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The French Crown

The various crowns of France used from the 6th century (numbers 1 and 2) to the 11th (12 and 13). Crown number 4 is from the 7th Century, and 3, 6, 7, 9, 11, and 15 are ninth century. Crowns numbers 5, 8, 10, 14, and 16 are 10th century. Original Artwork: Drawing and engraved by Ferdinand Sere for 'Le Moyen Age et la Renaissance' by P Lacroix. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Cacti, chromolithograph, published in 1900

Cacti: 1) Cereus flagelliformis; 2) Bottle cactus (Hariota salicornioides); 3) Schlumbergera gaertneri (Epiphyllum truncatum); 4) Barbados gooseberry (Pereskia aculeata); 5) Mistletoe cactus (Rhipsalis baccifera, or Rhipsalis sarmentacea); 6) Rhipsalis cassutha; 7) Rainbow pincushion (Mammillaria rhodantha); 8) Leuchtenbergia principis; 9) Ferocactus hamatacanthus (or Echinocactus longihamatus); 10) Echinopsis cinnabarina; 11) Pachycereus marginatus (or Cereus gemmatus); 12) Carnegiea gigantea (or Cereus giganteus); 13) Pelecyphora aselliformis; 14) Opuntia tuna; 15) Cereus grandiflorus; 16) Melon cactus (Melocactus intortus, or Melocactus communis); 17) Old man cactus (Cephalocereus senilis); 18) Echinocactus longihamatus; 20) Ariocarpus retusus; 21) Opuntia cochenillifera, or Nopalea coccinelhifera; 22) Echinocereus procumbens. Chromolithograph, published in 1900.

March - Tossing the Pancake

A Victorian cook, kitchen maid and the family of the house enjoying the traditional Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) pancake tossing excitement in the kitchen. From “The Comic Almanack for 1837: An Ephemeris in Jest and Earnest Containing All Things Fitting For Such Work by Rigdum Funnidos, Gent. - Adorned with a dozen of ‘Righte Merrie’ Cuts pertaining to the Months, and an Hieroglyphic, by George Cruikshank.” Published in London by Charles Tilt ‘Bibliopolist’, 1836.

© Linda Steward