“When Dickens received the initial receipts of production and sale from Chapman and Hall, he found that after the deductions for printing, paper, drawing and engraving, steel plates, paper for plates, colouring, binding, incidentals and advertising and commission to the publishers, the ‘Balance of account to Mr Dickens’s credit’ was a mere £137.”
Tag: 12.22.09
400 Years Later, Scientists Examine Caravaggio’s Remains
The painter’s bones “had been housed in a special container called an ossuary in the town of Porto Ercole in Italy. … The cause of Caravaggio’s death has been something of a mystery,” with theories including “that he was assassinated for religious reasons, and that he collapsed with malaria on a deserted beach.”
In Astor Case, Being B’way Producer Was Image Enhancer
Attorneys for Brooke Astor’s son, Anthony D. Marshall, tried to make him look good by painting him as “a proud Marine who had seen combat at Iwo Jima; a distinguished former C.I.A. employee; a respected former diplomat; and a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer.”
Donald Duck, Sweden’s Peculiar Family Christmas Tradition
“Every year on Dec. 24 at 3 p.m., half of Sweden sits down in front of the television for a family viewing of the 1958 Walt Disney Presents Christmas special, ‘From All of Us to All of You.’ Or as it is known in Sverige, Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar God Jul: ‘Donald Duck and his friends wish you a Merry Christmas.'”
Fonzie As Capt. Hook In Liverpool: Must Be Panto Season
“Pantomimes — recastings of old children’s stories with vaudeville, audience participation, puns, singing and cross-dressing — are an honorable, even essential, part of the British Christmas season. Meant to appeal to all ages, they are enduringly popular, flamboyantly silly and, if done well, hugely lucrative. They often feature big stars.”
Was Roundabout’s Expansion Brilliance? Hubris? Both?
With the Roundabout Theatre Company “expecting to end the fiscal year with its first budget deficit since 1992,” some producers say it’s “a case study of an arts institution overextending itself financially — all the more so after a powerful board member offered the company a new theater — as well as creatively.”
Field Museum Display Case Rigged For Marriage Proposals
“The case, identical to the others in the Grainger Hall of Gems and lit to hold a diamond ring, is part of a new offer by the museum to pop the question there. The $350 fee includes a champagne toast, with optional add-ons.”
Cut Down On TV And — Presto! — Become Less Sedentary
“Overweight adults who cut their viewing in half for three weeks used about 120 more calories a day than a similar group of viewers, who continued watching five hours a day on average, a small research trial has found.”
New Organ Makes Music With Leather, Oak, Lead And Tin
The Craighead-Saunders organ in Rochester, N.Y., “is a nearly exact copy of a late Baroque organ” in Vilnius, Lithuania. “Modern instruments take advantage of technologies that have given organ-makers generations of new tools and materials, like air compressors, composites and the electric circuit. But before all that, the builders did it another way.”
Santa And The Tooth Fairy Help Kids Grapple With Reality
“For years, imagination was thought of as a way for children to escape from reality, and once they reached a certain age, it was believed they would push fantasy aside and deal with the real world. But, increasingly, child-development experts are recognizing the importance of imagination and the role it plays in understanding reality.”