The Daily Render

A Digital Scrapbook for the Past, Present, and Future

A brief note on the history of the Washington Times
|| 12/1/2009 || 3:11 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

A scan of the original masthead of the Washington Times from 1920

The Washington Times of 100 years ago that I’ve been republishing here recently is not the Washington Times of today. The original Washington Times was founded in 1893 by William Randolph Hearst and eventually merged with the Washington Herald in 1939 to become the Washington Times-Herald. In 1954 the Washington Times-Herald was purchased by the Washington Post and merged into the Washington Post and Times-Herald. The Washington Post eventually dropped the Times-Herald from it’s masthead in 1973. In 1982, less than a year after the the demise of the Washington Post’s rival daily newspaper, The Washington Star, the contemporary version of the Washington Times was created by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon. In the archives on this blog, I have not made any attempt to separate the two Washington Times, nor do I plan to. All one needs to do is see the original date of publication and they should automatically know which Washington Times is being written about.

2010 Cartographic Calendar [Color Edition]
|| 11/30/2009 || 11:48 am || 3 Comments Rendered || ||

Front cover of the Color Edition of the 2010 Cartographic Calendar by Nikolas Schiller

This unique wall calendar contains 12 maps of the Washington originally published in the newspapers of the District of Columbia between 1887 and 1909. There are two editions of the calendar available: one with the original black & white scans and the other with colorized maps (below). Each calendar is on sale for $25 + shipping until January 31st, 2009.

Below are the pages from each month of the Color Edition of the 2010 Cartographic Calendar:

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2010 Cartographic Calendar [Black & White Edition]
|| 11/29/2009 || 9:47 am || 2 Comments Rendered || ||

Front cover of the Black & White Edition of the 2010 Cartographic Calendar by Nikolas Schiller

This unique wall calendar contains 12 maps of the Washington originally published in the newspapers of the District of Columbia between 1887 and 1909. There are two editions of the calendar available: one with the original black & white scans (below) and the other with colorized maps. Each calendar is on sale for $25 + shipping until January 31st, 2009.

Below are the pages from each month of the Black & White Edition of the 2010 Cartographic Calendar:

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Squelched [A Sunday Comic from 1896]
|| 10/19/2009 || 3:57 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

Squelched - A Bicycle Comic published on Sunday April 26th, 1896 in the Washington Times

Mr. Biker – You seem to think more of your bicycle than you do of me.
Mrs. Biker – Why not? It supports me nicely; besides it is not so easily broke.

Originally published by the Washington Times on Sunday, April 26th, 1896

My new internet addiction as of late has been trolling through the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers archive. It’s officially apart of the National Digital Newspaper Program, which is a joint project between the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress to create and maintain a publicly available, online digital archive of historically significant newspapers published in the United States between 1836 and 1922. There are currently about a million pages to comb through and I’m only just starting!

[FOUND MAP] Isola d’Elba aka the Island of Elba
|| 7/10/2009 || 5:49 pm || + Render A Comment || ||

Click the map above to view the larger version

The other night I was over at my friend’s house in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, DC for her going away party and saw this map hanging on the wall.

Isola d’Elba aka the Island of Elba is an island in Tuscany, Italy, 20 kilometres (12 mi) from the coastal town of Piombino. It is the largest island of the Tuscan Archipelago, located between the Tyrrhenian Sea and Ligurian Sea, and the third largest island in Italy after Sicily and Sardinia. This map shows the island with various cities, embellishments of fruit, flowers, & fish, important mountains on the island, and at the top of the map there is an iconic graphic of Napoleon Bonaparte riding a horse.

I first read about the Island of Elba when I was learning about French emperor Napoleon I in high school. Following the Treaty of Fontainebleau, Napoleon was exiled to Elba after his forced abdication in 1814 and arrived at Portoferraio (near the steamboat on the map) on May 3, 1814. He stayed on Elba for only 300 days and returned to France only to be exiled again to the far more distant Island of Saint Helena.

Below is a Library of Congress copy of a British engraving depicting Napoleon’s banishment to Elba in 1814:

It’s titled “The journey of a modern hero, to the island of Elba” and says at the bottom:

Farewell my brave soldiers, my eagles adieu;
Stung with my ambition, o’er the world ye flew:
But deeds of disaster so sad to rehearse
I have lived–fatal truth for to know the reverse.
From Moscow to Lipsic; the case it is clear
I was sent back to France with a flea in my ear.

A lesson to mortals regarding my fall:
He grasps at a shadow, by grasping at all.
My course it is finish’d my race it is run,
My career it is ended just where it begun.
The Empire of France no more it is mine.
Because I can’t keep it I freely resign.

Coming from the butt of the donkey is the text: “The greatest events in human life is turn’d to a puff.” Coming from the broken sword is the text: “A throne is only made of wood and cover’d with velvet.” Written on the saddle are two phrases: “The budget of Mathematical books for my study at ELBA.” & “Materials for the history of my life and exploits.”

Related Found Maps:

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A Perpetual Calendar showing the day of any month corresponding to any day of the week, for the year 1775, to the year 2025
|| 3/5/2009 || 7:44 pm || 1 Comment Rendered || ||

Last year I was planning on making six different calendars for 2009 to follow up the three calendars I made for 2008. I never ended up making any. It wasn’t that I couldn’t or wouldn’t, I just did really care at the time to make them. They didn’t end up becoming a priority, but I’m no sure why. I am still considering making one for myself, but haven’t yet.

The other week I came across this broadside on the Library of Congress’ Printed Ephemera Collection and thought it was worthy of sharing here. I’ll note that the graphic above shows only a portion of the original broadside, but for the purposed of this entry, it’s all I want to write about. This Perpetual Calendar was printed in Washington, DC in 1848 by the company Barnard & Sandy and is an interesting analogue means to find what the date is. Here is how:

The four steps it takes to find the day of the week.
1) Guide your finger to the years column on the right (or left) column
2) Guide your finger to the left (or right) to the central month column
3) Guide your finger down to the day of the week column
4) Guide your finger to the day of the month

4 Steps to using the Perpetual Calendar, which shows the day of any month corresponding to any day of the week, for the year 1775, to the year 2025. Published in Washington, DC in 1848. Courtesy of the Library of Congress' Printed Ephemera Collection

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

It only works if you know what year it is, what month it is, and know either the day of week or the day of the month it is. For example, lets say you were unconscious for the last two weeks and don’t know what the day of the month it is (5th, 7th, 11th?) but you know that today is a Thursday, in March in the year 2009. This calendar will give you four options for the day of the month: 5, 12, 19, or 26.

Alternatively, if you knew that today was the 5th of March in 2009, but didn’t know the day of the week, you’d have to find where 5 shows up in the days of the month chart then find the point where the months of the year intersect in the day of the week box.

Once you figure out how to use this calendar its pretty easy to use. You can easily use this to plan for weekend trips for the next 16 years into the future or find out the day of the week a specific event took place in the last 234 years. I’ve come to the conclusion that while my art might be beautiful to look at for a year in the form of a calendar, I would rather construct a calendar like this one that outlives the 28 year cycle most leap year calendars follow. I think this would be an awesome project to undertake!

Related Calendar Entries:

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Photograph of the ceiling inside of the Alhambra obtained from the Casselman Archive of Islamic and Mudejar Architecture in Spain
|| 12/11/2008 || 3:14 pm || Comments Off on Photograph of the ceiling inside of the Alhambra obtained from the Casselman Archive of Islamic and Mudejar Architecture in Spain || ||

Title: Alhambra
Date: 1354-1391
Place: Andalusia–Granada–Granada
Time: Islamic (Nasrid)
Description: Interior: Sala de la Barca (Hall of the Boat), Detail of Wood Ceiling
Subjects: Palace / Ceiling / Artesonado / Lacería / Granada
Type: StillImage
Is Part Of: Casselman Archive of Islamic and Mudejar Architecture in Spain
The Arts Collection
Rights: Copyright Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
Posted here for educational & promotional purposes
Ownership: University of Wisconsin Art History Department
Submitter: Thomas E. A. Dale, Art History, University of Wisconsin–Madison
Local Identifier: Arts.csls8503.bib

Yesterday I read that the University of Wisconsin’s Art History Department has made available over 4,000 images from its slide library. The Casselman Archive contains images of medieval and early modern Spain taken by the late Eugene Casselman (1912-1996) during his thirty years of travel throughout the Iberian peninsula. The images span over one thousand years of architectural history, from the seventh to the seventeenth century. While I never studied architecture or Islamic art, I can’t help but be reminded of the stylistic similarities between what I produce and what was being produced over 600 years ago.

Stereocard of the Great Hall in the Vatican Library
|| 11/17/2008 || 3:59 pm || Comments Off on Stereocard of the Great Hall in the Vatican Library || ||

Relax your eyes to allow the two images to line up

William Herman Rau (1855-1920), “Corridoio della Biblioteca Vaticana, Roma”. Stereofotografia. Numero di catalogo: 1999.

The other day I was clicking through Wikipedia and I came across this interesting stereogram. Check out these other stereocards.

In the December issue of QST Magazine
|| 11/16/2008 || 5:57 pm || Comments Off on In the December issue of QST Magazine || ||

Vintage advertisement for Heath Company's Ham Radios

Vintage advertisement from the December 1966 issue of QST Magazine for Heath Company’s Ham Radios

QST magazine is the most widely read Amateur Radio publication in the country. Since 1915, QST has been delivering the latest news and practical information from the world of Amateur Radio. In September I was contacted about supplying a map similar to the one in the photograph above for an upcoming advertisement in the magazine. While I didn’t have the original map shown above, I was able to print a copy of my “New Blaeu” map for Brian Wood of the DZ Company. The advertisement below is featured in the December edition of QST Magazine on page 150. If you see it on the newsstands, please pick up a copy! Click the advertisement below to be taken to www.dzkit.com

Related Antique Entries:

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Ordered Today: A New & Arabesque Map of the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
|| 10/2/2008 || 1:00 pm || Comments Off on Ordered Today: A New & Arabesque Map of the Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden || ||

Today I finally got around to ordering this unique map. I’ve been wanting to get it printed for a couple months but I could not decide on how I wanted it to be printed, matted, and framed. Specifically, I had the most trouble choosing which mat to use because I wanted the color to slightly match the map and since the map is partially black & white, I decided on a grey hued mat. When it arrives in a couple weeks I’ll know if my choice was decent or not. Regardless, I am happy that my other antique map now has a companion.

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Nikolas Schiller is a second-class American citizen living in America's last colony, Washington, DC. This blog is my on-line repository of what I have created or found on-line since May of 2004. If you have any questions or comments, please contact: