Maeva Marcus, Documentary History of the Supreme Court, 1:565

An accidental poem, by Samuel Bayard and his successor Elias Caldwell, first clerks of the US Supreme Court, in attempting to decide the proper title for their handwritten “Formulary.”

Feelings About Democracy Or: Feelings? About Democracy?

Feelings About Democracy (Or: Feelings? About Democracy?)

I've made a first attempt to write my way through our democratic collapse. More to come.

R W G Vail, the American sketchbooks of Charles Alexandre Lasueur

Charles Alexandre Lasueur, “Half of a New Bedford Meeting House Being Removed to a New Site as the Result of a Church Quarrel—1816”

Marian Ohman, A History of Missouri’s counties. St. Louis post dispatch Jan 9 1938

“Expensive Pets, All These County Governments”, 1938

And here is my mother’s contribution to my office wall, a message consoling to me and my students alike:

Anyway, here’s the two latest pieces of Americana/nightmare fodder: one from Benito Cereno, the other, of course, from Bartleby.

My favorite thoughtful, intuitive creator of fantastic, sometimes terrifying American Art, like Moby Dick In Pictures: a.co/d/5W5P5tq

With the end of the semester I have had the chance to work on my office, which means I can frame and rejoice in my latest artworks from @mattkish.bsky.social

amazing how the cyber attack on the British Library still means that all recently published work (and that's a definition that stretches back several years) is completely unavailable to researchers, since they only acquired ebooks and that system is still down

Excited for the next golden age of piracy

Me, grad school, 2008-2013: I want to know how everything actually works, why are all these books just about vibes?

Me, 2025: ah.

Every parent in June: I'm at the end-of-year concert. I'm at the end-of-year concert fundraiser. I'm at the end-of-year concert fundraiser teacher appreciation (Venmo edition). I'm at the end-of-year concert fundraiser teacher appreciation picnic.

Everyone is swearing

Kentucky, get the swear jar.

No

All houses should have bibles and your town selectmen will check on you

Connecticut: land of fun

The last Jack London story had an honest to god coffin flop. Sleep tight, kid!

New museum idea just dropped, no charge yall

Jack London short stories: 2. Bedtimes of 10yo completed on schedule: 0

💔

Someone tagged me into this as, in Drach's absence, the person on BlueSky most likely to know (without guessing) how navies handled cat poo. I am VERY offended.

But they're also right. 😆 Indeed Drach/Dr Alex and I were comparing notes on this back in November.

So thread: How cats shat on ships /1

sigh

"Charged of drinking Damnation to Gen'l Washington + all his Army," docket book of justice of the peace Benjamin Paschall, July 24, 1778, Phila., Historical Society of Pennsylvania

Afternoon nap of 2011 was actually second book project summarized, it turns out.