Many books laid out in tight rows, among them “Arbatsky arkhiv”, “Kreml za reshyotkoy” and “Gubernatory i khany”.

NB! · Books · Observations · Reportage

Books from past years and rare editions at the Nonfiction fair

I barely escaped the Nonfiction fair with my life. Pleased with my purchases; best of all, there were plenty of books from past years and even some rare editions

A darkened silvery coin with a relief inscription lies on a dark metal surface with glare.

NB! · Observations

Request for help attributing a coin and translating its inscription

Lads, help me identify a coin. Only please don't just tell me what it looks like, I can see that for myself. I need help with the attribution and with translating the inscription

NB! · Faith · Mores

Everything You Need to Know About Catholic Headgear

NB! · Aristocracy · Archive · Observations · Mores

For some time I have been gathering material on twins among the aristocracy and the royal houses

For some time I have been gathering material on twins among the aristocracy and the royal houses. One of the most remarkable and touching stories is, perhaps, that of the Faucher brothers, who lived in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century.

NB! · Art · Pop Culture · Humour

Many people noticed the unsightly frame of the Salvator Mundi, sold not long ago for $450 million, and Ikea, never one to lose its head, offered to find a new frame for Leonardo's masterpiece for just $9.99

A pair of turquoise silk slippers with floral embroidery and pale ties lying on a quilted bedspread.

NB! · The East · Museums · Observations · Mores

Dancing slippers of the 1820s and 1830s with Chinese embroidery and, apparently, a British leather sole

Dancing slippers of the 1820s to 1830s with Chinese embroidery and, it would seem, a British leather sole. Well, nineteenth-century footwear on a flat sole looks far better than heels, like

A stone arch and enfilade of rooms with a chequered tiled floor and a red table in the Bishop's Palace in Chartres.

NB! · Aristocracy · Architecture · Art · Observations

Interior of the Bishop's Palace in Chartres, shown in the portrait of the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême

And here is the place where the Duke and Duchess of Angoulême are depicted in Étienne Garnier's portrait. Chartres, Bishop's Palace, 2017. Almost nothing has changed

NB! · Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Humour

The Duke and Duchess of Angoulême: he puts one in mind of our pensioners in Rubchinsky, chasing fashion with their brains switched off; really, silly boy, can one go about with a bikini line like that?

The Duke and Duchess of Angoulême: he puts one in mind of our pensioners in Rubchinsky, chasing fashion with their brains switched off; really, silly boy, can one go about with a bikini line like that? Not even in 1823.

Wrist wearing a gold Love bracelet set with diamonds, against red fabric

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

Love bracelet with diamonds and an unrealised purchase of a fragment of Napoleon's crown

Sadly, nobody bought me a fragment of Napoleon's crown. But a Love bracelet with diamonds is not bad either

NB! · Monarchies · Pop Culture · Humour

A Golden Laurel Leaf from Napoleon's Crown

NB! · Art · Monarchies · Mores

His Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales, Takes Boxing Lessons, 1786

His Royal Highness George, Prince of Wales, takes boxing lessons, 1786. Judging by the face, the future King George IV is standing in the middle; he is 26 here. The man with the wound on his face is the trainer, John Jackson

NB! · Aristocracy · Art

It is said that if the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, were ever put up for sale, its price could reach a billion pounds

It is said that if the Madonna of the Yarnwinder, owned by the Duke of Buccleuch, were ever put up for sale, its price could reach a billion pounds. It would then become the most expensive painting in history