1.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
2.
Ouro Preto
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Ouro Preto is located in one of the main areas of the Brazilian Gold Rush. Officially,800 tons of gold were sent to Portugal in the XVIII century, other gold circulated illegally, and still other gold remained in the colony to adorn churches and for other uses. In the 18th century, Ouro Preto became for a time the most populous city in the New World, at that time, the population of New York was half that number, and the population of São Paulo did not reach 8,000. Population, Data from the 2010 Census Resident population,70,227 Urban area,56,293 Rural area,9,985 Area of the municipality,1,245 km² Temperature, in June and July the temperature can reach -2 degrees Celsius. The highest point is Pico de Itacolomi with 1,722 meters, rivers, sources for the Velhas, Piracicaba, Gualaxo do Norte, Gualaxo do Sul, Mainart e Ribeirão Funil. Per Capita Income, R$23,622 HDI,0, founded at the end of the 17th century, Ouro Preto was originally called Vila Rica, or rich village, the focal point of the gold rush and Brazils golden age in the 18th century under Portuguese rule. The city centre contains well-preserved Portuguese colonial architecture, with few signs of urban development. New construction must keep with the citys historical aesthetic, 18th- and 19th-century churches decorated with gold and the sculptured works of Aleijadinho make Ouro Preto a tourist destination. The tremendous wealth from mining in the 18th century created a city which attracted the intelligentsia of Europe. At that time, Vila Rica was the largest city in Brazil, in 1789, Ouro Preto became the birthplace of the Inconfidência Mineira, a failed attempt to gain independence from Portugal. The leading figure, Tiradentes, was hanged as a threat to any future revolutionaries, in 1876, the Escola de Minas was created. This school established the foundation for several of the mineral discoveries in Brazil. Ouro Preto was capital of Minas Gerais from 1720 until 1897, the state government was moved to the new, planned city of Belo Horizonte. Main economic activities are tourism, transformation industries, and mineral riches such as deposits of iron, bauxite, manganese, talc, minerals of note are, gold, hematite, dolomite, tourmaline, pyrite, muscovite, topaz and imperial topaz. The imperial topaz is a stone found in Ouro Preto. Soapstone handicraft items are a popular souvenir among tourists, and can be found in shops in the town centre. Jewelry made of precious and semi-precious gemstones can also be found in abundance for sale. Ouro Preto is also a university town with a student life
3.
Hamburg
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Hamburg, officially Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg, is the second largest city in Germany and the eighth largest city in the European Union. It is the second smallest German state by area and its population is over 1.7 million people, and the wider Hamburg Metropolitan Region covers more than 5.1 million inhabitants. The city is situated on the river Elbe, the official long name reflects Hamburgs history as a member of the medieval Hanseatic League, a free imperial city of the Holy Roman Empire, a city-state, and one of the 16 states of Germany. Before the 1871 Unification of Germany, it was a sovereign state. Prior to the changes in 1919, the civic republic was ruled by a class of hereditary grand burghers or Hanseaten. Though repeatedly destroyed by the Great Fire of Hamburg, the floods and military conflicts including WW2 bombing raids, the city managed to recover and emerge wealthier after each catastrophe. On the river Elbe, Hamburg is a port and a global service, media, logistics and industrial hub, with headquarters and facilities of Airbus, Blohm + Voss, Aurubis, Beiersdorf. The radio and television broadcaster NDR, Europes largest printing and publishing firm Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg has been an important financial centre for centuries, and is the seat of Germanys oldest stock exchange and the worlds second oldest bank, Berenberg Bank. The city is a fast expanding tourist destination for domestic and international visitors. It ranked 16th in the world for livability in 2015, the ensemble Speicherstadt and Kontorhausviertel was declared a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO in 2015. Hamburg is a major European science, research and education hub with several universities and institutes and its creative industries and major cultural venues include the renowned Elbphilharmonie and Laeisz concert halls, various art venues, music producers and artists. It is regarded as a haven for artists, gave birth to movements like Hamburger Schule. Hamburg is also known for theatres and a variety of musical shows. St. Paulis Reeperbahn is among the best known European entertainment districts, Hamburg is on the southern point of the Jutland Peninsula, between Continental Europe to the south and Scandinavia to the north, with the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the north-east. It is on the River Elbe at its confluence with the Alster, the city centre is around the Binnenalster and Außenalster, both formed by damming the River Alster to create lakes. The island of Neuwerk and two neighbouring islands Scharhörn and Nigehörn, in the Hamburg Wadden Sea National Park, are also part of Hamburg. The neighbourhoods of Neuenfelde, Cranz, Francop and Finkenwerder are part of the Altes Land region, neugraben-Fischbek has Hamburgs highest elevation, the Hasselbrack at 116.2 metres AMSL. Hamburg has a climate, influenced by its proximity to the coast
4.
William Cowper
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William Cowper was an English poet and hymnodist. One of the most popular poets of his time, Cowper changed the direction of 18th century nature poetry by writing of everyday life, in many ways, he was one of the forerunners of Romantic poetry. Samuel Taylor Coleridge called him the best modern poet, whilst William Wordsworth particularly admired his poem Yardley-Oak and he was a nephew of the poet Judith Madan. After being institutionalised for insanity in the period 1763–65, Cowper found refuge in a fervent evangelical Christianity and he continued to suffer doubt and, after a dream in 1773, believed that he was doomed to eternal damnation. He recovered and wrote more religious hymns and his religious sentiment and association with John Newton led to much of the poetry for which he is best remembered, and to the series of Olney Hymns. His poem Light Shining out of Darkness gave English the phrase and he also wrote a number of anti-slavery poems and his friendship with Newton, who was an avid anti-slavery campaigner, resulted in Cowper being asked to write in support of the Abolitionist campaign. Cowper wrote a poem called The Negros Complaint which rapidly became very famous and he also wrote several other less well known poems on slavery in the 1780s, many of which attacked the idea that slavery was economically viable. William Cowper was born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, England where his father John Cowper was rector of the Church of St Peter and he and his brother John were the only two of seven children to live past infancy. Ann died giving birth to John on 7 November 1737 and his mother’s death at such an early age troubled William deeply and was the subject of his poem, “On the Receipt of My Mothers Picture, ” written more than fifty years later. He grew close to her family in his early years and he was particularly close with her brother Robert and his wife Harriot. They instilled in young William a love of reading and gave him some of his first books – John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Cowper was first enrolled in Westminster School in April of 1742 after moving from school to school for a number of years. He had begun to study Latin from an age, and was an eager scholar of Latin for the rest of his life. Older children bullied Cowper through many of his younger years, at Westminster School he studied under the headmaster John Nicoll. At the time Westminster School was popular amongst families belonging to England’s Whig political party, many intelligent boys from families of a lower social status also attended, however. Cowper made lifelong friends from Westminster and he read through the Iliad and the Odyssey, which ignited his lifelong scholarship and love for Homer’s epics. He grew skilled at the interpretation and translation of Latin, which he put to use for the rest of his life and he was skilled in the composition of Latin as well and wrote many verses of his own. After education at Westminster School, Cowper was articled to Mr Chapman, solicitor, of Ely Place, Holborn, to be trained for a career in law. During this time, he spent his leisure at the home of his uncle Bob Cowper, where he fell in love with his cousin Theodora, whom he wished to marry
5.
Anna Laetitia Barbauld
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Anna Laetitia Barbauld was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and childrens author. A woman of letters who published in multiple genres, Barbauld had a writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare. She was a teacher at the Palgrave Academy and an innovative childrens writer, her primers provided a model for pedagogy for more than a century. Her essays demonstrated that it was possible for a woman to be engaged in politics. Barbauld was also a critic, and her anthology of 18th-century British novels helped establish the canon as known today. Barbaulds career as a poet ended abruptly in 1812 with the publication of Eighteen Hundred and Eleven, vicious reviews shocked Barbauld, and she published nothing else during her lifetime. Her reputation was damaged when many of the Romantic poets she had inspired in the heyday of the French Revolution turned against her in their later, more conservative. Some letters from Barbauld to others also exist, however, a great many Barbauld family documents were lost in a fire that was the result of the London blitz in 1940. Barbauld was born on 20 June 1743 at Kibworth Harcourt in Leicestershire to Jane and she was named after her maternal grandmother and referred to as Nancy. She was baptised by her mothers brother, John Jennings, in Huntingdonshire two weeks after her birth, Barbaulds father was headmaster of the Dissenting academy in Kibworth Harcourt and minister at a nearby Presbyterian church. The family had a standard of living. McCarthy suggests they may have ranked with large freeholders, well-to-do tradesmen, at his death in 1780, Barbaulds fathers estate was valued at more than £2,500. Barbauld commented to her husband in 1773 that For the early part of my life I conversed little with my own Sex, in the Village where I was, there was none to converse with. Barbauld was surrounded by boys as a child and adopted their high spirits, Barbauld demanded that her father teach her the classics and after much pestering, he did. Thus she had the opportunity to learn Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Barbaulds penchant for study worried her mother, who expected her to end up a spinster because of her intellectualism, the two were never as close as Barbauld and her father. Barbaulds brother, John Aikin, described their father as the best parent, the wisest counsellor, Barbaulds father prompted many such tributes, although Lucy Aikin described him as excessively modest and reserved. Barbauld developed a bond with her brother during childhood, standing in as a mother figure to him. In 1817, Joanna Baillie commented of their relationship How few brothers and sisters have been to one another what they have been through so long a course of years
6.
Robert Fergusson
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Robert Fergusson was a Scottish poet. Many of his extant poems were printed from 1771 onwards in Walter Ruddimans Weekly Magazine, despite a short life, his career was highly influential, especially through its impact on Robert Burns. He wrote both Scottish English and the Scots language, and it is his vivid and masterly writing in the latter leid for which he is principally acclaimed. Robert Fergusson was born in Cap and Feather Close, a vennel off Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and his parents, William and Elizabeth, were originally from Aberdeenshire, but had moved to the city two years previously. He was the third of three surviving children by them, in May 1768 Fergusson returned to Edinburgh. His father had died the year, his sister Barbara had married. This probably left Fergusson, who had not completed his studies, any possibility of family support from his maternal uncle, John Forbes of Round Lichnot near Auld Meldrum, ceased when his uncle permanently disowned him after a quarrel. Fergusson, who had rejected the church, medicine and law as career options open to him due to his university training, finally settled in Edinburgh as a copyist, the occupation of his father. There is good evidence that Fergusson had already been developing literary ambitions as a student at St Andrews where he claimed to have begun drafting a play on the life of William Wallace. His earliest extant poem, also written at this time, is an elegy in Scots on the death of David Gregory. Fergusson involved himself in Edinburghs social and artistic circles mixing with musicians, actors, artists, Fergussons literary debut came when Tenducci asked him to contribute Scots airs for the Edinburgh run of the opera. Fergusson supplied three, which were performed and published with the libretto, after February 1771 he began to contribute poems to Walter Ruddimans Weekly Review. These at first were generally conventional English language works that were either satirical or fashionably pastoral in the manner of William Shenstone and his first Scots poem to be published appeared on 2 January 1772, and from that date on he submitted works in both languages. In mid-1773 Fergusson attempted his own publication of Auld Reekie, now regarded as his masterpiece and it demonstrated his ambition to further extend the range of his Scots writing. This also included an aspiration to make Scots translations of Virgils Georgics, however, if any drafts for such a project were made, none survive. The poet was a hard self-critic and is known latterly to have destroyed manuscripts of his writing, Fergusson was a member of the Cape Club which regularly assembled at a tavern in Craigs Close. Each member had a name and character assigned to him, which he was required to maintain at all gatherings, Alexander Runciman, the historical painter, his pupil Jacob More, and Sir Henry Raeburn were all members. The old minute books of the club abound with pencilled sketches by them, one of the most interesting of which, Fergussons literary energy and active social life were latterly overshadowed by what may have been depression although there are likely to have been other factors
7.
Olney, Buckinghamshire
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Olney is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Milton Keynes, South East England, United Kingdom. It is also part of the county of Buckinghamshire, with a population of around 6,500 people. It lies on the River Great Ouse, very close to the borders with Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire and equidistant from Northampton, Bedford and it has easy access to the M1 at Junction 14 and fast train links to London from Milton Keynes Central or Bedford. It is a popular tourist destination, perhaps best known for the Olney Pancake Race and for the Olney Hymns by William Cowper, first mentioned as Ollanege in 932, the town has a history as a lace-making centre. During the English Civil War, Olney was the site of the Battle of Olney Bridge, in the late 18th century, William Cowper and John Newton collaborated here on what became known as the Olney Hymns. John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace, was curate of Olney and is buried here, the town has the Cowper and Newton Museum dedicated to them. The museum was adapted from Cowpers former residence, which was given to the town in 1905 by the publisher William Hill Collingridge, Newton was succeeded as curate in Olney by the biblical commentator Thomas Scott. The hamlet of Olney Park Farm to the north of the town of Olney derives its name from an established in 1374 by Ralph. In 1861 it attained civil parish status, but was incorporated into an enlarged Olney civil parish around 1931. Olney formerly had its own station on the line from Bedford to Northampton. Since 1445, a race has been run in the town on many Pancake Days. Tradition records that in 1445 on Shrove Tuesday, the Shriving Bell rang out to signal the start of the Shriving church service. The women of Olney recreate this race every Shrove Tuesday by running from the place to the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul. The traditional prize is a kiss from the verger, in modern times, Olney competes with the town of Liberal, Kansas in the United States for the fastest time in either town to win the International Pancake Race. There is also a race, run by children from the local schools. The children have to run a distance of about 20 yards and this competition has been run every year since 1950. The A509 road runs into the wide High Street bordered by historic town houses, the Market Place is the site of a general market on Thursdays and a farmers market on the first Sunday each month. There are restaurants, pubs, cafes and takeaways that offer a variety of British
8.
Book frontispiece
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A frontispiece in books generally refers to a decorative or informative illustration facing a books title page, being the verso opposite the recto title page. While some books depict thematic elements, other books feature the portrait as the frontispiece. In medieval illuminated manuscripts, a miniature showing the book or text being presented was often used as a frontispiece. The word comes from the French frontispice, or the late Latin frontispicium, from the Latin frons, in English, it was originally used as an architectural term, referring to the decorative facade of a building. By then, the English spelling had also morphed, by way of folk etymology, book design Prints & People, A Social History of Printed Pictures, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art, which contains material on book frontispieces
9.
Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock
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Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet. His best known work is his epic poem Der Messias, one of his major contributions to German literature was to open it up to exploration outside of French models. Klopstock was born at Quedlinburg, the eldest son of a lawyer, both in his birthplace and on the estate of Friedeburg on the Saale, which his father later rented, he spent a happy childhood. Having been given attention to his physical than to his mental development, he grew up strong. In his thirteenth year, he returned to Quedlinburg and attended the gymnasium there, here he soon became adept in Greek and Latin versification, and wrote some meritorious idylls and odes in German. While still at school, he had drafted the plan of Der Messias on which most of his fame rests. Finding life at that university not to his liking, he transferred in the spring of 1746 to Leipzig, in this periodical the first three cantos of Der Messias were published anonymously in hexameter verse in 1748. A new era in German literature had commenced, and the identity of the author became known. In Leipzig he also wrote a number of odes, the best known of which is An meine Freunde and he left the university in 1748 and became a private tutor in the family of a relative at Langensalza, where unrequited love for a cousin disturbed his peace of mind. Bodmer, however, was disappointed to find in the poet of the Messias a man of strong worldly interests. On his way to the Danish capital, Klopstock met in Hamburg the woman who later in 1754 became his wife, Margareta Möller and she was the daughter of a Hamburg merchant and an enthusiastic admirer of his poetry. His happiness was short, as she died in 1758, leaving him broken-hearted and his grief at her loss finds pathetic expression in the fifteenth canto of the Messias. The poet subsequently published his wifes writings, Hinterlassene Werke von Margareta Klopstock, see also Memoirs of Frederick and Margaret Klopstock and her correspondence with Samuel Richardson, published 1818. Klopstock now relapsed into melancholy, new ideas failed him, in 1770, when King Christian VII dismissed Count Bernstorff from office, he retired with the latter to Hamburg but retained his pension, together with the rank of councillor of legation. In 1773 were published the last five cantos of the Messias, in the following year he published a scheme for the regeneration of German letters, Die Gelehrtenrepublik. In 1775 he traveled south, and making the acquaintance of Goethe on the way, however, he was enthusiastic about the American War of Independence and the French Revolution. The French Republic sent him a diploma of citizenship, but, horrified at the terrible scenes the Revolution had enacted in the name of liberty. At the age of 67 he undertook a second marriage, to Johanna Elisabeth von Winthem, a widow and a niece of his late wife, who for many years had been one of his most intimate friends
10.
Irish poetry
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Irish poetry includes poetry in two languages, Irish and English. The earliest surviving poems in Irish date back to the 6th century and this culminated in the work of the poets of the Irish Literary Revival in the late 19th and early 20th century. Poetry in Irish represents the oldest vernacular poetry in Europe, the earliest examples date from the 6th century, and are generally short lyrics on themes from religion or the world of nature. They were frequently written by their authors in the margins of the illuminated manuscripts that they were copying. The best known example is Pangur Bán and it was practical for poems to be short because the Irish recognized that it was necessary to use any means necessary to make the poems lasting in their oral culture. To accomplish such a feat as well as they have, they used complicated rhyme schemes that would render a poem nonsensical if any of the key words were changed from the original version, in an oral culture, Irish poetry had many uses. A poem could be used to both the poet and the subject of the poem, oftentimes kings would commission poets to create a piece about them. Such poems would be passed on to descendants so they would remember the deeds of past generations. Kings would also commission poets to write poems of advertisement, speaking of the greatness and worthiness. Oral poetry, because it was in the vernacular, was used for entertainment. Poems that were entertaining could also be informative, teaching people lessons or offering them wisdom of experience for dealing with situations they would encounter in their everyday lives. Finally, poems, especially those featured in the sagas, were thought to be an instrument of the supernatural, Another source of early Irish poetry is the poems in the tales and sagas, such as the Táin Bó Cúailnge. Unlike many other European epic cycles, the Irish sagas were written in prose, Irish bards formed a professional hereditary caste of highly trained, learned poets. As officials of the court of king or chieftain, they performed a number of official roles and they were chroniclers and satirists whose job it was to praise their employers and damn those who crossed them. It was believed that a well-aimed bardic satire, glam dicin, the Metrical Dindshenchas, or Lore of Places, is probably the major surviving monument of Irish bardic verse. It is a great onomastic anthology of naming legends of significant places in the Irish landscape, the earliest of these date from the 11th century, and were probably originally compiled on a provincial basis. As a national compilation, the Metrical Dindshenchas has come down to us in two different recensions. Knowledge of the real or putative history of local places formed an important part of the education of the elite in ancient Ireland, verse tales of Fionn and the Fianna, sometimes known as Ossianic poetry, were extremely common in Ireland and Scotland throughout this period
11.
Johannes Ewald
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Johannes Ewald was a Danish national dramatist and poet. The lyrics of a song one of his plays are used for one of the Danish national anthems. Normally regarded as the most important Danish poet of the half of the 18th century, he led a short and troubled life, marked by alcoholism. He was born in Copenhagen, the son of a pietist vicar, Enevold Ewald and he was fatherless from an early age. At 15 he ran away and enlisted in the Prussian service, after a few months he again deserted, returned home and began to apply himself seriously to theology. He was educated as a theologian, but his real interest was in literature, an unhappy love for a girl, Arendse, inspired his later poetry deeply. He came back from the Seven Years War seriously weakened, the following years were spent living as a bohemian and writing poetry in Copenhagen, they were also a time of alcoholism and conflicts with his mother and stepfather. His lifestyle had much in common with his contemporary Johan Herman Wessel, on the death of Frederick V of Denmark, Ewald was requested to compose an elegy. The general admiration with which it was received roused his ambition, from 1773 to 1775 he had a rather happy convalescence at Rungstedlund. Ewald wrote some of his best verses during this time, but a conflict with his family led to his removal to the small North Zealand town of Humlebæk, quite until the days of romanticism Ewald was considered the unsurpassed Danish poet. Today he is probably more lauded than read, though considered classics, as an author Ewald is a prominent representative of Danish sentimentalism but at the same time a forerunner of romanticism. His main inspiration was German poetry, but British writers like Edward Young and Sterne, violent expressions of feeling are typical in his writing, these elements are apparently spontaneous but, at the same time, deliberately and artificially drawn up. Behind this a clear pietist tune is felt, several Ewald poems are Danish classics. He had his break-through with a melodious and expressive commemorative poem at the death of King Frederick V, the famous Rungsteds Lyksaligheder is an ode to the Creator. Ode til Sjælen is a worthy hailing of Man’s uniqueness, til min M*** is a grateful praise for a noble benefactor, during the unhappy Humlebæk period. The hymn Udrust Dig, helt fra Golgatha, practically written on his death-bed, minor humorous verses and satires are less known today. Just as important are Ewalds dramas, Ewald was the first to rely heavily on Norse mythology, a trend which begins to point towards romanticism. He wrote the plays Rolf Krage in 1770, Balders Død in 1773, from the latter play one song is still remembered by most Danes, King Christian stood by the lofty mast that shares the position of being the national anthem of Denmark
