Noted Here and There ...

The New York Times had an important article about the new relationship between the New York Historical Society and the Gilder-Lehrman Institute. It's a bit like the hungry elephant who tried to swallow a whale. At best and at worst, it's a transformative experience. Read the article carefully. Big money expects to do big things and the shock waves could reach at least as far south as Atlanta.

There are more good things at Sharon Howard's Early Modern Notes, including a look at Puritans, Republicans, and the tavern and a link to Kevin C. Murphy's"Public Virtues, Public Vices: On Republicanism and the Tavern" in British North America. Update: Early Modern Notes follows that with a link-rich post on Early Modern Africa.

Two examples of incomplete data: Danny Loss discovers that Alberta Martin wasn't the last Confederate widow after all. Why is it that new"last Confederate widows" keep turning up after we thought we'd buried the last one? By now, the supply has to be dwindling. Mug shots of Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks have just turned up in Montgomery. Having been over this very ground once or twice myself, you learn to expect that something heretofore unknown will turn up. Still, what it is and where it was usually comes as a surprise.

Will Baude offers you the opportunity to decide:"Who is the worst guest blogger at The Volokh Conspiracy?" Last time I looked, Clayton Cramer had a substantial lead, but he could be forced into a run-off with Cathy Siepp.

Finally, congratulations to Hugo Schwyzer, the Cliopatriarch of Pasadena, who announces his engagement to be married. The deal appears to have Matilda's endorsement. But, really, the fiancé might give it some thought. Hugo has just become an "adorable little rodent" in Truth Laid Bear's ecosystem. His Cliopatriarchritude could have conflicted senses of himself. A chipmunk might be o.k. We're fairly sure he's not a rat, but one does want to be clear about these things.