bunstrousfur

[bunstrousfur]

[bunstrousfur]

A former stray very happy to be inside

[bunstrousfur]

so when food is too salty we might say "打死卖盐的" basically meaning "did you beat the salt merchant to death" but one time in an attempt to be a little polite and a little funny to the chef (my mother) i said "……是不是又跟卖盐的有矛盾了" meaning "are you... having a dispute with the salt merchant again" and now it's a whole thing in my family

anyway point being there has been another altercation with the salt merchant

[bunstrousfur]

[bunstrousfur]

Ea-Naṣir Reassures Two Men (UET V 72)

In this unpublished tablet, held by the British Museum, we find the copper merchant Ea-Naṣir and his associate Ilushu-illassu writing to a couple of men to reassure them.  Although the situation is missing some context, there are some real gems in the context of the famous letter to Ea-Naṣir.

One of the men intimidating the recipients is named Mr. Shorty (kurûm).

Ea-Naṣir complains that people don’t believe him.

Ea-Naṣir mentions giving “the ingots that we talked about” to someone.

The repeated encouragements — “don’t be scared!” “don’t be critical!” “don’t worry!” — sound a lot like Ea-Naṣir is trying to reassure someone that a situation hasn’t gone sideways (but it has).

…

Say to Shumun-libshi and the Zabardabbû: [1]

Ea-Naṣir and Ilushu-illassu say:

As for the situation with Mr. “Shorty” and Erissum-matim, who came here, don’t be scared.

I made them enter the temple of the Sun-God and take an oath.  They said, “We didn’t come about these matters; we came for our businesses.”

I said, “I will write to them” — but they didn’t believe me!

He said, “I had a quarrel with Mr. Shumun-libshi.”  He said, “[…] to his partner.  I took, and you did not […]  You didn’t give to me.”

Within 3 days, I’ll come to the city of Larsa.

Also, I spoke with Erissum-matim and said, “What is your sign?” [2]

I said to the kettle-maker (?), “Go with Ilum-gamil the Zabardabbû, and take the shortfall for me, and put it in the city of Enimma.”

Also, don’t neglect your […].

Also, I have given the ingots that we talked about to the men.

P.S. Don’t be critical!  Get the […] from them!  Don’t worry!  We’ll come to you.  [3]

Keep reading

[bunstrousfur]

"The Foxes' Wedding" from A.B. Mitford's Tales of old Japan (1891). Full text here.

[bunstrousfur]

Markings characteristic of the Southern Black Widow spider at various stages of its life cycle, including some variations.

Full text, including a detailed explanation of the plates on page 184 and 186, can be found here.

[bunstrousfur]

I've added five new limited edition prints to the shop at www.tomgauld.com/shop. This is one of them.

[bunstrousfur]

My latest cartoon for New Scientis. Lots more here.

[bunstrousfur]

[bunstrousfur]

Coffee With A Codex is an informal lunch or coffee time to meet virtually with Kislak curators and talk about one of the manuscripts from Penn's collections. Each week we'll feature a different manuscript and the expertise of one of our curators. Everyone is welcome to attend.

On Thursday, October 12, Curator Dot Porter will visit the Free Library of Philadelphia where she'll present Widener 7, a book of hours that's full of dragons. Register here: https://libcal.library.upenn.edu/event/11335432

Note that the Zoom links for Coffee With a Codex are reusable - register once and attend every Thursday at 12pm EDT / 5pm BST.

See the full schedule for Coffee with a Codex at: https://www.library.upenn.edu/events/coffee-codex

Join our mailing list for weekly updates: http://eepurl.com/imdj_k

[bunstrousfur]

If you live in the USA and you're pleading for donations to pay your rent, bills, or get food then dial 211! Please dial 211 before the last minute!

It's a toll free service with people who will help you find programs in your community to pay those bills, find food, and find housing! They will give you numbers to call so you can get help.

It is not 100% foolproof. Their job is to direct you to a program they believe will help your current issue, but it's still a step up from praying random strangers online will give you enough cash before a deadline! The added benefit of these community programs, which get funded by the local government most of the time, is if there are more people using them then they can get more money to help more people.

You're not taking resources from other people if you use your community services. Your taxes pay for them. Use them.

Dial 211 first to see if they can help, and if for some reason they can't, then make your donation posts!

https://www.211.org/

[bunstrousfur]

#Miniature Monday

Pandora's Box by  Peter & Donna Thomas

This is part of a series focusing on a small fraction of the lovely artists books by Peter and Donna Thomas!

Today's item is a scroll on a wooden frame that the makers compare to Pandora's Box-easy to open, but harder to put back! (Don't worry- I got it rolled back up again safely.)

When unrolled, it features a quotation from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-five, which begins: "I have told my sons that they are not under any circumstances to take part in massacres." The text is on a backdrop of green and blue linoleum cuts by Donna Thomas.

Peter and Donna Thomas are "book artists from Santa Cruz, CA. They work both collaboratively and individually; letterpress printing, hand-lettering and illustrating texts, making paper, and hand binding both fine press and artists’ books." They have made over 100 limited edition books, often with Peter making the paper, and Donna doing the illustrations.

Check out more of Donna and Peter's books at Uiowa here.

--Diane R., Special Collections Graduate Student

[bunstrousfur]

Posable paper horse with interchangeable background diagrams illustrating horse movement ("gallop" and "leap" respectively) from Eugène Alix's Le cheval (1886). Full text here.

[bunstrousfur]

"The Foxes' Wedding" from A.B. Mitford's Tales of old Japan (1891). Full text here.

[bunstrousfur]

[bunstrousfur]

I can’t stop laughing at this 🤣😂🤣