The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositories for manuscripts in Italy and holds one of the world's most significant collections of classical texts. It is named after St Mark, the patron saint of the city. The library was founded in 1468 when the humanist scholar Cardinal Bessarion, bishop of Tusculum and titular Latin patriarch of Constantinople, donated his collection of Greek and Latin manuscripts to the Republic of Venice, with the stipulation that a library of public utility be established. The collection was the result of Bessarion's persistent efforts to locate rare manuscripts throughout Greece and Italy and then acquire or copy them as a means of preserving the writings of the classical Greek authors and the literature of Byzantium after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. His choice of Venice was primarily due to the city's large community of Greek refugees and its historical ties to the Byzantine Empire. The Venetian government was slow, however, to honour its commitment to suitably house the manuscripts with decades of discussion and indecision, owing to a series of military conflicts in the late-fifteenth and early-sixteenth centuries and the resulting climate of political uncertainty. The library was ultimately built during the period of recovery as part of a vast programme of urban renewal aimed at glorifying the republic through architecture and affirming its international prestige as a centre of wisdom and learning. The original library building is located in Saint Mark's Square, Venice's former governmental centre, with its long façade facing the Doge's Palace. Constructed between 1537 and 1588, it is considered the masterpiece of the architect Jacopo Sansovino and a key work in Venetian Renaissance architecture. The Renaissance architect Andrea Palladio described it as "perhaps the richest and most ornate building that there has been since ancient times up until now." The art historian Jacob Burckhardt regarded it as "the most magnificent secular Italian building" and Frederick Hartt called it "one of the most satisfying structures in Italian architectural history." Also significant for its art, the library holds many works by the great painters of sixteenth-century Venice, making it a comprehensive monument to Venetian Mannerism. Today, the building is customarily referred to as the 'Libreria sansoviniana' and is largely a museum. Since 1904, the library offices, the reading rooms, and most of the collection have been housed in the adjoining Zecca, the former mint of the Republic of Venice. The library is now formally known as the Biblioteca nazionale Marciana. It is the only official institution established by the Venetian government that survives and continues to function. Read more and see graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblioteca_Marciana
A Century of
Sliders–Celebrating White Castle’s 100th Birthday Friday, May 28, 2021 • 6 p.m. Virtual $20/Registrant $5/Ohio History Connection member Free/Ohio History Connection premium
member Join us as we celebrate White Castle’s 100th birthday. Hear stories from White Castle
founding-family members Maryann Kelley and Erin Shannon as they share the fun
and groundbreaking history of the first fast food restaurant in America
history. See vintage items from the Ohio
History Connection's White Castle collection, and learn how White Castle
revolutionized the fast food industry.
HENRY DAVID THOREAU QUOTES “Books are the treasured wealth of the world and the fit inheritance of generations and nations.” “I would rather sit on a pumpkin, and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion.” “The greatest compliment that was ever paid me was when one asked me what I thought, and attended to my answer.” “There is no remedy for love but to love more.” https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/10264.Henry_David_Thoreau
Two of the most popular trends in language are: 1) turning nouns into verbs and 2) making the argument that common usage is all that is needed in order for a word to become accepted. The non-word efforting is a good example of both. Effort is a noun, meaning (for this discussion) an exertion of strength or power either in a physical or mental sense. Effort is not a verb meaning to exert an effort, so statements such as I’m efforting to get the project done on time is an incorrect way to use the word effort. Paul Yeager https://languageandgrammar.com/2008/06/03/efforting/
“Present participles” are formed by adding “-ing” to verbs. A “participle” is simply a word formed from a verb. Gerunds also end in “-ing,” but they are verbs pretending to be nouns. “Efforting” and “calendaring” are acting as verbs.) The Oxford English Dictionary has an entry for “effort” as a verb meaning “To strengthen, fortify,” from about 1661, but calls its usage “obsolete.” Most other dictionaries don’t acknowledge “effort” as a verb. “Efforting” first shows up in Nexis in a 1980 New York Times article about an actors’ strike: “I don’t like efforting of any kind,” the comedian Anne Meara said. We hope she was being ironic, even though she was using “efforting” as a noun. Merrill Perlman https://www.cjr.org/language_corner/nouns-verbs-efforting-calendaring.php
Would you be surprised to learn that one of the most common items found in your kitchen or on your dinner table used to be worth as much as gold? Sugar? Pepper? Nope! It's salt. From time to time, you may have heard someone say that someone or something is “worth its salt." This common idiom means that someone or something deserves respect and is worth its cost or has value. The phrase originated with the ancient Romans, who valued salt highly. Over time, salt has often been associated with good things, because of its health benefits and great value. Scientists believe that the harvesting of salt from salt water dates back at least 8,000 years. In ancient times—before modern canning methods and refrigeration—salt was used as a preservative, especially for meats. Our bodies need salt to function properly. Salt helps to control the level of water in the body. It also helps the nervous system to send electrical signals to the brain. https://www.wonderopolis.org/wonder/are-you-worth-your-salt See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_salt
On May 17, 1824, the publisher John Murray gathered six of Lord Byron’s closest friends and executors in his office—to commit what is sometimes described as “the greatest crime in literary history.” Byron, who had died in Greece almost exactly one month before, had earned quite a reputation by the time of his death—and he was only 36. A few years earlier, Byron had given a manuscript of his memoirs to his friend Thomas Moore, instructing him that they were only to be published after his death. In 1821, Moore, struggling to make ends meet, sold the copyright to the publisher John Murray (with Byron’s blessing—despite the fact that he had once described Murray as “the most timid of God’s booksellers”). But when Byron died, Murray—though he would have made a tidy profit by publishing them—decided to burn the memoirs instead. https://link.lithub.com/view/602ea8ce180f243d6536ae8de7fmx.2kek/d3aca660 See also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron
May 17 is Galician Literature Day or Día das Letras Galegas (Galicia), Norwegian Constitution Day and World Information Society Day (International) Wikipedia
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue 2365 May 17, 2021
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