Search Results: Titles starting with M from The Raab Collection

26/07/1931. Mahatma Gandhi He admits a New York Christian to his Ashram: “life with me is a very hard life and perhaps much simpler than you have imagined.”Gandhi’s thoughts on religion are crucial and have gathered much interest and respect. An article on the subject stated that Gandhi “believed in judging people of other faiths from their stand point rather than his own.” He welcomed contact of Hinduism with other religions, and “believed a respectful study of other's religion was a sacred duty and it did not reduce reverence for one's own…He expected religion to take account of practical life, he wanted it to appeal to reason and not be in conflict with morality.” He believed Jesus “expressed the will and spirit of God but could not accept Jesus as the only incarnate son of God.” All good people were also sons or daughters of God. “If Jesus was like God or God himself, then all men were like God or God Himself. But neither could he accept the Vedas as the inspired word of… Read More

22/07/1812. Robert M. Patterson He made these unpublished calculations on board a vessel in the Atlantic Ocean, and was, along with his father, a friend of Thomas Jefferson; he was a prominent member of the Philosophical Society and would later be its PresidentThe American Philosophical Society in Philadelphia was the hub of knowledge and its pursuit in the early United States. Among its early members were America’s most prominent scientists of the time, including Thomas Jefferson, and Robert Patterson, early mathematician and perhaps the preeminent astronomer of his generation. Both served in leadership of the Society for a period, and both were among a select few to prepare Meriwether Lewis for his expedition.In 1779, after the College and Academy of Philadelphia were reorganized into the University of Pennsylvania, Patterson successfully applied to John Ewing, the Provost, for employment as Professor of Mathematics. Patterson was Professor of Mathematics from 1779 to 1810, Professor of Natural… Read More

1100. Medieval Art|Before 1300|All Medieval Historical Documents Records of the sale of this piece date back to the 1940s at a sale at Parke Bernet in New York, which noted its rarityAcross Europe, holy wells dot the landscape, often renamed and repurposed from pre-Christian sites of worship. Relics of finger bones and tunics are carefully and reverently shrouded in the churches. Pilgrims walk the same paths year after year to atone for their sins and contemplate God. Effigies or symbols are carried around for specific protections. Hagiographies, also called vitae or lives, detailed holy lives and were written down in jewel-covered manuscripts. In short, saints and saints’ cults navigated the social and political sphere, even the geography, of medieval Europe.Some saints were responsible for specific requests of intercession. Saint Sigismund, the 6th century King of the Burgundians, cured fevers and was the first saint to “specialise in the cure of a particular medical condition” (Paxton, 26).… Read More

1100. Medieval Art|All Medieval Historical Documents|Before 1300 Medieval canine companionship: remarkably early inhabited initial of a dog; from 12th Century FranceEx-Parke Bernet, 1948 Mankind has long been infatuated with dogs. The canine/human relationship goes back tens of thousands of years, and a painting of a dog as cave art from 9,000 years ago has survived. But it was only in the Middle Ages that images of dogs, especially those in context, begin to appear with any regularity. Dogs’ roles in the lives of humans from the Middle Ages would be familiar to us in the modern day. Besides being lap dogs or companions, dogs also helped in the hunt.Throughout the Middle Ages, important thinkers turn their thoughts towards animals, both allegorical and figural. As early as Pliny the Elder, who wrote Natural History around 70 AD, the loyalty of our canine companions has been noted, with anecdotes of dogs staying by their owner’s sides even after death. This theme is carried through the… Read More

30/10/1963. Robert Kennedy Signed by Robert Kennedy, initialed by Hoover, seen by President Kennedy, and retained in the papers of JFK aide Kenneth O’DonnellOn October 26, 1963, 24 year old Willie Philyaw was stopped by Philadelphia police for allegedly stealing a watch from a local drugstore. Police claimed Philyaw attacked an officer with a knife, but witnesses said he was hobbling away from police on an injured leg. The officer shot and killed him, and a crowd gathered. For North Philadelphia’s black community, the incident confirmed their perception that the police used unnecessary force against them. This incident sparked a riot in North Philadelphia that commenced on the 28th, in which about 500 people broke windows, looted the stores of white merchants along Susquehanna Avenue, and fought against almost 100 riot-equipped police. 23 people were arrested on charges of malicious mischief, disorderly conduct and breach of the peace. Local ministers tried unsuccessfully to persuade the crowds… Read More

15/02/1933. Albert Einstein He revises the typescript of his interview with the War Resisters League, of which he was Honorary Chairman, and calls out William Randolph Hearst and the head of the press and film empire in Germany, who aided Hitler’s rise On philosophy: “The intellect without the emotions is insignificant”; On racism: “The main thing is that minority groups should be allowed security in the community.” They ought to be “accepted with friendliness as equal members” On the press: He criticizes William Randolph Heart by name, but says “The freedom of the press is necessary, despite all the dangers or abuse that come with it.”. On pacifism and peace keeping: “A pacifist is one who believes in his heart that to go to war is beneath the dignity of a human being”, “Society needs some form of organization, for security and protection in international life”, and “An international police force…is almost absolutely necessary as one step toward achieving… Read More

07/10/1853. Millard Fillmore The Army Corps of Topographical Engineers was responsible for mapping and engineering, and for the design and construction of federal civil works such as lighthouses and other coastal fortifications and navigational routes. Members included such officers as George G. Meade and John C. Fremont. Col. John James Abert was a U.S. Army officer who headed the Corps for 32 years, during which time he supervised many early national engineering projects. He also organized the mapping of the American West. Working with him was Col. T.J. Lee, who in 1849 wrote “A Collection of Tables and Formulae Useful in Surveying, Geodesy, and Practical Astronomy: Including Elements for the Projection of Maps”. This was prepared for specifically for the use of the Corps of Topographical Engineers. Between 1849-1853, that Corps produced three charts of Lake Erie, which were among the first charts published by the Lake Survey. The charts were prepared under the direction of Lee, and finally… Read More

21/10/1931. H.L. Mencken Henry L. Mencken was a journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English, longtime columnist for the Baltimore Sun. Typed Letter Signed, 1 page, Baltimore, October 21, 1931 to Mr. Hart. “A ‘tap on the nose’ is far too polite an attention for Gandhi. I’d much prefer a swift kick where his pantaloons would be if he wore any. Let the Kendall book come along and I’ll be glad to go through it.” Mencken was known for his acerbic style but why he disparages Gandhi in this way is unclear unless it had something to do with their attitudes on civil rights which at this time was a complicated issue.