The image for this month in the Kislak Center wall calendar comes from an 1865 edition of *Gulliver’
The image for this month in the Kislak Center wall calendar comes from an 1865 edition of *Gulliver’s Travels*. This illustration by Thomas Morten shows how the Laputians are so lost in thought that their heads are permanently stuck in a reclined, contemplative pose. The following excerpt demonstrates their astrological achievements, which occupy most of their waking thoughts: “They spend the greatest part of their lives in observing celestial bodies, which they do by the assistance of glasses, far excelling ours in goodness. For, although their largest telescopes do not exceed three feet, they magnify much more than those of a hundred with us, and show the stars with greater clearness. This advantage has enabled them to extend their discoveries much further than our astronomers in Europe; for they have made a catalogue of ten thousand fixed stars, whereas the largest of ours do not contain above one third part of that number.”Call number: Gulliver 37http://ow.ly/7rPL30ldO0E* * *#kislakcenter #pennlibraries #librariesofinstagram #calendar #astrology #swift350 #October #JonathanSwift #gulliverstravels #Laputa #illustration #specialcollectionshttps://www.instagram.com/p/BoZSkLmlgXb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=145r0bd12337i -- source link
#kislakcenter#pennlibraries#librariesofinstagram#calendar#astrology#swift350#october#jonathanswift#gulliverstravels#laputa#illustration#specialcollections