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Hobgoblin Classification in the Eighteenth Century
By Lisa Smith (Regular Contributor) Goya, Duendicitos (elves), Los Caprichos, 1799. The modern goblin might be mean and ugly, but early modern goblins were a different breed: helpful, if mischievous,...
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Cabinet of Curiosities: Ancient Animal Tales
By April Stevens (W&M Managing Editor) When tracing the history of mankind, we inevitably find the history of other animals intertwined with our own. This week we are highlighting stories about how...
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Prognosticating the Past
By Nancy Goldstone (Guest Contributor) Nostradamus, the celebrated sixteenth century prophet, has a reputation that any modern day pollster, hedge fund manager, or bookie would envy. His mysterious...
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What is it About the Pangolin?
By Helen King (Regular Contributor) British trains now commonly have posters encouraging travelers to text a small donation to a charity. This could be a charity supporting people, or one helping...
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The Twice-Bought Head of Cardinal Mezzofanti
By Colin Dickey (Guest Contributor) At the height of the phrenology craze, phrenologists were constantly in search of noteworthy heads that displayed specific traits or characteristics: a great...
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Talking to the Beyond through the Luminiferous Ether
By Natasha Pulley (Guest Contributor) Clairvoyance today is a bit unfashionable. In the nineteenth century, though, it was booming. Seances weren’t only the province of circus attractions and little...
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Little Chefs
By Michael Garval (Regular Contributor) Au Grand St. Paul, chromolithographic trade card, c. 1880. “Little chef.” In the 2007 animated film Ratatouille, this is what bungling culinary neophyte Alfredo...
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Divine Fat: Butter in Spiritual Mythology
A woman making butter, Paris 1499. By Elaine Khosrova (Guest Contributor) In modern times, butter has become a commodity that serves primarily a culinary purpose. But for many of our early ancestors,...
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Five for Friday: The Witches of New York
Interview with Ami McKay How did you come across this story? What inspired you to write about it? I began writing The Witches of New York because I couldn’t stop daydreaming about the protagonist...
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The Chameleon in the Classroom
By Helen King (Monthly Contributor) This is a story of illness and magic from the fourth century CE. Even though Constantine had converted the Roman Empire to Christianity, paganism didn’t just lie...
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