Tag: libraries

Spending time in research libraries is a passion of mine, one I exercise as often as I can. The research I find informs my writing here tremendously.

One of my favorites is the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University (it has its own tag here on The Diary of an Improvateur), which I’ve visited many times and have found some life lessons among the papers of some heavyweight writers. I’ve combed through boxes papers belonging to Thornton Wilder, Gertrude Stein, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Edmund Wilson, Edith Wharton, Henry Miller and Petrarch (yes, Petrarch!).

The remarkable men and women who’ve left literary legacies I would like to emulate are teaching me about more than writing as I sift through their lives; they are illuminating some remarkable lessons about living. This doesn’t mean I see them as pinnacles of psychological health—quite a few of them were some of the most tortured people who’ve ever lived. I am keen on sharing what I learn here on the blog so you can click on this tag to see what awareness I have unearthed!

Furniture Design Literature

An Unsung Hero of Modern Design

Resurrecting pivotal eras in design is irresistible to vanguards who understand that sometimes the best place to begin looking into the future is to take…

The Queen's Drawing Room at Hampton Court Palace

Cultural Explorations Furniture Design Historical Design

Furnishing Pastimes of Henry VIII

Saxon Henry August 18, 2015 Anne Boleyn antiques shopping in Europe British poets Cardinal Wolsey Chinoiserie dead poets society decorating history design narratives documentaries England famous writers fine antiques grand residences Great Britain Hampton Court Palace Hans Holbein the Younger Henry VIII historic castles House of Tudor libraries London Medieval Times monarchs nobility nonfiction writers poetry Royal Courtiers royal palaces salonniere summer reading list The Literary Adventurer Tudor Era

As I mentioned in my last Improvateur article presenting a brief history of Hampton Court Palace, I launched into a furnishings fantasy when I heard…

Cultural Explorations Furniture Design Nature Writing

The Tides In Our Veins

Saxon Henry June 15, 2015 American furniture manufacturers American poets Atlanta authenticity design narratives documentaries famous writers High Point Market libraries lighting literary design encounters poetry summer reading list The Literary Adventurer

The Tides in Our Veins One of the most evocative trips I can remember taking as a young woman was a four-day escapade to Carmel,…

Historical Design Literature Travel

Horace Walpole Shops The Decorative Fair

Saxon Henry May 26, 2015 antiques shopping in Europe architectural storytelling authenticity books of letters British poets cathedrals to explore dead poets society decorating history design narratives England famous writers fine antiques grand residences Great Britain Hans Holbein the Younger historic castles House of Tudor Italy libraries literary design encounters London monarchs nobility novelists set decoration The Literary Adventurer Tudor Era writing desks Yale University

The books I’ve been reading about Horace Walpole since I returned from my trip to London to attend The Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair in…

Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen smoking cigarettes at Cranbrook.

Art Furniture Design Television Series

The End of an Era

Saxon Henry April 1, 2015 American furniture manufacturers American poets authenticity dead poets society design industry leaders famous writers High Point Market libraries lighting New York City poetry salonniere Yale University

Now I am quietly waiting for the catastrophe of my personality to seem beautiful again, and interesting, and modern. A voiceover of Don Draper reciting…