Opus – Page 146 – Encyclopædia of the sublime

Ireland Shakespeare forgeries

The Ireland Shakespeare forgeries were a cause célèbre in 1790s’ London, when author and engraver Samuel Ireland announced the discovery of a treasure-trove of Shakespearean manuscripts by his son William Henry. Among them were the manuscripts of four plays, two of them previously unknown. Such respected literary figures as Johnson biographer James Boswell and poet-laureate Henry James Pye pronounced them genuine, as did various antiquarian experts. Sheridan, the leading theater manager of his day, agreed to present one of the newly-discovered plays with John Philip Kemble in the starring rôle. Excitement over the biographical and literary significance of the find turned to acrimony when it was charged that the documents were forgeries. Edmond Malone, the greatest Shakespeare scholar of his time, showed conclusively that the language, orthography, and handwriting were not those of the times and persons to which they were credited, and William Henry Ireland, the supposed discoverer, confessed to the fraud.

Linnean herbarium

The Linnean herbarium at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm comprises some 4000 herbarium specimens, several of which are types formally designated by various experts. The specimens were once distributed by Linnaeus to his disciples and eventually they became part of the collections of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation

The Garden of Cosmic Speculation is a private garden created by Charles Jencks. The garden is inspired by science and mathematics, with sculptures and landscaping on these themes, such as Black Holes and Fractals. The garden is not abundant with plants, but sets mathematical formulae and scientific phenomenae in a setting which elegantly combines natural features and artificial symmetry and curves.

Frederick Courteney Selous

The life of Frederick Courteney Selous was filled with extraordinary adventures, from elephant-hunting and diamond-prospecting, to an early expedition to found Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the European scramble for Africa.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Within the boundaries of this heavily forested national park, 16 crystalline lakes tumble into each other via a series of waterfalls and cascades. The mineral-rich waters carve through the rock, depositing tufa in continually changing formations.

Ernst Haeckel

Ernst Haeckel was an eminent German biologist, naturalist, philosopher, physician, professor and artist who discovered, described and named thousands of new species, mapped a tree relating all life forms, and coined many terms in biology.

Journal of the History of Collections

Journal of the History of Collections is dedicated to providing the clearest insight into all aspects of collecting activity. For centuries collecting has been the pursuit of princes and apothecaries, scholars and amateurs alike. Only recently, however, has the study of collections and their collectors become the subject of great multidisciplinary interest.

Stork Club

Manhattan's Stork Club, one of the most famous watering holes in the long history of American nightclubbing, was - from its opening in 1929 to its demise in 1965 - the place to see and be seen in the Big Apple. The slick, sexy, smoky creation of a native Oklahoman and ex-bootlegger named Sherman Billingsley, the Stork was, in the words of legendary gossip columnist and radio loudmouth Walter Winchell, "New York's New Yorkiest" joint. Sherman Billingsley, Stork Club owner Sherman Billingsley Billingsley was, it would seem, born for the role of nightclub big shot; rarely a night went by when he wasn't on the floor, shaking hands, slapping backs, greeting movie stars, musicians, powerful pols and famous athletes, keeping the booze flowing, playing cards with the clientele - in short, running an upscale saloon like a well-oiled (and highly profitable) machine.

Daniel Tammet

Daniel Tammet is a writer with high-functioning autistic savant syndrome. Tammet can learn new languages very quickly. To prove this for a documentary film, Tammet was challenged to learn Icelandic in one week. Seven days later he appeared on Icelandic television conversing in Icelandic, with his Icelandic language instructor saying it was "not human".

Argo

Argo is a global array of 3,000 free-drifting profiling floats that measures the temperature and salinity of the upper 2000 m of the ocean. This allows, for the first time, continuous monitoring of the temperature, salinity, and velocity of the upper ocean, with all data being relayed and made publicly available within hours after collection.