Free Book of the Week: Ancient MesoAmerica

Xica Nation has posted links to over two dozen codices and religious texts of the Aztec, Mixtec, and Maya. Free access to traditional and ancient texts is one of the awesome things the internet has been able to provide the last couple decades! As Xica Nation puts it, "What was taken from our communities through war and violence is now available online for our generation."

If you are interested in learning more about the arts of Mesoamerican cultures, the Metropolitan of Art's Mexico: Splendors of Thirty Centuries is available to read free online. Also, Secrets in Stone: Yokes, Hachas and Palmas from Southern Mesoamerica will enlighten you on the use and decoration of stone objects from various cultures.

Enjoy browsing!

A monolith of Copan: Stela B. Front. Century Magazine, January 1898.
Images in the Public Domain.

Free Book of the Week: Witchcraft

[Books and other resources are available as links in the text.]

I have been an errant blogger! For this, I apologize. Let me make it up to you with free books about Witchcraft during the Renaissance in Europe!

Syracuse University has digitized Matteo Duni's comprehensive work on the subject, Under the Devil's Spell: Witches, Sorcerers, and the Inquisition in Renaissance Italy. While it is at time heavy-handed, and evidently an exercise in Duni's strong opinions on the Medieval Era and post Medieval Europe, the scope of information is extensive. Duni covers the trials that are so important in contemporary history, as well as research done by Medieval and Renaissance scholars and philosophers on the types of magic being practiced.

A shorter work is Emily Oster's paper from the Journal of Economic Perspectives, put online by the University of Chicago. Witchcraft, Weather and Economic Growth in Renaissance Europe begins by explaining that modern histories are unclear on the root of the perceived need for Witchcraft trials in Europe. Oster posits the trials were a sort of scapegoating for sudden economic downturn in Europe, due to changing climate conditions. It is really a very different examination of witchcraft than I have ever before seen.

Elliott P. Currie's essay Crimes Without Criminals: Witchcarft and its Control in Renaissance Europe, explores the legal side of the practice (or perceived practice) of Witchcraft in Europe. Currie writes a "Sociological study of deviant behavior." The paper is hosted online by the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and Jstor.

It is irresponsible to talk about Witchcraft in the West without discussing the implications beliefs surrounding it had on the lives of women. Unfortunately, there is very little free information to be found online about it in the form of published works. For a taster, History Today subscribers can read an article by Dale Hoak. Otherwise, if anyone can find free, published works online on this topic, please send them my way!

'Witches Prepare a Magic Ointment' 1571

Still Searching!

Free Book of the Week: Swords

The first part of my short history of swords seems to have been a hit. So, this weekend's book picks will offer more information on that topic! These selections come from the online library of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For more information on the Met's fantastic Arms & Armor collection, visit the page dedicated to their Arms & Armor department, or visit the Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History and take a stroll through the topics. This excellent resource offers short, academic articles on the history surrounding pieces in the Met's collection, and usually does a pretty solid job of putting objects in context.

The first "book" is actually an article in the Metropolitan Museum Journal. It offers more comprehensive information on Islamic blades, and as an added bonus, describes Islamic helmets. The article is downloadable by itself, or the entire volume is available for free, by visiting the Met Publications record: here.

The second book is downloadable as a PDF file. The "Arms and Armor from the Permanent Collection" edition of The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, has rich, gorgeous pictures of objects from the collection. This includes some impressive swords in various states of battle readiness.

For those seeking tips on perfecting their thrust while continuing to look fabulous in a tri-corner hat, we have The Academy of the Sword: Illustrated Fencing 1500-1800. The illustrations alone are worth a look-through. The third book of the week is available to read online via Google Books.

Enjoy your weekend!

Image of a man & woman fencing,
from the Bain Collection in the Library of Congress.
Image in the Public Domain.

Free Book of the Week: Archery

[Books, and other resources, are available as links in the text.]

This week's free book of the week is actually an entire library! Gorge yourself on the rich theory and physical science that goes into archery in the Archery Library. While you're at it, you can try to create your own bow for under 20 bucks!

Arrows cannot be that much harder, right? Luckily, I found this cheap way to make simple arrows on Poor Folk Bows. If you are perhaps more into found object creations, try this wikiHow that demonstrates how to make an arrow from "Wilderness Materials." "Simple, cheap and effective" arrows are also available on Primitive Ways.

"Primtive Ways" is a website I use for writing research. It is not entirely politically correct, but it is generally respectful to the cultures the writers draw their skills from, and supplies several interesting essays and ambitious projects. More advanced craftsmen may like to try the Cordage Backed Bow project described by Dick Baugh. The bow is modeled off of an Inuit style of weaponry, also called cable-backed bows. These projectile weapon systems utilize cords along its limbs that can be tightened to reinforce its strength.

Cesar Perez from the site offers a method for making a board bow, which uses wood board you might find at a lumber yard. I found this method to be reliant on more exact science and good intuition as a craftsman. Jon Jeffer explains how to make a bow from a sapling, in case your city put in way too many new trees in your neighborhood this spring. (Please don't remove trees your city places.) Finally, for the more axe-friendly, Stephen Coote created a how-to for creating a bow using a hatchet.

These are only a few of the free resources available. Have fun exploring and learning!

19th century parts of bows and arrows.
From The Century, Vol. 14, 1877
Image in the Public Domain.

Free Book of the Week: Buddhist Art on the Silk Route

This will doubtless be a topic we return to again and again on this blog, as I am utterly enchanted by the history of the network of trade routes traditionally termed "the Silk Road." Spices, luxury goods, and religion were not the only things traded along those oasis lined highways. Civilizations were defined by the interactions and ideas supported by the Road. The amalgam of traditions borne by traders and pilgrims affected art in the civilizations involved for centuries.
Buddhism is a religion that was kindled into international life along the Silk Route. It took off in some way in nearly every culture it cam in contact with, and morphed into a system of beliefs that worked for them. This week, I have found a purely visual book from the Getty Research Institute. This Tibetan Pattern Book provides the traditional proportions of iconic Buddhist art in Tibet. For those interested in more information on the art styles Along the Ancient Silk Routes, the Metropolitan Museum of Art has made their publication on it free to read online, and also available for download.

A photo of a Buddhist dance,
captured on exhibition to Tibet by Ernst Schafer.
via the Bundersarchiv

Free Book of the Week:

There are a ton of amazing free books online! Old and otherwise. Every Friday, I plan to post some weekend reading.

This week we have a particularly delectable morsel of archaic medical documentation. I made the dubious decision to research the exact method of use of a pair of bone forceps found in a surgeon's house at Pompeii. This led me to the digital exhibition of surgical instruments from ancient Rome put up by the University of Viriginia. (Available here: http://exhibits.hsl.virginia.edu/romansurgical/) While it has beautiful images of the objects, and good information in the minimal text, it is ultimately too easy to be lost in the horror of it all. Naturally, after retching at the collection of Vaginal Specula, I could hardly scroll past the Rectal Speculum and Bone Levers. Nor could I ignore the overall fearsome shape of the Male Catheter, which I learned elsewhere is probably made from copper of bronze. Silver examples have also been described; as well as attempts using reed and quills (which would have had a more difficult time surviving over long periods, archaeologically.)

Roman medical tools. Try to guess what they were for!
(Image in the Public Domain)

On to the free reading! My investigations brought me to the 1816 publication A Dictionary of Practical Surgery: comprehending all the most interesting improvements from the earliest times down to the present period: an account of the instruments and remedies employed in surgery: the etymology and signification of the principal terms: and, numerous references to ancient and modern works forming a catalogue of surgical literature arranged according to subject. The text is certainly comprehensive, and extremely useful in destroying word count when referenced in a research paper.

If you are the type of sick individual that relishes disgusting detail, horrifying history, or are simply looking to improve your Georgian era medical vocabulary, it can be viewed and even downloaded from the Internet Archive (where I think it is easier to read), or Google books (where it is easier to search for topics like "necrosis" or "uvula amputation" ( location on the "VAG" page).

A second text this week is the more pithy title Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind. Historically, our understanding of mental disorders and faculties has led to inhumane treatments and madly misplaced assumptions. This misunderstanding extends into the modern age. However, this particular book was interesting to me because of its use of "noble savage" tropes in identifying the causes of derangement. Specifically, on page 65, Rush (the author) says,

Certain states of society, and certain opinions, pursuits, amusements, and forms of government have a considerable influence in predisposing to derangement. It is a rare disease among savages. ... Infidelity and atheism are frequent causes of it in christian countries."

I hope these entertain!