New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Jaap Harskamp

Jaap Harskamp, PhD at Amsterdam University (Comparative Literature), Researcher at European University Institute (Florence), Curator Dutch & Flemish Collections at British Library (retired), Researcher at Cambridge UL. His work has been published by Wellcome Institute, British Library, and Brill. His current blog on migration can be viewed here.

Tango Mania: From Brothel to Concert Hall

by Leave a Comment

Ksenija Sidorova at the Last Night of the PromsOn September 11th, 2021, the traditional Last Night of the (BBC) Proms took place at London’s Royal Albert Hall. Away from the usual and rather bizarre jingoism, this performance was memorable for the “revolutionary” introduction of an accordion on stage.

Latvian virtuosa Ksenija Sidorova was the first accordion soloist ever to be invited to play on such an occasion. Her interpretation of Astor Piazzolla’s 1974 composition “Libertango” brought a packed house to its feet. [Read more…] about Tango Mania: From Brothel to Concert Hall

Modernist Architecture, Literature, and the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium

by 2 Comments

First page of an 1887 BrochureEdward Livingston Trudeau was born in 1848 in New York City to a family of physicians. During his late teens, his elder brother James contracted tuberculosis (TB) and Edward nursed him until his death three months later. At twenty, he enrolled in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia College (now Columbia University), completing his medical training in 1871. Two years later, he was diagnosed with TB too.

Following current climate-therapeutic theories that promoted the relocation of patients to regions with atmospheric conditions favorable to recuperation, he moved to the Adirondack Mountains. Seeking as much open air as he possible could, almost continuously living outside, he subsequently regained his health. In 1876 he settled in Saranac Lake and established a small medical practice. It was the beginning of a remarkable career and a new chapter in American medical history. [Read more…] about Modernist Architecture, Literature, and the Adirondack Cottage Sanatorium

Rise and Fall of Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica

by 2 Comments

Fraunces Tavern in New York CityIn 1719, Étienne [Stephen] De Lancey built his house on a site at 54 Pearl Street on the corner of Broad Street which had been given to him by his father-in-law Stephanus van Cortlandt, New York’s Mayor. The small yellow bricks used in its construction were imported from the Dutch Republic.

In 1762, his heirs sold the property to Samuel Fraunces who converted the home into a tavern, first named the Queen’s Head and later known as Fraunces Tavern. [Read more…] about Rise and Fall of Benjamin Franklin’s Glass Armonica

Niblo’s Garden, Yiddish Broadway and the American Musical

by 3 Comments

Vauxhall Gardens at Broome StreetIn cities with growing populations and increased prosperity during the eighteen and nineteenth centuries, the demand for amusement venues rose dramatically. Leisure became an economic factor and show biz took off with a bang.

Urban pleasure gardens were recreational spaces that featured landscaped grounds, lights, fountains, grottos, music, and theater. Offering a variety of entertainments, they were open day and night. [Read more…] about Niblo’s Garden, Yiddish Broadway and the American Musical

Carnage at Carnegie Hall

by 1 Comment

Una serata futurista a MilanoOn October 4th 1923 a concert took place in Paris at which there were performances of Airplane sonata (1921), Sonata sauvage (1922/3), and Mechanisms (1923).

The composer was a young man from Trenton, New Jersey. Among his supporters were Erik Satie, Darius Milhaud, and James Joyce. The recital broke up in a riot. To modernists in the audience such disturbances justified their artistic experimentation. [Read more…] about Carnage at Carnegie Hall

Asparagus Officinalis: A Spear of Transatlantic History

by 4 Comments

The Apicius manuscriptOne of the first crops to emerge from the ground in New York State is asparagus (scientific name: asparagus officinalis). The vegetable is an integral part of America’s colonial history. It must have been a taste of nostalgia that prompted New Netherland settlers to try and cultivate asparagus in unfamiliar surroundings. [Read more…] about Asparagus Officinalis: A Spear of Transatlantic History

Literature & Immortality: Booksellers, Copyrights and Epitaphs

by 2 Comments

Billy Wilders tombstoneAn epitaph (from the Greek: “on the gravestone”) is a text that remembers the dead. The earliest known epitaphs were written by ancient Egyptian scholars and inscribed upon individual sarcophagi and stone coffins. The Greeks introduced epitaphs in verse to which the Romans added morbid curses intended to ward off grave robbers.

The nineteenth century was obsessed with these literary curiosities. Countless epigraph anthologies were published that, more often than not, contained mostly doggerel rhymes and poor tomb jokes. [Read more…] about Literature & Immortality: Booksellers, Copyrights and Epitaphs

Childhood Memories: Pulcinella & The Tradition of Dissent

by 1 Comment

PullicinielloDuring carnival festivities in Madrid in February 2017, puppeteers Alfonso Lázaro de la Fuente and Raúl García Pérez gave a performance of La bruja y Don Cristóbal (The Witch and Don Cristóbal). The leading character is Spain’s counterpart to Mr Punch. With the show in full flow, police moved in. The puppeteers were charged with inciting violence as the witch carried a banner referring to a fictional terrorist organization.

In the United States, Punch & Judy shows reached a height of popularity during the latter decennia of the nineteenth century. This was a time of mass immigration and growing prosperity. The era was thirsting for entertainment. Aware of underlying social tensions, political authorities were keen to restrain the fun. [Read more…] about Childhood Memories: Pulcinella & The Tradition of Dissent

Body Snatching at New Rochelle: Cobbett & Paine

by 1 Comment

Woodcut of anatomical dissectionThe teaching of anatomy at European medical schools had become standard practice by the middle of the sixteenth century. Instruction included the dissection of a human corpse. Initially, bodies at hand were those of (male) criminals or heretics.

The occasional dissection of a woman, it being a public event, attracted large numbers of spectators by the prospect of the exposure of female organs. A dissection at the time was both education and spectacle. It was attended by professionals, painters, and the curious alike. The cutting up of a body was a celebration of scientific progress. [Read more…] about Body Snatching at New Rochelle: Cobbett & Paine

Meppel to Manhattan: Duveen, Altman, and the Relocation of European Art

by 1 Comment

front of Benjamin Altmans Department StoreMeppel is relatively small Dutch municipality in the north-easterly agricultural province of Drenthe. It is a market town for dairy products, cereals, and pigs. What is the association between this sleepy country place and cosmopolitan New York City? [Read more…] about Meppel to Manhattan: Duveen, Altman, and the Relocation of European Art