Medium Wooden BackgammonThis classic game of Backgammon has been embellished with beautiful wood mosaic inlays designed and finished exquisitely on a walnut wood frame. The wood inlays consist of walnut, lemon, and particularly rosewoods that distinguish it from other Mosaic Backgammon designs.

Rosetta Stone sheer silk scarfThis lovely sheer scarf has a printed design based on the famous text and hieroglyphs on the Rosetta Stone. The text is highlighted in grey and silver tones.The Rosetta Stone has been housed at the British Museum since 1802, and is one of the Museum’s best known exhibits. It was discovered in 1799, by which time all knowledge of the Ancient Egyptian language and writing had been lost for over 1,000 years; however, the Stone’s inscription helped scholars to decipher the two Egyptian scripts ‐ one written with hieroglyphs and one in the cursive demotic script ‐ from the Greek section at the bottom.

Treasures of the British MuseumThe British Museum is the most magnificent treasure-house in the world. The wealth and range of its collections is unequalled by any other national museum. The Rosetta Stone, the Parthenon sculptures, Egyptian mummies, drawings by Botticelli and Michelangelo, Assyrian reliefs, the Lewis Chessmen and the Sutton Hoo treasure are all to be found there. Treasures of the British Museum delights readers with the intriguing stories behind these treasures and many more. This timely new edition brings the story right up to date, with chapters on important acquisitions made by the Museum in the last fifteen years, including the Warren Cup and the ‘Queen of the Night’. A beautiful redesign incorporating all new full colour photography throughout gives this classic volume a fresh new look.

Write Your Own Egyptian HieroglyphsThe Egyptian hieroglyphic script is one of the most beautiful, fascinating and expressive writing systems ever invented. In Ancient Egypt, only an elite few could read and write hieroglyphs, but now you too can read and write a selection of names, titles, descriptions, sayings, greetings – even insults! For the Egyptians, nothing could exist without a name – names held the spark of life. Hieroglyphs offer a flexible, subtle and powerful way to write not just the sound of a name but its meaning and essence. The book describes how the Egyptians composed names for the elements of their world and shows you, with practical guides, how to create names (and greetings and complaints and insults!) in hieroglyphs for yourself, your friends, your pets – even your house. There are step-by-step tips on how to draw some of the trickier signs, or you can copy or trace the hieroglyphs from the book. In the words of one Egyptian papyrus, ‘By day write with your fingers, recite by night. Befriend the sc

Fuji Wave PuzzleThis 520 piece jigsaw puzzle features the iconic ‘Great Wave off Kanagawa’ design by Katsushika Hokusai from around AD 1829-33.This is perhaps the single most famous of Hokusai’s woodblock prints – perhaps of all Japanese prints, and belongs to the series ‘Thirty-six views of Mount Fuji’. This monumental series was the first to exploit the new chemical Berlin blue pigment, which had recently become cheaply available from China. It provided Hokusai with a strong blue for both sky and water and had the added advantage that it did not fade. Hokusai’s series was so commercially successful that the publisher, Nishimuraya Eijudō, extended it with another ten prints, printed this time with black instead of blue outlines.

Union Jack ceramic cufflinksThese simple and classic cufflinks feature a grey Union Jack design on a ceramic square made of the finest white clay.The cufflinks are from a collection of London designs which also feature photographic images of iconic London buildings and sights.

Premium Lewis Chess SetThis premium Lewis Chess set has a high quality wooden board, and is an authentic replica of one of the British Museum’s most iconic pieces.The remarkable chess pieces were found in 1831 on the Isle of Lewis, Outer Hebrides. No exact account of the discovery remains, but they apparently came to light after the collapse of a sand-bank on the coast of the island revealed their hiding place to a passing islander. 93 pieces from the hoard are known today. They are all carved from walrus ivory and include a belt buckle and some plain draughtsmen as well as the 78 chessmen. They date from the mid to late 12th century, and the style of carving, especially the intricate interlocking animal and floral designs on the thrones of the seated figures, indicate that they are of Scandinavian workmanship; however, their exact origin is not certain and they may have been made in Britain by a craftsman skilled in this style of Viking art. The British Museum bought 67 of the chessmen towards the end of 1831.

Silver Spoon Bird necklaceThis beautiful collection has been inspired by antique and vintage jewellery and patterns, in particular silverware from the late 1800s and early 1900s.The body of this precious bird was inspired by combining parts of vintage spoons. The body is made from the bowl of a teaspoon and its delicate wings and tail were taken from the ends of demitasse spoons.

Ex Libris: The Art of BookplatesA delightfully attractive book presenting the bookplate � a neglected art form that has nevertheless been practised by leading artists of their generation, from Albrecht D�rer to Edward Burne-Jones.A bookplate, or Ex Libris, is a small print for pasting inside the cover of a book to express ownership. The first books were highly valuable and prestigious objects to own, hence the first bookplates usually incorporated the decorative coats of arms of the fabulously wealthy. By the late nineteenth century, bookplates had developed into a highly imaginative form of the engraver�s and printmaker�s art in miniature.This delightful book showcases bookplates drawn from the rich collections of the British Museum, including works created by some of the most talented artists of their day, such as Albrecht D�rer, Edward Burne-Jones, Aubrey Beardsley and Eric Gill. Equally it shows how the content of bookplates has evolved over the years to feature a vast range of allegory and symbolism � often incorporating a pun on the owner�s name � uniquely relevant to that individual. For example, the bookplate for a professor of Sanskrit features Hindu imagery, while a Venetian publisher is associated with a lion, the symbol of his city.Endlessly diverse, surprising and touching, this is a book that will be treasured by art-lovers and book-lovers alike. The author Martin Hopkinson was curator of prints at the Hunterian Art Gallery, University of Glasgow, from 1977 to 1997. He is now a freelance art critic and writer; his publications include Italian Prints 1875�1975 (BMP, 2007).

Rosetta Stone mousematA unique, shaped mousemat based on the Rosetta Stone, one of the key exhibits in the British Museum. Wipe clean polycarbonate surface, non-slip base.

British Museum travel sweetsA selection of traditional fruit travel sweets in this bright British Museum tin.

Best Christmas Gifts from the British Museum Shop is a post from: Anglotopia.net

There is such a romance about the British country house, I wonder what it would have been like to be a guest at a grand country house during this time in history. I would have adored participating in all of the events of a grand weekend in the country. While I cannot travel in time, Life in The Victorian Country House by Pamela Horn, gives a wonderful idea of what it would have been to be there. Reading the book, I felt almost as if I were actually in a Victorian country house.

The book encompassed all aspects of what a grand country house would have been like, from who lived and worked in the home to the activities that would have taken place, and everything in between. The book has a wonderful collections of pictures of daily life and illustrations from the time period.  The information in the book allowed me to immerse myself in the daily life of the Victorian country house.

I loved this book. I loved all of the illustrations that showed the daily life. I really enjoyed the parts of the book that talked about Victorian and Edwardian fashion. I wonder what it would have been like to go about my daily activities dressed in such style. I loved that book gave such an accurate view of such a grand style of life that is rarely seen today.

Life in the Victorian House is a wonderful glimpse into daily life of the Victorian home. The book is organized in a easy to read way that allowed me to feel almost as if I were a grand lady living a day in beautiful country home. I especially loved the chapter on growing up in the grand country house. I found the book to be a historically accurate view of this type of life.

I would highly recommend, Life in the Victorian Country House to any Anglophile. It was a wonderful view into such a grand way of living. I enjoyed seeing the real photographs and illustrations throughout the book. The book covered such a vast array of topics about the country house that I would have not originally sought out to research, but I was glad to have read about. I highly recommend, Life in the Victorian Country House by Pamela Horn.

Brit Book Reviews: Life in The Victorian Country House by Pamela Horn is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Cannon retrieved from Blackbeard’s notorious pirate ship Queen Anne’s Revenge, which was shipwrecked nearly 300 years ago.

Video: Blackbeard’s cannon recovered from ocean after 300 years is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The Queen has visited Australia 15 times but her first trip Down Under was as a freshly-crowned monarch in 1954.

History: Queen Elizabeth II’s first visit to Australia in 1954 is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I’m not sure why British Prime Minister David Cameron is spending valuable political capital on this when it has a huge liklihood of failing – but he’s going ahead with it none the less.

Multiple outlets are now reporting that’s he’s written to the heads of the 15 Commonwealth countries that use the Queen as their Head of State to let them know that they want to change the Royal Line of Succession.

The big change is that they want to remove the built in sex discrimination so that a first born daughter of Will & Kate could inherit the throne rather than be skipped over for a younger brother based on primogeniture. They also want to remove the ban that says the Heir can’t marry a Catholic and also remove the requirement for descendants of George II to ask the Queen permission to marry (there are hundreds now).

The only problem with all of this – which sounds perfectly reasonable on paper – is that they’ll have to change or alter at least a dozen acts of Parliament, some dating back 4-500 years. On top of that, they’ll need to get all the Commonwealth countries with the Queen as their Head of State to all do exactly the same thing through their individual Parliaments.

Quite an undertaking.

If any of of them refuse to do it (and they very well might) then the whole process will collapse. The Queen has given her approval to the updates.

It will be very interesting to see how it all turns out. This process will take years.

And we’ll cover it the entire way.

British Government Begins Process to Change the Royal Line of Succession is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Here’s another fun video from CGPGrey, this time breifly explaining the graphical history of the UK’s Union Flag (that’s Union Jack for the rest of us).

Video: History of the Union Jack Explained is a post from: Anglotopia.net

This is a question we get a lot – and a lot of people, even ardent lovers of Britain don’t quite understand the minute details.

But here’s an excellent video that summarizes all the geography tidbits there is to know out the UK and Britain.

Thanks to Neatorama for showing it first.

Fun Video: The Geography of the United Kingdom and Britain Explained is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The Queen’s Birthday is today – her actual birthday – though it’s officially celebrated in June. She is now 83 years young.

I really admire The Queen – she is a very inspiring and calming figure. Britain is very lucky to have her.

The Daily Beast has a very thoughtful article reflecting on the Queen and her reign by Robert Lacey – The Queen’s Biographer.

From the Article:

What a cool, unemotional creature she is, yet what torrents of love Elizabeth II generates!

It is one of the strengths of Elizabeth II that she has never tried to be trendy. No mini-skirts for her in the swinging ’60s. She has stuck to the things in which she believes: doing her duty, the tenets of her unquestioning Anglican faith—and her dogs. Patricia Mountbatten once wrote to console her cousin and friend on the loss of a much-loved corgi, to receive by return screeds of hand-written, emotion-filled pages—rather more numerous and laden with feeling, Lady Mountbatten was forced to concede, than she had received about the tragic death of her father, Dickie, at the hands of the IRA.

The queen’s husband, Prince Philip (Dickie’s nephew), has always been her rock. Last week, the prince became Britain’s longest-ever serving consort to a monarch, notching up 57 years and 71 days, thus passing the record set by poor Queen Charlotte, whose fate was to be married to the mad King George III. Elizabeth was only 13 years old when she set eyes on Philip, a dashing young naval cadet at Dartmouth Royal Naval College, and the cautious young woman fell instantly in love with him. Their partnership has been another paradox—in public he defers to her; in private she defers to him—and another secret of her monarchy’s extraordinary survival. They are a thinking and creative couple, who between them have regenerated an institution that many thought would not outlive the 20th century.

Read the rest of Robert Lacey’s Article Here.

Happy Birthday Your Majesty – may you have many more to come!

Happy Birthday Your Majestry! is a post from: Anglotopia.net

All right, someone has finally clarified the correct protocol for meeting the Queen. The cool guys over at Mental Floss have put together a great guide to the rules you should follow if you’re lucky enough to meet the Queen.

From the post:

Firstly, don’t speak until you’re spoken to. But after that, when you meet the Queen, it is customary to address her as “Your Majesty” at first, “Ma’am” thereafter, and then, “Your Majesty” again upon taking your leave.

To Curtsey or not Curtsey?

Citizens of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries, upon meeting the Queen, should, in the case of men, give a short bow from the head and shoulders, or, in the case of women, curtsey. But as Americans, because of that whole Revolution thing, we don’t have to bow or curtsey – a gentle handshake will do just fine.

Overall it’s a very interesting post. Read the whole post on Meeting the Queen here.

From Mental Floss: What to do when you meet the Queen is a post from: Anglotopia.net

News came out last week that Joe Wright, the director of “Atonement,” is attached to direct a sprawling epic film about Britain’s final days of Empire in India.

From the recent BBC Article:

British film-maker Joe Wright has signed up to direct an epic about the final days of British rule in India.

Indian Summer, based on a book by Alex von Tunzelmann, is set in 1947 as Louis Mountbatten transfers power to India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Wright’s last two films, Atonement and Pride and Prejudice, both starred Keira Knightley and were Oscar nominated.

Casting for Indian Summer is to be confirmed and filming will start on
location in India in 2010.

Louis Mountbatten’s wife Edwina is a significant character in the new film which is being made by Working Title.

Original Article here.

I’m fascinated by the final days of British Empire in India, so this should be a very interesting film. Can’t wait.

Check out the original book here:

Related articles by Zemanta

• Joe Wright returns to British period drama for Indian Summer (guardian.co.uk)

Epic Film Coming about India is a post from: Anglotopia.net

According to the BBC recently, Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is facing a mounting call to get rid of the Queen for good and replace her with a homegrown Australian President or Head of State (he’s also an advocate of getting rid of her).

Having been independent for almost a hundred years, Australians are continually asking themselves what’s the point of having your ceremonial Head of State living on the other side of the world. Not counting the fact she’s the citizen of an entirely different nation.

Australians have formed their own distinct cultural identity and the Queen is seen as being increasingly irrelevant to Australian society. In order for Australia to join the great nations of the world, many believe they need to have their own homegrown Head of State to be taken seriously.

Many also don’t really care. The Queen, after all, has no power over Australia whatsoever and merely fills a ceremonial role. And many people are comforted by the matronly Queen.

Yet, there’s a push to hold a referendum on deciding Australia’s future relationship with the Queen. And it won’t be easy. Royal Rebels are proposing no less than six alternatives that should all be up for a vote.

The idea is unpopular amongst the many English and British transplants who’ve moved to Australia. But the rest of Australia seems to think otherwise with an estimated 85% in support of changing the country’s relationship with it’s Queen.

I think the Australians may be up to this little insurrection. But I don’t think it will be until the Queen has passed and been replaced by Charles. The idea of Charles as King and Head of State is generally offensive to a lot of people, not just Australians.

These things happen slowly, but I think it will happen eventually.

Read more about the issue here in the original BBC Article.

Australia: No Queen Please, We’re Australians is a post from: Anglotopia.net

The recent film trilogy, The Lord of the Rings brought the spotlight on the other land down under, New Zealand. I like to think of it as the world’s second ‘green and pleasant land.’ New Zealand is made up of lush islands that are geographically similar to Great Britain.

I’d love to go someday. Until I can, though, I came across this really cool website today run by the New Zealand government. It’s call New Zealand History Online. It’s an online encyclopedia of history about that second ‘green and pleasant land.’

I spent a couple hours exploring through it and it’s really well done. The web developer in me loves the layout and how everything works. The Anglophile in me loves the history.

So, if you’re interested in New Zealand, check out New Zealand History Online.

Anglophile Links: New Zealand History Online is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I Stumbleuponed this article today. It’s a good overview of moving to Australia. It provides info on Australian culture, work rules, owning property and tons of other important information.

It’s not very deep, but it’s a good starting point if you’re interested in moving to the land down under.

Check it out: Moving to Australia on Expat Forum.

The site also features a ton of information on moving to other countries in the world. My fellow Anglophiles may also be interested in reading the following country pages:

Guide to Moving to the UK

Guide to Moving to New Zealand

Anglophile Links: Guide to Moving to Australia is a post from: Anglotopia.net

Props to the Londonist for letting me know about this. There’s currently a Flickr Pool that aggregates public domain pictures from the past.

They found some pretty cool pictures of London from the early 20th century.

Pretty Cool Stuff. Check out Londonist’s Post here.

Check out the Public Commons Flickr Pool.

London as Seen in the Past is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I just found out about this today, the State Opening of the British Parliament is tomorrow, December 3rd. It always seems to sneak up on me!

What’s the State Opening of Parliament? I’ll let the Parliament’s website explain it:

The State Opening usually takes place in November or December on the first day of the new parliamentary session. There will also be a State Opening shortly after a general election.

The Queen’s Speech is delivered by the Queen from the Throne in the House of Lords. The speech is given in the presence of Members of both Houses, the Commons being summoned to hear the speech by an official known as Black Rod.

In a symbol of the Commons’ independence, the door to their Chamber is slammed in his face and not opened until he has knocked on the door with his staff of office. Although the speech is made by the Queen, the content of the speech is entirely drawn up by the Government and approved by the Cabinet.

Following the State Opening the Government’s programme, as presented in the Queen’s Speech, is debated by both Houses.

Basically, a morning of classic British pomp and circumstance that is quite a spectacle to behold. It’s a ton of fun to watch.

If you’re in America, where can you watch the State Opening of Parliament?

C-SPAN always comes to the rescue of Anglophiles and they air it live, then repeat it later in the day. It airs on C-SPAN 1 tomorrow at 5:30 AM in the morning, eastern time.

They usually just broadcast the live BBC feed, so you’ll get all the BBC commentary and whatnot. Enjoy!

Anglophile Alert: The State Opening of Parliament is Tomorrow December 3rd is a post from: Anglotopia.net

I Stumbleuponed this article today and thought I’d share it. A little cursory research shows this to not actually be written by John Cleese. See Snopes page here. However, I thought it was pretty funny and thought my fellow Anglophiles would get a kick out of it.

To: The citizens of the United States of America:

In light of your failure to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new prime minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

You should look up “revocation” in the Oxford English Dictionary.

1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

2. The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as ‘favour’ and ‘neighbour.’ Likewise, you will learn to spell ‘doughnut’ without skipping half the letters, and the suffix -ize will be replaced by the suffix -ise. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up ‘vocabulary’).

3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as “like”, “cool” and “you know” is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter ‘u’ and the elimination of -ize. You will relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.

4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you’re not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you’re not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you’re not grown up enough to handle a gun.

6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline)-roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting Nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth – see what it did for them.

12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie McDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one’s ears removed with a cheese grater.

13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don’t try Rugby – the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.

14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It’s been driving us mad.

16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty’s Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).

17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, never mugs, with cucumber sandwiches, high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.

God save the Queen.

Only He can.

John Cleese

Please pass this message to all members of the former United States of America

A Fake Message from John Cleese About Revoking Our Independence is a post from: Anglotopia.net