The 18th Century Art of Fireworks

Though this rare botanical specimen looks much like a Dr. Seuss plant, it is actually an 18th century roman candle masquerading as a potted plant. It is one of the more interesting images included in a 1780 DIY manual on the fabrication of pyrotechnical instruments and the construction of fireworks. This 376 page Dutch manuscript is entirely handwritten and illustrated (probably not from the same hand) and provides the crafty 18th century DIY guy with clear instructions on how to build your own fireworks spectacular. This entire manuscript from the Getty Research Library can be fully explored on the Internet Archive. 

The handsomely illustrated watercolor of the hand and puffy sleeve is the only human influence we see in the entire manual. I'm happy to see the use of a long match extension to safely light the rocket, however the hazardous smoke surrounding this floating arm is somewhat puzzling, not to mention suspicious. All of the illustrations are quite detailed in nature and created by someone who obviously knew a thing or two about the proper display of visual information. Their are a number of color-coded bar charts with decorative baroque headers and titles describing what must be the recipes for quantities of ingredients to create special effects. 

It amazes me to see how bright and clean this book appears considering it is nearly 225 years old. Some of the images have a gold paint on them to portray flame and gold or brass metal parts. In Fig. 70 below, the potted roman candle plant is seen again in an elaborate display.

The title page from this anonymous fireworks manual is rather uninspiring; especially in light of all these lovely watercolor images. I did want to include it however, as it is the most essential page of any book. 

Lincoln & Lettering

This collection of mid-19th century songsheets from The Lincoln Collection in Fort Wayne, IN., exists to preserve the history and legacy of Abraham Lincoln. In addition, these songsheets help to preserve a historic record of hand lettering, ornamentation, and lithography of this same era as well. As a tribute to Lincoln's birthday today, we can celebrate him and the many songsheet title pages which were published in his time leading up to the Civil War and following his assassination. They are a window into one of the most pivotal times in US history, as well as one of the most engaging and visionary periods of printing and design. With a few exceptions, most of these songsheet title pages were published between 1860 and 1865. 

   

Pen Practice for George

An early 19th century Spencerian pen work drawing, "Sacred to the memory of the illustrious George Washington; Columbia's Great and Successful Son, Honored be his name." This lovely 17 x 22" hand-lettered drawing from a Nashville, Tennessee estate sold at Case Antiques auction house recently. The lettering artist is unknown, but the spirit of their pen work is felt in the message it conveys, "Gen George Washington departed this life Dec 14th 1799 And the tears of a Nation watered his grave." Based upon the technical skill of the calligrapher for this work, I would suggest that it was done as a student exercise, which was a common practice for penmans of that era.  

A similar George Washington memorial exercise seen here could very well have been lettered in the same classroom. It credits "Luther Tasker Professor of Penmanship" and in the lower left corner "Plain Writing Taught in one course of 12 sessions." Along the bottom it states "Lessons in Off Hand Flourishing Plain and Ornamental Writing." This sold manuscript and the one just below were both found at Skinner Auctions. 

Halloween Heresy

Marginalia of the earliest known illustrated example of a witch on a broomstick in the 1451 manuscript, Hexenflug der Vaudoises (Flight of the Witches), authored by Martin Le France (1410-1461). 

Text from the mid-fifteenth century, Johannes Tinctoris's Traite du crisme de Vauderie, illustrating an image of a Waldensian sabbat and their worship of a goat/devil. (Note the spirits in the sky with one on a broomstick.) The Waldensians were considered to be a heretical sect and demonized as servants of Satan in the middle ages. Animal worship > heresy? The Age of Enlightement didn't happen soon enough.
     Below is a woodcut from a collection compiled by William Dodd dating between 1641 and 1750 showing two witches and a devil on broomsticks. Sorry the rez is so low, but it must have had a hex placed upon it.

Though not a witch, this fifteenth century, fractur-licking peasant guy has a frighteningly uncanny resemblance to Moe on The Simpsons. As found on Got Medieval, who cleverly connected the dots/pixels to this mystery of animated ancestry.

::Bewitching images above from Bibliotheque Nationale de France via the Streets of Salem and the Flying Waldensians. Another hat tip goes out to Bollocks and Broomsticks for shedding more light on witches' broomsticks than I care to know.