Archive · Books · Ethnography

“At first we could not understand why so many reindeer were being driven across the tundra to Arkhangelsk

“At first we could not understand why so many reindeer were being driven across the tundra to Arkhangelsk. The soldiers escorting us said that military units would be organised. We still did not understand what sort of military units could be made of reindeer. Among us there were Nenets, Komi,

Archive · Society · Ethnography

On 20 November 1941 the State Defence Committee resolved:

"To call up from the national economy of Arkhangelsk Region, the Komi ASSR and the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug: reindeer drivers (kayurs), 1,400 men; reindeer, 10,000 head; sledges (narts), 500. The conscripts are to be sent to the disposal of the Arkhangelsk Regional Military Commissariat, to arrive

Archive · Moscow · Education · Society

Student Kogan's sinfonietta based on the Israeli anthem at the Gnesin Institute in 1953

In 1953 a student of the Gnessin State Institute of Music and Pedagogy, Kogan, wrote a sinfonietta as his diploma piece, and on examination it emerged that it was built upon the national anthem of Israel. This became the occasion for a further investigation, in the course of which it

Archive · Observations · Society

In fairness, it should be said that at the time of this libel the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR had 112 players, of whom 66 were Russians, 40 Jews and 6 others

In fairness, it should be said that at the time of this libel the State Symphony Orchestra of the USSR had 112 players, of whom 66 were Russians, 40 Jews and 6 others. In 1951-52 fourteen people were admitted to the orchestra, eleven of them Russians and three Jews.

NB! · Archive · Books · People · Humour

Virginia I do love a smoke Woolf, photographed by her friend and patroness Lady Ottoline Morrell, for many years the benefactress of the Bloomsbury Group and the lover of Bertrand Russell and Dora Carrington

Archive · Faith · Mores · Society

The Council Code of 1649 prescribed burning for blasphemers

In Rus', blasphemers were burnt locked inside a wooden log cabin. In the Law Code (Sobornoye Ulozheniye) of 1649, burning for blasphemy was set down in the following form: “Should any man of another faith, of whatever creed, or even a Russian, utter blasphemy against the Lord God and

Open catalogue under display glass, its pages filled with rows of engraved illustrations of corsets.

NB! · Archive · Mores · Humour

Women bought corsets from mail order catalogues in 1889

1889: the great cities are lit by electric lamps, the food industry employs pasteurisation, and women are buying CORSETS from mail-order catalogues!!! Well, why not? It is convenient and, above all, progressive!

Black-and-white photograph of a mummy standing upright in a niche, flanked by two men in dark suits.

NB! · Archaeology · Archive · Ethnography

Mummy of a Native American man, 2.54 metres tall, found in San Diego in 1895

The San Diego Giant, the mummy of a Native American man found in San Diego in 1895. The mummy stands 2.54 metres tall

NB! · Archive · People · Pop Culture

Here Hubert de Givenchy Is 21

NB! · Archive · Faith · People

The Seal of Paul II on One of His Documents

NB! · Archive · Art · Books · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

The Genealogy of Henry II from the Nuremberg Chronicle: An Example of Naïve Graphic Art

The genealogy of Henry II from the Nuremberg Chronicle is an example of naïve graphic art. The generations are joined by some thick, unpleasant yellow umbilical cord, and I quite understand the fellow who is about to sever it

NB! · Archive · Art · Monarchies · People

Louis-Philippe Supports Talleyrand

Louis-Philippe supports Talleyrand. As you can see, the old man is wearing orthopaedic footwear. The injury sustained at the age of 4 was to become emblematic of the life of a courtier who would come to be called the lame devil