Documents… Christoph Fürer’s Egyptian Mermaid 23 Sep 2020September 30, 2020 In November 1565, Christoph Fürer saw the skin of an Egyptian mermaid in Tura, Egypt (present-day El Tor) while on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Fürer's full name was Christoph…
Madoc… Madoc and the Welsh Indians : Origins 13 Sep 2020October 12, 2020 For centuries, reports of Prince Madoc's Welsh Indians surfaced across North America. They appeared in Virginia, Ohio, North Carolina, and North Dakota. Archeological remains attributed to the Welsh are scattered…
Culpeper… Nicholas Culpeper on Sassafras 22 Aug 2020September 30, 2020 The Pharmacopoeia's Monopoly on Knowledge In 1618, the Royal College of Physicians of London published one of their grand works, the Pharmacopoeia Londinensis. The book's authority was bolstered by James…
Columbus… Christopher Columbus Encountered Three Mermaids 11 Oct 2019October 2, 2020 Christopher Columbus encountered three mermaids in the Caribbean Sea on January 8, 1493. HIghlights - Christopher Columbus saw three mermaids in the Caribbean Sea- Earlier, Columbus saw a mermaid off…
Art… The Mermaid of St. John’s Bay, Newfoundland 7 Oct 2019September 30, 2020 In 1610, Richard Whitbourne saw a mermaid swimming in St. John's Bay, Newfoundland. The mermaid's face, eyes, nose, mouth, chin, ears, neck, and forehead resembled that of a woman, coupled…
Documents… Spices, textiles, and medicine included in Cargo from Jakarta and Surat to England, October 1625. 24 Sep 2019September 30, 2020 In October 1625, the English ships Moon, Discovery, Ruby, Blessings, and William arrived in England after long voyages to and from the Indian Ocean. The ships stopped in Jakarta (a Dutch…
Maps… The First Map of Roanoke Island 17 Mar 2019September 30, 2020 John White produced the first English map of Roanoke Island as a rough sketch entitled "a description of the land of Virginia." It was the first English map of America…
Documents… Unicorns on Pierre Desceliers’ Mappemonde (1546) 11 Jan 2019September 30, 2020 In an earlier post, I discussed why a unicorn appeared on the mappemonde created by Pierre Desceliers. Since then, I reexamined a digital copy of the map and found another…
Primary Sources… The Horn of Windsor 16 Nov 2018September 30, 2020 The Horn of Windsor was a unicorn horn (alicorn) owned by Elizabeth I. The corpus of material surrounding both the Martin Frobisher voyages and unicorns links the Horn of Windsor…
Ancient World… Pliny the Elder on the Unicorn 10 Oct 2018September 30, 2020 Pliny the Elder described the unicorn in his Natural History (77-79 CE). Pliny collected knowledge from the ancient world, covering diverse topics across science, math, and art. Pliny called the unicorn…
Ancient World… The Unicorn in Liber Animalium (1595) 9 Oct 2018September 30, 2020 This wonderful pen-and-ink drawing of a unicorn appeared in the Liber Animalium, a handwritten book containing 245 drawings and descriptions of animals and mythical creatures. An unknown person completed the work around 1595.…
Documents… James Madison and Gun Control 7 Jun 2018September 30, 2020 The issue of gun control has been part of American politics before the nation was founded. Debates centered around hunting, military defense, and the question if slaves and freedmen were…
Documents… How Syphilis got its Name 9 Mar 2018September 30, 2020 Compared to today, syphilis was a different disease in early-modern Europe. It was more ferocious, fast acting, and destructive. Symptoms included painful and often deadly rashes and ulcers on the…
Documents… “The Man who did not Believe in Unicorns” 14 Nov 2017September 30, 2020 In previous posts I discussed the belief in the existence of unicorns and the medicinal virtues of their horns, however, there were some people in the early-modern period who did…
Documents… Unicorns in Java 27 Jul 2017October 11, 2020 Unicorns were sighted in Java by M. Paulus. His story was published in 1613 by Samuel Purchas' in Purchas his pilgrimage. Title page of Purchas his Pilgrimage (London, 1613) Purchas…
Documents… Monardes and Gerard on Sassafras 18 Jul 2017September 30, 2020 In a previous post, I described how Nicolas Monardes’ description of sassafras laid the foundation for future authors to understand the physical and medicinal properties of the sassafras and its…
Documents… How were the English Introduced to Sassafras? 11 Jul 2017September 30, 2020 The introduction of sassafras to the English imagination took a circuitous route. Printed knowledge of the tree probably first appeared in English through the publishing of Joyfull Newes out of…
Documents… The day I faked being an “ink expert” to see The Declaration of Independence 4 Jul 2017September 30, 2020 I spent the early months of 2013 in London, England doing research for my doctoral dissertation. The bulk of my time was at the National Archives in Kew plowing through…
Documents… Why were Indentured Servants Called Indentured Servants? 13 May 2017October 2, 2020 Why were indentured servants called indentured servants? Indentured servants received their name from the tradition of using indented paper to record a debt or purchase obligation. HIghlights: - Indentured servants…
Art… The Unicorn in Raleigh, NC 21 Feb 2017September 30, 2020 The North Carolina Museum of Art houses The Triumph of Chastity (ca. 1450-1460), a painting produced by the workshop of Apollonio di Giovanni di Tommaso. The painting was probably presented…
Art… The Virgin Bride and the Unicorn 11 Jan 2017September 30, 2020 Around 1494, to celebrate either the engagement or marriage of Matteo di Sebastiano di Bernardino Goazzadini to Ginevra d'Antonio Lupari Goazzadini, artist Maestro delle Storie del Pane painted the portraits of…
Documents… Five Questions about the First Thanksgiving 23 Nov 2016September 30, 2020 How do we know about the first Thanksgiving? The first known written description of the Pilgrims’ first “Thanksgiving” is a letter written by Edward Winslow months after the event. The…
Documents… The Unicorn in Fabyn’s Cronycle 11 Nov 2016September 30, 2020 Robert Fabyan (1455? – 1512) was a draper, sheriff, and author of Fabyans cronycle. The Cronycle recounted English and French history covering the time period from the legendary first king…
Documents… Unicorns in Shakespeare 20 Oct 2016September 30, 2020 William Shakespeare mentioned unicorns three times in his plays: Julius Caesar (1599), Timon of Athens (1605), and The Tempest (1610). In Julius Caesar, Decius described how a unicorn could be caught by a…
Documents… The Unicorn in Laurence Andrew’s The Noble Lyfe / Hortus Sanitatis 1 Aug 2016September 30, 2020 Laurence Andrew (fl. 1510-1537) was a printer and translator active in Antwerp. Not much is known about him and many of the works he translated and/or printed have not survived…
Documents… 16th-Century Gonorrhea Aftercare Treatment 17 Jul 2016October 2, 2020 The first edition of A rich Store-house or Treasury for the Diseased (London, 1596) contains numerous medical recipes including one for the aftercare treatment for gonorrhea. HIghlights: - Recipes were…
Documents… Martin Luther and the Unicorn Horn 30 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Martin Luther, the leading figure of the Protestant Reformation, spent his last three days on earth working. He delivered a sermon that in part encouraged Jews to convert to Christianity…
Documents… Alicorn 20 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Sea Unicorns from The History of Barados, St. Christophers, Mevis, St Vincents, Antego, Martinico, Monserrat, and the rest of the Caribby-Islands (London, 1666). One of the first pieces of Anglo-American…
Ancient World… The Unicorn in the Physiologus and Bestiaries 15 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Medieval Christian scholars across Europe read the Physiologus making the book's circulation second only to that of the Bible.” The Physiologus was based on Indian, Hebrew, and Egyptian legends that later…
Ancient World… Ancient Authorities on the Unicorn 13 Jun 2016September 30, 2020 Many early-modern Europeans believed in the existence of unicorns, in part, due to the writings of ancient authorities. Ctesias (ca. 400 BCE), the Greek physician who served the Persian…
Bible… Unicorns in the Bible 13 Jun 2016October 12, 2020 Updated: October 11, 2020 There are unicorns in the Bible. How did they end up there? Were they real creatures? Did the authors of the Bible actually see them? Unfortunately,…
