London to Hold Year Long Celebration of Stamps, Design and Postal Heritage

LONDON.- A year long festival of exhibitions and events celebrating stamps, their design and postal heritage kicks off in January 2010. The “London 2010: Festival of Stamps”, coordinated by The British Postal Museum & Archive (BPMA), will show the important role that stamps play in our lives: as a key part of a nation’s heritage they form the world’s biggest public art gallery, showcasing a diverse and striking picture of the world.
A highlight of next year’s Festival includes a major [...]

Christie’s to Offer Historical Collection from Newton Hall in January

SOUTH KENSINGTON.- Christie’s announced the sale of a fine single owner collection; “The Country House Sale: Newton Hall, Northumberland” to be held on January 20, 2010. The Widdringtons of Newton were a powerful and influential land owning family associated with Northumberland as far back as the 12th-century. Theirs is a fascinating history coloured by Royalist favour, Jacobite sympathies and military honors. Descendents include William, 2nd Baron Widdrington (d.1675), an M.P for Northumberland who accompanied the Marquis of Newcastle to the [...]

Sotheby’s to Sell Chinese Export Porcelain from Collection of Elinor Gordon

NEW YORK, NY.- On the afternoon of 23 January, 2010 Sotheby’s will offer over 280 lots of Chinese export porcelain and China Trade paintings from the private collection of esteemed longtime dealer Elinor Gordon. A fixture at the “Winter Antiques Show” since its inception in 1955, Gordon is largely credited with elevating Chinese Export Porcelain to an independent collecting category. Indeed she herself began as an avid collector before entering the trade in 1953. Over several decades, Gordon and her [...]

Monument Lifted from Cleopatra’s Underwater City in the Mediterranean Sea

ALEXANDRIA.- Egyptian archeologists have lifted out of the Mediterranean Sea an ancient granite temple pylon from the palace complex of Cleopatra, submerged in the waters of Alexandria’s harbor.
Divers and underwater archeologists used a giant crane and ropes to lift the 9-ton, 7.4-foot-tall pylon from the murky waters Thursday.
The tower was originally part of the entrance to a temple of Isis, a pharaonic goddess of fertility and magic. The temple is believed to have been near the palace that belonged to [...]

Earthquake Shakes Central Italy; Rescuers Recover Artwork from Church in Spina

ROME.- Authorities say a magnitude 4.2 earthquake has shaken the Italian region of Umbria but caused no injuries.
Towns in the province of Perugia reported buildings lightly damaged by the temblor, monitored by Italy’s national institute of geophysics.
Italy’s agriculture minister said Tuesday 600 people were evacuated until their homes can be inspected. Mayors of several hamlets ordered schools closed Wednesday for inspections.

Italian rescuers recover artwork and a statuette of the Virgin Mary, from the church in Spina, near Perugia, central Italy, [...]

World War II Veteran had Hitler’s Art Book on Bookshelf

DALLAS, TX (AP).- After fighting his way across Europe during World War II, John Pistone was among the U.S. soldiers who entered Adolf Hitler’s home nestled in the Bavarian Alps as the war came to a close.
Making his way through the Berghof, Hitler’s home near Berchtesgaden, Germany, Pistone noticed a table with shelves underneath. Exhilarated by the certainty of victory over the Nazis, Pistone took an album filled with photographs of paintings as a souvenir.
“It was really a great feeling [...]

George Washington, Edgar Allan Poe Auction Records Set in NYC

NEW YORK, NY.- A letter by George Washington has sold for $3,218,500 at auction in New York City, setting a world record for a letter by America’s first president, according to Christie’s.
Washington’s 1787 letter to nephew Bushrod Washington argues for the ratification of the newly drafted Constitution.
The letter had been owned by descendants of Bushrod Washington for more than 100 years, Christie’s said. The buyer was not identified.

George Washington’s signature (bottom right) marks a letter to his nephew dated 1787, [...]

Royal Society Launches New Interactive Timeline “Trailblazing”

LONDON.- The gruesome account of an early blood transfusion in 1666, Isaac Newton’s landmark paper on light and colour, Watson and Crick’s description of the evidence for the structure of DNA, and Stephen Hawking’s early writing on black holes in space are just some of the highlights of a new interactive timeline launched today to celebrate the 350th anniversary year of the Royal Society.
Trailblazing will offer unprecedented public access to the most influential, inspiring and intriguing papers published by the [...]