An Antiquarian's Tale, Issue 237 June 12, 2023Clinton HowellI have often wondered if it is possible to measure aesthetic pleasure. One way a lot of us try to do it, for example, is to go to a museum, like...
An Antiquarian's Tale, Issue 236 June 5, 2023Clinton HowellAbout 45-50 years ago, I attended a fund raiser at a private home in New Canaan, Ct., for a school in Namibia. The school was started by a British husband...
An Antiquarian's Tale, Issue 235 May 29, 2023Clinton HowellI believe it was William Randolph Hearst who was the first to bring entire rooms from Europe to fit into San Simeon, his estate in California, but even if it...
An Antiquarian's Tale, Issue 234 May 22, 2023Clinton HowellThe clarity that comes with expertise is less about instant comprehension and more about understanding signs that steer you to a conclusion that, on the whole, a piece of furniture...
An Antiquarian's Tale, Issue 233 May 15, 2023Clinton HowellPower, if you look back through the ages, is expressed most overtly by what an empire builds. ("Ozymandias", Percy Bysshe Shelley's poem on the ephemerality of that power is a...
An Antiquarian's Tale, Issue 232 May 8, 2023Clinton HowellLondon life for the wealthy in the 18th century included all sorts of pastimes. In a book I recently finished, "Aristocrats" by Stella Tillyard, she writes about the four Lennox...
