Dante Gabriel Rossetti was a 19th century British artist who was also a poet. He often wrote sonnets to accompany his paintings and vice versa.
In 1869 Rossetti acquired a pet wombat which he adored and named ‘Top.’ He combined his artistic and writing talents in creating this humorous tribute upon Top’s untimely demise.
Just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for making this holiday season especially great! We’ve got lots of new subscribers and are looking forward to putting together interesting, informative, and sometimes unusual letter packets out to each and every one.
The Grand SLAM package is the most popular by far so we’re hard at work looking for the most interesting letters from scientists, literati, artists, and musicians. There’s so much to out there to learn!
Thanks again to our Arts in Letters customers, we are very grateful to you.
Did you know that Charles Dickens named several of his 10 kids after famous writers? He had a wide circle of literary friends and acquaintances and honored some of them by naming children after them. Here are some of the names:
Walter Landor Dickens – named after the writer and poet, Walter Savage Landor.
Francis Jeffrey Dickens was nicknamed after literary critic Lord Francis Jeffrey. The boy was also called “Chickenstalker” by his father, after a character in Dickens’ story The Chimes.
Alfred D’Orsay Tennyson Dickens – named after poet Lord Alfred Tennyson
Henry Fielding Dickens – named after novelist Henry Fielding
Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens – named after the author Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Daughter Dora was named after a character in David Copperfield. Other children’s names came from family and friends. Even though they had literary names, only a couple followed in their famous father’s and namesakes footsteps.
Arts in Letters chose Harry Houdini to represent the field of Science in this month’s Grand Slam. “But he was a magician, an escape artist,” you may say. “What does he have to do with science?”
Magicians, especially those that perform large illusions and feats of endurance, use science and engineering to perform their illusions. Their props are designed and built meticulously. They test their props and skills over and over again, gathering information and improving their performance until there is little or no chance of failure.
For his escape illusions, Houdini had determined how much air he needed vs how much was available. He trained to increase his ability to survive on the least amount of air possible, making the available air last longer than a normal person could. He knew the properties of whatever was used to bind or restrain him and how to manipulate them. Experiment, gather information, improve, all useful practices for scientists!
He documented the preparation and performance of one of his illusions with the hope that miners trapped below ground could benefit from what he experienced being locked in a coffin submerged and in a pool. He lasted over an hour and a half in a little box. How long would you last?
Learn more about Harry Houdini’s life and illusions through these:
The Preface to Oscar Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is simply a list of aphorisms, pithy little sayings that he coined himself about the nature of art. You’ve probably heard of at least some of them, whether you’ve read the book or not. The staff at Arts in Letters thought they’d share some of them with you, and see which ones resonate with you all . Here we go!
The artist is the creator of beautiful things.
To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim.
The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things.
The highest, as the lowest, form of criticism is a mode of autobiography.
