Mercutio @mercutiox - Tumblr Blog

tytusjaneta

Unattributed, Maiko Hatsuko Playing with a Ball, 1920s

devolve-blog

magictransistor

OVUM ZOROASTRÆUM

Athanasius Kircher, Oedipus Aegyptiacus. (Rome, 1652-4)

erikkwakkel

Smart cover

Like the iPad, this scientific book from 1678 has a smart cover. The front of the sheepskin bookbinding is not filled with blind-stamped decoration, as was often the case, but a printed sundial was pasted on it. Put the book in the sun, place a stylus on the cover, and it will tell you what time it is. What’s more, it was likely used in this fashion given that the ‘footprint’ of the stylus is still visible - note the small circle and the black stain near the letters IHS. A book that tells the time: the smart cover is not the only parallel with our modern iPad!

Pic: Oxford, Bodleian Library, Broxb. 46.10 (1678). More information: about this type of sundial here; more about this book here.

artemisdreaming

Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo, fourth-century B.C., Greece

Images: mondomostre.it

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Description from Wiki: ”The over-lifesize Dancing Satyr of Mazara del Vallo is a Greek bronze statue, whose refinement and rapprochement with the manner of Praxiteles has made it a subject of discussion.