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one will do it. Could not put it down
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David Cripps' photography beautifully captures the interiors of this amazing dollhouse, from the grand to the plebian. Here is the linen closet, each batch of towels tied with different-colored ribbon to denote whether they were intended for the nursery, the staff, or the kitchen. Here is a lacquer cabinet with gilded stand, dovetailed working drawers, and gold-leafed decoration. Here is a bed, complete with pillows, bolsters, sheets, blankets, and even a tiny walnut-handled bedwarmer. The toilet, complete with toilet paper discreetly placed in a bowl alongside, really works. The toothbrushes are made of ivory and have bristles made from the hair of a goat's inner ear. In the cellar, bottles of Chateau Margaux are properly corked and waxed and labeled. The pantry shows real bows of Fry's Chocolates sharing space with McVitie & Price biscuits, barley sugar candies in hefty glass candy jars, and Frank Cooper's Seville Marmalade in squat jars tied with brown paper and string.
The garage houses a miniature bicycle with brakes "in perfect working order," not to mention a Rudge motorcycle and sidecar, a seven-seater Rolls Royce limousine-landaulet, a Vauxhall, a "Sunbeam open tourer," and two Daimlers. Gorgeous royal crests are hand-painted on each. The house even has its own petrol pumps and fire appliances, as was normal for large houses in that era.
The house's garden is splendid despite the absence of a single living thing. The lawn, made of cut green velvet, boasts several tiny mowers (both motor-powered and not), and the nearby garden has its own lovely benches, hoes, spades and the like. There is even a robin's nest, complete with eggs, and a tiny, tiny snail.
Perhaps the most extraordinary thing in the house is the book collection. Famous authors were asked to contribute their own works. Arthur Conan Doyle obliged by submitted "How Watson Learned the Trick," an original 500-word short story done in his own handwriting. The bookplates for each of the books were designed by beloved Winnie-the-Pooh illustrator Ernest Shepard. Rudyard Kipling submitted not only two poems, but illustrated them himself as well. Other well-known authors who gave their own works to the Queen's house included G. K. Chesterton, Joseph Conrad, Robert Graves, Aldous Huxley, Hilaire Belloc, Rose Macauley, W. Somerset Maugham, and Vita Sackville-West. Topping off the fine works of this distinguished crowd are the leather-bound autograph books--one each for famous folks from stage and screen, famous folks from the military, and famous politicans.
There is even a room for storing the scepter, crowns and other regalia--all featuring flawless gemstones!
The details are endlessly fascinating and the house and its furnishings so well-constructed that without a tennis ball or coin or some other everyday real object, you easily forget that everything your eye falls upon here is miniature. For those who cannot get to Windsor Castle themselves to view the house in person, this book offers a very fine tour.
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The book is filled with information, yes, but also with interesting and often funny and always thought-provoking anecdote. There are intriguing stories of deer and elk that have grown extraordinarily large or notable sets of antlers.
Once you read Racks, it is doubtful you will ever look at an antlered animal in the same way again.
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This volume is a very accessible way to read Goethe for the first time, as well as revealing a new layer of depth for those who are more familiar with his essays and scientific studies.
Having recently traveled to Port Royal, it was still difficult to imagine the city in its heyday. The city (now actually a sleepy village) and its surroundings has been changed so much by disaster (three major earthquakes, more than a dozen hurricanes, and several fires) and natural evolution. The biggest change came when two-thirds of the city sunk under the water in the 1692 earthquake. It's as if the pre-1692 city existed in an alternate universe, with the boundaries slightly shifted, and the veil of time cast in between. The accounts in this book help to lift several of the veils to provide a glimpse of what the famous Port Royal might have looked like - the city where buccaneers walked the street, the "Sodom & Gomorrah" of the New World, a city that rivaled Boston in size and shipping traffic.
The 1st edition of this book was published in 1974, but this 2nd edition has been able to include many of the findings of archeological work and research done in the interim. Fascinating tales abound within it's pages about the ship captain turned pirate who easily escaped from the prison, about the return home of the governor's widow, of the petty infighting between Lt. Governor Morgan (the famous ex-pirate) and new Governor Lord Vaughn, and much more.
See plans of the streets and buildings of Port Royal. Read of everyday life in this city, of the grandeur of gala receptions and celebrations for the King's birthday, of the various religions represented (including Quakers and Jews). Fird hand descriptions of actual taverns and brothels are given, including accounts of the available activities and entertainments.
Following an entire chapter on the 1692 earthquake, subsequent chapters tell of the strategic importance held by this English naval port where many famous British officers were stationed (including Admiral Nelson), on up to modern times.
The various charts and lists in the Appendices are fascinating to pour over: names of ships, tradesmen and craftsmen, ministers, and even taverns. While full of details, footnotes, and references, this book is written in a very approachable fashion, and will interest the casual reader as well as the scholar. Whether researching for an historical book, a fictional story, movie, documentary, or developing a reenacted persona, if you have any interest in the history of Port Royal, or of Jamaica in general, I can not recommend this book enough.