his-dark-materials

Monday 3 June 2019

I love this corner of the library. Perfect silence, perfect temperature, perfect view.

A 17th-century Safavid brass Mecca Centred World Map, Persia,

The circular brass base plate with centrally-pivoted rotating brass diametrical rule fixed with removable pin, a glazed circular recess for compass to lower part, the base plate finely engraved and chased with an elliptical grid overlaid with inscriptions in thuluth naming the geographical locations on the grid, vertical and horizontal axis denoting longitude and latitude,.

The elliptical grid surrounded by four cartouches filled with fine inscriptions in thuluth on stippled grounds with scrolling tendrils, the border with a series of further inscription-filled cartouches denoting the bearings, applied hinged sundial to upper edge, hinged latitude arc to left hand side, two applied splayed brass feet to upper side of reverse

22.5 cm. diam.; the box 25.5 cm. diam.

If you happen to be passing by Oriel College in Oxford, you might give a thought to the poet Hartley Coleridge, who was once a fellow of Oriel. Long before C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien invented fantasy lands, Coleridge came up with an elaborate alternative world of his own ✨✍🏻. His quirks and drinking bouts were too much for the Oriel authorities, however, and he was exiled from his Oxford refuge.

Lee Scorseby ended up far in the arctic simply looking for work, not even aware that Hester was an Arctic Hare until Iorek told him. He had assumed that Hester was a Jackrabbit and only realized that the arctic meant something to him after speaking with Iorek. He could’ve found work anywhere else but he somehow ended up where he needed to be anyways.

Lord Asriel is probably the most interesting example of this though. He was always traveling, always looking for something, never being content to relax and exist in one place for long. The first time we ever see him he’s described as looking like a wild animal trapped in a small cage, totally out of place with his surroundings. When he finally stops moving is when he creates the Republic of Heaven and the basalt fortress is built. It’s in another world with vague geography, but it’s likely roughly within natural snow leopard range. The last place Asriel ever lives is where he and Stelmaria might’ve finally felt some sense of belonging.