October 10, 2020 grand residencesGreek deitiesItalykeeping diariespainterspoetry

This essay exploring the genius of Leonardo da Vinci in Milan is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…

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Jim Morrison of the Doors
Books Cultural Explorations Travel

Jim Morrison Irreverent Scribe

Saxon Henry July 20, 2020 FranceParispoetryThe Literary Adventurer

This essay exploring Arthur Rimbaud’s influence on Jim Morrison is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book…

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Books Literature Travel

The Train Leading to Millay

Saxon Henry July 7, 2020 American poetsBeinecke Librarybooks of lettersNew York Citypoetrysummer reading list

This essay following Edna St. Vincent Millay to Croton-on-Hudson by train is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in…

View More The Train Leading to Millay
When Pope Julius II commissioned Raphael to paint his personal library, one of the four frescoes he completed, The School of Athens, includes Michelangelo leaning on a makeshift table writing poetry. Image courtesy WikiMedia.
Books Literature Travel

Saluting the Renaissance Book Club

Saxon Henry June 11, 2020 books of lettersdead poets societyfamous writersFlorenceItalyMichelangeloPetrarchphilosophersRenaissanceWashington DC

This essay celebrating the first printing presses during the Renaissance in Florence, Italy, is included in my most recent book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other…

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