A Happy Halloween to All From South Coast Antiques & Gallery!

Wishing everyone a very scarey, but safe, Halloween from

South Coast Antiques & Gallery in beautiful down town Ocean Springs, MS!

Victorian Civil War Era Swords into plowshares Brooch at South Coast Antiques & Gallery-SOLD

The plow has been a metaphor for the peaceful occupation of mankind since the beginning of agriculture thousands of years ago.  In the Bible Isaiah 2:4 says, “They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”

This gold over lay pin is a perfect example of a mid 19th century peace movement brooch.  It shows a Victorian era plow merged with a saber or sword.  Overlaid on the plow is a peace lily and where the sword meets the plow is a garnet, which in Victorian iconography and jewelry indicates both blood and mourning, which is very appropriate and appear on many Georgian and pre 1860 mourning jewelry items.

The first peace movement documented was a satirical work by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes. Titled Lysistrata it was weitten around 441 B.C. protesting the Peloponnesian War.  In the United States, peace societies began to appear starting just after the War of 1812 to the present.  The 1840s saw such literary types as Ralph Waldo Emerson and David Thoreau broaden the appeal of peace groups.  Even during the American Civil War, there was a small peace movement.  After the Civil War peace groups re-emerged from hiatus and continued on to the present time, sometimes blurring the distinction between peace movement and anti-war movement.

Plowshares were not always a peaceful tool as seen it could also sow war as in the dreaded monster Hydra, killed by Hercules as his second of twelve labors in ancient Greek legend.  The Romans used the plow as a weapon and plowed up the Phoenician capital of Carthage after the Third Punic War in 146 B.C. and sowed salt to ensure that nothing would grow in that spot again. 

The plow has been around since humans began to use agriculture some 8,000 years ago, propelling us into the modern age.  The concept in ancient times was that metal was precious and thus was used and reused in various ways, both in war and peace and making that transformation a metaphor for peace. 

This scarce historic jewel is available for viewing at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs,MS

Project Gutenberg's Founder, Michael Hart, Passes Away. Condolences From South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Today I found out that Project Gutenberg's founder, 

Michael Hart, passed away September 6, 2011.

If you are not familiar with Project Gutenberg,  it is in my opinion one of the greatest gifts that has ever been given to humankind!  A massive online library of ebooks in many different formats that one can either read on line or save on your PC to read later. In 1999 I went on line for the first time. I found Project Gutenberg within hours of going online. The first thing I downloaded was The Wonders of the Invisible World  by Cotton Mather and Increase Mather. It was one of the most important moments in my life at that time. I went on a massive book downloading spree on Project Gutenberg. I fell in love with the idea of ebooks. Do not get me wrong, there is nothing in  this world that will ever replace the feel, the smell, the visual joy of a good old fashioned bound book. But the very idea of having all the worlds best (and sometimes not the best) literature available to one for free is just mind boggling!
I feel bad that I never had the forethought to personally thank Mr. Hart for his great generosity to me and the world. I feel so sad that he passed and I never told this man that I did not know how much he meant to me. It will not make up for my not having done so, but I will now tell the world how much what this man did meant to me. On July 4, 1971, Michael Hart was given a copy of United States Declaration of Independence.
He typed the text into the computer but was told that it would be unacceptable to transmit it to numerous people at once via e-mail. Thus, to avoid crashing the system, he made the text available for people to download instead. This was the beginning of Project Gutenberg.
Michael Hart exhibited true patriotism, that always gave and never took. a quiet patriot that never tooted his own horn. A patriot that was beyond politics.He always supported the rights of everybody to have free access to books, that broke beyond the barriers of age, ethnicity, and income level. This man truly deserved the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Nobel peace prize, but he would never have been considered because he was not making any wealthy people wealthier with his great works for mankind. He did all of this at no coast to the tax payers, bringing some of the worlds finest free literature and rare books to those who had little access or recourse. In my opinion he was a true American hero. But Project Gutenberg does not end with him, praise also goes out to all those many people who wrote code and transcribed texts and especially those that will be doing so in Michael Hart's memory in the future. To all these people I would like to thank you for your good work with the project then and in the future..
.

Crusin the Coast 2011 Ocean Springs, MS at South Coast Antiques & Gallery

Well, it's that time of year once more. Crusin the Coast 2011 is upon us here at South Coast Antiques & Gallery in Ocean Springs, MS. Every year a multitude of classic cars show up here in Ocean Springs for three days of automotive awesomeness.  I just love seeing all the great vehicles that show up and cruise the streets of the O.S.
I did not get a chance to get out and take many photographs yesterday or to day. I will try to get a few more tomorrow.