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…
View More Percy Bysshe Shelley in MilanTag: books of letters
I find that books of letters hold a wealth of information about bygone times and about the people who write them. I’ve a number of posts here that feature material gleaned from books of letters so be sure to type in the tag to see what other posts pop up.
I never thought I’d be more impressed with Vincent van Gogh than I was when I saw pieces of his art for the first time. Then I read his letters to his brother Theo. Not only did they hold his reading habits, which included such a broad sweep of titles it was mind-blowing, they bore poignant witness to the mental struggles he faces as he doggedly chased his dream to be an artist. He declares in a letter from Borinage, the coal-mining region of Belgium in December 1878, “I have more or less irresistible passion for books, and I want continually to instruct myself, just as much as I want to eat my bread.” And he does just that, so passionately it’s remarkable to take the literary journey with him.
The Paris of a Pagan
This essay examining the military career of the last pagan emperor while he resided in Paris is included in my most recent book The Modern…
View More The Paris of a PaganThe Train Leading to Millay
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 MillaySaluting the Renaissance Book Club
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…
View More Saluting the Renaissance Book ClubBalzac as a Human Comedy
This essay channeling Balzac in Paris is included in my new book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book feature similar literary adventures…
View More Balzac as a Human ComedyMedieval Calamities in Paris
This essay about the calamities of Héloïse and Abélard is included in my book The Modern Salonnière. The 34 other essays in the book feature…
View More Medieval Calamities in ParisMadame Récamier and the Art of Reclining
Jeanne-Françoise Julie Adélaïde Bernard, known after her marriage as Juliette Récamier, was born on December 4, 1777—240 years ago yesterday. Had she lived during modern…
View More Madame Récamier and the Art of RecliningTransitory Spaces
The beginning of one of Napoléon Bonaparte’s earliest letters to Joséphine de Beauharnais simply oozes sensuality: “Seven in the morning. I awaken full of you…the…
View More Transitory SpacesI Met Virginia Woolf in This Room
Who else is relieved that Lady Edith Crawley, played by Laura Carmichael, is finally finding happiness on Downton Abbey? Having binged on all of the…
View More I Met Virginia Woolf in This RoomGod’s Articulate Finger
Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel In this last entry of the year, I wanted to share a piece of my own creative writing to say…
View More God’s Articulate Finger