Whose skull would you collect?
DiscussãoRare, Old or Offbeat
Entre no LibraryThing para poder publicar.
Este tópico está presentemente marcado como "inativo" —a última mensagem tem mais de 90 dias. Reative o tópico publicando uma resposta.
1unbridledbooks
Essa mensagem foi considerada abusiva por vários usuários e não mais será mostrada. (mostrar)
We thought you collectors might be interested in this little macabre exercise we have going. The question is: If you could steal a skull, any skull, whose would you choose, and why?
Cranioklepty (the theft of skulls) has fallen out of fashion, but it wasn’t very long ago that stealing skulls was viewed by some as akin to possessing genius. Colin Dickey’s forthcoming CRANIOKLEPTY: GRAVE ROBBING AND THE SEARCH FOR GENIUS (Pub date: September 29, 2009) takes us on an extraordinary history of a peculiar kind of obsession. The after-death stories of Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Emanuel Swedenborg, Sir Thomas Browne and many others have never before been told in such detail and vividness. Fully illustrated with some surprising images, this is a fascinating and authoritative history of ideas carried along on the guilty pleasures of real-after-life gothic tales. The desire to own the skulls of the famous, for study, for sale, for public (and private) display, seems to be instinctual and irresistible in some people. So we ask again, WHOSE SKULL WOULD YOU DIG?
Send us your choice—by responding to this thread, leaving a comment on our profile page, or via email (cranioklepty@gmail.com) between September 9 and October 21, 2009. We’ll be posting the most lively ones (no pun intended) and as a thank you, we’ll be sending a copy of CRANIOKLEPTY to the folks whose selections most intrigued us. Winners will be announced on October 31, 2009 (yes, on Halloween). For complete rules and regulations visit http://cranioklepty.com/pick-a-skull/rules-and-regulations/. We do not, for the record, endorse the actual stealing of skulls!
Cranioklepty (the theft of skulls) has fallen out of fashion, but it wasn’t very long ago that stealing skulls was viewed by some as akin to possessing genius. Colin Dickey’s forthcoming CRANIOKLEPTY: GRAVE ROBBING AND THE SEARCH FOR GENIUS (Pub date: September 29, 2009) takes us on an extraordinary history of a peculiar kind of obsession. The after-death stories of Franz Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Emanuel Swedenborg, Sir Thomas Browne and many others have never before been told in such detail and vividness. Fully illustrated with some surprising images, this is a fascinating and authoritative history of ideas carried along on the guilty pleasures of real-after-life gothic tales. The desire to own the skulls of the famous, for study, for sale, for public (and private) display, seems to be instinctual and irresistible in some people. So we ask again, WHOSE SKULL WOULD YOU DIG?
Send us your choice—by responding to this thread, leaving a comment on our profile page, or via email (cranioklepty@gmail.com) between September 9 and October 21, 2009. We’ll be posting the most lively ones (no pun intended) and as a thank you, we’ll be sending a copy of CRANIOKLEPTY to the folks whose selections most intrigued us. Winners will be announced on October 31, 2009 (yes, on Halloween). For complete rules and regulations visit http://cranioklepty.com/pick-a-skull/rules-and-regulations/. We do not, for the record, endorse the actual stealing of skulls!
2varielle
I once published an article on phrenology, but haven't had any interest in acquiring a skull, though I do have the ceramic model of a head analyzing all the lumps and bumps.
3benjclark
Henry David Thoreau. I'd love to sit in my yard in a shack made of my books piled up and stare into the eye-socket holes and tell him thanks. Thank you for helping me understand to seek quiet. Thanks for helping me not be such a lonely wierd kid.
4bernsad
Are we permitted to have two?
I would like Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, they could eyeball each other across the table.
I would like Richard the Lionheart and Saladin, they could eyeball each other across the table.
5JanWillemNoldus
Definitely Goethe's.
Not only because I'm very interested in his life (a skull is somehow part of that), his works and ideas (born in that skull), but particularly because he was fascinated himself with skulls (he wrote about the Os intermaxillare). He chose to take into his hands the skull of his late friend(!!) Friedrich Schiller and wrote a poem about the experience, perhaps somewhat inspired by Hamlet's musings.
He might be/have been one of the rare people not too upset with the idea that someone would do the same thing with his own skull...
Not only because I'm very interested in his life (a skull is somehow part of that), his works and ideas (born in that skull), but particularly because he was fascinated himself with skulls (he wrote about the Os intermaxillare). He chose to take into his hands the skull of his late friend(!!) Friedrich Schiller and wrote a poem about the experience, perhaps somewhat inspired by Hamlet's musings.
He might be/have been one of the rare people not too upset with the idea that someone would do the same thing with his own skull...
6Steven_VI
Not exactly a skull, but I would like to have a cast of the death mask of Hector Berlioz. The hands of Franz Liszt would be nice too.
In the (in)famous storage facility of the Museum of Flemish Literature there is a section where they keep all the death masks - mostly originals - of Flemish authors. Several of these still have original facial hair in the wax...
In the (in)famous storage facility of the Museum of Flemish Literature there is a section where they keep all the death masks - mostly originals - of Flemish authors. Several of these still have original facial hair in the wax...
7bookzen
Neil Armstrong still needs his, so we will let him off the hook for now. I think I would choose the skull of Hatshepsut. She was the wife of the Egyptian king Thutmose II. When he died, she become the regent for the young child Thutmose III. She assumed all of the trappings of kinghood and refused to give them up until she died. She was king for over 20 years. She managed to keep one of the greatest of Egyptian kings under her thumb for many years. I would have to fight off hordes of archaeologists though.
8CurrerBell
Oh, come on! Who else's but Yorick's?
10unbridledbooks
Happy Halloween!! Thank you for so many great responses! We had a tough time narrowing them down, but you can read our favorite 30 submissions here: http://cranioklepty.com/pick-a-skull/favorites/
We'll be contacting winners directly, but feel free to send us your address right away to receive your copy of CRANIOKLEPTY: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius by Colin Dickey (http://cranioklepty.com).
Cheers!
rachel / Unbridled Books
http://unbridledbooks.com
http://twitter.com/unbridledbooks
http://facebook.com/unbridledbooks
We'll be contacting winners directly, but feel free to send us your address right away to receive your copy of CRANIOKLEPTY: Grave Robbing and the Search for Genius by Colin Dickey (http://cranioklepty.com).
Cheers!
rachel / Unbridled Books
http://unbridledbooks.com
http://twitter.com/unbridledbooks
http://facebook.com/unbridledbooks
11Hilaria
The Mitchell-Hedges Skull if I could. Made of pure crystal and supposedly discovered in what was then British Honduras (Belize today) at the Mayan ruins of Lubaantun. Fascinating and convoluted tale. Not too much of it is actually true.
12tnhomeschoolingmom
I got Cranioklepty from my local library. It's a great book. It was very well written and quite entertaining. More so than I thought it would be :-)
13nickphilosophos
I would collect the lovely cranium of Alexander the Great.
And, I just bought Cranioklepty thank you tnhomeschoolingmom!
And, I just bought Cranioklepty thank you tnhomeschoolingmom!
14revelshade
My own, assuming I have access to a time machine. I would clean it very thoroughly and drink wine from it by the fire. A potent memento mori indeed.
16guido47
Damb, I "hate" LibraryThing!
I just stumble onto a topic, and immediatly want to buy That book "craniok..."
Keep up your "good work" though and keep an Aussie forever broke.
But I do love you!
Guido.
I just stumble onto a topic, and immediatly want to buy That book "craniok..."
Keep up your "good work" though and keep an Aussie forever broke.
But I do love you!
Guido.
18JimThomson
For those with an interest in American history; if one visits the home of George Washington at Mt. Vernon, Virginia, one can see the life-mask made of General Washington just after the War for Independence. It shows exactly what he looked like, and was kept on display at Mt. Vernon during his lifetime. Reduced size copies of this bust are available for a reasonable charge. I have one in my home and am very pleased with it.
19kswolff
Speaking of skull collecting ...
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/
I wouldn't mind having Ralph Reed's skull, accompanied by a dozen or so pickled punks.
Dr. Gonzo: It's okay. He's just admiring the shape of your skull.
From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
http://www.skullsunlimited.com/
I wouldn't mind having Ralph Reed's skull, accompanied by a dozen or so pickled punks.
Dr. Gonzo: It's okay. He's just admiring the shape of your skull.
From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
20Crypto-Willobie
Lou Reed's
21bluepiano
>19 kswolff: My goodness, thanks for the link to that altogether bemusing site.
Rapidly skimmed wiki on Ralph Reed and was arrested by the account of his road to conversion. (Well, must admit I was struck first by 'pub' being used for a bar in the US.) It was enlightening to see that the Holy Spirit demands stuff and er yes bemusing that it was the listing in yellow pages for Evangelical Assembly of God Church that leaped off the page & into his heart--why? I can understand 'AAA Aardvark Supplies' or 'ZZ Top de Z Line Auto Accessories' catching the eye, but not Evangelical Assembly etc. unless the very long name of the church ran markedly closer to the right margin than all the others.--I wonder does this Mr Reed know of his namesake who acted in a family-oriented sitcom and was a closet gay?
It's gas that this chat about dry bones has been brought back from the grave on a zombie thread.
Rapidly skimmed wiki on Ralph Reed and was arrested by the account of his road to conversion. (Well, must admit I was struck first by 'pub' being used for a bar in the US.) It was enlightening to see that the Holy Spirit demands stuff and er yes bemusing that it was the listing in yellow pages for Evangelical Assembly of God Church that leaped off the page & into his heart--why? I can understand 'AAA Aardvark Supplies' or 'ZZ Top de Z Line Auto Accessories' catching the eye, but not Evangelical Assembly etc. unless the very long name of the church ran markedly closer to the right margin than all the others.--I wonder does this Mr Reed know of his namesake who acted in a family-oriented sitcom and was a closet gay?
It's gas that this chat about dry bones has been brought back from the grave on a zombie thread.
22HilariaDiana
Mitchell-Hedges. I know he was an inspiration for Indiana Jones, but somebody really should make a movie about the real Mitchell-Hedges. Like Werner Herzog. Herzog also needs to make a movie about Theodore Roosevelt's trip to the Amazon in 1910.