#objects of intrigue

[historybizarre]

Go Medieval by Attaching a Book to Your Belt

They're incredibly rare today, but portable girdle books were once very handy.

Used from the 14th to 17th centuries, these books were texts that their owners needed to keep close at hand: prayer books used by monks and nuns, for example, or law books used by traveling judges. Though they were valuable objects—luxuries, even—these books were meant to be consulted and read.

“These are books that needed to be specially protected because of a lot of use, a lot of wear. Most of them were probably used daily,” says Margit J. Smith, author of The Medieval Girdle Book. “How many books do you have in your collection that you use every day?”

[voluxpa]

colo by Lux.

[jeannereames]

The Dormouse-Fattening Jars of Ancient Rome

For the plumpest, tastiest rodents.

[ebonetnoir]

A Closer Look at a Million-Dollar Medieval Manuscript

You can buy it this weekend if you like.

[libraryjournal]

How a Library Handles a Rare and Deadly Book of Wallpaper Samples

The arsenic-laden pages of "Shadows from the Walls of Death" should not be touched without gloves.

Of the original 100 copies, only four remain. Most libraries, concerned about poisoning their patrons, destroyed their volumes. Two of the surviving books remain in Michigan—one at MSU and the other at the University of Michigan.

[camwyn]

How a Library Handles a Rare and Deadly Book of Wallpaper Samples

The arsenic-laden pages of "Shadows from the Walls of Death" should not be touched without gloves.

“As part of his campaign to raise awareness about poison papers, Kedzie produced 100 copies of Shadows and sent them out to public libraries across Michigan. Each one is a slim volume, containing few words—just a title page, a short preface, and a note from the Board of Health explaining the purpose of the book and advising librarians not to let children handle it. The macabre title page reproduces a quote from the Biblical book of Leviticus: “And behold if the plague be in the walls of the house, with hollow streaks, greenish or reddish, then the priest…shall cause the house to be scraped within round about, and they shall pour out the dust that they scrape off without the city into an unclean place.” The remaining pages, 86 in full, consist of wallpaper samples taken from common merchants.

“Of the original 100 copies, only four remain. Most libraries, concerned about poisoning their patrons, destroyed their volumes. “

[nypl]

The Selenophone, a Short-Lived, Highly Flammable Sound-Recording System

In an exhibit honoring the work of conductor Arturo Toscanini, there's an odd slice of recording technology.

The last three of Arturo Toscanini’s fully staged operatic performances were recorded on the Selenophone. The device currently on display at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts may be the last working one left anywhere.

[kpltumblarians]

How a Library Handles a Rare and Deadly Book of Wallpaper Samples

The arsenic-laden pages of "Shadows from the Walls of Death" should not be touched without gloves.