The wild and crazy 18th century English
by chuckofish
This dual personality’s darling husband recently started a blog concerning his research on Joshua Kirby, an interesting (if minor) English artist. You can visit it here.You might wonder what a mathematician is doing studying an artist, but Kirby was famous for his treatise on perspective (see there is a math connection) and finagled a career at court out of it. William Hogarth’s famous false perspective engraving was the frontispiece for the book.
The subscription lists for the volume and its reprints also tell a fascinating story. Prosopography is so interesting! Being an excellent historian (in addition to being a brilliant mathematician), my spouse has immersed himself in the world of 18th century London and is sharing his discoveries via his blog. It’s good reading — go see for yourself!
dual personalities 
I remember learning about this engraving in Dad’s class!
I know — isn’t it wonderful? Didn’t he give you a “spot all the mistakes” homework?
Prosopography? Surely you jest? I had to look it up…”an investigation of the common characteristics of a historical group, whose individual biographies may be largely untraceable, by means of a collective study of their lives, in multiple career-line analysis.” Okay, then.
I know. It’s one of those highfalutin words, but it is extremely useful. Most of the texts I deal with can only be dated by carefully sorting out who is mentioned and how they are all connected. Fortunately, I own the multi-volume Prosopography of the Neo-Assyrian Empire — without which I would be lost!