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MONTHLY BLOG 121, BEING ASSESSED AS A WHOLE PERSON – A CRITIQUE OF IDENTITY POLITICS

2 January 2021 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) [PJC Pdf/58] One of series of Dissected Photographs by New York artist © Michael Mapes Friends: I want to be taken seriously as a whole person, assessed in the round. It’s positively good to feel part of a universalist personhood.1 Something that is experienced […]

MONTHLY BLOG 120, ISAAC NEWTON, WORLD RENOWNED PHYSICIST & INVENTOR OF THE CAT FLAP!?

1 December 2020 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Downloaded from https://www.catsbest.eu/catsbest_en (Nov. 2020) Nothing wrong with a special cat-sized doorway, of course.1 A cat flap is a handy device. But was it really invented in the late seventeenth century by Sir Isaac Newton (1643-1727), the renowned physicist and mathematician?2 He was certainly […]

MONTHLY BLOG 119, THE FELINE MUSE IN THE LONG EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY

1 November 2020 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig.1: William Hogarth’s alert cat, ears pricked, teeth bared, claws unleashed, and intent gaze fixed upon its notional prey (a caged bird)– revealing the feral cat within the domestic pet. Source: detail from Hogarth’s Portrait of the Graham Children (1742). Cats in Britain changed […]

MONTHLY BLOG 118, COMMEMORATING ANOTHER FEISTY EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY SEA-GOING CAT

2 October 2020 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig. 1 John Cornwell’s bronze statue of Trim, the feisty black cat who sailed in the circumnavigation of Australia in 1801/3: located outside Mitchell Library, 173 Macquarie St, Sydney, Australia. Another feisty sea-going cat from the eighteenth century has inspired a great set of […]

MONTHLY BLOG 117, AN EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY FOLLY-BUILDER & CAT-LOVER

4 September 2020 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Public monuments to cats – as opposed to literary, artistic and musical celebrations1 – are rare to find, especially dating from the eighteenth century. So this majestic example deserves full appreciation. The lordly cat sits atop a giant Grecian vase, all forming the substantial […]

MONTHLY BLOG 115, THE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY INVENTION OF TWO NEW SOLITARY OCCUPATIONS

1 July 2020 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) 1793 Statue of Ancient British Druid, Croome Park, Worcestershire Not only did a few famous eighteenth-century recluses choose solitude (see BLOG no 114, June 2020) but others found that isolation went with the job. Two new occupations called for people with self-contained personalities, who […]

MONTHLY BLOG 114, SELF-ISOLATION EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY STYLE

1 June 2020 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig.1 Engraving (1808) of Lord Rokeby (1713-1800), a famous eighteenth-century self-isolator, who looked like a wise old wizard but whose actual message was obscure. It’s not original to note that humans are a highly social species. But it’s only now becoming generally appreciated just […]

MONTHLY BLOG 113, LIGHT FROM THE LAMP OF EXPERIENCE

1 May 2020 in , /by

If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2020) Fig.1, A hand-held eighteenth-century lantern, its lighted candle providing an immediate pool of light. ‘The Lamp of Experience’ is a marvellous phrase. A lantern throws light. It does not insist dogmatically but instead conveys sufficient illumination for good judgment. ‘Experience’ is also a vital […]