Colour Illustrations Research Articles

The Normans in the Mediterranean ed. by Emily A. Winkler and Liam Fitzgerald

Reviewed by: The Normans in the Mediterranean ed. by Emily A. Winkler and Liam Fitzgerald Lindsay Diggelmann Winkler, Emily A., and Liam Fitzgerald, eds, The Normans in the Mediterranean (Medieval Identities: Socio-Cultural Spaces, 9), Turnhout, Brepols, 2021; hardback; pp. 268; 11 b/w, 5 colour illustrations; R.R.P. €75.00; ISBN 9782503590578. Examinations of Norman activity in Italy and the wider Mediterranean region are numerous, but this volume of essays has much to add to our understanding of the effect of the northerners' arrival in the south. From their first appearance as [End Page 176] missionaries and pilgrims in the early eleventh century, through to the creation of Roger II's multicultural kingdom in the twelfth, Norman immigrants and their descendants conquered, reshaped, and amalgamated with the existing Latin, Greek, and Islamic societies in Italy and Sicily. The introduction provides a useful thematic overview, placing the narrowly focused individual essays within the broader context of scholarship on the Mediterranean going back to Braudel. The general aim is to provide micro-studies, often dealing with evidence at the local or personal level, which can balance the well-known 'grand narrative' of Norman expansion. Above all, the editors and authors are keen to demonstrate how the changing circumstances brought by new Norman ruling powers affected prevailing social conditions. Essays are grouped into three parts with individual contributions loosely connected around the themes of 'Motivations', 'Implications', and 'Perceptions'. While the subjects and sources are diverse, there is a pleasing coherence to the collection, perhaps more than is often the case in volumes of this nature. Part I on 'Motivations and Strategies' opens with Matthew Bennett's survey of the current state of the field and key narrative sources for the idea of normanitas and Norman relations with those peoples they encountered in Italy. Aurélie Thomas looks at marriage strategies, discerning variance in the success of Norman newcomers in marrying into established powerful families. Differing outcomes, she argues, can be linked to the differing inheritance practices of Italian elites, thus placing agency in the decisions on whether to pursue dynastic alliances back on to local families, rather than seeing it all rest with ambitious Norman lords. In the final chapter of the section, Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal broadens our horizons by examining Norman incursions into Iberia up until the time of the Third Crusade. Themes of Norman expansion and ambition played out equally in Iberia, although geographically distant from the areas looked at by other contributions, adding a valuable comparative element to the collection. Five chapters in Part II deal with social realities and the 'Implications of Conquest' in the wake of the Normans' arrival in Italy. Architectural, archaeological, and documentary evidence sits alongside investigation of the more familiar narrative sources. Sandro Carocci argues for the importance of 'micro-lordships', suggesting that these were much more influential in determining the outcome of local affairs compared with the efforts of the great territorial lords. Graham Loud uses charter evidence to establish the role of Norman kin groups in the nobility of southern Italy between 1085 and 1127, a period for which the narrative sources are extremely sparse. By focusing on the specific example of Salerno, Maddalena Vaccaro shows how a deliberate ecclesiastical building programme could promote Norman integration into a city they now ruled. Theresa Jäckh also undertakes the case study of a single city, Roger II's capital Palermo in Sicily, to question the nature of the transition from Islamic to Norman rule. Using Latin texts and Arabic documents, Jäckh contests the consensus view that the city's importance had significantly weakened under Islamic authority in the [End Page 177] period before the Normans' conquest of the island. Finally in Part II, Nicole Mölk examines material evidence from a hilltop village in Sicily which suggests the possibility of Christian and Muslim communities living side by side. Despite this positive conclusion, the archaeological record also indicates the difficulties which ordinary members of Sicilian society faced in their day-to-day lives. Two excellent essays on 'Perceptions and Memories' round out the collection in the shorter Part III. Matt King discusses Roger II's temporary conquest of Africa (roughly equivalent...

Nineteenth Century Color Printing for Visual Instruction

Abstract Books with color illustrations were once rare and costly, but during the nineteenth century advances in color printing technology allowed publishers to include color more frequently. At the same time teachers and government officials attempted to employ graphic displays to facilitate understanding of often abstract or invisible concepts or to show data in a form that could more easily be grasped and retained. The use of color enhanced these endeavors. Dating from 1847 to 1876, the four books discussed here were selected because their authors deliberately chose to replace the written word with color graphics to provide instruction in the sciences and social sciences.

Anglo-Norman Studies XLIII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2020 ed. by S. D. Church

Reviewed by: Anglo-Norman Studies XLIII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2020 ed. by S. D. Church Lindsay Diggelmann Church, S. D., ed., Anglo-Norman Studies XLIII: Proceedings of the Battle Conference 2020, Woodbridge, The Boydell Press, 2021; hardback; pp. 216; 6 line, 10 colour illustrations; R.R.P. £50.00; ISBN 9781783276059. The latest volume of Anglo-Norman Studies continues the tradition, dating back to 1978, of publishing the proceedings of the annual Battle Conference in a series that has long since become indispensable for scholars of the Norman period. Now under the editorship of Stephen Church, the 2021 edition—based on the 2020 conference held online—contains a fascinating array of essays on Norman affairs. As is customary, the opening chapter is based on the Allen Brown memorial lecture, given by an invited eminent scholar. Martin Aurell examines the possibilities for mixed marriages between members of the Christian and Moslem nobilities during the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He takes as his starting point the proposed union between Joan of England, sister of Richard the Lionheart, and Al-ʿÂdil, brother of Saladin, as part of the negotiations to bring an end to the Third Crusade in 1191. Joan refused to take part in the deal, which anyway would have been impossible under canon law. Aurell asks whether any similar marriages did in fact occur, and what conditions would have allowed them to proceed. Using imaginative literature as well as chronicle sources, he offers some limited but intriguing evidence to suggest that diplomatic marriages could, on occasion, occur across religious boundaries. Perhaps the most significant contribution for scholars of the Normans is Christopher Norton’s essay on the Bayeux Tapestry. It makes a compelling argument that the famous artefact (actually an embroidery) was intended for display at Bayeux Cathedral, and was created under the patronage of Odo, Bishop [End Page 231] of Bayeux, and perhaps of William the Conqueror himself. Odo has been the traditional consensus candidate, but his role in the Tapestry’s creation has been challenged in recent years, as has the object’s likely location. Using architectural and archaeological evidence, Norton shows how the Tapestry could have been displayed in a way that fit perfectly with the contours of Bayeux Cathedral, as it existed in the eleventh century before later reconstruction. Other studies span the range of the period associated with the Normans, from Charles Insley’s examination of Lancashire in the early tenth century to Richard Barton’s scrutiny of judicial and ecclesiastical inquests (enquêtes) in western France during the thirteenth century. Insley argues that pre-Domesday Lancashire, an area relatively neglected in scholarship, is best understood as part of an ‘Irish Sea cultural zone’ (p. 122). Barton is concerned to rescue records of inquests from the theoretical approach of legal scholars and to find instead the basis for a rich social history, while also using them to question the longstanding ‘progressive scholarly narrative of administrative kingship and state formation’ (p. 196). A strength of the volume is that emerging scholars are recognized alongside their established peers. Hannah Boston and Gabriele Passabì, winner and runner-up of the Marjorie Chibnall Essay Prize (Battle Conference on Anglo-Norman Studies), contribute essays on topics with a long tradition in Norman historiography: post-Conquest lordship and chronicle writing. Boston argues for the possibility of multiple tenancies in the Norman feudal model, boldly challenging both the received wisdom on the ‘tenurial revolution’ dating back at least to F. M. Stenton, and the more recent rejection of feudalism itself as a useful term. Passabì examines a little-known text, the Continuatio Ursicampina, to show how Geoffrey of Monmouth’s pseudo-historical but highly influential Historia regum Britanniae, with its appealing Arthurian core, could be both questioned by and integrated within later historical writing. Remaining essays deal with connections between forests and the siting of elite residences, using Cheshire as a case study (Rachel Swallow); Harold II’s coinage, reappraised in light of a substantial hoard unearthed as recently as 2019 in the Chew Valley near Bath (Gareth Williams); the coronation of the Conqueror’s wife, Mathilda of Flanders, as the first Anglo-Norman queen at Pentecost in 1068 (Laura Gathagan...

The Ever After Life of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales by Martha Ann Brueggeman

Reviewed by: The Ever After Life of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales by Martha Ann Brueggeman John E. Priegnitz II (bio) The Ever After Life of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. By Martha Ann Brueggeman, Book Baby, 2020, 264 pp. Martha Ann Brueggeman's The Ever After Life of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales is a labor of love, and it shows. The book is written in such a way that it is accessible to a casual reader while also doubling as a textbook for a variety of courses. The Ever After Life is difficult to fit into a singular category. Is the book a study on literature? Art history? Children's literature? Cultural studies? The answer is yes, and more. However, this by no means diminishes the quality or importance of the work. Unlike a Cheesecake Factory menu where the diner is left confused and lost, Brueggeman's book is firmly grounded on a singular subject. The Brothers Grimm have after all infiltrated nearly every aspect of artistic expression known to Western society and beyond. Therefore, it stands to reason that Brueggeman felt it was important to succinctly make the case that the Brothers Grimm fairy tales remain relevant and pervasive in the twenty-first century in 264 pages. Interestingly, Brueggeman's background is in education, not folklore or literary studies. This furthers the case that the Brothers Grimm fairy tales do not neatly fit within a singular category. This book is no different, and while it is not a "scholarly study" of the Grimms, it will make an excellent classroom companion. Divided into ten chapters, The Ever After Life spans a variety of topics from literature studies, art, and history to postmodernism. The book becomes a versatile textbook that may be used within a variety of classrooms. It will be of interest to high school teachers for use in their junior and senior creative writing, humanities, and/or AP English classes. It could also be used in a college setting. As a folklorist, I can see myself using this book in either an introduction to folklore studies and/or a folk narrative course for undergraduates, as it has a useful catalog of translations and variations of Grimms tales and makes a compelling case that these stories remain relevant today. My favorite chapter was 2, "Anthologies New and Old." Brueggeman has provided the reader and researcher a useful list of anthologies and translations of the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales. This list may be used to supplement not only the content of the book by providing clearer context, but it will also make the curriculum more robust if it is being taught inside the classroom. [End Page 343] While the book is conveniently divided into ten chapters for easier consumption of the material, Brueggeman concludes each chapter with a summary as well as a short paragraph detailing her personal favorites on what the chapter had covered. It is a quirky personal touch that I have not seen in other books. However, the "Favorites" section caused me as the reader to pause and think about what my favorite takeaway was from the chapter that I read. Brueggeman including her favorites at the end of each chapter acts as a meditative device causing the reader to think about what they liked best, and why. This also can be used as a classroom tool for educators looking for a creative and meaningful writing prompt to assign their students. I would not be doing The Ever After Life justice if I do not discuss the beautiful artwork found within it. The book has full color illustrations throughout, which is excellent for the reader to better conceptualize the subject being read. Each chapter also begins with a unique contemporary illustration by Nathan Ruff that is Brothers Grimm themed and tied to the overall theme of the chapter. Brueggeman encourages the reader to take the time to read the explanation of each design on the following page. Much like how the "Favorites" section can be used as a meditative device and/or a launchpad for a writing prompt, the same can and should be done with the Nathan Ruff illustrations. They are enchanting. At the heart...

Jerusalem in the Alps: The Sacro Monte of Varallo and the Sanctuaries of North-Western Italy by Geoffrey Symcox

Reviewed by: Jerusalem in the Alps: The Sacro Monte of Varallo and the Sanctuaries of North-Western Italy by Geoffrey Symcox Nicholas Dean Brodie Symcox, Geoffrey, Jerusalem in the Alps: The Sacro Monte of Varallo and the Sanctuaries of North-Western Italy (Cursor Mundi, 37), Turnhout, Brepols, 2019; hardback; pp. xii, 310; 7 b/w, 50 colour illustrations; R.R.P. €85.00; ISBN 9782503580579. As its subtitle suggests, this book surveys the history of the Sacro Monte of Varallo and other similar sanctuaries, or hilltop religious complexes, in north-western Italy, nine of which are UNESCO World Heritage sites. While this work is a mostly study of the history of the Sacro Monte of Varallo, the sanctuaries of Orta, Crea, Oropa, Ghiffa, Varese, Domodossola, Ossuccio, Belmonte, Graglia, and Arona are described in sequence in a final chapter that relates them to each other and the Varallo exemplar, which, the author argues, inspired a regional wave of sanctuary building. Although some of those other sanctuaries had greater claim to antiquity as sites of religious devotion than Varallo, their early modern reconfigurations were undoubtedly influenced by the Varallo experience. Symcox's argument and method is framed by the work of traveller-scholar Samuel Butler, who in the later nineteenth century promoted the sanctuaries as sites of artistic value rooted in the distinctive social and cultural environment of the north Italian alpine valleys. Ultimately, Symcox affirms the general correctness of Butler's proposition, albeit with some caveats and clarifications. More than an argumentative conceit, however, Symcox's use of Butler serves as an engaging narrative means of addressing the historiography of the sanctuaries in the book's first chapter. Then, in Chapter 2, Symcox offers a detailed treatment of the historical context in which the Varallo project emerged, especially the role of seasonal migratory labour as a regional phenomenon which allowed for the flow of artistic skills and ideas into what might otherwise be dismissed as an economic and cultural backwater. Chapter 3 is focused on the foundation of Varallo's Sacro Monte under the inspiration and initial guidance of the Observant Franciscan Friar Bernadino Caimi, who 'conceived the Sacro Monte as a replica of Jerusalem' (p. 41), a sort of substitute pilgrimage site. The plan was for a hilltop site, modelled on the Holy Sites of Jerusalem, replete with lifelike figures designed to 'appeal directly to the emotions of the onlookers' (p. 59). A monastery was founded beneath the hill, enabling oversight of the sanctuary, but also setting the scene for many of the twists and turns of the complex's later history, where concerns about ownership, income, and authority repeatedly emerge as issues of contention. As Symcox argues, the original conception of the Sacro Monte as a substitute Jerusalem soon gave way to a more narrative conception of the pilgrim experience at this location. As Chapter 4 relates, there were significant developments during the early 1500s in the administration of the Sacro Monte, including the appointment [End Page 170] of fabbricieri. In this context, the artistic influences of Gaudenzio Ferrari and Galeazzo Alessi each came to play significant roles in the site's subsequent history, further shifting the sanctuary experience away from Caimi's originally topographical approach to a more fully emotive, narratively organized, and theologically didactic one. Then, as shown in Chapter 5, this process essentially continued into the seventeenth century, facilitating a growing Marian focus in the eighteenth century that is related in Chapter 6. Meanwhile, as Symcox discusses, there were regular contemporary arguments about the distribution of income derived from pilgrim donations, some shifts in administrative responsibility, and various levels of episcopal intervention and influence, all influenced by wider forces like the Counter-Reformation and the rise of Savoyard absolutism. Not unlike Butler a century and a half earlier, this book is valuable for bringing the scholarship of the Italian alpine sanctuaries to a wider audience in an accessible format. Those interested in the history of emotive spiritualities, and proxy pilgrimage experiences, will find much of value here. Moreover, in demonstrating that the sanctuaries developed through more organic processes than sometimes asserted, Symcox also helps put to rest outdated ideas of the sanctuaries as a Counter-Reformation...

The genus Bryomima Staudinger, 1900, with the description of four new taxa from Asia (Lepidoptera, Noctuidae)

Description of two new species and two new subspecies of Bryomima Staudinger, 1900, with 24 colour illustrations and 15 genitalia figures.

Transcultural Approaches to the Bible: Exegesis and Historical Writing across Medieval Worlds ed. by Matthias M. Tischler and Patrick S. Marschner

Reviewed by: Transcultural Approaches to the Bible: Exegesis and Historical Writing across Medieval Worlds ed. by Matthias M. Tischler and Patrick S. Marschner Thomas A. Fudge Tischler, Matthias M., and Patrick S. Marschner, eds, Transcultural Approaches to the Bible: Exegesis and Historical Writing across Medieval Worlds (Transcultural Medieval Studies, 1), Turnhout, Brepols, 2021; pp. viii, 253; 19 colour illustrations; R.R.P. €80.00; ISBN 9782503592855. Few would question the assertion that the Bible ranks amongst the most important volumes in Western civilization. What has not been examined as thoroughly is the way in which Scripture has been utilized in creating and manipulating human memory, especially across transcultural medieval worlds. Naturally this is a large task that cannot be accomplished in a single thin volume. But this collection takes an initial step in that important direction. With a specific focus on the Iberian context, Latin Europe, the Near East, and the Baltic world, we are introduced to a series of vignettes drawing attention to the nature of Biblical interpretation and historical writing across these medieval worlds. Unsurprisingly, we learn the ways and means in which the Bible provides theological justification for crusading, explains how and why crusaders are God’s special people, provides an explanation for understanding the post-biblical nature of providential history, and how marginal glosses explain and correct the vagaries of Scripture, while at the same time elaborating how different cultures and events represent extensions of biblical narratives and truths. All of this is approachable and explicable by seeing beyond simplistic Sunday school notions of Scripture as a single text, reflecting a linear and unified programmatic agenda, possessing a priori metahistorical authority adopting modern assumptions like inspiration, verbal dictation, and theological politics creating the ‘word of God’. What is essential is understanding a complicated transmission process, a virtual lacuna surrounding canonization, and claims about authority that are often little more than the habit of repeated reading. As this volume makes clear, none of these components ever existed in an untouchable sacrosanctity. Cultures past and present, of course, have preferred to see the Bible as an instrument of unassailable power and authority. Many writings outside the biblical canon retained authority for communities of faith throughout the ages and informed efforts to frame concepts of salvation-history in the post-biblical world of the Middle Ages. Scripture was used, sometimes misused, occasionally abused, in a quest to explain history by adapting Iberian motifs, for example, to biblical narratives wherein typological connections between medieval and the Hebrew Bible worlds suggest prophecy, fulfilment, and justification for events, ideas, and practices. In this way, knowledge of the Bible plays a major part in interpreting contemporary affairs, thus enhancing the role Scripture plays in historical writing. Untangling these two discrete texts is difficult. [End Page 271] Knowledge of the Bible occurred aurally, optically, and dramaturgically, rather than through reading. Crusade narratives, for example, are peppered with Scriptural citations and allusions. The crusades become salvific, the Bible indispensable for crusaders, and we find arresting accounts of armies chanting hymns or psalms as the military machine advances in the name of God. Crusade texts are one example of how and why the Bible was quoted to provide credibility or justification. This volume underscores the role of historians toiling in the dimness of the medieval world, labouring to see mundane human efforts in the beam of divine light, interpreting human affairs with reference to the work of God, and setting forth these typologies in clearly enunciated exegesis. In consequence, contemporaries and posterity understand medieval matters in terms of the eternal now. Several chapters underscore the work of many medieval writers in identifying and applying the most appropriate biblical text for any number of respective contexts. Biblical manuscripts are utilized, by means of exegetical gymnastics if necessary, to illuminate divine approbation in the varied cultures of a world centuries removed from the sacred text. The more successful of such efforts resulted in medieval chronicles that are truly sustained dialogues with the Scriptures. Of particular interest is the dispute about clerical sexuality by means of an innovative use of Ezekiel 23, wherein we find absorbing elaboration of ‘condemned sisters, effeminate brothers, and damned heretics’ by Lydia M. Walker...

The genus Zethes, with the description of three new taxa from Asia (Lepidoptera, Erebidae)

Description of one new species and two new subspecies of Zethes Rambur, 1833, with 24 colour illustrations and 24 genitalia figures.

Painting as a Modern Art in Early Renaissance Italy by Robert Brennan

Reviewed by: Painting as a Modern Art in Early Renaissance Italy by Robert Brennan Esther Theiler Brennan, Robert, Painting as a Modern Art in Early Renaissance Italy (Renovatio Artium, 3), Turnhout, Brepols, 2019; hardback; pp. 366; 11 b/w, 115 colour illustrations, 1 b/w table; R.R.P. €125.00; ISBN 9781912554003. This is a fabulous read that, while not exhausting its overarching theme—what constitutes modernity in painting in the early Renaissance—certainly exhausts its chosen textual examples through minute, focused analysis and multiple tangential excursions. The book comprises an essay into a concept of modernity that acknowledges the relativity and complexity of the term, its evanescent nature. Robert Brennan structures his argument around statements from fourteenth-century writers Cennino Cennini and Franco Sacchetti, and Michele Savonarola of the fifteenth century. The approach is primarily textual and philological. Brennan retrieves the cultural context in which these views were current and examines their reception. Giorgio Vasari's description of Giotto in his Lives of the Artists provides the hinge—that 'the modern' was revived by Giotto, who 'banished completely that rude Greek manner' (p. 6). In Chapter 1, Cennini's comment from his Libro dell'arte that Giotto 'changed the art of painting from Greek into Latin, and made it modern, and had the art more complete that anyone since', is examined (p. 17). Brennan analyses each of these phrases—what comprises 'the art of painting', what this progress 'from Greek into Latin' entails, what was Cennini's concept of modernization, and what 'complete' means. The author draws on multiple sources to illuminate this change and concludes that it is the scientific basis on which Giotto placed his art that 'made it modern'. Chapter 2 draws on Sacchetti's Trecentonovelle of the 1390s. During a discussion among Florentine artists about the decay of painting, the question is asked 'Which master of painting was the greatest of all, aside from Giotto?' (p. 93). The sculptor Alberto contends that the greatest artists are the ladies of Florence, whose application of cosmetics 'could make white out of black' or make a pale figure resemble a rose (p. 9). The ambiguity in the chapter is that this 'retouching' of a God-given figure, here considered frivolous, is made to also comment on contemporary painting. After Giotto, who brought 'the art into conformity with nature' (p. 102), advancement was meant to be towards an art that enables the practitioner to 'restore things where nature is deficient'. This leads to a discussion of the emulation of nature, the concept of beauty, and the effects of fashion. Changes are driven by ideas of beauty, for instance replacing the 'yellow' skin of Byzantine figures with a more attractive pink and white, or incorporating contemporary modes of dress (p. 162). When the author moves into visual analysis there are some beautifully navigated passages, for instance on the representation of head coverings (pp. 133–47). Sacchetti's ironic and implicitly critical comment on how far fashion and cosmetics, both in people and paintings, takes art from its foundations is not entirely resolved, as reflected in the final [End Page 154] sentence of the chapter, suggesting that Sacchetti could only 'faintly recognize the power dynamics' driving change (p. 180). In the third chapter, the author jumps to the 1440s and the physician Michele Savonarola, who, writing about the 'ideal canon of human proportion', laments the failure of painters to adhere to this classical ideal, relying too much on their imaginative perceptions (p. 183). This included Giotto, who, nevertheless, 'first modernized ancient and mosaic figures' (p. 181). The rational application of proportion, light (perspective), and colour theory produces beauty. A relative version of modernity is tucked into the discourse—the modern apprehended as 'of the now', 'ephemeral', prone to decay and dissolution (p. 215). Visual analyses offer welcome demonstrations of changes in facial schemas, such as the leap from the stylized 'V' between eyebrows, and oblong eye pouches, to more realistic representations. This movement is attributed to classicizing and rationalizing impulses to correct defects in the prototype, remaking the icon in the guise of reality and producing a version of beauty that was more appealing to a contemporary audience. It is...

The Aesthetics of Authenticity in the Illustrated World of Warwick Goble, c. 1912-1916

The imperial practice of collecting stories from the east and transforming them into illustrated books, primarily for circulation in western book markets, can be traced back to orientalist endeavours of the long nineteenth century. While M. Frere’s Old Deccan Days or Hindoo Fairy Legends current in Southern India (1870), contained only two, small, black and white illustrations by an anonymous artist, eventually books started including several full-page colour illustrations. This publishing pattern favouring the inclusion and involvement of illustrations in the circulation of collected stories often brought contesting notions of authenticity in dialogue. The transformative individualism of the artist as the illustrator, at the turn of the twentieth century, expanded and problematized the premises of circulated narratives in intriguingly complex ways. My article critically examines the nature and consequences of such aesthetic reworking by attempting to unpack the semiotics of Warwick Goble’s illustrations for collected Indian narratives.

Argentina's Indigenous Peoples - The Conquest of the Desert: Argentina's Indigenous Peoples and the Battle for History. Edited by Carolyne E. Larson. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, Diálogos Series, 2020. Pp. 296. 11 color illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Contributors. Index. $95.00 cloth; $29.95 paper.

Argentina's Indigenous Peoples - The Conquest of the Desert: Argentina's Indigenous Peoples and the Battle for History. Edited by Carolyne E. Larson. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, Diálogos Series, 2020. Pp. 296. 11 color illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Contributors. Index. 29.95 paper. - Volume 79 Issue 1

Nephroma orvoi (Nephromatoideae, Peltigeraceae) – a new lichen species for Russia

The lichen species Nephroma orvoi is reported as new to Russia from two localities in Murmansk Region. Description and colour illustrations of the material studied are provided. The species was previously known from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Canada (Alberta and British Columbia), USA (Washington), and Greenland. In Russia, it grows on rock outcrops in open habitat along the shore of a Paz River (Pasvik Nature Reserve) and in the bed of a small unnamed stream (neighborhood of Fedorova Tundra Mt.). The specimens were identified by the morphology (mostly laminal, brown, corticate soredia; faveolate, wrinkle-ridged lobes; lower side with short pseudotomentum in middle and inner part) and the identification was confirmed by lichen substances (a series of specific triterpenoids).

Princely Funerals in Europe 1400–1700: Commemoration, Diplomacy and Political Propaganda edited by Monique Chatenet, Murielle Gaude-Ferragu, and Gérard Sabatier

<i>Princely Funerals in Europe 1400–1700: Commemoration, Diplomacy and Political Propaganda</i> edited by Monique Chatenet, Murielle Gaude-Ferragu, and Gérard Sabatier

Two new species, Aspidistra liliiflora and A. sessilistigma (Asparagaceae, Convallariaceae s. str.) from Vietnam

This paper continues the publication of Aspidistra species newly discovered in the flora of Vietnam. It includes illustrated diagnosis of two species new to science, A. liliiflora and A. sessilistigma found in northern and central parts of the country. Detailed analytical color illustrations, data on morphology, ecology, phenology, tentative relationships and distribution are provided for both discovered species.

Kate Fullagar. The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire.

Kate Fullagar. <i>The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empire</i>.

Book Review

Book Review

A new species of the genus Stiltoblosyrus Davidian, 2020 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Entiminae) from China

A new species Stiltoblosyrus serratulus Davidian, sp. nov. is described from Sichuan Province of China. It is the northernmost species of the genus Stiltoblosyrus (Davidian, 2020). From all of the congeners it easily differs in row of large and stout spines at the inner side of hind tibia of the male. New species closely related to S. laticollis Davidian, 2020 and S. brevicornis Davidian, 2020 in size of the process at the inner apical angle of hind tibia of the male, which is distinctly shorter than 2nd segment of hind tarsus. Colour illustrations of habitus and important morphological characters are presented.

Revision of the Subgenus Burlinius Lopatin (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae) from China and Description of Four New Species

This study revised the subgenus Burlinius Lopatin, 1965, of the genus Cryptocephalus Geoffroy, 1762 (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Cryptocephalinae, Cryptocephalini), and describes four new species, namely, Cryptocephalus (Burlinius) longchiensis sp. nov., C. (Burlinius) baowenzhengi sp. nov., C. (Burlinius) tomurensis sp. nov., and C. (Burlinius) glabrelegantulus sp. nov. The species C. (Burlinius) turpis Chen, 1942, and C. (Burlinius) yangweii Chen, 1942, were revalidated and treated as distinct species. Another four species were transferred into this subgenus from the subgenus Cryptocephalus, namely, C. (Burlinius) flavolimbatus Pic, 1920 (stat. nov.), C. (Burlinius) pusus Schöller, 2009 (stat. nov.), C. (Burlinius) scutemaculatus Tan, 1992 (stat. nov.), and C. (Burlinius) shaowuanus Gressitt &amp; Kimoto, 1961 (stat. nov.). Two species (including one more subspecies) were removed out of this subgenus, namely, C. (Burlinius) nigrolimbatus Jacoby, 1890, C. (Burlinius) pallidipes Pic, 1927, and C. (Burlinius) pallidipes nakatae Gressitt &amp; Kimoto, 1961; they were transferred into the subgenus Cryptocephalus. Thus, the subgenus Burlinius Lopatin includes now a total of 26 species in China according to our revision. A key to all the Chinese species of this subgenus is provided as well as color illustrations and line drawings for the general habitus and genital structures.

Https://botryosphaeriales.org/, an online platform for up-to-date classification and account of taxa of Botryosphaeriales.

Fungi are eukaryotes that inhabit various ecosystems worldwide and have a decomposing effect that other organisms cannot replace. Fungi are divided into two main groups depending on how their sexual spores are formed, viz. Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. The members of Botryosphaeriales (Dothideomycetes, Ascomycota) are ubiquitous. They are pathogenic on a wide range of hosts, causing diverse diseases including dieback, canker, leaf spots and root rots and are also reported as saprobes and endophytes worldwide. As an important fungal group, of which most are plant pathogens, it is necessary to organize data and information on Botryosphaeriales so that scientific literature can be used effectively. For this purpose, a new website, https://botryosphaeriales.org is established to gather all published data together with updates on the present taxonomy of Botryosphaeriales. The website consists of an easy-to-operate searching system and provides an up-to-date classification together with accounts of Botryosphaeriales taxa, including colour illustrations, descriptions, notes and numbers of species in each genus, as well as their classification. Thus, readers will be able to obtain information on botryosphaerialean taxa through this platform.Database URL: https://botryosphaeriales.org/

A Comparative Study on the Appreciation and Adoption of Dijian tushuo in China, Korea, Japan, and France

Dijian tushuo (帝鑑圖說; The Emperor's Mirror, Illustrated and Discussed) is a book compiled by Zhang Juzheng (張居正, 1525-1582), a great scholar during the late period of the Ming Dynasty of China. The book was made for the education of Wanli Emperor (萬歷帝, r.1572-1620), who rose to the throne at an early age. It contains 117 stories about the virtuous and evil deeds of previous emperors, complete with illustrations and relevant articles. After its presentation to the emperor in 1572, several editions of the book were produced by the end of the nineteenth century, and copies were distributed to neighboring countries like Korea and Japan and even to France via Jesuit missionaries. There are copies of more than twelve extant woodblock-printed and lithographic editions in East Asia, as well as copies reprinted with copper plates in France. Also, copies of the book with color illustrations remain in China and France. In Korea, colored illustrations of Dijian tushuo are kept under different titles such as Gunwang jwaumyeong (君王左右銘; The King's Motto) and Dohae yeokdae gungam (圖解歷代君鑑; The Mirror of Rulers throughout the Ages, An Illustrated Explanation) at the Gyeonggi Provincial Museum and the Jangseogak, the archive of the Academy of Korean Studies, respectively.&lt;br/&gt;In China, Dijian tushuo formed part of the education of the crown princes during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. More than eight different editions were made by the flourishing commercial publication industry during the two dynasties. In Joseon royal court, the book was recognized as one of the didactic books for the discipline of kingship. As for Japan, the shoguns of the Edo Bakufu used the book to advertise themselves as ideal rulers or to make Chinese royal palace genre paintings as an exotic hobby. Isidore Stanislas Henri Helman (1743~1809), a French engraver, made reprinted copies of the book amid Chinoiseries popularized in eighteenth-century France. The French edition reflects not only the public criticism of King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette but also Helman’s implicit intention to receive financial support from Marie Louise Josephin de Savoie and the Count of Provence (later Louis XVIII), first in line to the throne at the time.&lt;br/&gt;Dijian tushuo was adopted in various countries in East Asia and Europe between the end of the sixteenth century and the early twentieth century, although the way it was used differed from country to country depending on their respective political, social, and cultural situations. However, all these countries had one thing in common– they had future rulers read the book. Perhaps, the fact that it was written for the education of the crown princes of China served as the stimulus for leaders and intellectuals alike. Studies on the ways in which books like Dijian tushuo were distributed as an aggregation of knowledge, information, and culture are thought to be significant and useful in identifying certain characteristics shared by diverse countries and in shedding light on differences in their political and social backgrounds and their art history.