Faith · Art · Mores · Ethnography
The traditional Norwegian dance of the dead, the likvaka, went like this: a crowd of young people gathered in the house of the deceased and danced to lively music, shaking the floor so hard that the corpse lying there in its bed or coffin jumped. Sometimes the dance was arranged
The East · Mores · Humour
Rather tiring, as one must wear formal clothing in sombre shades at all times and drink champagne wistfully in ancient Egyptian temples
NB! · Aristocracy · Madrid · Monarchies · Observations · Mores
The Duke of Alba's dinner in honour of the birth of the Prince of Asturias, 1707. I noticed an amusing detail: there is not a single glass on the table. Why? If any of the guests should deign to drink, the servants will bring him one at once
Aristocracy · Archive · Moscow · Mores
According to the account of Elizaveta Petrovna Yankova, Apraksin and Dolgorukov had made a rather peculiar compact: whichever of them died first was to give a sign to the other, who remained among the living, and to appear to him three times before his death, to announce that the hour
Aristocracy · Books · Mores
Princess Shcherbatskaya advised Levin's old nurse Agafya Mikhailovna on how to make jam properly, without adding water. At the end, once the jam had been poured into jars, the princess's recipe prescribed covering it with a paper soaked in rum. "Do it my way, please,
Archive · Mores · Society
A word on Russian justice. Under the Law Code (Sobornoye Ulozheniye) of 1649, cases of dishonour were punished not only by fines but also by imprisonment or corporal punishment. The severity of the verdict depended on the standing of the injured party and of the accused, or, to be more
Monarchies · Mores · People
Alice Perrers was 36 years younger than her lover, Edward III. She twisted the king around her finger, sowed discord at court and, after the queen's death, in effect took her place; this troubled society and Parliament so greatly that it was resolved to remove Alice from court.
NB! · Observations · Mores · Humour
Indecency, 1799. It reminded me of a woman artist of my acquaintance who, rather than queue for the lavatory at Simachev's, went to relieve herself round the corner, where she was caught in the act. Since then we have conversed only across the fence
NB! · Faith · Museums · Mores · Paris
Archive · Books · Mores · People
Turgenev described in some detail the madness of Pauline Viardot's eldest daughter Louise Héritte, who, instead of marrying the Frenchman with whom she was involved, married, against all persuasion, a certain Héritte and very soon came to hate him. Allegedly for his narrowness of mind. She bore a
NB! · Faith · The East · Mores · Ethnography
Architecture · London · Heritage · Mores
In 1841-53 London's Percy Circus was laid out on the circus plan: 27 curved houses were built wall to wall around the square. The residential complex was conceived as good property for the lower stratum of the middle class, and local history records show that it housed