World’s First Printed Atlas Auctioned at 3.9 Million

by Adrienne Wilson on

As much as I like maps, especially antique maps, globes, atlases and such, I don’t know if I’d be willing to burn 3.9 million dollars on one. Okay, I’m lying through my teeth. I’d splurge only if I had an extra 60 mil tucked away in the bank, but who gives a hoot what I have, don’t have or what like to have? According to this Playfuls.com piece the world’s first printed atlas dating back to 1477 was auctioned off in London today for 2.1 million pounds (3.9 million bucks). To be more exact it is a 1477 edition of Claudius Ptolemaeus landmark atlas and went to the smart looking fellow in black. I mean it went to London dealer Bernard Shapero on behalf of a private collector.

Lucky chap.

Storybook England

by Erik Olsen on

I’m already a big fan of the United Kingdom. I’ve probably been there a half dozen times or so, and every time I go, I wish I could stay and live for a while. But I’ve never much thought of Great Britain as a kids place until I read that the British National Tourist Office has started campaign to get young folks to visit. Called Storybook England the site maps out the various UK locations where many of your favorite kids books were written or took place. It covers some 40 famous children’s stories including Winnie the Pooh, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and (of course) Harry Potter (although the exact location of Hogwarts is not specified).

(via Written Road)

The Glories of the British Museum

by Neil Woodburn on

Is there a better museum on this planet than the British Museum?

In my personal opinion, the answer is no. Not only does the massive collection contain some of the world’s greatest treasures, but the whole thing is absolutely free!

Navigating your way through countless exhibitions and thousands of years of history, however, can be slightly overwhelming.

To help you out, The Telegraph has printed a handy little guide highlighting the best times to visit, information about tours, activities for children, and a handful of other helpful tips. The webpage also includes a decent little map, and a rather informative, excellently produced, 15 minute podcast that covers the history of the museum and its top ten “must sees.”

IRA Tours

by Neil Woodburn on

It was only a matter of time.

Now that “The Troubles” are basically over in Northern Ireland, a local agency is offering tours of the infamous hot-spots where the Irish Republican Army squared off with the British.

Led by former political prisoners who fought for the freedom of Ireland, the Coiste Falls Road Walking Tours wind their way through Belfast neighborhoods and past the numerous wall murals, army posts, the “Peace Line barrier,” Sinn Fein’s office (the political arm of the IRA) and even visits the gravesites of those who fell during this struggle.

Too soon? Perhaps.

I wandered around these neighborhoods myself a few years back and discovered a very strange place where curbs are painted orange or green and heart-wrenching wall murals cry out in pain. It was truly fascinating and I sure wish at the time that I was with someone knowledgeable about the events to educate me a bit more. A political prisoner from the era would have been really worthwhile.

TV Tourism

by Erik Olsen on

The smog-spewing buses park along Manhattan’s narrow side streets and hordes of camera-toting tourists waddle out and snap photos of the familiar building facades they know so well from their favorite TV show. The expressions on their faces suggest a suppressed excitement as if they are hopeful that Carrie or Jerry or Chandler will somehow appear from behind the door and walk past them uttering a witty observation on life in the Big Apple. I see these tours ALL THE TIME, and while a part of me is filled with loathing that they a) exist b) cause horrible traffic in the streets and c) further our celebrity-obsession, I have to say each time I walk past, say John Lennon’s apartment on Bank Street, I feel a slight tremor of delight, wondering whether my favorite Beatle, nay my favorite artist of all time may have tread the very sidewalk where I am walking. And so it goes. We all have our own secret fantasies of living among our cultural heroes or seeing the places — real or fake — where they themselves live.

This piece in the Sydney morning Herald takes a brief, and somewhat thoughtful, or at least more historical, look at TV tourism, making note not just of familiar NYC-themed shows like Friends and Sex and the City, but of some rather more obscure ones like Neighbors (an Australian TV show with the worst theme music ever written), Blake’s 7 (a BBC space series) as well as Dr. Who. But perhaps the best advice the article offers is that instead of visiting places like the West Village apartment in Friends (the interior of which was never used in the show itself) you pay a visit to the Museum of Television and Radio, which offers an expansive look at the history of the medium that has so captivated (and some say diminished) modern society. At least there you can actually learn something interesting … and you don’t hold up traffic.