"If you had a cabinet of curiosities and money were no object, what one thing would you like to put in it?"
And we also have five copies of Mary Hoffman's latest, and last, Stravaganza novel, City of Swords, which is alternative-dimension history (Italy in the 16th century). Just answer this question:
"Which Talian city would you most like to visit?" (It can be one of the six already written about, see the list here, or one based on another Italian city)
Thanks to Bloomsbury for providing both books.
All competitions are open to UK readers only.
Closing date 7th August
10 comments:
In the cabinet of curiosities - something with a story attached. So - my great-grandmother's silver thimble. She was illiterate, and was widowed with nine children, so went an attic in Hackney and sewed dress shirts for high society men, to pay for all her children to go to school. Three generations on, and most of us went to university. Wouldn't she be proud!!
William the Conqueror's conkers collection!
Ooh, I like this one! For the Cabinet of Curiousities, I would love to put in one of the many fascinating items that I saw at the RAMM in Exeter last week (recent Museum of the Year). Out of all of them, as space if not money might be on object, I think I would put in the single grain of wheat which has the figures of two deities carved into it.
If I could put absolutely anything in the Cabinet, I would like to suggest a device to turn back time. Not too far, or people would start messing with history: just a single minute. That way, when your mouth runs a bit faster than your brain, you can 'unsay' things and avoid offence!
And my favourite city would be the City of Secrets: I'd love to work on a printing press!
Oh, both of these are fun!
The Talian City I'd most like to visit is Bellezza, mainly because I've always wanted to visit Venice, but have never yet managed it, and because it was the first Talian city I 'met', and it sounds even better than Venice.
(also, the idea of being masked has it's appeal, at times!)
For the cabinet of curiosities I think I'd like the manuscript I saw once in the British Museum, which was, I think, medieval, and had little drawings of the markings on the bills of all the Queen's swans, so they knew which ones they had counted. I love it because it was both ornamental and useful!
In the Cabinet of Curiosities, I'd like to put my grandfather's pocket-watch (which has long since stopped) and the silver pig my great aunt used to carry with her to hold & strike matches with. Interesting to nobody but me!
For my cabinet I would choose Vermeer's View of Delft, my very favourite painting. A bit large for a cabinet, but with money no object I'm sure I could have one constructed so that Vermeer's magical painting might fit in!
Margaret P
For my cabinet of curiosities I would choose a selection of the original Old Bailey records. The crimes that used to be tried and the judges' responses are fascinating. You can really get a feel for the people in some of the people's characters and lifestyles.
An online version is great for accessibility but not the same as I imagine pouring over the old pages would be.
In a Cabinet of curiosities, I would put photos of everywhere I've been, things I've seen and did
After all, I'd love to preserve memories, but photos are the closest you can get.
And I'd love to live in the city of stars! The whole lay out of the city sounds fascinating and I really want to visit Siena in real life.
Just saw the results - Thank you!
Post a Comment