July 2011 Blog Posts (3)

Hi from Ireland . I am a collector , researcher and for the last 6 years I have been researching the Bandleader , Conductor , and Composer ,Patrick Sarsfield Gilmore {1829-1892 } who is known as Americas First Superstar and the "Father of American Band " . He was associated with both H W Longfellow , Oliver W Holmes as well as Mark Twain and other icons of American Literature . His popularity in American politics is best portrayed by his leading of 7 inaugurations…

At an auction here in York County, Pa., I picked up a bound volume of issues of The Art Journal from the year 1880. It's full of fascinating articles and illustrations (no advertisements, though, interestingly, enough).

One of the first things that caught my eye was a…

Mullingar in Ireland is the administrative centre of County Westmeath. In the 18th century the proprietor of the borough of Mullingar was the Earl of Granard. He had two sons, Lord Forbes and Admiral Forbes, both members of parliament for the borough. Around 1760 parliamentary corruption was rampant and at the general election of 1761 the contest for the borough of Mullinar resulted in a bitter dispute between the proprietors of the borough and their rival candidate, John Nugent. Lord Forbes…