1.
The Egyptian Halls
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For the London building see Egyptian Hall The Egyptian Halls is a category A listed building at 84–100 Union Street, Glasgow, Scotland. It was built between 1870–72 and designed by Alexander Greek Thomson, other than some retailers on the ground floor, the building is currently unoccupied. Despite several attempts at restoration, it remained in a state and was under threat of demolition in 2011. Planning approval and listed building consent has since been given for a scheme which has secured funding for conversion to a 114-bed four-star hotel, as of 20 February 2013, subsidy was still being sought for work to the ground floor. Work started on the Egyptian Halls in March 1870 to provide new premises for James Robertson, an iron manufacturer. Built using cast iron and stone, the Egyptian Halls was one of the last major projects of Alexander Thomson, the building broke many of the rules of the time, thick stone columns normally found at ground level were on the top floor. The building is built on four storeys, the ground floor was occupied by shops with fully glazed wide bays. The first floor features eighteen window bays divided by columns with a flowing scroll capital. On the second floor, shorter couple columns are positioned exactly above the first floor columns, finally, on the third floor is a plinth with dwarf columns and pseudo-Egyptian lotus flower capitals. Behind these columns is a glazed screen, which is not fixed to these columns. Topping these columns is another entablature with a cornice and this attic room is lit by a series of sloping skylights. The name of the building seems to be a misnomer as there is very little Egyptian influence in its design. Instead, it is closely modelled on Greek classical architecture, in particular the Corinthian order of the Tower of the Winds in Athens. It is speculated that it takes its title from the earlier Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, London and it is also speculated that some of the shops may have been Egyptian-themed. Thomson was very proud of his work and it has been protected as a category A listed building since 1966. In common with other buildings of this era, such as Thomsons Caledonian Road Church. This did not stop the decay and in 1995 further repairs were undertaken following an Urgent Repairs Notice, in 1996 Glasgow City Council announced a compulsory purchase order on the building. In subsequent years a number of schemes were proposed to restore the building, but legal wrangles with the buildings owners, who were contesting the CPO, led to further delays
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
John Buonarotti Papworth
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John Buonarotti Papworth was a prolific architect, artist and a founder member of the Royal Institute of British Architects. He adopted the middle name Buonarotti in around 1815, Papworth was born in Marylebone, London, in 1775 to John Papworth and his wife Charlotte. He was one of children and the second of six sons. His father described himself as an architect, plasterer and builder and his background was in decorative plasterwork, and he dominated the trade in London, employing more than 500 men. At the recommendation of Sir William Chambers he spent two years as a pupil of the architect John Plaw and was apprenticed to the builder Thomas Wapshott. John Summerson described Papworth as one of the most versatile architects and he contributed designs to Ackermanns Repository of the Arts for almost 20 years, and published some of his designs for houses as Designs for Rural Residences in 1818. In London he designed shop fronts and warehouses, and built or remodelled many villas for middle-class clients in the countryside, at Cheltenham he laid out the Montpellier Estate, and extended the Montpellier Pump Room, with a domed rotunda inspired by the Pantheon. Bullock published the plans, hoping to attract purchasers for the plots and he exhibited at the Royal Academy between 1816 and 1841. His address is given as Bath Place, New Road, London, until 1816, in the latter year he is described as Architect to the King of Wirtemberg, and exhibited a design for a Palace at Canstadt for the King of Wirtemberg. In 1838 he became director of the newly established Government School of Design and his archive of drawings is in the Royal Institute of British Architects Drawings and Archives Collections. He had two sons, John Woody Papworth, and Wyatt Papworth and his brother George Papworth acted as his clerk of works until 1804 and then practised as an architect in Ireland. A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840, the Royal Academy, A Complete Dictionary of Contributors from its Foundations in 1769 to 1904. Catalogue of Drawings in the RIBA Collections, Papworth, Architect to the King of Wurtemburg, a Brief Record of his Life and Works. Architecture in Britain,1530 to 1830
4.
Napoleonic era
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The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and Europe. The Congress of Vienna soon set out to restore Europe to pre-French Revolution days, Napoleon brought political stability to a land torn by revolution and war. He made peace with the Roman Catholic Church and reversed the most radical religious policies of the Convention, in 1804 Napoleon promulgated the Civil Code, a revised body of civil law, which also helped stabilize French society. The Civil Code confirmed many of the revolutionary policies of the National Assembly. The code restored patriarchal authority in the family, for example, whilst working to stabilise France, Napoleon also sought to extend his authority throughout Europe. Napoleons armies conquered the Iberian and Italian peninsulas, occupied lands, and he forced Austria, Prussia, the United Kingdom refused to recognise French hegemony and continued the war throughout. The First French Empire began to unravel in 1812, when he decided to invade Russia, Napoleon underestimated the difficulties his army would have to face whilst occupying Russia. Convinced that the Tsar was conspiring with his British enemies, Napoleon led an army of 600,000 soldiers to Moscow. He defeated the Russian army at Borodino before capturing Moscow, but the Tsar withdrew and Moscow was set ablaze, leaving Napoleons vast army without adequate shelter or supplies. Napoleon ordered a retreat, but the bitter Russian winter and repeated Russian attacks whittled down his army, the allies then continued a united effort against Napoleon until they had seized Paris forcing his abdication in 1814. His return to power the year was resisted by all the allies
5.
William Bullock (collector)
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William Bullock was an English traveller, naturalist and antiquarian. Bullock was the son of William Bullock and his wife Elizabeth proprietors of a travelling waxworks and he began as a goldsmith and jeweller in Birmingham. By 1795 Bullock was in Liverpool, where he founded a Museum of Natural Curiosities at 24 Lord Street, in 1809, Bullock moved to London and the collection, housed first at 22 Piccadilly and in 1812 in the newly built Piccadilly Egyptian Hall, proved extremely popular. The collection, which included over 32,000 items, was disposed of by auction in 1819, in 1810, Bullock figured briefly in a law case concerning Sarah Baartman, a Khoikhoi woman brought to England for purposes of exhibition as the Hottentot Venus. Bullock had been approached by Alexander Dunlop, the army surgeon responsible for Baartmans arrival in England, in 1822 Bullock went to Mexico where he became involved in silver mine speculation. He brought back many artefacts and specimens which formed a new exhibition in the Egyptian Hall, a second visit to Mexico, and to the United States, took place in 1827. Bullock bought land on the bank of the Ohio River from Thomas D. Carneal where he proposed to build a community named Hygeia laid out by John Buonarotti Papworth. The speculation was not a success, although some people, including Frances Trollope, took part, Bullock sold the land to Israel Ludlow, Bullock was back in London by 1843 and died there at 14 Harley Terrace, Chelsea. He was buried at St Marys Church, Chelsea, on 16 March 1849, Bullock was a fellow of the Linnean, Horticultural, Geological, Wernerian, and other learned societies, and published several pamphlets on natural history. A Companion to the Liverpool Museum, containing a description of. Natural & foreign curiosities, antiquities & productions of the fine arts, at the house of William Bullock, Church Street. A concise and easy method of preserving objects of natural history, intended for the use of sportsmen, travellers, London, printed for the proprietor,1818. Six months residence and travels in Mexico, containing remarks on the present state of New Spain, its productions, state of society, manufactures, trade, agriculture. Sechs Monate in Mexiko oder Bemerkungen über den gegenwärtigen Zustand Neu-Spaniens von W. Bullock, le Mexique en 1823, ou Relation dun voyage dans la Nouvelle-Espagne, contenant des notions exactes et peu connues sur la situation physique, morale et politique de ce pays. A description of the exhibition, called Ancient Mexico, collected on the spot in 1823. for public inspection at the Egyptian Hall. London, Printed for the proprietors,1824, catalogue of the exhibition, called Modern Mexico, containing a panoramic view of the city, with specimens of the natural history of New Spain. London, Printed for the proprietors,1825, Sketch of a journey through the Western States of North America, from New Orleans, by the Mississippi, Ohio, city of Cincinnati and falls of Niagara, to New York, in 1827. Robert D. Aguirre, Informal Empire, Mexico and Central America in Victorian Culture, minneapolis and London, University of Minnesota Press,2005
6.
Polynesia
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Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including the language family, culture, and beliefs. Historically, they were experienced sailors who used stars to navigate at night, the term Polynesia was first used in 1756 by French writer Charles de Brosses, and originally applied to all the islands of the Pacific. In 1831, Jules Dumont dUrville proposed a restriction on its use during a lecture to the Geographical Society of Paris, historically, these islands have also been referred to as the South Sea Islands. Polynesia is characterized by an amount of land spread over a very large portion of the mid. Most Polynesian islands and archipelagos, including the Hawaiian Islands and Samoa, are composed of volcanic islands built by hotspots, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, and Ouvéa, the Polynesian outlier near New Caledonia, are the unsubmerged portions of the largely sunken continent of Zealandia. At first, the Pacific plate was subducted under the Australian plate, the Alpine Fault that traverses the South Island is currently a transform fault while the convergent plate boundary from the North Island northwards is called the Kermadec-Tonga Subduction Zone. The volcanism associated with subduction zone is the origin of the Kermadec. Out of approximately 300,000 or 310,000 square kilometres of land, over 270,000 km2 are within New Zealand, the Zealandia continent has approximately 3,600,000 km2 of continental shelf. The oldest rocks in the region are found in New Zealand and are believed to be about 510 million years old, the oldest Polynesian rocks outside of Zealandia are to be found in the Hawaiian Emperor Seamount Chain, and are 80 million years old. Polynesia is generally defined as the islands within the Polynesian Triangle, geographically, the Polynesian Triangle is drawn by connecting the points of Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. The other main island groups located within the Polynesian Triangle are Samoa, Tonga, there are also small Polynesian settlements in Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, the Caroline Islands, and in Vanuatu. An island group with strong Polynesian cultural traits outside of this triangle is Rotuma. The people of Rotuma have many common Polynesian traits but speak a non-Polynesian language, some of the Lau Islands to the southeast of Fiji have strong historic and cultural links with Tonga. However, in essence, Polynesia is a term referring to one of the three parts of Oceania. Some islands of Polynesian origin are outside the triangle that geographically defines the region. The Phoenix Islands and Line Islands, most of which are part of Kiribati, are geographically Polynesian islands, tracing Polynesian languages places their prehistoric origins in the Malay Archipelago, and ultimately, in Taiwan. Between about 3000 and 1000 BC speakers of Austronesian languages began spreading from Taiwan into Island Southeast Asia, there are three theories regarding the spread of humans across the Pacific to Polynesia
7.
James Cook
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Captain James Cook FRS RN was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the Royal Navy. Cook joined the British merchant navy as a teenager and joined the Royal Navy in 1755 and he saw action in the Seven Years War, and subsequently surveyed and mapped much of the entrance to the Saint Lawrence River during the siege of Quebec. This helped bring Cook to the attention of the Admiralty and Royal Society, in three voyages Cook sailed thousands of miles across largely uncharted areas of the globe. He mapped lands from New Zealand to Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean in greater detail, as he progressed on his voyages of discovery he surveyed and named features, and recorded islands and coastlines on European maps for the first time. He displayed a combination of seamanship, superior surveying and cartographic skills, physical courage, Cook was attacked and killed while attempting to kidnap the native chief of Hawaii during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific in 1779. He left a legacy of scientific and geographical knowledge which was to influence his successors well into the 20th century, and numerous memorials worldwide have been dedicated to him. James Cook was born on 7 November 1728 in the village of Marton in Yorkshire and baptised on 14 November in the church of St Cuthbert. He was the second of eight children of James Cook, a Scottish farm labourer from Ednam in Roxburghshire, in 1736, his family moved to Airey Holme farm at Great Ayton, where his fathers employer, Thomas Skottowe, paid for him to attend the local school. In 1741, after five years schooling, he work for his father. For leisure, he would climb a hill, Roseberry Topping, enjoying the opportunity for solitude. Cooks Cottage, his parents last home, which he is likely to have visited, is now in Melbourne, having moved from England and reassembled, brick by brick. In 1745, when he was 16, Cook moved 20 miles to the village of Staithes. Historians have speculated that this is where Cook first felt the lure of the sea while gazing out of the shop window. After 18 months, not proving suitable for work, Cook travelled to the nearby port town of Whitby to be introduced to friends of Sandersons, John. The Walkers, who were Quakers, were prominent local ship-owners in the coal trade and their house is now the Captain Cook Memorial Museum. Cook was taken on as a merchant navy apprentice in their fleet of vessels. His first assignment was aboard the collier Freelove, and he spent several years on this and various other coasters, sailing between the Tyne and London. As part of his apprenticeship, Cook applied himself to the study of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, navigation and his three-year apprenticeship completed, Cook began working on trading ships in the Baltic Sea
8.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
9.
Ancient Egyptian architecture
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The core of the pyramids consisted of locally quarried stone, mudbricks, sand or gravel. For the casing stones were used that had to be transported from farther away, predominantly white limestone from Tura, Ancient Egyptian houses were made out of mud collected from the Nile river. It was placed in molds and left to dry in the hot sun to harden for use in construction, others are inaccessible, new buildings having been erected on ancient ones. Fortunately, the dry, hot climate of Egypt preserved some mud brick structures, examples include the village Deir al-Madinah, the Middle Kingdom town at Kahun, and the fortresses at Buhen and Mirgissa. Also, many temples and tombs have survived because they were built on high ground unaffected by the Nile flood and were constructed of stone, in a similar manner, the incised and flatly modeled surface adornment of the stone buildings may have derived from mud wall ornamentation. Exterior and interior walls, as well as the columns and piers, were covered with hieroglyphic and pictorial frescoes, many motifs of Egyptian ornamentation are symbolic, such as the scarab, or sacred beetle, the solar disk, and the vulture. Other common motifs include leaves, the papyrus plant. Hieroglyphs were inscribed for decorative purposes as well as to record historic events or spells, in addition, these pictorial frescoes and carvings allow us to understand how the Ancient Egyptians lived, statuses, wars that were fought and their beliefs. This was especially true when exploring the tombs of Ancient Egyptian officials in recent years, Ancient Egyptian temples were aligned with astronomically significant events, such as solstices and equinoxes, requiring precise measurements at the moment of the particular event. Measurements at the most significant temples may have been undertaken by the Pharaoh himself. The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo and this complex of ancient monuments is located some 8 kilometers inland into the desert from the old town of Giza on the Nile, some 20 kilometers southwest of Cairo city center. The pyramids, which were built in the Fourth Dynasty, testify to the power of the pharaonic religion and they were built to serve both as grave sites and also as a way to make their names last forever. The size and simple design show the skill level of Egyptian design. The pyramid of Khafre is believed to have been completed around 2532 BC, Khafre ambitiously placed his pyramid next to his fathers. It is not as tall as his fathers pyramid but he was able to give it the impression of appearing taller by building it on a site with a foundation 33 feet higher than his fathers. Along with building his pyramid, Chefren commissioned the building of the giant Sphinx as guardian over his tomb, the face of a human, possibly a depiction of the pharaoh, on a lions body was seen as a symbol of divinity among the Greeks fifteen hundred years later. The Great Sphinx is carved out the bedrock and stands about 65 feet tall. Menkaures pyramid dates to circa 2490 BC and stands 213 feet high making it the smallest of the Great Pyramids, popular culture leads people to believe that Pyramids are highly confusing, with many tunnels within the pyramid to create confusion for grave robbers
10.
Neoclassical architecture
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Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century. In its purest form, it is a style derived from the architecture of classical antiquity, the Vitruvian principles. In form, Neoclassical architecture emphasizes the wall rather than chiaroscuro, Neoclassical architecture is still designed today, but may be labelled New Classical Architecture for contemporary buildings. In Central and Eastern Europe, the style is referred to as Classicism. Many early 19th-century neoclassical architects were influenced by the drawings and projects of Étienne-Louis Boullée, the many graphite drawings of Boullée and his students depict spare geometrical architecture that emulates the eternality of the universe. There are links between Boullées ideas and Edmund Burkes conception of the sublime, the baroque style had never truly been to the English taste. The most popular was the four-volume Vitruvius Britannicus by Colen Campbell, the book contained architectural prints of famous British buildings that had been inspired by the great architects from Vitruvius to Palladio. At first the book featured the work of Inigo Jones. Palladian architecture became well established in 18th-century Britain, at the forefront of the new school of design was the aristocratic architect earl, Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, in 1729, he and William Kent, designed Chiswick House. This House was a reinterpretation of Palladios Villa Capra, but purified of 16th century elements and this severe lack of ornamentation was to be a feature of the Palladianism. In 1734 William Kent and Lord Burlington designed one of Englands finest examples of Palladian architecture with Holkham Hall in Norfolk, the main block of this house followed Palladios dictates quite closely, but Palladios low, often detached, wings of farm buildings were elevated in significance. This classicising vein was also detectable, to a degree, in the Late Baroque architecture in Paris. This shift was even visible in Rome at the redesigned façade for S, by the mid 18th century, the movement broadened to incorporate a greater range of Classical influences, including those from Ancient Greece. The shift to neoclassical architecture is conventionally dated to the 1750s, in France, the movement was propelled by a generation of French art students trained in Rome, and was influenced by the writings of Johann Joachim Winckelmann. The style was adopted by progressive circles in other countries such as Sweden. A second neoclassic wave, more severe, more studied and more consciously archaeological, is associated with the height of the Napoleonic Empire, in France, the first phase of neoclassicism was expressed in the Louis XVI style, and the second in the styles called Directoire or Empire. The Scottish architect Charles Cameron created palatial Italianate interiors for the German-born Catherine II the Great in St. Petersburg, indoors, neoclassicism made a discovery of the genuine classic interior, inspired by the rediscoveries at Pompeii and Herculaneum. These had begun in the late 1740s, but only achieved an audience in the 1760s
11.
Nile
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The Nile is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It is generally regarded as the longest river in the world, in particular, the Nile is the primary water source of Egypt and Sudan. The Nile has two tributaries, the White Nile and Blue Nile. The White Nile is considered to be the headwaters and primary stream of the Nile itself, the Blue Nile, however, is the source of most of the water and silt. The White Nile is longer and rises in the Great Lakes region of central Africa and it flows north through Tanzania, Lake Victoria, Uganda and South Sudan. The Blue Nile begins at Lake Tana in Ethiopia and flows into Sudan from the southeast, the two rivers meet just north of the Sudanese capital of Khartoum. The northern section of the river flows north almost entirely through the Sudanese desert to Egypt, then ends in a large delta, Egyptian civilization and Sudanese kingdoms have depended on the river since ancient times. Most of the population and cities of Egypt lie along those parts of the Nile valley north of Aswan, in the ancient Egyptian language, the Nile is called Ḥpī or Iteru, meaning river. In Coptic, the words piaro or phiaro meaning the river come from the ancient name. The English name Nile and the Arabic names en-Nîl and an-Nîl both derive from the Latin Nilus and the Ancient Greek Νεῖλος, beyond that, however, the etymology is disputed. One possible etymology derives it from a Semitic Nahal, meaning river, the standard English names White Nile and Blue Nile, to refer to the rivers source, derive from Arabic names formerly applied only to the Sudanese stretches which meet at Khartoum. Above Khartoum, the Nile is also known as the White Nile, at Khartoum the river is joined by the Blue Nile. The White Nile starts in equatorial East Africa, and the Blue Nile begins in Ethiopia, both branches are on the western flanks of the East African Rift. The drainage basin of the Nile covers 3,254,555 square kilometers, the source of the Nile is sometimes considered to be Lake Victoria, but the lake has feeder rivers of considerable size. It is either the Ruvyironza, which emerges in Bururi Province, Burundi, or the Nyabarongo, the two feeder rivers meet near Rusumo Falls on the Rwanda-Tanzania border. Gish Abay is reportedly the place where the water of the first drops of the Blue Nile develop. The Nile leaves Lake Nyanza at Ripon Falls near Jinja, Uganda and it flows north for some 130 kilometers, to Lake Kyoga. For the remaining part it flows westerly through the Murchison Falls until it reaches the very northern shores of Lake Albert where it forms a significant river delta
12.
Pyramid
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A pyramid is a structure whose outer surfaces are triangular and converge to a single point at the top, making the shape roughly a pyramid in the geometric sense. The base of a pyramid can be trilateral, quadrilateral, or any polygon shape, as such, a pyramid has at least three outer triangular surfaces. The square pyramid, with base and four triangular outer surfaces, is a common version. A pyramids design, with the majority of the closer to the ground. This distribution of weight allowed early civilizations to create stable monumental structures and it has been demonstrated that the common shape of the pyramids of antiquity, from Egypt to Central America, represents the dry-stone construction that requires minimum human work. Pyramids have been built by civilizations in many parts of the world, khufus Pyramid is built mainly of limestone, and is considered an architectural masterpiece. It contains over 2,000,000 blocks ranging in weight from 2.5 tonnes to 15 tonnes and is built on a base with sides measuring about 230 m. Its four sides face the four cardinal points precisely and it has an angle of 52 degrees and it is still the tallest pyramid. The largest pyramid by volume is the Great Pyramid of Cholula, the Mesopotamians built the earliest pyramidal structures, called ziggurats. In ancient times, these were painted in gold/bronze. Since they were constructed of sun-dried mud-brick, little remains of them, ziggurats were built by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians for local religions. Each ziggurat was part of a complex which included other buildings. The precursors of the ziggurat were raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the fourth millennium BC, the earliest ziggurats began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period. The latest Mesopotamian ziggurats date from the 6th century BC, built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure with a flat top. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside, the facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance. Kings sometimes had their names engraved on these glazed bricks, the number of tiers ranged from two to seven. It is assumed that they had shrines at the top, but there is no evidence for this. Access to the shrine would have been by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a ramp from base to summit
13.
Sphinx
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A sphinx is a mythical creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. In Greek tradition, it has the head of a human, the haunches of a lion and it is mythicised as treacherous and merciless. Those who cannot answer its riddle suffer a fate typical in such stories, as they are killed. This deadly version of a sphinx appears in the myth and drama of Oedipus, unlike the Greek sphinx, which was a woman, the Egyptian sphinx is typically shown as a man. In European decorative art, the sphinx enjoyed a revival during the Renaissance. Sphinxes are generally associated with structures such as royal tombs or religious temples. The oldest known sphinx was found near Gobekli Tepe at another site, Nevali Çori, or possibly 120 miles to the east at Kortik Tepe, Turkey, and was dated to 9,500 BCE. The largest and most famous sphinx is the Great Sphinx of Giza, situated on the Giza Plateau adjacent to the Great Pyramids of Giza on the west bank of the Nile River, the sphinx is located southeast of the pyramids. Although the date of its construction is uncertain, the head of the Great Sphinx now is believed to be that of the pharaoh Khafra, what names their builders gave to these statues is not known. At the Great Sphinx site, a 1400 BCE inscription on a stele belonging to the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose IV lists the names of three aspects of the sun deity of that period, Khepera–Rê–Atum. The theme was expanded to form great avenues of guardian sphinxes lining the approaches to tombs, nine hundred with ram heads, representing Amon, were built in Thebes, where his cult was strongest. Perhaps the first sphinx in Egypt was one depicting Queen Hetepheres II and she was one of the longest-lived members of the royal family of that dynasty. The Great Sphinx has become an emblem of Egypt, frequently appearing on its stamps, coins, from the Bronze Age, the Hellenes had trade and cultural contacts with Egypt. Before the time that Alexander the Great occupied Egypt, the Greek name, the historians and geographers of Greece wrote extensively about Egyptian culture. Herodotus called the ram-headed sphinxes Criosphinxes and called the hawk-headed ones Hieracosphinxes, the word sphinx comes from the Greek Σφίγξ, apparently from the verb σφίγγω, meaning to squeeze, to tighten up. This name may be derived from the fact that the hunters for a pride of lions are the lionesses, There was a single sphinx in Greek mythology, a unique demon of destruction and bad luck. According to Hesiod, she was a daughter of Orthrus and either Echidna or the Chimera, or perhaps even Ceto, according to others, she was a daughter of Echidna and Typhon. All of these are figures from the earliest of Greek myths
14.
Bernard de Montfaucon
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Dom Bernard de Montfaucon, O. S. B. was a French Benedictine monk of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He was a scholar who founded the discipline of palaeography. He is regarded as one of the founders of modern archaeology, Montfaucon was born on 13 January 1655 in the Castle of Soulatgé, a small village in the southern town of Corbières, then in the ancient Province of Languedoc, now in the modern Department of Aude. After one year he was moved to the Castle of Roquetaillade, when he was seven, he was sent to Limoux, to the college run by the Fathers of Christian Doctrine. Montfaucon served in the French army as a volunteer and participated in the Franco-Dutch War of 1673 and he was a captain of grenadiers and made two campaigns under the command of Marshall Turenne, participated in the Battle of Herbsthausen and fell ill in Saverne in Alsace. After the death of Montfaucons father at the Château de Roquetaillade, there he learned several ancient languages, Greek, Hebrew, Chaldean, Syriac, and Coptic. In 1687 Montfaucon was called to the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and he started to work on an edition of the works of the Greek Church Fathers, in 1705 Montfaucon examined and described the manuscripts of the Fonds Coislin, in Bibliotheca Coisliniana. In 1708 in Palaeographia Graeca Montfaucon became the first to use the term palaeography, the work illustrates the entire history of Greek writing. It contains Montfaucons discussions of variations in Greek letter forms, the use of abbreviations in Greek manuscripts, in this work he often cited Greek manuscripts in texts of Athanasius of Alexandria, Origen, and John Chrysostom. The book dealt so comprehensively with the handwriting and other characteristics of Greek manuscripts that it remained the authority on the subject for almost two centuries. In 1714 Montfaucon published the fragments of Hexapla of Origen, Montfaucon published 15 volumes of Lantiquité expliquée et représentée en figures between 1719 and 1724. An English translation of work was published in 1721–25 under the title Antiquity Explained and Represented in Diagrams. The work contained copperplate folio engravings of classical antiquities and it included a depiction of the Barberini Vase, more commonly known as the Portland Vase. This book is published in English under the title Antiquities, the materials used in this work were taken from the manuscripts deposited in French libraries. It contains many illustrative facsimiles, though they are engraved in a rather coarse way, in 1719, Montfaucon was named by Philippe II, Duke of Orléans to the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres. In 1719 after the death of the Jesuit priest, Michel Le Tellier, confessor to the late King Louis XIV, Montfaucon died on 21 December 1741 at the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, where he was buried. In a letter of 24 June 1786, Josiah Wedgwood explains that he had seen Montfaucons engravings of the Portland Vase, Montfaucon was the original editor of the homilies Adversus Judaeos by saint John Chrysostom along with many other works of the Fathers of the Church. Montfaucon laid the foundation for the study of Greek manuscripts, scrivener stated, that his work still maintains a high authority, even after more recent discoveries, especially of papyri in Egypt
15.
Richard Pococke
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Richard Pococke was an English prelate and anthropologist. He was the Bishop of Ossory and Meath, both dioceses of the Church of Ireland, however, he is best known for his travel writings and diaries. Pococke was born in Southampton and educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford and his father was the Reverend Richard Pococke and his mother was Elizabeth Milles, the daughter of Rev. Isaac Milles the younger, son of Rev. Isaac Milles. His parents were married on 26 April 1698, Pocockes uncle, Thomas Milles, was a professor of Greek. He was also related to Edward Pococke, the English Orientalist. Rev. Jeremiah II Milles was a first cousin and his family connections meant he advanced rapidly in the church, becoming vicar-general of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore. He seems to have spent far more time travelling than attending to his duties as a churchman, the first was to France and Italy and the second was to the Low Countries, Germany, Austria, Poland and Hungary. Milles was recalled in 1737 to attend his uncle, the Bishop of Waterford & Lismore, detailed accounts of their travels survive in a collection of letters written to Pocockes mother and their mutual uncle, the bishop, as well as in a number of note-books. From 1737-41 he visited the Near East, visiting Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon & Syria, Asia Minor and these travels were later published in his Description of the East of 1743 and 1745, works which were praised by Edward Gibbon. The complete collection of written to his mother from his Eastern voyage is now in print. During the years 1747-60, Pococke made a number of tours around parts of Ireland. The longest of these occurred in 1752, when he travelled to just over half of Irelands counties. He kept a record of this tour, but did not publish it and it ended up in the library of Trinity College, Dublin. Eventually, in 1891, an edition of Pocockes 1752 tour was published by George Thomas Stokes. He was made bishop successively of Ossory, Elphin and of Meath in 1765 and he spent many of his later years in travel throughout Britain and Ireland, publishing accounts of many of his journeys. He died of apoplexy during a visitation at Charleville Castle, near Tullamore, County Offaly, Ireland, on his death, many of his manuscripts were given to the British Library. He was buried at Ardbraccan, County Meath, Ireland, works by Richard Pococke in Internet Archive A Description of the East and Some other Countries, Vol. I, Observations on Egypt, W. Boyer, London,1743. Part 2, Observations on the islands of the Archipelago, Asia Minor, Thrace, Greece and we have a loss in not having Dr. Pococke here this Christmas, as we expected
16.
Frederic Louis Norden
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Frederic Louis Norden was a Danish naval captain and explorer. Also known as Frederick, Frederik, Friderick, Ludwig, Ludvig and Lewis and his name is often shortened F. L. Norden. Norden made a voyage through Egypt all the way down to Sudan in 1737–1738, on 8 January 1741 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, where his name was registered as Frederic Lewis Norden. Lee, Sidney, ed. Norden, Frederick Lewis
17.
Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie
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Voyage dEgypte et de Nubie records Frederic Louis Nordens extensive documentation and drawings of his voyage though Egypt in 1737–38. The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, under order of Frederick V of Denmark, Norden had already done some preliminary work, but got entangled in war-service for England and died in France 1742 of tuberculosis, before anything was ready. He left his documents and drawings to his friend, mark Tuscher from Nuremberg made the drawings into copperplates for the publication. A very often-used extract from this book is Nordens drawing of the Great Sphinx of Giza, as the first near realistic drawing of the sphinx, he is the earliest known to draw the Sphinx with the nose missing. Although Richard Pococke in the same year visits and later publishes a stylish rendering, pocockes drawing is a faithful adoption of Cornelis de Bruijns drawing of 1698, featuring only minor changes. It is highly unlikely if the nose was still on that Norden out of free fantasy would leave it out and this drawing is often used to disprove the story that Napoleon I of France destroyed the nose of the sphinx. 1741 – Drawings of some ruins and colossal statues,1755 – Voyage dEgypte et de Nubie, tome premier, The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, Copenhagen. 1757 – Travels in Egypt & Nubia,2 Volumes in 1, Lockyer Davis & Charles Reymer,1757 – A compendium of the travels of F. L. Norden through Egypt and Nubia, J. Smith, Dublin,1775 - Beskrivelse over Ægypten og Nubien, Copenhagen, translated by Jørgen Stauning. The first Danish translation of parts of the work, Norden, Beschreibung seiner Reise durch Egypten und Nubien, Johann Ernst Meyer, Leipzig and Breslau. 1780 – The antiquities, natural history, ruins and other curiosities of Egypt, Nubia, exemplified in near two hundred drawings taken on the spot, Lockyer Davis, London. 1790 – Frederik Ludvig Nordens Reiser igiennem Ægypten og Nubien in Samling af de bedste og nyeste Reisebeskrivelser i et udførligt Udtog,1792 – The antiquities, natural history, ruins, and other curiosities of Egypt, Nubia, and Thebes. Exemplified in near two hundred drawings, taken on the spot, Edward Jeffery, London, 1795–98 – Voyage dEgypte et de Nubie, Nouvelle édition, Pierre Didot lainé, Paris. V.1, v.21800 – Atlas du voyage et de Nubie, Bibliothèque portative des voyages, tome XI, Lepetit. 1814 – The travels of Frederick Lewis Norden through Egypt and Nubia, Sydneys Press, New Haven
18.
Peter Frederick Robinson
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Peter Frederick Robinson was an English architect. Robinson began his career in Henry Hollands office and worked under William Porden at the Brighton Pavilion in 1801–02, in 1805 he designed Hans Town Assembly Rooms, Cadogan Place, and in 1811–12 the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, for William Bullocks museum. The details of the elevation were taken from Denons work on the Egyptian monuments, and especially from the temple at Denderah, in 1813 he designed the town-hall and market-place at Lampeter, Cardiganshire. He also designed country houses. In 1820 he exhibited a drawing at the Royal Academys RA 52nd exhibition, Additions to be made to Norbury Park House. In 1836 he submitted designs to the competition for the new Houses of Parliament and he also published five parts of a continuation of Vitruvius Britannicus, covering Woburn Abbey, Hatfield House, Hardwicke Hall, Castle Ashby and Warwick Castle. Robinson became a Fellow of the Society of Arts in 1826, in about 1840 financial difficulties caused him to leave England for Boulogne, where he died on 24 June 1858. Between at least 1821 and 1837, he lived at 29 Lower Brook Street, Grosvenor Square and he married Julia Ponsonby, daughter of Rev Mr Wall, at St Georges Hanover Square on 5 May 1828. Sons were born in October 1830 and December 1831, Hans Town Assembly Rooms, Cadogan Place, London. The Swiss cottage in Singleton Park, Swansea, Swiss Cottage, at the Colosseum in Regents Park
19.
Sheffield
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Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough in South Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, its derives from the River Sheaf. With some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its industrial roots to encompass a wider economic base. The population of the City of Sheffield is 569,700, Sheffield is the third largest English district by population. The metropolitan population of Sheffield is 1,569,000, in the 19th century, Sheffield gained an international reputation for steel production. Known as the Steel City, many innovations were developed locally, including crucible and stainless steel, Sheffield received its municipal charter in 1843, becoming the City of Sheffield in 1893. International competition in iron and steel caused a decline in these industries in the 1970s and 1980s, the 21st century has seen extensive redevelopment in Sheffield along with other British cities. Sheffields gross value added has increased by 60% since 1997, standing at £9.2 billion in 2007, the economy has experienced steady growth averaging around 5% annually, greater than that of the broader region of Yorkshire and the Humber. The city is in the foothills of the Pennines, and the valleys of the River Don and its four tributaries, the Loxley, the Porter Brook, the Rivelin. 61% of Sheffields entire area is space, and a third of the city lies within the Peak District national park. The area now occupied by the City of Sheffield is believed to have inhabited since at least the late Upper Palaeolithic period. The earliest evidence of occupation in the Sheffield area was found at Creswell Crags to the east of the city. In the Iron Age the area became the southernmost territory of the Pennine tribe called the Brigantes and it is this tribe who are thought to have constructed several hill forts in and around Sheffield. Gradually, Anglian settlers pushed west from the kingdom of Deira, a Celtic presence within the Sheffield area is evidenced by two settlements called Wales and Waleswood close to Sheffield. The settlements that grew and merged to form Sheffield, however, date from the half of the first millennium. In Anglo-Saxon times, the Sheffield area straddled the border between the kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria, after the Norman conquest, Sheffield Castle was built to protect the local settlements, and a small town developed that is the nucleus of the modern city. By 1296, a market had been established at what is now known as Castle Square, from 1570 to 1584, Mary, Queen of Scots, was imprisoned in Sheffield Castle and Sheffield Manor. During the 1740s, a form of the steel process was discovered that allowed the manufacture of a better quality of steel than had previously been possible
20.
Liverpool
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Liverpool is a major city and metropolitan borough in North West England.24 million people in 2011. Liverpool historically lay within the ancient hundred of West Derby in the south west of the county of Lancashire and it became a borough from 1207 and a city from 1880. In 1889 it became a county borough independent of Lancashire, Liverpool sits on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary and its growth as a major port is paralleled by the expansion of the city throughout the Industrial Revolution. Along with general cargo, freight, raw materials such as coal and cotton, the city was also directly involved in the Atlantic slave trade. Liverpool was home to both the Cunard and White Star Line, and was the port of registry of the ocean liner RMS Titanic and others such as the RMS Lusitania, Queen Mary, and Olympic. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007, and it held the European Capital of Culture title together with Stavanger, Norway, several areas of Liverpool city centre were granted World Heritage Site status by UNESCO in 2004. The Liverpool Maritime Mercantile City includes the Pier Head, Albert Dock, tourism forms a significant part of the citys economy. Liverpool is also the home of two Premier League football clubs, Liverpool and Everton, matches between the two being known as the Merseyside derby, the world-famous Grand National horse race takes place annually at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of the city. The city is home to the oldest Black African community in the country. Natives of Liverpool are referred to as Liverpudlians and colloquially as Scousers, a reference to scouse, the word Scouse has also become synonymous with the Liverpool accent and dialect. Pool is a place name element in England from the Brythonic word for a pond, inlet, or pit, cognate with the modern Welsh. The derivation of the first element remains uncertain, with the Welsh word Llif as the most plausible relative and this etymology is supported by its similarity to that of the archaic Welsh name for Liverpool Llynlleifiad. Other origins of the name have suggested, including elverpool. The name appeared in 1190 as Liuerpul, and it may be that the place appearing as Leyrpole, in a record of 1418. King Johns letters patent of 1207 announced the foundation of the borough of Liverpool, the original street plan of Liverpool is said to have been designed by King John near the same time it was granted a royal charter, making it a borough. The original seven streets were laid out in an H shape, Bank Street, Castle Street, Chapel Street, Dale Street, Juggler Street, Moor Street, in the 17th century there was slow progress in trade and population growth. Battles for the town were waged during the English Civil War, in 1699 Liverpool was made a parish by Act of Parliament, that same year its first slave ship, Liverpool Merchant, set sail for Africa. Since Roman times, the city of Chester on the River Dee had been the regions principal port on the Irish Sea
21.
Napoleon
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Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led several successful campaigns during the French Revolutionary Wars. As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 until 1814, Napoleon dominated European and global affairs for more than a decade while leading France against a series of coalitions in the Napoleonic Wars. He won most of these wars and the vast majority of his battles, one of the greatest commanders in history, his wars and campaigns are studied at military schools worldwide. Napoleons political and cultural legacy has ensured his status as one of the most celebrated and he was born Napoleone di Buonaparte in Corsica to a relatively modest family from the minor nobility. When the Revolution broke out in 1789, Napoleon was serving as an officer in the French army. Seizing the new opportunities presented by the Revolution, he rose through the ranks of the military. The Directory eventually gave him command of the Army of Italy after he suppressed a revolt against the government from royalist insurgents, in 1798, he led a military expedition to Egypt that served as a springboard to political power. He engineered a coup in November 1799 and became First Consul of the Republic and his ambition and public approval inspired him to go further, and in 1804 he became the first Emperor of the French. Intractable differences with the British meant that the French were facing a Third Coalition by 1805, in 1806, the Fourth Coalition took up arms against him because Prussia became worried about growing French influence on the continent. Napoleon quickly defeated Prussia at the battles of Jena and Auerstedt, then marched the Grand Army deep into Eastern Europe, France then forced the defeated nations of the Fourth Coalition to sign the Treaties of Tilsit in July 1807, bringing an uneasy peace to the continent. Tilsit signified the high watermark of the French Empire, hoping to extend the Continental System and choke off British trade with the European mainland, Napoleon invaded Iberia and declared his brother Joseph the King of Spain in 1808. The Spanish and the Portuguese revolted with British support, the Peninsular War lasted six years, featured extensive guerrilla warfare, and ended in victory for the Allies. The Continental System caused recurring diplomatic conflicts between France and its client states, especially Russia, unwilling to bear the economic consequences of reduced trade, the Russians routinely violated the Continental System and enticed Napoleon into another war. The French launched an invasion of Russia in the summer of 1812. The resulting campaign witnessed the collapse of the Grand Army, the destruction of Russian cities, in 1813, Prussia and Austria joined Russian forces in a Sixth Coalition against France. A lengthy military campaign culminated in a large Allied army defeating Napoleon at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, the Allies then invaded France and captured Paris in the spring of 1814, forcing Napoleon to abdicate in April. He was exiled to the island of Elba near Rome and the Bourbons were restored to power, however, Napoleon escaped from Elba in February 1815 and took control of France once again. The Allies responded by forming a Seventh Coalition, which defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in June, the British exiled him to the remote island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, where he died six years later at the age of 51
22.
Battle of Waterloo
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The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday,18 June 1815, near Waterloo in present-day Belgium, then part of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands. Upon Napoleons return to power in March 1815, many states that had opposed him formed the Seventh Coalition, Wellington and Blüchers armies were cantoned close to the north-eastern border of France. Napoleon chose to attack them in the hope of destroying them before they could join in an invasion of France with other members of the coalition. Despite holding his ground at Quatre Bras, the defeat of the Prussians forced Wellington to withdraw to Waterloo, Napoleon sent a third of his forces to pursue the Prussians, who had withdrawn parallel to Wellington. This resulted in the separate and simultaneous Battle of Wavre with the Prussian rear-guard, upon learning that the Prussian army was able to support him, Wellington decided to offer battle on the Mont-Saint-Jean escarpment, across the Brussels road. Here he withstood repeated attacks by the French throughout the afternoon, in the evening Napoleon committed his last reserves to a desperate final attack, which was narrowly beaten back. With the Prussians breaking through on the French right flank, Wellingtons Anglo-allied army counter-attacked in the centre, Waterloo was the decisive engagement of the Waterloo Campaign and Napoleons last. According to Wellington, the battle was the thing you ever saw in your life. Napoleon abdicated four days later, and on 7 July coalition forces entered Paris, the defeat at Waterloo ended Napoleons rule as Emperor of the French, and marked the end of his Hundred Days return from exile. This ended the First French Empire, and set a chronological milestone between serial European wars and decades of relative peace, the battlefield is located in the municipalities of Braine-lAlleud and Lasne, about 15 kilometres south of Brussels, and about 2 kilometres from the town of Waterloo. The site of the battlefield today is dominated by a large monument, as this mound was constructed from earth taken from the battlefield itself, the contemporary topography of the battlefield near the mound has not been preserved. On 13 March 1815, six days before Napoleon reached Paris, four days later, the United Kingdom, Russia, Austria, and Prussia mobilised armies to defeat Napoleon. Crucially, this would have bought him time to recruit and train more men before turning his armies against the Austrians and Russians, an additional consideration for Napoleon was that a French victory might cause French speaking sympathisers in Belgium to launch a friendly revolution. Wellingtons initial dispositions were intended to counter the threat of Napoleon enveloping the Coalition armies by moving through Mons to the south-west of Brussels and this would have pushed Wellington closer to Blücher, but may have cut Wellingtons communications with his base at Ostend. In order to delay Wellingtons deployment, Napoleon spread false intelligence which suggested that Wellingtons supply chain from the ports would be cut. By June, Napoleon had raised a total strength of about 300,000 men. The force at his disposal at Waterloo was less than one third that size, Napoleon divided his army into a left wing commanded by Marshal Ney, a right wing commanded by Marshal Grouchy and a reserve under his command. Crossing the frontier near Charleroi before dawn on 15 June, the French rapidly overran Coalition outposts and he hoped this would prevent them from combining, and he would be able to destroy first the Prussians army, then Wellingtons
23.
Shilling (British coin)
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The shilling was a coin worth one twentieth of a pound sterling, or twelve pence. It was first minted in the reign of Henry VII as the testoon, the word bob was sometimes used for a monetary value of several shillings, e. g. ten bob note. Following decimalisation in 1970 the coin had a value of five new pence and it was made from silver from its introduction in or around 1503 until 1947, and thereafter in cupronickel. Prior to Decimal Day in 1971 there were 240 pence in one pound sterling, twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound. Values less than a pound were usually written in terms of shillings and pence, values of less than a shilling were simply written in terms of pence, e. g. eight pence would be 8d. Although the coin was not minted until the sixteenth century, the value of a shilling had been used for accounting purposes since the Anglo-Saxon period, originally, a shilling was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent, or a sheep elsewhere. The value of one shilling equalling 12d was set by the Normans following the conquest, prior to this various Anglo-Saxon coins equalling 3,4, the first coins of the pound sterling with the value of 12d were minted in 1503 or 1504 and were known as testoons. Between 1544 and 1551 the coinage was debased repeatedly by the governments of Henry VIII and this debasement meant that coins produced in 1551 had one-fifth of the silver content of those minted in 1544, and consequently the value of new testoons fell from 12d to 6d. The reason the testoon decreased in value is that unlike today and this debasement was recognised as a mistake, and during Elizabeths reign newly minted coins, including the testoon, had a much higher silver content and regained their pre-debasement value. Shillings were minted during the reign of every British monarch following Edward VI, the Royal Mint undertook a massive recoinage programme in 1816, with large quantities of gold and silver coin being minted. Previous issues of silver coinage had been irregular, and the last issue, minted in 1787, new silver coinage was to be of.925 standard, with silver coins to be minted at 66 shillings to the troy pound. Hence, newly minted shillings weighed 87.273 grains or 5.655 grams, the Royal Mint debased the silver coinage in 1920 from 92. 5% silver to 50% silver. Shillings of both alloys were minted that year and this debasement was done because of the rising price of silver around the world, and followed the global trend of the elimination, or the reducing in purity, of the silver in coinage. The minting of coinage of the pound sterling ceased completely in 1946 for similar reasons. New silver coinage was minted in cupronickel, an alloy of copper. Beginning with Lord Wrottesleys proposals in the 1820s there were attempts to decimalise the pound sterling over the next century. These attempts came to nothing significant until the 1960s when the need for a currency more suited to simple monetary calculations became pressing, the decision to decimalise was announced in 1966, with the pound to be redivided into 100, rather than 240, pence. Decimal Day was set for 15 February 1971, and a range of new coins were introduced
24.
The Raft of the Medusa
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The Raft of the Medusa is an oil painting of 1818–1819 by the French Romantic painter and lithographer Théodore Géricault. Completed when the artist was 27, the work has become an icon of French Romanticism, the event became an international scandal, in part because its cause was widely attributed to the incompetence of the French captain. Géricault chose to depict this event in order to launch his career with a large-scale uncommissioned work on a subject that had already generated great public interest. The event fascinated him, and before he began work on the painting, he undertook extensive research. He interviewed two of the survivors and constructed a scale model of the raft. He visited hospitals and morgues where he could view, first-hand, as he had anticipated, the painting proved highly controversial at its first appearance in the 1819 Paris Salon, attracting passionate praise and condemnation in equal measure. However, it established his reputation, and today is widely seen as seminal in the early history of the Romantic movement in French painting. Géricaults work attracted attention from its first showing and was then exhibited in London. The Louvre acquired it soon after the death at the age of 32. The paintings influence can be seen in the works of Eugène Delacroix, J. M. W. Turner, Gustave Courbet, in June 1816, the French frigate Méduse departed from Rochefort, bound for the Senegalese port of Saint-Louis. She headed a convoy of three ships, the storeship Loire, the brig Argus and the corvette Écho. Viscount Hugues Duroy de Chaumereys had been appointed captain of the frigate despite having scarcely sailed in 20 years, the frigates mission was to accept the British return of Senegal under the terms of Frances acceptance of the Peace of Paris. The appointed French governor of Senegal, Colonel Julien-Désiré Schmaltz, and his wife, in an effort to make good time, the Méduse overtook the other ships, but due to poor navigation it drifted 100 miles off course. On 2 July, it ran aground on a sandbank off the West African coast, efforts to free the ship failed, so, on 5 July, the frightened passengers and crew started an attempt to travel the 60 miles to the African coast in the frigates six boats. Although the Méduse was carrying 400 people, including 160 crew, the remainder of the ships complement—at least 146 men and one woman—were piled onto a hastily built raft, that partially submerged once it was loaded. Seventeen crew members opted to stay aboard the grounded Méduse, the captain and crew aboard the other boats intended to tow the raft, but after only a few miles the raft was turned loose. For sustenance the crew of the raft had only a bag of ships biscuit, according to critic Jonathan Miles, the raft carried the survivors to the frontiers of human experience. Crazed, parched and starved, they slaughtered mutineers, ate their dead companions, after 13 days, on 17 July 1816, the raft was rescued by the Argus by chance—no particular search effort was made by the French for the raft
25.
Benjamin Haydon
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Benjamin Robert Haydon was an English painter who specialised in grand historical pictures, although he also painted a few contemporary subjects and portraits. His commercial success was damaged by his often tactless dealings with patrons and he was troubled by financial problems throughout his life, which led to several periods of imprisonment for debt. He gave lectures on art, and kept extensive diaries that were published after his death, at an early age he showed an aptitude for study, which was carefully fostered by his mother. At the age of six he was placed in Plymouth Grammar School, and at twelve in Plympton Grammar School, reading Albinus inspired him with a love for anatomy, and from childhood he wanted to become a painter. Full of energy and hope, he left home, on 14 May 1804, for London and he was so enthusiastic that Henry Fuseli asked when he found time to eat. In 1807, at the age of 21, Haydon exhibited, for the first time, the painting he entered, The Repose in Egypt, was bought by Thomas Hope a year later for the Egyptian Room at his townhouse in Duchess Street. This was a start for Haydon, who shortly afterwards received a commission from Lord Mulgrave. That same year, he took on his first pupil, Charles Lock Eastlake, Haydon was fascinated by the Elgin Marbles, and believed that they provided evidence that ancient Greek artists had studied anatomy. The income was not enough to pay off all his debts, much of what he saw there disappointed him, he described Raphaels Transfiguration, a painting he had particularly wanted to see, as small & insignificant. On returning to England, he produced Christs Entry into Jerusalem, while painting another large work, the Resurrection of Lazarus, his financial problems increased, and he was arrested but not imprisoned, the sheriff-officer taking his word for his appearance. In October,1821, he increased his commitments when he married Mary Hyman, in 1823 Haydon spent two months imprisoned for debt in the Kings Bench Prison, where he received consoling letters from leading men of the day. While there, he drew up a petition to Parliament in favour of the appointment of a committee to inquire into the state of encouragement of historical painting, which was presented by Lord Brougham. During 1825, following an agreement for his support with his lawyer, Thomas Kearsey, Haydon turned, rather unwillingly, to portrait painting. His works in the genre were, however, attacked in a review in Theodore Hooks weekly newspaper John Bull. Haydon later blamed the article for his loss of clientele, following a second period of incarceration at the Kings Bench Prison in 1827, he painted the Mock Election inspired by an incident he had witnessed there. The picture was bought by King George IV for £500, encouraged by this success, he painted a companion picture, Chairing the Member, returning to the prison to make drawings of some of the inmates. A third painting of contemporary life showed the audience at a Punch and his hopes that the king would buy this work were disappointed, a setback he blamed on the actions of the Keeper of the Kings Pictures, William Seguier. Curtius Leaping into the Gulf, and Uriel and Satan, as a supporter of parliamentary reform, he had the idea of painting a grand canvas of a meeting on Newhall Hill, addressed by Thomas Attwood, leader of the Birmingham Political Union
26.
Jesus
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In Christology, the Person of Christ refers to the study of the human and divine natures of Jesus Christ as they co-exist within one person. There is no discussion in the New Testament regarding the dual nature of the Person of Christ as both divine and human. Hence, since the days of Christianity theologians have debated various approaches to the understanding of these natures. In the period following the Apostolic Age, specific beliefs such as Arianism and Docetism were criticized. On the other end of the spectrum, Docetism argued that Jesus physical body was an illusion, docetic teachings were attacked by St. Ignatius of Antioch and were eventually abandoned by proto-orthodox Christians. However, after the First Council of Nicaea in 325 the Logos, historically in the Alexandrian school of christology, Jesus Christ is the eternal Logos paradoxically humanized in history, a divine Person who became enfleshed, uniting himself to the human nature. The views of these schools can be summarized as follows, Alexandria, Antioch, Logos assumes a specific human being The First Council of Ephesus in 431 debated a number of views regarding the Person of Christ. At the same gathering the council debated the doctrines of monophysitism or miaphysitism. The council rejected Nestorianism and adopted the term hypostatic union, referring to divine, the language used in the 431 declaration was further refined at the 451 Council of Chalcedon. However, the Chalcedon creed was not accepted by all Christians, because Saint Augustine died in 430 he did not participate in the Council of Ephesus in 431 or Chalcedon in 451, but his ideas had some impact on both councils. On the other hand, the major theological figure of the Middle Ages. The Third Council of Constantinople in 680 held that both divine and human wills exist in Jesus, with the divine will having precedence, leading and guiding the human will. John Calvin maintained that there was no element in the Person of Christ which could be separated from the person of The Word. Calvin also emphasized the importance of the Work of Christ in any attempt at understanding the Person of Christ, the study of the Person of Christ continued into the 20th century, with modern theologians such as Karl Rahner and Hans von Balthasar. Balthasar argued that the union of the human and divine natures of Christ was achieved not by the absorption of human attributes, thus in his view the divine nature of Christ was not affected by the human attributes and remained forever divine
27.
Giovanni Battista Belzoni
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Giovanni Battista Belzoni, sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. His father was a barber who sired fourteen children and his family was from Rome and when Belzoni was 16 he went to work there, saying that he studied hydraulics. He intended taking monastic vows, but in 1798 the occupation of the city by French troops drove him from Rome, in 1800 he moved to the Netherlands where he earned a living as a barber. In 1803 he fled to England to avoid being sent to jail, there he married an Englishwoman, Sarah Bane. Belzoni was a man at 6 feet 7 inches tall. They were for some time compelled to find subsistence by performing exhibitions of feats of strength and agility as a strongman at fairs, in 1804 he appears engaged at the circus at Astleys amphitheatre at a variety of performances. Belzoni had an interest in phantasmagoria and experimented with the use of lanterns in his shows. Belzoni wanted to show Muhammad Ali a hydraulic machine of his own invention for raising the waters of the Nile, though the experiment with this engine was successful, the project was not approved by the pasha. Belzoni, now without a job, was resolved to continue his travels, on the recommendation of the orientalist J. L. Shipped by Belzoni to England, this piece is still on prominent display at the British Museum. It took him 17 days and 130 men to tow it to the river and he used levers to lift it onto rollers. Then he had his men distributed equally with 4 ropes drag it on the rollers, on the first day he only covered a few yards, the second he covered 50 yards deliberately breaking the bases of 2 columns to clear the way for his burden. After 150 yards, it sank into the sand, and a detour of 300 yards on firmer ground was necessary. From there, it got a little easier, and, on 12 August and his excavation and removal of the Young Memnon and other stones during this expedition was explicitly authorized by a firman from Muhammed Ali himself, the Pasha of Egypt. He was the first to penetrate into the pyramid of Giza. He also identified the ruins of Berenice on the Red Sea, during 1820 and 1821 he also exhibited facsimiles of the tomb of Seti I. The exhibition was held at the Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, in 1822 Belzoni showed his model in Paris. In 1823 he set out for West Africa, intending to travel to Timbuktu, having been refused permission to pass through Morocco, he chose the Guinea Coast route. He reached the Kingdom of Benin, but was seized with dysentery at a village called Gwato, according to the celebrated traveller Richard Francis Burton he was murdered and robbed
28.
Seti I
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Menmaatre Seti I was a pharaoh of the New Kingdom Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt, the son of Ramesses I and Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II. The name Seti means of Set, which indicates that he was consecrated to the god Set, as with most pharaohs, Seti had several names. Upon his ascension, he took the prenomen mn-m3‘t-r‘, usually vocalized as Menmaatre, in Egyptian and his better known nomen, or birth name, is transliterated as sty mry-n-ptḥ or Sety Merenptah, meaning Man of Set, beloved of Ptah. Manetho incorrectly considered him to be the founder of the 19th dynasty, Seti, with energy and determination, confronted the Hittites several times in battle. Without succeeding in destroying the Hittites as a danger to Egypt, he reconquered most of the disputed territories for Egypt. The memory of Seti Is military successes was recorded in large scenes placed on the front of the temple of Amun. He was considered a king by his peers, but his fame has been overshadowed since ancient times by that of his son. Seti Is reign length was either 11 or 15 full years, Egyptologist Kenneth Kitchen has estimated that it was 15 years, but there are no dates recorded for Seti I after his Year 11 Gebel Barkal stela. As he is quite well documented in historical records, other scholars suggest that a continuous break in the record for his last four years is unlikely. Peter J. Brand noted that the king personally opened new rock quarries at Aswan to build obelisks and this event is commemorated on two rock stelas in Aswan. Ramesses II used the prenomen Usermaatre to refer to himself in his first year and he made great barges for transporting them, and ships crews to match them for ferrying them from the quarry. However, despite this promise, Brand stresses that The German Egyptologist Jürgen von Beckerath also accepts that Seti Is reign lasted only 11 Years. Seti Is accession date has been determined by Wolfgang Helck to be III Shemu day 24, in 2011, Jacobus van Dijk questioned the Year 11 stated on the Gebel Barkal stela. This monument is badly preserved but still depicts Seti I in erect posture. Furthermore, the glyphs I ∩ representing the 11 are damaged in the upper part and may just as well be I I I instead. Subsequently, Van Dijk proposed that the Gebel Barkal stela is dated to Year 3 of Seti I, and that Setis highest date more likely is Year 9 as suggested by the wine jars found in his tomb. In a 2012 paper, David Aston analyzed the wine jars, Seti I fought a series of wars in western Asia, Libya and Nubia in the first decade of his reign. The Ways of Horus consisted of a series of forts, each with a well
29.
James Ward (artist)
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James Ward RA, was a painter, particularly of animals, and an engraver. Ward devoted much of the period 1815-21 to the painting of a work titled Allegory of Waterloo. The experience may have embittered him, and the deaths of his first wife, like many artists of the time, Ward sought commissions from wealthy gentry of their favorite horses, their favorite hunting dogs or their children. One such family that Ward painted and drew repeatedly, and whom he counted among his friends, were the Levett family of Wynchnor Park, one of Wards best-known portraits was his Theophilus Levett hunting at Wychnor, Staffordshire of 1817. Another was Wards 1811 painting entitled The Reverend Thomas Levett and his favourite dogs, Ward also painted a group portrait of three Levett children — John, Theophilus and Frances Levett. James was the son of James and Rachael Ward and he was first married to Mary Ann Ward in 1794 and after her death to Charlotte Fritche in 1827. James and Mary Ann Ward had several children including, Matilda Louisa Ward,1798, d.1879 James Ward was the paternal grandfather of the painter Henrietta Ward and the great-grandfather of Leslie Ward, the Vanity Fair caricaturist. In 1830, Ward moved to Cheshunt with his second wife, a stroke in 1855 ended his work, and he died in poverty. He is buried at Kensal Green Cemetery, James Ward was one of the outstanding artists of the day, his singular style and great skill set him above most of his contemporaries, markedly influencing the growth of British art. Regarded as one of the animal painters of his time, James produced history paintings, portraits, landscapes. He started off as an engraver, trained by William, who later engraved much of his work. The partnership of William and James Ward produced the best that English art had to offer, their technical skill and artistry having led to images that reflect the grace. He was admitted for membership into the Royal Academy in 1811, one of Wards best-known paintings, The Deer Stealer, was commissioned in 1823 for the sum of 500 guineas by Wards patron Theophilus Levett. When the work was finished, Levett pronounced himself delighted with the results, subsequently Ward was said to have been offered 1,000 guineas for the painting by a nobleman, which he declined. The painting now hangs at Tate in London, list of British artists Attribution Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Ward, James. The Life and Work of James Ward, RA, eighteenth century artists and engravers, William Ward A. R. A. Fussell, G. E. James Ward R. A, animal Painter 1769–1859 and His England. His Life and Works with a Catalogue of his Engravings and Pictures, nygren, Edward J. James Wards Gordale Scar, An Essay in the Sublime
30.
Allegory of Waterloo
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Ward won a competition organised by the British Institution in 1816 to create an artwork to celebrate the final victory over Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo the previous year. He was commissioned to create a painting, and paid 1,000 guineas. Rather than painting portraits of the Duke of Wellington and his generals, or a scene from the battle, Ward proposed an allegorical treatment. Wards painting showed the Duke of Wellington in the red uniform of a British Field Marshal with decorations and sashes, the chariot was drawn by four white horses, led by allegorical figures. Above was an orange sun and an angel, while more allegorical symbols. Twisted Solomonic column to the left and right sides framed the image, Wards painting took 6 years to complete, and the final work measured 21 ×35 feet, more than three times the expected size. Although his concept won the first prize in 1816, praise had turned to criticism by the time the painting was completed in 1822. The monumental image was exhibited at the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly in 1822, and then donated to the Royal Hospital Chelsea and it was later cut into several pieces which have been lost. Some of Wards studies for details of the painting were exhibited at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 1837, James Wards Exhibition Pictures of 1838, Controversy in Paint, Edward J. Nygren, The Art Bulletin, Vol.61, No. 3, pp. 448–459 The battle of Waterloo, in an allegory, painted for the British institution for encouraging the arts, James Ward,1821 Design for The Waterloo Allegory, c. 1815–22
31.
Panorama
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A panorama is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images or a three-dimensional model. The word was coined in the 18th century by the English painter Robert Barker to describe his panoramic paintings of Edinburgh. The motion-picture term panning is derived from panorama, a panoramic view is also purposed for multi-media, cross-scale applications to an outline overview along and across repositories. This so-called cognitive panorama is a view over, and a combination of. The device of the panorama existed in painting, particularly in murals, as early as 20 A. D. in those found in Pompeii, cartographic experiments during the Enlightenment era preceded European panorama painting and contributed to a formative impulse toward panoramic vision and depiction. In the mid-19th century, panoramic paintings and models became a popular way to represent landscapes, topographic views. Audiences of Europe in this period were thrilled by the aspect of illusion, immersed in a winding 360 degree panorama, the panorama was a 360-degree visual medium patented under the title Apparatus for Exhibiting Pictures by the artist Robert Barker in 1787. The earliest that the word appeared in print was on June 11,1791 in the British newspaper The Morning Chronicle. The inaugural exhibition, a View of Edinburgh, was first shown in that city in 1788, by 1793, Barker had built The Panorama rotunda at the center of Londons entertainment district in Leicester Square, where it remained until closed in 1863. Large scale installations enhance the illusion for an audience of being surrounded with a real landscape, the Bourbaki Panorama in Lucerne, Switzerland was created by Edouard Castres in 1881. The painting measures about 10 metres in height with a circumference of 112 meters, in the United States of America is the Atlanta Cyclorama, depicting the Civil War Battle of Atlanta. It was first displayed in 1887, and is 42 feet high by 358 feet circumference, also on a gigantic scale, and still extant, is the Racławice Panorama located in Wrocław, Poland, which measures 15 x 120 metres. In addition to historical examples, there have been panoramas painted and installed in modern times, prominent among these is the Velaslavasay Panorama in Los Angeles. Panoramic photography soon came to painting as the most common method for creating wide views. Not long after the introduction of the Daguerreotype in 1839, photographers began assembling multiple images of a view into a wide image. Pinhole cameras of a variety of constructions can be used to make panoramic images and this generates an egg-shaped image with more than 180° view. They could run autonomously with silent synchronization pulses to control projector advance and fades, precisely overlapping slides placed in slide mounts with soft-edge density masks would merge seamlessly on the screen to create the panorama. Cutting and dissolving between sequential images generated animation effects in the panorama format, digital photography of the late twentieth century greatly simplified this assembly process, which is now known as image stitching
32.
Royal Watercolour Society
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The Royal Watercolour Society is an English institution of painters working in watercolours. The Royal Watercolour Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, the Societys offices are at Bankside Gallery in London. Its members, or associates, use the postnominal initials RWS and they are elected by the membership, with typically half a dozen new associates joining the Society each year. The current president is Thomas Plunkett, who was elected in April 2012, the society was founded as the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1804 by William Frederick Wells. Its original membership was William Sawrey Gilpin, Robert Hills, John Claude Nattes, John Varley, Cornelius Varley, Francis Nicholson, Samuel Shelley, William Henry Pyne, the members seceded from the Royal Academy where they felt that their work commanded insufficient respect and attention. In 1812, the Society reformed as the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, reverting to its original name in 1820. In 1831 a schism created another group, the New Society for Painters in Water Colours, and so the 1804 group became known as the Old Water Colour Society, the New Society subsequently became the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, which still exists today. The Old Society obtained its Royal charter 1881 under the presidency of Sir John Gilbert as the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, in 1988, it changed its name again to the Royal Watercolour Society, by which it had always previously been generally known. The Royal Watercolour Society was founded to promote watercolour as a medium in all its applications, the Society defines a watercolour as a work made in any water-based paint on paper. The RWS holds regular exhibitions presenting the finest in British contemporary works on paper, exhibitions are held at Bankside Gallery and also tour outside London. The 75 Members choose new Associates each year in a rigorous election procedure, full membership is granted following a show of hands at an AGM. The Societys education programme includes practical courses tutored by members and drop-in family event days as well as talks, the archive and diploma collection is available for research. Current members include Sonia Lawson, Elizabeth Blackadder and David Remfry, the current president Thomas Plunkett was elected in 2012. The Business of Watercolour, A Guide to the Archives of the Royal Watercolour Society, a History of the Old Water-Colour Society, now the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours
33.
Charles Heath
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Charles Theodosius Heath was an English engraver, currency and stamp printer, book publisher and illustrator. Heath was the son of James Heath, a successful engraver who enjoyed the patronage of King George III. He received his first training in the art from his father and it was from his father that he learnt how to produce small plates suitable for book illustration. Early in life he became a fellow of the Society of British Artists, an entrepreneur who first mass-produced steel engravings in Britain for the purpose of illustration, he was a driving force behind, and contributor to, the new genre of the literary annual. His business ventures were the first English publications to use the new method of steel etching printing patented by Jacob Perkins, Charles Heath established his own literary annual, The Keepsake, in 1827, and tried to persuade Sir Walter Scott to become its editor. His productions were successful, but he often had difficulty managing his finances. Heath owned a studio, and a great deal of the work signed Heath is not actually by him. He was related by marriage to Henry Corbould, with whom he also had a business relationship, Charles Heath, George Heath and Henry Corbould printed money and various stamps for multiple governments. Heaths published books are still being reprinted today, Heath married his cousin Elizabeth Petch. Two of Heaths sons, Frederick and Alfred, were engravers and one, Henry Charles Heath, was a painter who portrayed Queen Victoria. Among Heaths pupils were George Thomas Doo, William Henry Mote, Charles Heath believed that custom entitled engravers to make and keep a limited number of impressions of their work. When he was sued by the publisher, John Murray, in 1826, as a result of having made and kept such impressions, he relied on that supposed custom, but, in 1830, a jury denied its existence. Then, in 1831, the judges of the Court of Kings Bench held that his conduct had been unlawful at common law, the government disapproved when the same concept was applied to stamps, and punished the company Perkins Bacon by stopping their printing of the stamps briefly. Keppel Richard Craven & Charles Heath, a tour through the southern provinces of the Kingdom of Naples Auguste Pugin & Charles Heath. Paris and its environs, displayed in a series of two hundred picturesque views, from drawings, Volume 1, Volume 2. The Shakespeare gallery, containing the female characters in the plays of the great poet. The heroines of Shakespeare, comprising the female characters in the plays of the great poet
34.
J. M. W. Turner
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Joseph Mallord William Turner, RA was an English Romanticist landscape painter. Turner was considered a figure in his day, but is now regarded as the artist who elevated landscape painting to an eminence rivalling history painting. Although renowned for his oil paintings, Turner is also one of the greatest masters of British watercolour landscape painting and he is commonly known as the painter of light. Joseph Mallord William Turner was baptised on 14 May 1775, and it is generally believed he was born between late April and early May. Turner himself claimed he was born on 23 April, but there is no proof and he was born in Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, in London, England. His father, William Turner, was a barber and wig maker and his mother, Mary Marshall, came from a family of butchers. A younger sister, Mary Ann, was born in September 1778, the earliest known artistic exercise by Turner is from this period—a series of simple colourings of engraved plates from Henry Boswells Picturesque View of the Antiquities of England and Wales. Around 1786, Turner was sent to Margate on the north-east Kent coast, here he produced a series of drawings of the town and surrounding area foreshadowing his later work. Turner returned to Margate many times in later life, by this time, Turners drawings were being exhibited in his fathers shop window and sold for a few shillings. His father boasted to the artist Thomas Stothard that, My son, in 1789, Turner again stayed with his uncle who had retired to Sunningwell in Berkshire. A whole sketchbook of work from time in Berkshire survives as well as a watercolour of Oxford. The use of sketches on location, as the foundation for later finished paintings. By the end of 1789, he had begun to study under the topographical draughtsman Thomas Malton. Turner learned from him the tricks of the trade, copying and colouring outline prints of British castles. He would later call Malton My real master, topography was a thriving industry by which a young artist could pay for his studies. In the same year of 1789 he entered the Royal Academy of Art schools, when he was 14 years old, Sir Joshua Reynolds, president of the Royal Academy, chaired the panel that admitted him. At first Turner showed a keen interest in architecture, but was advised by the architect Thomas Hardwick to continue painting and his first watercolour painting A View of the Archbishops Palace, Lambeth was accepted for the Royal Academy summer exhibition of 1790 when Turner was 15. As a probationer in the academy, he was drawing from plaster casts of antique sculptures
35.
Society of Painters in Water Colours
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The Royal Watercolour Society is an English institution of painters working in watercolours. The Royal Watercolour Society is a centre of excellence for water-based media on paper, the Societys offices are at Bankside Gallery in London. Its members, or associates, use the postnominal initials RWS and they are elected by the membership, with typically half a dozen new associates joining the Society each year. The current president is Thomas Plunkett, who was elected in April 2012, the society was founded as the Society of Painters in Water Colours in 1804 by William Frederick Wells. Its original membership was William Sawrey Gilpin, Robert Hills, John Claude Nattes, John Varley, Cornelius Varley, Francis Nicholson, Samuel Shelley, William Henry Pyne, the members seceded from the Royal Academy where they felt that their work commanded insufficient respect and attention. In 1812, the Society reformed as the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, reverting to its original name in 1820. In 1831 a schism created another group, the New Society for Painters in Water Colours, and so the 1804 group became known as the Old Water Colour Society, the New Society subsequently became the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colours, which still exists today. The Old Society obtained its Royal charter 1881 under the presidency of Sir John Gilbert as the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours, in 1988, it changed its name again to the Royal Watercolour Society, by which it had always previously been generally known. The Royal Watercolour Society was founded to promote watercolour as a medium in all its applications, the Society defines a watercolour as a work made in any water-based paint on paper. The RWS holds regular exhibitions presenting the finest in British contemporary works on paper, exhibitions are held at Bankside Gallery and also tour outside London. The 75 Members choose new Associates each year in a rigorous election procedure, full membership is granted following a show of hands at an AGM. The Societys education programme includes practical courses tutored by members and drop-in family event days as well as talks, the archive and diploma collection is available for research. Current members include Sonia Lawson, Elizabeth Blackadder and David Remfry, the current president Thomas Plunkett was elected in 2012. The Business of Watercolour, A Guide to the Archives of the Royal Watercolour Society, a History of the Old Water-Colour Society, now the Royal Society of Painters in Water Colours
36.
Earl of Dudley
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Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford, is a title that has been created twice in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, both times for members of the Ward family. The Dudley name was first ennobled on 25 March 1341/42 for John Sutton, the male line failed at the 10th Baron, Sir Ferdinando Dudley, and Dudley Castle passed to his daughter, Frances Dudley, Baroness Dudley. She married Sir Humble Ward, the son of a wealthy goldsmith, in 1644, Francess husband Sir Humble Ward was raised to the Peerage of England in his own right as Baron Ward, of Birmingham in the County of Warwick. In contrast to the barony of Dudley, which had created by writ. Lady Dudley and Lord Ward were both succeeded by their son Edward, the seventh and second Baron, respectively and he was styled Lord Dudley and Ward. He was succeeded by his grandson, the eighth and third Baron and he was the son of the Hon. William Ward. On Lord Dudley and Wards early death the titles passed to his posthumous son and he died unmarried at an early age and was succeeded by his uncle, the 10th and fifth Baron. On his death in 1740, the two baronies separated, the barony of Dudley, which could pass through female lines, was inherited by the late Barons nephew Ferdinando Dudley Lea. He was succeeded in the barony of Ward, which could pass through male lines, by his second cousin John Ward. He was the grandson of the Hon. William Ward, second son of the first Baron, Lord Ward had earlier represented Newcastle under Lyme in the House of Commons. In 1763 he was created Viscount Dudley and Ward, of Dudley in the County of Worcester and he was succeeded by his son from his first marriage, the second Viscount. He sat as Member of Parliament for Marlborough and for Worcestershire and he was childless and on his death the titles passed to his half-brother, the third Viscount. He was also Member of Parliament for Worcestershire and he was succeeded by his son, the fourth Viscount. He was a politician and served as Foreign Secretary from 1827 to 1828, in 1827 he was honoured when he was created Viscount Ednam, of Ednam in the County of Roxburgh, and Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle in the County of Stafford. Both titles were in the Peerage of the United Kingdom, Lord Dudley was childless and on his death in 1833, the two viscountcies and earldom became extinct. He was succeeded in the barony of Ward by his second cousin Reverend William Humble Ward and he was the grandson of Reverend William Ward, younger brother of the first Viscount Dudley and Ward. He was succeeded by his eldest son, the 11th Baron, both titles are in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. On his death the titles passed to his eldest son, the second Earl and he was succeeded by his eldest son, the third Earl of Dudley, who represented Hornsey and Wednesbury in the House of Commons as a Conservative
37.
Park Lane
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Park Lane is a major road in the City of Westminster, in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north and it separates Hyde Park to the west from Mayfair to the east. The road has a number of important properties and hotels and has been one of the most sought after streets in London. The road was originally a country lane on the boundary of Hyde Park. Aristocratic properties appeared during the late 18th century, including Breadalbene House, Somerset House, notable residents included the 1st Duke of Westminsters residence at Grosvenor House, the Dukes of Somerset at Somerset House and the British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli at No.93. Other historic properties include Dorchester House, Brook House and Dudley House, flats and shops began appearing on the road, including penthouse flats. A number of properties on the road today are owned by some of the wealthiest businessmen from the Middle East, current residents include business mogul Mohamed Al-Fayed and former council leader Dame Shirley Porter. The road has suffered traffic congestion since the mid 19th century. Improved crossings for cyclists appeared in the early 21st century, despite the changes, property prices along the road are still among the highest in London. Its prestigious status has been commemorated by being the second-most expensive property square on the London Monopoly board, Park Lane is about 0.7 miles long, and runs north from Hyde Park Corner to Marble Arch, along the eastern flank of Hyde Park. The road is a route, classified A4202. The street is one of the key bus corridors in Central London. It is used by London bus routes 2,10,13,16,36,73,74,137,148,414,436 and night bus routes N16, N73, N74 and N137. The nearest tube stations are Hyde Park Corner on the Piccadilly line near the southern end. What is now Park Lane was originally a track running along farm boundaries, when Hyde Park was opened in the 16th century, the lane ran north-south along eastern boundary from Piccadilly to Marble Arch. Tyburn Lane took its name from the former Tyburn village which had declined in the 14th century, the Tyburn gallows, or Tyburn Tree, at the end of what is now Park Lane, was Londons primary public place of execution until 1783. In 1741, the Kensington Turnpike Trust took over its maintenance, Breadalbene House was built on the street in 1776. The politician and entrepreneur Richard Sharp, also known as Conversation Sharp, in the 1760s, Londonderry House, on the corner of Park Lane and Hertford Street, was bought by the Sixth Earl of Holdernesse
38.
New English Art Club
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The New English Art Club was founded in London in 1885 as an alternate venue to the Royal Academy. Young English artists returning from studying art in Paris mounted the first exhibition of the New English Art Club in April 1886, among them were Thomas Cooper Gotch, Frank Bramley, John Singer Sargent, Philip Wilson Steer, George Clausen and Stanhope Forbes. Another founding member was G. P. Jacomb-Hood, early exhibitions were held in the Egyptian Hall. The Impressionist style was represented at the NEAC, in comparison to the old-school academic art shown at the Royal Academy. For a time, the NEAC was seen as a stepping-stone to Royal Academy membership, today the NEAC continues in a realistic, figurative style, while the Royal Academy has embraced abstract and conceptual art. Current NEAC members include Peter Brown, Frederick Cuming, Anthony Green, Ken Howard, Charles Williams, the NEAC is one of the member societies of the Federation of British Artists. William Bowyer Michael Brockway Bob Brown Fred Dubery Bernard Dunstan Charlotte Halliday Margaret Thomas Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Federation of British Artists Royal Academy NEAC official website
39.
Magic (illusion)
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Magic is one of the oldest performing arts in the world in which audiences are entertained by staged tricks or illusions of seemingly impossible or supernatural feats using natural means. These feats are called magic tricks, effects, or illusions, the term magic etymologically derives from the Greek word mageia. In ancient times, Greeks and Persians had been at war for centuries, ritual acts of Persian priests came to be known as mageia, and then magika—which eventually came to mean any foreign, unorthodox, or illegitimate ritual practice. The first book containing explanations of magic tricks appeared in 1584, during the 17th century, many similar books were published that described magic tricks. Until the 18th century, magic shows were a source of entertainment at fairs. A founding figure of modern entertainment magic was Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, John Henry Anderson was pioneering the same transition in London in the 1840s. Towards the end of the 19th century, large magic shows permanently staged at big theatre venues became the norm, as a form of entertainment, magic easily moved from theatrical venues to television magic specials. Performances that modern observers would recognize as conjuring have been practiced throughout history, for many recorded centuries, magicians were associated with the devil and the occult. During the 19th and 20th centuries, many stage magicians even capitalized on this notion in their advertisements. The same level of ingenuity that was used to produce famous ancient deceptions such as the Trojan Horse would also have used for entertainment. They were also used by the practitioners of various religions and cults from ancient times onwards to frighten uneducated people into obedience or turn them into adherents, however, the profession of the illusionist gained strength only in the 18th century, and has enjoyed several popular vogues since. Opinions vary among magicians on how to categorize a given effect, Magicians may pull a rabbit from an empty hat, make something seem to disappear, or transform a red silk handkerchief into a green silk handkerchief. Magicians may also destroy something, like cutting a head off, other illusions include making something appear to defy gravity, making a solid object appear to pass through another object, or appearing to predict the choice of a spectator. Many magical routines use combinations of effects, one of the earliest books on the subject is Gantzionys work of 1489, Natural and Unnatural Magic, which describes and explains old-time tricks. Among the tricks discussed were sleight-of-hand manipulations with rope, paper, at the time, fear and belief in witchcraft was widespread and the book tried to demonstrate that these fears were misplaced. All obtainable copies were burned on the accession of James I in 1603 and it began to reappear in print in 1651. In the early 18th century, as belief in witchcraft was waning, a notable figure in this transition was the English showman, Isaac Fawkes, who began to promote his act in advertisements from the 1720s – he even claimed to have performed for King George II. He throws up a Pack of Cards, and causes them to be living birds flying about the room and he causes living Beasts, Birds, and other Creatures to appear upon the Table
40.
Spiritualism
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Spiritualism is the belief that the spirits of the dead have both the ability and the inclination to communicate with the living. The afterlife, or the world, is seen by spiritualists, not as a static place. Some spiritualists will speak of a concept which they refer to as spirit guides—specific spirits, often contacted, Spiritism, a branch of spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec and today practiced mostly in Continental Europe and Latin America, especially in Brazil, emphasizes reincarnation. Spiritualism developed and reached its peak growth in membership from the 1840s to the 1920s, by 1897, spiritualism was said to have more than eight million followers in the United States and Europe, mostly drawn from the middle and upper classes. Many prominent spiritualists were women, and like most spiritualists, supported such as the abolition of slavery. By the late 1880s the credibility of the movement had weakened due to accusations of fraud perpetrated by mediums. Spiritualism is currently practiced primarily through various denominational spiritualist churches in the United States, Canada and they believe that spirit mediums are gifted to carry on such communication, but that anyone may become a medium through study and practice. They believe that spirits are capable of growth and perfection, progressing through higher spheres or planes, and that the afterlife is not a static state, many believers therefore speak of spirit guides—specific spirits, often contacted, and relied upon for worldly and spiritual guidance. According to spiritualists, anyone may receive messages, but formal communication sessions are held by mediums. Nevertheless, on significant points Christian Protestantism and spiritualism are different and this view is self-evidently incompatible with spiritualism, where the merely spiritual existence is superior to the embodied one. There are quite a number of spiritualist churches which are explicitly Christian in theology, forms of worship and praise, judaism It is held by some adherents of the Jewish religion that spiritualism is strictly forbidden by the Bible. Islam Within Islam, only rarely do some traditions - notably Sufism, despite this, the majority of the followers of Islam believe in the existence of spirits as a fundamental aspect of their religion. However, these spirits are not those of humans but of a third sapient creation said to be made by God called the jinn. Jinn are spirits made from fire, in a realm not visible to the eyes of people. A famous jinn in the Muslim tradition is Satan, as opposed to the Christian belief that he is a fallen angel, communication with these spirits, whether the spirit is good or evil in nature, is generally not encouraged in Islam. Additionally, the concept of Tawassul recognises the existence of spirits on a higher plane of existence closer to God. Spiritism Spiritism, the branch of spiritualism developed by Allan Kardec, Occultism Spiritualism also differs from occult movements, such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn or the contemporary wiccan covens, in that spirits are not contacted to obtain magical powers. Eliphas Lévi, who is regarded as the founder of occultism, strongly rejected Spiritism, later on, Madame Blavatsky, the founder of the Theosophical Society, only practiced mediumship to contact powerful spirits capable of conferring esoteric knowledge
41.
John Nevil Maskelyne
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John Nevil Maskelyne was an English stage magician and inventor of the pay toilet, along with many other Victorian-era devices. Working with magicians George Alfred Cooke and David Devant, many of his illusions are performed today. Maskelyne was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England, Maskelyne became interested in conjuring after watching a stage performance at his local Town Hall by the fraudulent spiritualists, the American Davenport brothers. He saw how the Davenports spirit cabinet illusion worked, and stated to the audience in the theatre that he could recreate their act using no supernatural methods, with the help of a friend, cabinet maker George Alfred Cooke, he built a version of the gigantic cabinet. Together, they revealed the Davenport Brothers trickery to the public at a show in Cheltenham in June 1865, in addition to the pseudo-spiritualist phenomena of the Davenports, they added comedy illusions which included the transformation of Maskelyne and Cooke into an ‘unprotected female’ and a gorilla. Inspired by the acclaim received for their clever exposure of the deception. Following their local success, they branched out taking their show to nearby towns, encouraged by their results, they decided to become professional magicians and organised tours, building on their initial routines and expanding their programme. He engaged them at a wage of £4 10s for Maskelyne and his wife. Morton ran them round the country for two years, ending at The Crystal Palace for several weeks and he then secured for them the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly, renovated it, put in a new stage and opened at the end of 1873. Morton ended up being their manager for a total of 20 years, Maskelyne and Cooke invented many illusions still performed today. Maskelyne was adept at working out the principles of illusions, one of his best-known being levitation, levitation is commonly, but incorrectly, said to be Jean Eugène Robert-Houdins illusion, but it was Maskelyne who invented it. The confusion arises because Robert-Houdin invented the illusion La Suspension Ethéréenne, levitation is also credited to American magician Harry Kellar, who in fact stole the illusion by bribing Maskelynes technician, Paul Valadon. Upon Cookes death in February 1905, Maskelyne started a partnership with David Devant, Maskelyne was a member of The Magic Circle and, like Harry Houdini, tried to dispel the notion of supernatural powers. To this end, in 1914, Maskelyne founded the Occult Committee whose remit was to investigate claims to supernatural power, in particular, the committee attempted to prove that the Indian rope trick has never been performed. The spiritualist Alfred Russel Wallace was unable to accept that Maskelyne had replicated the feats of medium utilizing natural methods, Maskelynes observations of trickery at the Cambridge séance sittings in 1895 were important for the exposure of the medium Eusapia Palladino. In 1894, Maskelyne wrote the book Sharps and Flats, A Complete Revelation of the Secrets of Cheating at Games of Chance and this book became an instant hit and to this day is considered to be a classic gambling book. What made this book so popular is the fact that it was the first detailed revelation of the secrets of the cardsharps. Other authors, prior to Maskelyne, had written about crooked gambling, the first edition of Sharps and Flats was published in London and New York
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Muirhead Bone
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Bone was an active member of both the British War Memorials Committee in the First World War and the War Artists Advisory Committee in the Second World War. He promoted the work of young artists and served as a Trustee of the Tate Gallery, the National Gallery. Muirhead Bone was born in Glasgow and his parents were the journalist David Drummond Bone and his wife, Elizabeth Millar Crawford. His brothers included the journalist James Bone, and the author, Muirhead Bone qualified as an architect, before turning to art and studying at the Glasgow School of Art, originally at evening classes. He began printmaking in 1898, and although his first known print was a lithograph, he is known for his etchings. His subject matter was related to landscapes and architecture, which included urban construction and demolition sites, Gothic cathedrals. In 1901 Bone moved to London, where he met William Strang, Dugald MacColl and Alphonse Legros and he held his first solo exhibition at the Carfax Gallery in 1902. Bone was also a member of the Glasgow Art Club with which he exhibited, Bone had lobbied hard for the establishment of an Official War Artists scheme and in June 1916 he was sent to France with an honorary rank and a salary of £500. Although thirty-eight years old at the outbreak of war, Bone was spared from certain enlistment by his appointment, Bones small, black and white drawings, and their realistic intensity, reproduced well in the government-funded publications of the day. Commissioned as a second lieutenant, Bone served as a war artist with the Allied forces on the Western Front. He arrived in France on 16 August 1916, during the Battle of the Somme and he visited France again in 1917 where he took particular interest depicting architectural ruins. Two volumes of Bones wartime drawings were published during the war, The Western Front and he was an active member of the British War Memorials Committee and helped select which artists received commissions from the Committee. After the Armistice, Bone returned to the type of works he produced before the war and he began to undertake extensive foreign travels, visiting France, Italy and the Netherlands, which increasingly influenced his work. In 1923 he produced three portraits of the novelist Joseph Conrad during an Atlantic crossing, an extended visit to Spain in 1929 resulted in the folio Old Spain, published in 1936. In the inter-war period he exhibited extensively in London and New York and he produced scenes of coastal installations, evacuated troops and portraits of officers. However, following the death of his son Gavin in 1943, he decided not to continue with the Admiralty commission and his other son, Stephen Bone, was subsequently appointed to the vacant Admiralty position. Sir Muirhead Bone died on 21 October 1953 in Oxford and his final resting place is in the churchyard adjacent to the St. Marys Church, Whitegate at Vale Royal parish in Cheshire. He has a stone in St. Pauls Cathedral in London
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