Marxist Astronomy: The Milky Way According to Anton Pannekoek

Can a person’s experiences on earth alter how they perceive the stars? Lauren Collee peers through the telescope of Anton Pannekoek, the Dutch astronomer whose politics informed his human approach to studying the cosmos.

“When London is in Ruins”: Gustave Doré’s *The New Zealander* (1872)

The final plate from *London: A Pilgrimage* — a striking vision of a visitor sketching a capital in ruins.

*Zanzibar Tales* (1901)

Ten folktales, translated from Swahili by George W. Bateman, showcasing the rich tradition of storytelling in Zanzibar.

The Dust That Measures All Our Time

From the mythical Sandman, who participates in dream and vision, to an irritating grain lodged in the beachgoer’s eye, sand harbours unappreciated power, however mundane. Steven Connor celebrates this “most untrustworthy” type of matter.

Lithographs from M. E. Descourtilz’s *Atlas des Champignons* (1827)

Set of prints which sort mushrooms found in France and elsewhere into three classes: edible, suspect, and poisonous.

*The Ascent of Mont-Blanc* (ca. 1855)

John MacGregor’s four “views” of Mont Blanc, printed in color by George Baxter, reveal a different side of the mountain when compared to well-known Romantic depictions.

A Monster in the Heart: Edward May’s *A Most Certaine and True Relation* (1639)

This 17th-century medical treatise still puzzles researchers centuries after it was written. Was it a serpent in John Pennant’s heart? Or something more mundane?

Mermaids and Tritons in the Age of Reason

For much of the eighteenth century, Western intellectuals chased after tritons and mermaids. Vaughn Scribner follows the hunt, revealing how humanity’s supposed aquatic ancestors became wondrous screens on which to project theories of...

Adolf Schmidt’s *Atlas der Diatomaceenkunde* (1890)

A 19th-century catalogue dedicated to showcasing diatoms (a type of unicellular microalgae) in all their intricate glory.

A Modest Apology for the Man in the Bottle (1749)

A confession from the supposed man who caused a riot at the Haymarket Theatre in 1749, when he failed to shrink himself and crawl inside of a bottle.

The Human Voice (1921)

Educational film from Bray studios all about that “marvellous sound producing instrument, the voice box”.

Circassian Beauty in the American Sideshow

Among the “human curiosities” in P. T. Barnum’s American Museum was a supposed escapee from an Ottoman harem, a figure marketed as both the pinnacle of white beauty and an exoticised other. Betsy Golden Kellem investigates the complex of racial...