I must just interrupt my daily trip down Memory Lane to register the winning of the Man Booker Prize - for the second time - by Hilary Mantel. Now, Ms Mantel won it the first time by writing a novel about Thomas Cromwell. She won it the second time by writing a novel about ... Thomas Cromwell. Is it only me who sees a pattern here? Next year, if we all write a novel about Thomas Cromwell, we're all bound to win. Incidentally, old TC was a thoroughgoing b.....d, but in that sense no worse than anybody else in the Tudor period. And of course, he's now waiting in the Other Place for the arrival of Ms Mantel, with whom I'm sure he'll have a few words ...
Back to the blog -
Canaletto was born today in 1697. With a name like that of course he couldn't paint anything but canals. So Michelangelo called himself Bibletto; Stubbs was professionally known as Horsetto and Geronimo Monteverdi the master forger was Falsetto.
In other news ...
Lord Palmerston died today in 1865 with the famous words 'Die, my dear doctor? That's the last thing I shall do.'
And do you know, it was! Spooky, huh?
