"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe.  First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere.  It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness.  The lover, often identified as a student, is lamenting the loss of his love, Lenore.  Sitting on a bust of Pallas, the raven seems to further distress the protagonist with its constant repetition of the word "Nevermore".  The poem makes use of folk, mythological, religious, and classical references.  Poe claimed to have written the poem logically and methodically, with the intention to create a poem that would appeal to both critical and popular tastes, as he explained in his 1846 follow-up essay, "The Philosophy of Composition".  The poem was inspired in part by a talking raven in the novel Barnaby Rudge:  A Tale of the Riots of Eighty by Charles Dickens.  Poe borrows the complex rhythm and meter of Elizabeth Barrett's poem "Lady Geraldine's Courtship", and makes use of internal rhyme as well as alliteration throughout.  "The Raven" was first attributed to Poe in print in the New York Evening Mirror on January 29, 1845.  Its publication made Poe popular in his lifetime, although it did not bring him much financial success.  The poem was soon reprinted, parodied, and illustrated. "The Raven" has influenced many modern works, including Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita in 1955, Bernard Malamud's "The Jewbird" in 1963 and Ray Bradbury's "The Parrot Who Knew Papa" in 1976.  The process by which Poe composed "The Raven" influenced a number of French authors and composers, such as Charles Baudelaire and Maurice Ravel, and it has been suggested that Ravel's Boléro may have been deeply influenced by "The Philosophy of Composition".  The poem is additionally referenced throughout popular culture in films, television, music, and video games.  The painter Paul Gauguin painted a nude portrait of his teenage wife in Tahiti in 1897 titled Nevermore, featuring a raven perched within the room.  At the time the couple were mourning the loss of their first child together and Gauguin the loss of his favourite daughter back in Europe.  The name of the Baltimore Ravens, a professional American football team, was inspired by the poem.  Chosen in a fan contest that drew 33,288 voters, the allusion honors Poe, who spent the early part of his career in Baltimore and is buried there.  The mantel of the room in which Poe penned "The Raven" was removed and donated to Columbia University before the demolition of the Brennan Farmhouse.  It currently resides at the Rare Book & Manuscript Library, on the 6th floor of Butler Library.  Read more and see graphics at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raven

Painted in 1972, Still Life with Plums is an early example of Roy Lichtenstein’s overt exploration of the history of painting, specifically the tradition of the vanitas that would unfold in his work through the decade.  While Lichtenstein’s early works of the 1960s centered on pulp subject matter proper to a young American culture, with the present work the artist expands his interests to a time-honored artform of European origins.  Since its blossoming as a genre in 16th century Europe, still life painting has offered a moment of quietude by focusing on a sliver of daily life—usually ephemerally beautiful and appetizing objects, such as fruits and flowers.  It typically contrives such scenes as allegorical lessons on the passage of time and the dangers of vanity and indulgence.  Lichtenstein’s attraction to still life is apposite, given Pop’s fascination with both the everyday and veneer of coveted objects.  Michaëla Mohrmann  See picture and description at https://www.pacegallery.com/journal/curators-choice-roy-lichtenstein-still-life-with-plums/ 

Roy Fox Lichtenstein (1923–1997) was an American pop artist.  During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement.  His work defined the premise of pop art through parody.  Inspired by the comic strip, Lichtenstein produced precise compositions that documented while they parodied, often in a tongue-in-cheek manner.  His work was influenced by popular advertising and the comic book style.  His artwork was considered to be "disruptive".  He described pop art as "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting".  https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/roy-lichtenstein-1508 

Through the years, Carmen Sandiego has been more elusive than even the master of disguise, Waldo of Where's Waldo.  The fictional character was the star of the PBS television show, Where In The World Is Carmen Sandiego, which premiered in September of 1991.  The series even inspired a computer game of the same name.  Players on both the show and the game used their geography and problem-solving skills to help track down the international thief, Carmen.  The woman behind Carmen Sandiego is Janine LaManna.  Appearing as the evasive and stealthy Carmen on PBS was LaManna's break-out role.  She wasn't upset that she was never credited for playing the character, and remembers her time on the television set fondly.  https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2016/08/120360/carmen-sandiego-character-mystery-solved 

Pomona Britannica; or, a Collection of the Most Esteemed Fruits at Present Cultivated in this Country  See images of illustrated book with 90 hand-colored aquatints at https://collections.mfa.org/objects/270559 

January 10, 2022  What’s the 14th-century Leaning Tower of Pisa to impress with its tilt when there’s a modern-day building that slants even more?  San Francisco’s Millennium Tower, one of glitziest residential buildings in the city, is now tilting more than two feet north and west and continues to tilt at a rate of three inches a year because it’s sinking into the ground.  In fact, it has already sunk between 17 and 18 inches.  If the problem isn’t fixed, the building could eventually tilt 40 inches, the maximum it needs to function and most probably for the elevators and plumbing to work.  Located in San Francisco’s financial district at Fremont and Mission Streets and next to the Salesforce Transit Center and a bus terminal, the Millennium Tower is a 58-story, 645-foot-tall tower, and it is the tallest residential building in the city.  It debuted with fanfare in 2009 and has a fair share of illustrious residents including sports figures Joe Montana and Giants outfielder Hunter Pence.  Shivani Vora  See pictures at https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/millennium-tower-san-francisco-leaning 

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2481  January 12, 2022