ANALYSIS OF WEATHERED GLASS FROM YORK MINSTER

Non-destructive analyses are reported of a twelfth century stained glass panel from York Minster. The main conclusion from the results is that the observed differences in severity of corrosion between various glasses may be explained by variations in the proportions of potassium and calcium.     

THE X-RAY FLUORESCENCE ANALYSIS OF MEDIEVAL DURABLE BLUE SODA GLASS FROM YORK MINSTER

The chemical composition of durable blue soda glass dated to the twelfth century from York Minster, both from the windows and excavated within this building, has been determined by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The analytical data are compared with results from specimens of similar date, colour and composition from Old Sarum and Winchester in England and Chartres Cathedral in France. Multivariate analysis of the compositional data reveals that this unusual blue glass may be classified into three principal groups the possible origins of which are discussed. The specimens in one of them are of particular technological interest since they may have been produced from Roman, or slightly later, glass in a manner referred to by the twelfth century monk Theophilus. It is shown that medieval stained glass of the soda-lime-silicate type, vis-a-vis that containing potash as the predominant alkali, is not as rare as hitherto believed.     

司徒美堂与抗日战争

美洲著名爱国侨领司徒美堂为祖国抗战做出了重大的贡献。他从九一八事变后即率先投身于抗日救亡运动,积极声援自发奋起抗战的国民党官兵;全国抗战爆发后,他出任抗日救国侨团的首领,带领广大华侨开展抗日救亡活动;他万里迢迢回国慰劳抗日军民,为祖国抗战出计献策,在途经香港陷入日军魔掌的危险时刻,表现出了铁骨铮铮的民族气节;他团结美洲洪门侨胞,报效祖国抗战,使这一古老的帮会组织焕发青春;他呼吁祖国团结抗战,反对妥协投降,有力地维护了国共合作抗战的大局。他是广大华侨抗日救国的领袖和楷模,其爱国思想在支援祖国抗战中进一步得到升华。     

The Inca's Ransom

Abstract

To honour the distinguished members of our Editorial Board on the occasion of their 80th birthday, it has now become customary to publish a contribution to this journal chosen by them. Lord Todd, Britain's most distinguished scientist today, recalls here the history of organic chemistry and describes his own contributions: the total synthesis of the anthocyan ins and of vitamin B₁, as well as his pioneering research in the fields of coenzymes and nucleotide chemistry. Lord Todd, Nobel Laureate and formerly President of the Royal Society, has been uniquely honoured by having had the Order of Merit bestowed upon him and having been elected into the Order Pour le mérite (see Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 8, 201, 1983). He has received thirty-one honorary doctorates, and as the first Chancellor of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, the city of his birth, he has even had a pub named after him, The Lord Todd.     

Reminiscences of the Solicitor General's Office

A few years ago Danielle Stern suggested to her grandfather that as the oldest member of the family, he ought to put down his memories of both the family and of his law practice. Stern did, and in it he describes various members of the family, and how he came to go to Harvard Law School, graduating in 1932 during the Great Depression. Although he had been an editor of the Harvard Law Review and graduated magna cum laude, the major New York firms passed him by because he was a Jew. He did manage to get a job with a small law firm at $25 a week, and about a year later went to Washington to join the New Deal. We are pleased to present that part of Mr. Stern s memoirs that deals with his years in the Justice Department and then in the Solicitor General s office.     

Reviews of Books

Abstract

Responding to the relatively sparse literature on choir stall canopies, this article concentrates on the micro-architectural canopies of the Lincoln, Chester and Nantwich stalls of the late 14th century. At Lincoln, a new three-dimensional polygonal canopy design appears, the precedents and sources for which include the York Minster chapter-house stalls, tombs, bishops' thrones and the Stratford monument in Canterbury Cathedral. The circumstances of the commissions of the Lincoln, Chester and Nantwich stalls are explained, with reference to patronage and architectural projects. Ambitious patrons commissioned stalls which broke with the tradition of double-screen construction in order to create impressive tabernacle canopies.     

Honorary Secretary’s Report for 1964

Abstract

The glazing scheme of the chapter-house at York Minster contains the best preserved ensemble of narrative glass of its period in England, and is the only one to survive in any of the great polygonal chapter-houses. Although it is frequently mentioned in general works on the Minster and its glass, there has been no sustained attempt to reconstruct the sequence of the panels or to consider the iconography of the scheme in relation to its setting. This study aims to highlight the significance of the scheme as a whole by focusing on just one of its seven windows: that in the north-west corner, which features a life of St Katherine of Alexandria. Using unpublished antiquarian sources alongside textual versions of Katherine's vita, it outlines a possible sequence for the window's disordered panels. It then goes on to analyse the window and its iconography within the context of the chapter-house, considering how it constructs its own particular version of this highly popular narrative. The results suggest that the scheme as a whole is a high-status product which employs complex narrative strategies. It is an important testament to the sophistication of glazed narratives in the period as well as to the ambitions of York's chapter.     

Vowesses and Female Lay Piety in the Province of York, 1300–1530

Abstract

'The Dignitaries of York Minster in the 1170s: a Reassessment'. The succession of clerics to the various offices of York Minster has long been the subject of scholarly attention. The resulting tables of deans, precentors, chancellors, treasurers and archdeacons have been used extensively as a basis for dating charters of the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. New evidence has emerged which shows that William d'Eu, the Precentor of York, who was thought to have died in or before 1173–1174, was still living in 1178 and possibly later. A re-examination of the established chronology prompted by this discovery shows that Jeremy, previously thought to have become Archdeacon of Cleveland by late 1171, probably did not gain the position until 1176 or later, in succession to Ralph. Diceto's identification of Geoffrey, Provost of Beverley and Chancellor of the young King, with Geoffrey, Archdeacon of York, which has been doubted, is shown to be supported by the available evidence. The proposed revisions to the chronology of the tenure of the York Minster dignities will allow for more accurate dating of many charters from this period.     

李旭旦先生的学术思想和贡献及其他——纪念李旭旦先生诞辰100周年

李旭旦先生是人文地理学家、区域地理学家和地理教育家,毕生致力于地理教育和科学研究,培养了几代地理学人才,桃李满天下。他才思敏捷,知识渊博,治学严谨、执着,有较高的学术造诣。学术上他强调人地协调论和统一地理学,提倡区域研究,致力于地理教育理论的建设,创办《地理知识》杂志,曾任德国《GeoJournal》杂志编委,主编《人文地理学》(中国大百科全书分册)、《人文地理学论丛》、《人文地理学概说》,提出白龙江是我国西部南北地理分界线的科学论断,主张把解决现实问题作为人文地理学的主攻方向,重视野外调查,晚年他提出复兴人文地理学的倡议,把我国人文地理学的发展推向一个新的阶段。他是我国现代人文地理学的奠基人。     

SIR THOMAS BROWNE AND ANTIQUITY

INTRODUCTION BY THE MASTER OF PEMBROKE COLLEGE, OXFORD
Pembroke College had for some time wished to commemorate one of its most distinguished members and at the same time contribute to the world of scholarship. The support of an anonymous member of the College made it possible this year for us to inaugurate the biennial lectures entitled 'The Sir Thomas Browne Lectures of Pembroke College'. Sir Thomas Browne has a very special significance for Pembroke. In 1624 he was the senior scholar of Broadgates Hall, the mediaeval hall on the site of Pembroke, when that year it received its new name and Royal Charter. To the scholars of Broadgates Hall he spoke of Pembroke College, 'rising like a phoenix out of the ashes'and called on them to show loyalty to the new College. Sir Thomas Browne was such a polymath that lecturers will find some connection between contemporary thought in the fields of religion, medicine, philosophy and archaeology, all having been illumined by his insatiable curiosity. However, taking a cue from the statue of Thomas Browne in Norwich, his home town, where this thoughtful figure holds a sherd of pottery in his right hand and sits on a pedestal of grey granite shaped to depict an urn, we decided that there could be no better start to the series than to invite one of the country's most distinguished archaeologists, Professor Stuart Piggott, to give our first lecture.     

In Medio Chori: The Tomb of Thomas of Corbridge,Archbishop of York,in Southwell Minster

Four medieval archbishops of York died in their palace at Southwell in Nottinghamshire. Three archbishops were buried in Southwell Minster. Archbishop Thomas of Corbridge was buried in an important position in the middle of the choir. His tomb had a marble top with an inlaid brass memorial. Thus Corbridge was held in high esteem and there is some evidence that he may have been regarded as an unofficial saint.     

Thomas Graham Brown (1882–1965): Behind the Scenes at the Cardiff Institute of Physiology

Thomas Graham Brown undertook seminal experiments on the neural control of locomotion between 1910 and 1915. Although elected to the Royal Society in 1927, his locomotion research was largely ignored until the 1960s when it was championed and extended by the distinguished neuroscientist, Anders Lundberg. Puzzlingly, Graham Brown's published research stopped in the 1920s and he became renowned as a mountaineer. In this article, we review his life and multifaceted career, including his active neurological service in WWI. We outline events behind the scenes during his tenure at Cardiff's Institute of Physiology in Wales, UK, including an interview with his technician, Terrence J. Surman, who worked in this institute for over half a century.     

From the Grassroots: Bernard Narokobi and the Making of Papua New Guinea's Constitution

ABSTRACT

Bernard Narokobi's concept of the Melanesian Way was influenced by a variety of factors, including his own childhood in the village, his religion, and the understandings of the people around him. He also drew inspiration from his exposure to the views and opinions of the many Papua New Guineans who contributed to the work of the Constitutional Planning Committee (CPC) between 1972 and 1975 when he served as a consultant to the committee. He shared the belief in a specifically ‘Melanesian’ way of social organization and cosmological understanding with the others who took part in the CPC's work, most prominently its de facto chairman, Father John Momis. With Momis he drew on the people's contributions to formulate PNG's National Goals and Directive Principles, which, at least in part, embody Narokobi's understanding of what it is to be Melanesian.     

章高元与中日甲午战争——兼论章高元在胶州湾事件中的表现

清军将领章高元在中日甲午战争中奉命增援前往辽东战场,在盖平战役中他不畏强暴.奋勇杀敌,建树了英雄业绩,虽败尤荣,表现了可贵的爱国主义精神.章高元在胶州湾事件中坚持抵抗态度,但违心服从清廷旨意,对其后丧地负有一定责任.应肯定章高元是一个有作为的抵抗派人物,是功大于过的爱国将领.     

The boundary dispute between Chile and Argentina

In November 1920, James Young Simpson, Professor of Natural Science in New College, Edinburgh and Trinity College, Glasgow, was invited by the governments of Latvia and Lithuania to chair a commission which would settle the disputed border between the two newly‐independent states. Upon his return to Edinburgh in May 1921, Simpson deposited the papers and final report on the commission's decision with the Royal Scottish Geographical Society, of which he was an active member. This article will explain why and how Simpson came to be involved in diplomatic decisions so remote from his home life and work, and will analyse the significance of the results of Simpson's efforts on the arbitration commission.     

Secular history in twelfth-century Italy: Caffaro of Genoa

Caffaro of Genoa is distinguished among medieval writers of history in being the earliest urban chronicler and the earliest secular historian in western Europe. However, his works and career remain relatively unknown to a remarkable number of contemporary medievalists in the English-speaking world. Caffaro was the originator of the Genoese Annals and remained their sole author for more than half a century. In addition he wrote at least two other historical works of great value. Throughout his long life he played a prominent role in the affairs of his city. He served repeatedly as a consul, ambassador, and diplomat for the Genoese Republic, and he was as well a crusader and a successful military commander. In his writing and in his career Caffaro consistently displays that uniquely secular and urban temperament we too readily associate only with the historians of Antiquity and the Renaissance.     

Sir Edward Appleton and Joseph Priestley: two giants of electrical science

The life of Sir Edward Appleton is reviewed, in commemoration of the recent centenary of his birth. Appleton discovered the ionosphere and devoted much of his life to investigations of its properties, receiving the Nobel Prize for physics as a result. He became a senior government scientist in World War II and afterwards was appointed Vice-Chancellor of Edinburgh University. The influence of his roots in the city of Bradford is emphasized and compared with the case of Joseph Priestley, also born near Bradford some 160 yr earlier. Priestley was a major early investigator of electrical phenomena and compiled a comprehensive treatise on the electrical knowledge of his day. He was the first person to present an experimental proof of the inverse-square law of electrostatic force, although he is usually better remembered as the discoverer of oxygen.     

The Communion of St Denis and the Feast of Corpus Christi in the 15th-Century Stained Glass of All Saints North Street in York

Abstract

A text scroll in a miraculous mass scene in the parish church of All Saints North Street in York contains a breviary text from the Communion of St Denis. English unfamiliarity with the Communion legend and the unusual iconography of this particular version have both contributed to earlier misidentifications of this scene as a St Gregory’s Mass. In fact, this window contains the only surviving example of the Communion of St Denis in English stained glass. The All Saints’ glass also contains evidence of a now-missing St Gregory’s Mass, arguably in the same window as the Communion scene. These mass scenes were occasionally used separately to signify the feast of Corpus Christi. Combining them in the same window would have created a potent set of images that showed different aspects of the Body of Christ. More complex cross-references between the texts and images in this glass suggest clerical involvement in a choice of iconographies that would have reflected the devotional interests of the probable lay donors, who were members of the York Corpus Christi Guild. Commissioning and funding the creation of this window may therefore have been a collaborative exercise.     

Remembering Rehnquist

William Hubbs Rehnquist spent the last thirty-three years of his life as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court, fifteen as an Associate Justice and eighteen as Chief Justice. I met Bill when I was a freshman at Stanford in 1946. He was attending Stanford and working part time as a "hasher" at my dormitory during the evening meal. He amazed all of the young women by carrying such heavy loads of dishes on his tray. Perhaps that is how he learned to carry all those heavy loads in all of the years that followed. He was tall and good-looking, and he had a sharp sense of humor.