For this week’s historical highlights I’m beginning with a few links that relate to Remembrance Day, followed by some miscellaneous (yet fascinating) stories.
Lesson plans and online exhibits on the World Wars by Archives of Ontario.
A new exhibition displays replicas of carvings made in caves and tunnels by World War I soldiers waiting to enter the Battle of Vimy Ridge. It will be on display in Mississauga, Ontario until November 30, 2015.
Thomas Littlewood’s research into war memorials reminds me of a project on the Poplar Hill cenotaph that I did for my Canadian History course in university.
An excellent online resource for learning about Canada and World War I.
A map of Middle Earth annotated by J. R. R. Tolkien was discovered in a copy of LOTR owned by Pauline Baynes (who illustrated books by both Lewis and Tolkien). Blackwell’s Rare Books is selling it for £60,000 (a bit out of my price range).
It turns out that the Tower of London contains an unusually high number of “witchmarks,” carvings meant to ward off evil spirits.
Signed, Sealed, & Undelivered: a 17th trunk containing 2600 letters was recently rediscovered and an “international and interdisciplinary team of researchers has now begun a process of digitization, preservation, transcription, and editing.” Check out the images of wax seals, inserted objects, watermarks, etc.
Which link excites you the most? (For me it’s a tie between the Middle Earth map and the trunk of 17th century letters.)