Istria derived its name from the ancient Illyrian tribe of the Histri and was subdued by Rome in 177 BC after two wars.  Under the emperor Augustus most of the peninsula became part of Italy.  Slavic peoples began settling there in the 7th century AD.  It was successively under the control of diverse Mediterranean powers until 1797, when the peninsula came under the rule of Austria, which developed Trieste as a port.  After World War I, Italy forcibly seized the peninsula from Austria in 1919 and afterward tried to Italianize the population.  But, following Italy’s defeat in World War II, Yugoslavia occupied most of Istria in 1947.  The peninsula’s northwestern section, around Trieste, was finally divided between Italy and Yugoslavia in 1954 after decades of diplomatic wrangling and periodic political crises.  Istria quietly became part of Croatia and Slovenia in 1991 when those states became independent nations.  https://www.britannica.com/place/Istria   

Raphael Tuck’s The Toy Army:  Book, Toy, Ephemera . . . ?  Posted on February 8, 2011 by Jeff Barton   It’s easy to assume that there’s a clear, if perhaps only implicit, dividing line between books, toys, and ephemera.  While we may not necessarily know how to define each of these categories, we tend to think we “know them when we see them.”  Books are something we read, toys are something we (mostly by children) play with, and ephemera are things we expect to linger only fleetingly after serving an immediate purpose.  Yet many children’s books call this distinction into question–they often contain reading matter, items to play with (which sometimes pop up or even detach from the text block or book itself), and material not meant to last very long, especially once a child makes use of it.  One such item is The Toy Army, issued by Raphael Tuck & Sons between 1907 and 1910, as part of Father Tuck’s “Panorama” Series.  Measuring a mere 12 cm. in height, this small booklet-format publication is barely taller than a miniature book.  It features a bright, chromolithographed upper wrapper, featuring two toy soldier figures (note the base on the guardsman), strongly reminiscent of lead figures manufactured in England’s William Britain Company at the time, with the outlines of the figures embossed to heighten the effect.  On the reverse of the wrapper is a set of detailed assembly instructions, “How to Make Each Figure Stand Separately and Form Innumerable Tableaux.”   See graphics at https://blogs.princeton.edu/cotsen/tag/father-tucks-panorama-series/   

Primrose path  This phrase was coined by Shakespeare, in Hamlet, 1602.  It is evidently a simple allusion to a path strewn with flowers.  Shakespeare later used 'the primrose way', which has the same meaning, in Macbeth.  This variant is hardly ever used now.  https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/289325.html   

White Apples  https://www.jigidi.com/jigsaw-puzzle/82upxczy/white-apples-growing-in-australia/   

Black Diamond Apples  https://www.jigidi.com/jigsaw-puzzle/3brrysv4/black-diamond-apple-from-nyingchi-tibet/   

Pot-au-feu ("pot on the fire") is a French beef stew.  According to chef Raymond Blanc, pot-au-feu is "the quintessence of French family cuisine; it is the most celebrated dish in France and considered a national dish.  It honours the tables of the rich and poor alike."  It is a typical dish served in winter.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pot-au-feu   

Classic Pot-au-Feu serves 6-8  https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/classic-pot-au-feu  

Brad Pitt has publicly debuted his first works of art at the Sara Hildén Art Museum in Tampere, Finland, alongside works by the  Australian singer-songwriter-musician Nick Cave and the artist Thomas Houseago for the exhibition We (until 15 January, 2023).  Among the nine works by Pitt on show are a house-shaped structure moulded in clear silicon and shot with bullets, and his first ever sculpture, House A Go Go (2017):  a 46cm-tall miniature house made out of tree bark, crudely held together with tape.  See photos at https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2022/09/19/brad-pitt-debuts-his-sculptures-in-finland   

Word of the Day for September 21, 2022

cheeselet (plural cheeselets)  (chiefly Malta) A small, usually roundish lump of cheese; a baby cheese; specifically, a particular type made with sheep's milk in Malta. quotations ▼

(US, archaic) A baked dish of bread and cheese covered with a mixture of eggs and milk.   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cheeselet#English

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 2567  September 21, 2022