Published anonymously in 1820 but believed to be authored by William Coombe and illustrated by Robert Cruikshank (see previously), the popular comedy epistolary series is about a rural school master and pastor who attempts to make his fortune by travelling and then writing about it. 
Coombe—or often Combe—was himself an adventurer produced most of his works from debtors’ prison, with his first success dispatch from behind bars was a satire called The Diaboliad that attacked and defamed his creditors with thinly veiled allegory, and due to others trying to capitalise and plagiarising his Dr Syntax character (including as Derby porcelain figurines), the author, in the style of Cervantes and the false Don Quixote, put out a collection of spurious letters attributed to the fictional late Lord Lyttelton of Syntax’ continuing misadventures aboard—the plagiariser’s supposed correspondence taken as an admission to seditious speech against the government of King George III but later scholarship confirmed it was another tout to push pamphlets. More from Spitalfields Life at the link above.
Sunday 1 September 2024
the tour of dr syntax through the pleasures & miseries of london (11. 806)
happy bell’s riot day—to all who celebrate (11. 805)
unemployment in major urban areas by creating closed Sanctuary Districts began in the early 2020s and was regarded as a way to shield the general public realising the extent of societal collapse (the re-settlement zones were also cut off from the planetary computer network) and curbing the risk for political upheaval. In accordance with Starfleet’s temporal displacement policy, crew from outpost Deep Space 9 travelled back in time to the end of August 2024 to try to rescue an abducted colleague without impacting the history, however, one of the revolutionary leaders is killed while saving the life of Dr Bashir and Commander Sisko, prompting the latter to take on Gabriel Bell’s identity (clips from the 1995 episode at the link) and repair their timeline. The riot occurring on this day, the inmates took over the district’s processing centre and with the help of Chris Brynner, owner and proprietor of Brynner Information Systems (Channel 90 on the Net), reconnected the Sanctuary with the outside world with many imprisoned inside able give testimony, sparking wider rebellions and eventual justice reform.
Saturday 31 August 2024
halleluja, hare, hare (11. 804)
As our faithful chronicler reminds, George Harrison was found guilty of unintentional plagiarism on this day in 1976 for his 1970 hit single My Sweet Lord (previously) of The Chiffon’s, Ronnie Mack 1963 song He’s So Fine recorded with an ensemble from Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Bad Finger, becoming the top release in the US and UK of any ex-Beatles artist. Produced by Phil Spector, whom had underwritten the hits of many girl groups from the 1950s through the seventies, there was a failure to note this inspiration—which Harrison subsequently attributed to the out-of-copyright gospel hymn “Oh Happy Day” during sessions for the triple album, All Things Must Pass. Despite the judgment in favour of infringement and later cases to define homage and sampling, the tune of universal religiosity and discovery endures.
eingungsvertag (11. 803)
Approved by both the Bundestag and the Volkskammer later in September, the Unification Treaty between East and West was negotiated and signed on this day with the then Federal Minister of the Interior 
Wolfgang Schรคuble for the Federal Republic and Parliamentary State Secretary Gรผnther Krause for the Democratic Republic. The terms of the agreement led to the dissolution of East Germany and its accession into the unitary state (see previously) following a series of gradual steps to reintegrate monetary, economic and social policies, with both parties choosing an interstate ratification and transitional legislation rather than drafting a new all-German constitution as the options available under the Basic Law. The articles divided the DDR into five states and merged East and West Berlin into one polity and national capital under the above Grundgesetz, the right to bi-lateral self determination guaranteed under the Two Plus Four Treaty without prejudice from or to the occupying Allied rights and responsibilities ongoing at the time of signing and the treaty going into effect.
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)
eight years ago: van life plus Icelandic elfin habitats
ten years ago: the sanctity of the Roman senate
thirteen years ago: electronic monitoring plus Wikipedia loves monuments
fourteen years ago: exporting the financial crisis plus self-same Celtic tigers
Friday 30 August 2024
republic of letters (11. 802)
Via Super Punch, we are reminded of the notoriously weird and incongruous book covers (previously) of academics publisher Routledge, founded in 1836 to capitalise on the market of holiday by train and known as the “Railway Library” and later acquired the rights for printing the collected works of Edward Bulwer-Lytton before after flirting with insolvency entered the scholarly field buying out the the backlists of several university presses and journals and acquiring the imprint of several influential humanities and social sciences titles. The image references last year’s meme about the frequency among men thinking about Ancient Rome.
ํธ์ (11. 801)
Via Web Curios, we are referred to the musical stylings of the K-Pop Fab Four known as HOA, a Beatles revival and cover band that has produced plenty of their own original songs inspired by vintage rock. The quartet formed back in 2015 but have recently been attracting attention and garnering quite a fan following after their latest album, extended-play I Don’t Know Why, which is pitch-perfect as an homage to some of group’s earlier standards, including the mannerism and cinematography. A push man is the attendant that corrals passengers on a packed train as the doors closed to keep things on schedule.
synchronoptica
one year ago: artist Victor Ekpuk (with synchronoptica) plus a classic from Steve Winwood
eight years ago: side-scrolling, RIP Gene Wilder plus assorted links worth revisiting
nine years ago: the 1932 World’s Fair, divine fowl plus Julia Child’s shark repellent
ten years ago: a visit to the museum plus the Battle of Zama
twelve years ago: an Icelandic urban legend plus contemplating a link-tax for news aggregators
Thursday 29 August 2024
dear mister ward (11. 800)
Via the excellent podcast presented by Josie Long on adventures in found sounds Short Cuts (show segment embedded with selected readings at the link), we are directed towards the title project to curate correspondence collected, answered, conserved and later transcribed by the author’s grandmother during her stint at the Complaints Department at pioneering mail-order catalogue company Montgomery Ward, whose returns-policy and philosophy that the customer was always right from 1932 to the beginning of World War II. Customers reliant on such retail services revealed a lot in these letters, which not only provided a glimpse into the lives and preoccupations of rural America during the Depression but many are also quite funny and poignant—especially the ones asking for one of the few items the company did not sell. Much more at the links above.
8x8 (11. 799)
heatwave toolkit: applying yogurt to one’s windows to cool homes and offices
calculating empires: an exploration of the genealogy and evolution of technology and power from the fourteenth century on—via Pasa Bon!
better than binary: a look at the potential for base-three in computing applications and security—see previously
coriander, comfits, confetti: Italian cuisine, shifting tastes and etymology
campaign photo op: Trump staff had a violent altercation with Arlington National Cemetery officials—see previously
chaos rainbow: an unusual monochrome optical meteorological phenomenon over a baseball stadium
license to travel: the three thousand year history of the passport, linking bureaucracy with our hopes and aspirations
sรผรwarentechnik: Swiss researchers discover a way to produce chocolate using the whole cocoa fruit rather than discarding most of it
synchronoptica
one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica)
seven years ago: an optimised crash-test dummy, the backstory on the distracted boyfriend meme plus a villa modelled on the White House in Germany
eight years ago: moving a museum plus Calais’ Jungle encampment
nine years ago: the reproducibility crisis, more links to enjoy plus a squishy map
eleven years ago: Italian Ghostbusters
