Aristocracy · Books · New York · Pop Culture
Former Vogue editor André Leon Talley with actress and socialite Lee Radziwill. They were good friends, and died two years apart. In 2020 Talley's memoir The Chiffon Trenches was published, which he dedicated to Lee Radziwill with the words: "For three decades she gave me unconditional love,
Cinema · Books · Paris · People
Molière is credited with the remark that one day people would speak of the French language not as the language of the French, but as the language of Molière. However presumptuous these words may have seemed to his contemporaries, the audacity proved prophetic. One of the greatest dramatists in history
Almaty · Books · Observations · Society
It is with gladness of heart that I learn the bookshops came through the twilight of Almaty's vandalism untouched. At any rate, the shop in the photograph and Akademkniga on Furmanov Street suffered no harm in the course of the outrages committed by looters and loathsome rioters. Perhaps
Archive · Books · Education · People
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien became a professor at Oxford at 30, and this is what the academic dress of a Doctor of Letters (DLitt) of the University of Oxford looks like: a scarlet gown with bell-shaped sleeves of grey silk. Tolkien received this honorary degree in 1972, a year
NB! · Maps · Books · Observations · Humour
Books · Observations · Humour
No, you are not seeing things: it really is champagne. It is in fact a poem by François Panard in the shape of a wine glass. Verses arranged into a thematic image are known as calligrams. As for the merits of a poetry of simple rhymes in the manner of
NB! · Books
Books · Observations · Mores · Humour
Since yesterday the Lord tried my patience with seventeen minutes of waiting for a waiter at Kofemania, I have resolved to give up restaurant food until the end of the year. Happily, the Foreign Literature Library has put a selection of New Year recipes on its website. I have already
Geography · Books · Observations
"The doors of the Pullman car had not yet swung open, but the bandmaster was already flailing his arms ferociously, and the orchestra struck up the English national anthem with a lusty heave. Mamontov, steadying his sabre, hurried towards the carriage." Pullman cars, which became a byword for
Books · Moscow · Museums · People
In this dress in 1936-37 Maria Petrovna Lilina, wife of Konstantin Stanislavsky, played Countess Vronskaya in the Moscow Art Theatre's production of "Anna Karenina". The dress was Lilina's personal property, part of her mother's legacy, brought from Paris in her youth,
Archive · Books · Mores · Humour
If we are to believe L.J. Clairian's "Researches and Medical Considerations on Men's Clothing" of 1803, this is what proper men's underwear ought to look like. Many authors would later cite his assertion on the harm of overly tight pantaloons, and
Books · Moscow · Observations · Society
A favourite initiative of Moscow's libraries: adopt a withdrawn book. The city portal lists the libraries and the books they are prepared to give away. The books are conveniently sorted by category, author and subject; you can choose a library on the map or simply search for the