The Museum of Imaginary Musical Instruments Deirdre Loughridge & Thomas Patteson London: Reaktion, 2026, hb., 199pps., 88 illus., £13.55 The idea that the universe has an underlying sonic structure is as old as philosophy, and as perennial. Ancient observations of planetary orbits encouraged Pythagoras to hypothesize that just as the pitch of musical notes was… Continue reading
Posts Tagged → Sir Thomas Browne
Time Song by Julia Blackburn
DOGGERLAND DREAMTIME Time Song, Julia Blackburn, Vintage, £25 Something in East Anglia encourages spectral visions, deep thoughts about time. The 14th-century seer Julian of Norwich dreamed of submarine realms, going …downe into the see-ground, and there I saw hill and dalis green, semand as it were moss-begrowne, with wrekke and gravel. In 1658, Sir Thomas Browne published… Continue reading
The romance of the classical – on the Appian Way
THE ROMANCE OF THE CLASSICAL To the heart of youth the world is a highwayside. Passing for ever, he fares; and on either hand, Deep in the gardens golden pavilions hide R. L. Stevenson, Songs of Travel No youth, but a man in his 40s bareheaded under merciless sun. Nor were there any golden pavilions… Continue reading