Things More Noted Still

For Valentine's Day, archaeologists in Italy have unearthed two 5,000 year old lovers"locked in an eternal embrace." That may not appeal to the romantic in you, but Caleb Crain's"Spurs to Love," about 19th century comic valentines at Steamboats are ruining everything, won't either.

Karl Ritter,"World's Oldest Newspaper Goes Digital," Guardian, 5 February. Sweden's Post-och Inrikes Tidningar, founded in 1645 CE by Queen Kristina, will kill no more trees.

Jonathan Rosen,"Missing Link," New Yorker, 5 February, looks at Alfred Russell Wallace, Darwin's"neglected double." Thanks to Arts & Letters Daily for the tip.

Scott McLemee's"Legitimation Crisis," Inside Higher Ed, 6 February, interviews Danny Postel about the weak relationship between American intellectuals and our oppositional counterparts in Iran.

Patricia Cohen,"Baghdad Day to Day: Librarian's Journal," NYT, 7 February, reports the heart-breaking challenge of maintaining Iraq's National Library and Archive. Its director, Saad Eskander, maintains Iraq Diary on the British Library's server.

Finally, this news made front page, above the fold, headlines in Atlanta's Journal-Constitution yesterday. I suppose having the Dalai Lama as a member of the faculty is a good thing. Of course, like Salmon Rushdie, he won't be around the University very often. Maybe you could top this by offering Jesus an endowed chair, so long as he promises never to return again.