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Following in the Footsteps of Nature
In my forthcoming book about the year 1616 I take that year as my anchor or home but move forward and back in time in telling its stories. The illustration above is from Atalanta Fugiens, 1618, by...
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1616: the plan, revised
Since the last time I talked about this I’ve revised my plan a little. At that time I was planning six chapters (once it was more — originally I envisioned twelve chapters, one for each month of the...
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Author photo
My author questionnaire and author photo for 1616: The World in Motion are due this week to Counterpoint Press. My daughter Ellen, who is a brilliant photographer, among other things, took this photo...
View ArticleBlurb watch
I suppose I should have seen this coming, but I was surprised when my publisher told me catalogue copy (which looks similar to this) is due, and it has to be put to bed within two weeks. I thought it...
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Peter Laufer was kind enough to provide a blurb on short notice, working from the not-quite-finished manuscript: Tom Christensen’s vividly illustrated 1616: The World in Motion is filled with...
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I just received this blurb from Emily Sano. Emily was kind enough to read the manuscript on short notice. She writes, “I read the whole book! Loved it.” That makes me happy! In 1616: The World in...
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Gary Snyder generously agreed to review my manuscript despite being in the middle of extensive traveling (to L.A. for a Lew Welch memorial and to Spain with Jim Harrison). I’m deeply grateful. 1616:...
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Help wanted: Italian painting specialist
Help! For the book I’m working on I’m trying to identify the painters of these frescos in the Quirinale (the Italian equivalent of the White House). They depict foreign ambassadors to the Vatican, and...
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About 1616: The World in Motion
1616 The World in Motion By Thomas Christensen Forthcoming January 2012 from Counterpoint Press The world of 1616 was a world of motion. Enormous galleons carrying silk and silver across the Pacific...
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1616 landing page
I made a simple landing page for 1616. (It’s just a big image map — a picture with clickable areas –that’s about 200 KB.) If it doesn’t load and look okay for you let me know. There’s room to expand...
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John E. Wills on 1616
“With its stories of restless spirits and restless feet and its truly amazing images from Japan to Persia to Rome, this book will surprise and delight every reader and provide new insights into an...
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Another boring blurb post
evan s. connell “Outstanding book. Tom Christensen’s scholarship is meticulous. The reproductions are beautiful. 1616 is a treasure.” — Evan S. Connell, Jr. I got this nice blurb from Evan S. Connell...
View Article1616 video trailers
I made two trailers for my forthcoming book 1616: The World in Motion. The short one is a little over a minute long and has no voice-over narration. It’s main advantage is that it’s, well, short. The...
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Turkey Day
North American Turkey, ca. 1612, by Mansur. Victoria and Albert Museum, IM 135-1921. In honor of Thanksgiving, here’s a painting of an American turkeycock by the great Mughal painter Mansur (from my...
View ArticleSeeking the man behind science’s champion
Since at least the mid-twentieth century there has been a line of Galileo scholarship that has held that Galileo’s problems with the Inquisition should not be viewed as indicating a basic conflict...
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Stunning, excellent, fabulous
1616 received a starred review yesterday in Publishers Weekly. PW, the most influential of the big four advance review publications (the others are Kirkus Reviews, Booklist, and Library Journal)...
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Living in the material world
An advance copy of 1616 arrived this week. I gather only a couple of copies were air shipped from the printer (R.R. Donnelley) in China, so it was kind of my publisher, Counterpoint, to send one to me....
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1616 landing page updated
Earlier I talked about creating a landing page for my book 1616. At that time I just put together a quick image map with hot spots for links. But this meant the text was an image, which meant it was...
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1616 review recap
Some highlights (well, hey, the topic interests me): Cleveland Plain Dealer (March 29, 2012) “Thomas Christensen’s 1616 is a delight, an adventure, a reading and visual treat of the first order. Once...
View ArticleMailbag: NCBR (1616)
This is nice. While I was traveling I received this e-mail: Dear Tom Christensen, On behalf of the Northern California Book Reviewers (NCBR), I am delighted to tell you that 1616: The World in Motion...
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