
Speaker’s Book:
- A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
Treasures, Secrets, & Scandals of Rudolf II
Print:
- The Magic Circle of Rudolf II: Alchemy and Astrology in Renaissance Prague, by Peter Marshall
- Rudolf II and His World: A Study in Intellectual History, by Robert John Weston Evans
- The School of Prague: Painting at the Court of Rudolf II, by Thomas DaCosta Kaufmann
Online:
- Rudolf and his Socialization as a Ruler – The World of the Hapsburgs
- (Podcast) Rudolf II – Bohemican
Curiosity Killed the Wives: Punishment and Reward in Myth and Folktales
Print:
- Tales of Bluebeard and His Wives from Late Antiquity to Postmodern Times, by Barzilai Shuli
- Bluebeard: A Reader’s Guide to the English Tradition, by Casie E. Hermansson
- Secrets Beyond the Door: The Story of Bluebeard and His Wives, by Maria Tatar
- The Uses of Curiosity in Early Modern France and Germany, by Neil Kenny
Online:
- Blue Beard – University of Pittsburg
- How the Devil Married Three Sisters – University of Pittsburgh
The Egyptian Hall: Performative Curiosities in London’s House of Mysteries
Print:
- The Shows of London, by Richard Daniel Altick
- A Description of the Unique Exhibition Called Ancient Mexico: Collected on the Spot in 1823 by the Assistance of the Mexican Government: And Now Open for Public Inspection at the Eqyptian Hall, Piccadilly, by William Bullock
- The Literary Chronicle for the Year 1824
Frederik Ruysch’s Anatomical Oddities and Human Dioramas
Print:
- Death Defied: The Anatomy Lessons Of Frederik Ruysch (History of Science and Medicine Library), by Luuc Kooijmans
Online:
- Frederik Ruysch: The Artist of Death – Public Domain Review
- The Embalming Jars of Frederik Ruysch – Public Domain Review
- The Anatomical Preparations of Frederick Ruysch
Barbara von Beck: A Face To Be Seen
Print:
- Ways of Seeing, by John Berger
- Portraits: A History, by Andreas Beyer
- The Marvelous Hairy Girls: The Gonzales Sisters and Their Worlds, by Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks
Online:
- The Wellcome Collection Acquires a Dignified Portrait of a 17th-Century Bearded Woman – Hyperallergic
- Portraiture of Hypertrichosis – Agnews
- The Wild and Hairy Gonzales Family – Merry Wiesner-Hanks
- National Galleries Scotland
How Do You Measure a Pachy-term? Ibn Al-Jazari’s Amazing Elephant Clock
Print:
- The Book Of Knowledge Of Ingenious Mechanical Devices, by ابن الرزاز الجزري Ibn al-Razzaz al-Jazari
- Clockwork Game: The Illustrious Career of A Chess-Playing Automaton, by Jane Irwin
Online:
- The Abbasids’ House of Wisdom in Baghdad – Muslim Heritage
- Elephant Water Clock – The Early Inventions: Exploring the Golden Age
- 800 Years Later: In Memory of Al-Jazari, A Genius Mechanical Engineer – Muslim Heritage
- Dubai, United Aram Emirates: Elephant Clock – Atlas Obscura
- Clockwork Game Graphic Novel – Jane Irwin
- Go Visit The book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices – San Francisco Public Library
For each salon, we invite our speakers to share the resources and interesting reading they came across in researching their talk, so that we can all dig more deeply. This reading list was compiled by Odd Salon with: Reigh Robitaille, Andrey Tselikov, Amy Mains, Seth Rosenblatt, James Manion, and Casey Selden. Thank you!