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"I love to read. My education is self-inflicted"
Pompeii Issue Horizon Magazine
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Pompeii Issue Horizon Magazine
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This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
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Journal Entry 1 by 
Dear Reader,Recently, I read a very interesting book, SURVIVING GALERAS, by Stanley Williams, a volcanologist who survived an eruption of Galeras in South America back in the 1990s. Around the account of what happened to him and to his colleagues, Williams describes current volcano science and the long history of volcanos in a most fascinating way. I'd found a home for that book and another book on volcanos when I was struck low by illness. I've been meaning to get the book off to my bookcrossing friend for at least a week. Well today, feeling better and moving around for a change, I found this wonderful publication featuring a lushly illustrated article on Pomepeii. That's what I've been waiting for, I thought. Whenever I see old issues of Horizon Magazine at thrift or used bookstores, I almost always acquire them. Each issue is very special. I probably bought this about ten years ago. The image of the volcano Vesuvius I've used as an illustration is featured on the opening pages of Neil McKendrick's article on Pompeii. It comes from a house uncovered in the Eighteenth Century excavations of the city buried by Vesuvius and pictures the pagan god of wine, Bacchus, standing beside the quiet volcano. The snake in the foreground is a symbol of good luck, which sadly did not extend to most of the ancients of Pompeii in 79 A.D. Their pitiful, dying forms are also pictured in the article. Volcanic ash and rock hardened around the dead and casts were later made. These lifelike witnesses touch and terrify me whenever I see them. Art picturing the ancient cult of Bacchus is displayed most prominently in the article. A vivid picture from the famous Villa of the Mysteries is on the cover of the magazine. When Vesuvius buried Pompeii much of its art and decoration was preserved beneath the volcanic detritus. Seventeen centuries later this ancient world, caught so precisely in its own unique time and character, became a force in European culture. Art, interior decoration and fashion all changed with the exciting discoveries of an excavated Pompeii. Also pictured within are Marie Antoinette's boudoir and many other examples of art and decorative art influenced by the discoveries. McKendrick, who was then a fellow and college lecturer in history at Cambridge does a wonderful job of linking those two faraway times, A.D 79 and the Eighteenth Century. In the 48 years since he penned this article for the March 1962 issue of Horizon, McKendrick has written several books of history: Historical Perspectives (1974), The Birth of a Consumer Society: the Commercialisation of Eighteenth Century England (1983), Business Life and Public Policy (1986) and The Birth of Foreign and Colonial: the World's First Investment Trust (1993). |
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Journal Entry 2 by
Horizon's picture of Pompeii and the Eighteenth Century has haunted me these past few days. The feature ends with this portrait of Emma, Lady Hamilton, one of the most beautiful women of her day, in one of her "attitudes" or poses of antiquity. With an interest in acting, intelligence and wit, Emma made herself into a work of art. British painter George Romney, who painted this, made Lady Hamilton's beauty famous, preserved in images that recall the Pompeiian world she and her much older husband Sir William Hamilton helped to bring to the imagination of Eighteenth Century Europe and its colonies. Emma rose from being a maid and a courtesan in her native England to her marriage to Sir William, who was then British envoy to Naples. She later became the mistress of Lord Horatio Nelson, one of the great military heros of the era. Lord Hamilton is one of the "volcano lovers" described in William's book SUVIVING GALERAS and the ménage à trois he, Emma and Nelson formed continues to fascinate historians and artists. Movie actress Vivian Leigh, who played Atlanta's own Scarlet, also stared as Lady Hamilton with her own scandalous love, Lawrence Olivier, as Lord Nelson. Susan Sontag's historical novel THE VOLCANO LOVER looked at the great archetypal affair of these larger than life personalities a few years ago. Emma and Nelson were storied lovers, who fascinated the public of their day. Their lives together ended tragically. After Nelson's death in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, Emma descended into poverty and debt, abandoned by the world that once admired her so much. To me, her fate rather ironically mirrors the fate of ancient Pompeii. Her glorious, graceful life came apart quickly, yet images of her great days remain, gorgeously preserved in the pages of books and popular magazines like this one. |
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Journal Entry 3 by 
Though this magazine is almost 50 years old, I find it strangely timeless. The science article by Loren Eisley on man's origins doesn't seem that dated to me. And it has a wonderful illustration, a chart that might be used in a science project of today. I also loved reading the article on the French artist Pierre Bonnard. This modern master who literally painted by heart lived a strange love story with his long-time love and eventual wife Marthe, who never really let him know who she was--or that she had family. The lawsuit over the painter's legacy, unresolved when this article was written, was later settled in favor of his own family and natural heirs. As always, the reproductions of art in Horizon are wonderful. Bonnard's paintings, like this nude of his beloved Marthe, are luminous.
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Journal Entry 4 by 
Many of the articles are dated, I've observed in the time I've spent with this. Still, there is much of interest. As a child in New Orleans, I formed a life-long fascination with Joan of Arc so I wanted to read the article here by Charles Wayland Lightbody, who wrote a book about Joan back in those days. The article is wonderful in its research and insight, though dryly written. Still, it's the one I copied to keep. I've started a file on Joan of Arc, still my heroine. It's ironic that later in the magazine, cartoons of French women that seem very sexist to my eyes are displayed in a presentation of the work of the comic artist Donald Searle. I loved the photograph of the young John Updike within and have copied it. I couldn't help observing that this came from an era when World War II was not far away and over a year before John F. Kennedy was killed. I liked the editorial by William Harlan Hale on the book long forgotten now, that's too kind to Hitler. Now I'm ready to send this along. I hope it's next reader will enjoy it. The art within is still spectacular. It's sad that we no longer have a publication exactly like this one.
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Journal Entry 5 by 
Released 1 yr ago (11/27/2010 UTC) at Mason, Ohio USA CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
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Released 1 yr ago (1/21/2011 UTC) at Half Price Books in Mason, Ohio USA WILD RELEASE NOTES:
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