March/April 2010
In This Issue March/April 2010
Portrait of the Artist Before and After
Thomas Hart Benton was famous when he wrote his autobiography, forgotten when he updated it.
Volume 31, Issue 2
Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975), The Yankee Driver, 1923, oil on canvas, 26 x 23 3/4 in.The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens. Art © T. H. Benton and R. P. Benton Testamentary Trusts / UMB Ba
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Features
Whaling The Old Way
Life on a nineteenth-century whaler was thrilling, tedious, and often disgusting.
By James WillifordSweet Auburn
Cambridge's pastoral gateway to paradise set the trend for modern cemeteries.
By Sarah Stewart TaylorSailor of Fortune
Michael of Rhodes was not your typical fifteenth-century Venetian, and he left his manuscript as proof.
By Anna Maria GillisAmerican Zenophilia
Our fascination with Buddha goes well beyond power drinks and movie stars.
By Sarah Pulliam BaileyEight Who Make A Difference
The 2009 Humanities Medalists.
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Departments
Statements
Vegas’s Revolutionary Recluse
Nevada pays tribute to the vision of Howard Hughes.
By Laura Wolff ScanlanCurio
Remains of the Day
By Between June 14 and July 27, 1794, hundreds of nobles, shopkeepers, clergy, corset makers, vintners, and other “suspicious” citizens were executed by guillotine at Place de la Nation in Paris.
By Amy LifsonGreat Scott!
In an “abandoned tramp’s hotel that had become too filthy even for the tramps,” a bohemian circle of actors, writers, and society figures founded Le Petit Théâtre du Vieux Carré in 1919, one of the fi
By Steve MoyerFashion Statements
The caftan-like shape is typical of Palestinian dresses, but the woven stripe pattern, the appliquéd areas on the shoulders, sleeves, and skirt, the densely embroidered chest square, and the color sch
By Steve MoyerImpertinent Questions
Impertinent Questions with Edwin L. Battistella
On the self-help career of grammarian Sherwin Cody.
By David Skinner (Edited by)In Focus
Wisconsin’s Dena Wortzel
Dena Wortzel finds common ground between rural and urban communities.
By Jenny PriceEdNote
Editor's Note, March/April 2010
A few weeks ago, zipping through some recent American writings on Buddhism, I came across an article by a Buddhist named Damaris Williams. It was about a meditation marathon she’d taken part in.
By David Skinner