A Vintage Affair

07/06/2026

Beautiful sunrise in Galveston. Hop on I-45 and pay me a visit this Saturday for Art Walk, 7/11, 6-9 pm.

07/05/2026

♥️
Photographed by Cecil Beaton, 1947.

Colorized

07/05/2026

This was basically the Renaissance equivalent of keeping multiple tabs open. Invented in the 1500s by Italian engineer Agostino Ramelli, the rotating wheel allowed scholars to read and reference multiple books at once. Book wheels remained in use into the 18th and even early 19th centuries.

The one in this photo is preserved in the Biblioteca Palafoxiana in Puebla, Mexico, and dates to the 18th century. The book wheel stands as a fascinating example of Renaissance ingenuity, reflecting a period when the rapid growth of knowledge demanded new ways to organize, compare, and engage with information.

It turns out that even 500 years ago, scholars were already looking for better ways to manage information overload. Long before laptops, search engines, and digital databases, inventions like this helped fuel the intellectual curiosity that defined the early modern era.

07/05/2026

07/05/2026

07/05/2026

Those are all pretty snazzy options, but swimming in all that fabric doesn’t sound very fun.