Things I learned while looking up other things, 2023.07.11
Dear friends,
For a long time I have been trying to find the source of the claim that there was one person in Western history who had read "everything" published/available during their life. Every once in a while I give it the ol' desultory search, and this time I found this Guardian Notes and Queries that seems to be from 2011. There is no answer (although I admire the confidence of the person who simply commented 'Milton' and went on with his day) but it did lead me to the absolute gem of a sobriquet: "deranged Victorian bibliomane" (AKA Sir Thomas Phillipps). Phillipps, in his will, stipulated that "that no Roman Catholic, especially his son-in-law James Halliwell, should be permitted to view" his book collection.
The city of York has an elephant's tusk horn called the Horn of Ulf. (I now want the story where the ghost of Ulf haunts York looking for his horn.)
Philip II of Spain may have worn black clothing (in part) because the Picatrix ('the standard work of the Middle Ages on astrological magic') indicated that doing so would be a way to call down the favorable astrological influences of the planet Saturn.
Next up in my movie queue: Mal-Mo-E, a 2019 Korean film about a secret mission to publish a Korean dictionary during the Japanese occupation.
Pavonazzo (or pabonazo) was a term used to describe shades from 'mauvey pink to deep purple' and that was worn in Venice "in ambiguous or ambivalent circumstances to express subtle meanings that were inexpressible in spoken or written language." Pavonazzo was considered a noncolor, like black, and Venetian state officials were supposed to wear colors at all times (unless in mourning) when in the presence of the doge.
A fanilect is a language common to a specific fandom, used to build community in the group.
Stay well!
Your friend,
Erin