London · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

The names Archie and Lilibet chosen by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their children

This is what the line of succession to the English crown looks like now. I have one question about this list: does it really mean that the Duke and Duchess of Sussex have named their children ARCHIE and LILIBET? All this time I had assumed these were diminutives of some

Art · Museums · Nature · Humour

Hundreds of frogs playing tennis and billiards, brawling in a tavern, fighting with rulers at school, performing acrobatic stunts and going about other ordinary human business: this is one of the most unusual museums in the world, the museum of frog taxid

Hundreds of frogs playing tennis and billiards, brawling in a tavern, fighting with rulers at school, performing acrobatic stunts and going about other ordinary human business: this is one of the most unusual museums in the world, the museum of frog taxidermy in the Croatian city of Split. The Hungarian

Books · Observations · Humour

Who decides whether a writer is justly forgotten, with Tatishchev and Kheraskov as examples

When a writer is said to be unjustly forgotten, it is worth asking: how is it determined whether a person has been forgotten deservedly or not? Is there some committee that establishes this? Or is it estimated by eye? Tatishchev, for instance, is unjustly forgotten, whereas Kheraskov is quite deservedly

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Mores

Prince Harry's children receive titles as Prince Joachim's children in Denmark lose theirs

All Happy Families Are Alike; Every Unhappy Family Is Unhappy in Its Own Way. The children of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have officially received the titles of Prince and Princess. At the same time, the children of Prince Joachim of Denmark, likewise the younger child of a reigning monarch,

NB! · Coming Up · Observations · Science · Society

Poster for a lecture by the Austrian professor of philosophy Andreas Gustav Wetter, a specialist in Russian philosophy and scientific materialism, at a cinema in Italy

Poster for a lecture by the Austrian professor of philosophy, specialist in Russian philosophy and scientific materialism Andrey Gustav Wetter at a cinema in Italy. The subject, naturally, is Italian Marxism. I would have gone to listen

Antique engraving of a statue of a woman in long draped robes holding a snake, captioned Hygie.

NB! · Observations · Science

The origin of the word hygiene in the name of Hygieia, goddess of health

The word "hygiene" derives from the name of the goddess Hygieia, goddess of health, healing and cleanliness. After all, places of healing must, above all, be clean. Apollo is the patron of medicine, but it is Hygieia who is nonetheless answerable for health.

NB! · Humour

A Fine Sarcophagus: Worth Taking

NB! · Observations

No, You Did Not Imagine It

NB! · Architecture · Paris

A detail of the interior decoration of the Château de Rambouillet, the summer residence of the French presidents outside Paris

NB! · Art

A Bouquet of Primroses by Henri Fantin-Latour

NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Art · London · Monarchies

Prince Charles and Princess Anne through the lens of Antony Armstrong-Jones, their future uncle, the Earl of Snowdon

A black dress with a white graphic pattern of lines on a mannequin in a wood-framed glass case, with black-and-white photographs of models on the wall nearby.

NB! · Moscow · Museums · Observations · Pop Culture

1967 Outfit by Tamara Feidel and Sulamif Zaslavskaya at the “House of Fashion” Exhibition at the Museum of Moscow

In my view, this 1967 ensemble of dress and coat by Tamara Feidel and Sulamif Zaslavskaya could well have been an exhibit at the Musée des arts décoratifs de Paris, but it is on show at the Museum of Moscow, at the exhibition «Dom modelei. Industriya obrazov» [House of Fashion.

Alexandr Radayev