The Full Monty

Four Catalogues from Montague Burton 'The Tailor of Taste', and the story of the Baggy Greens factory visit, wherein you find out the origins of the phrase 'The Full Monty'

HAT

The History of Australian Theatre has interesting articles and pictures as well as a section on Houdini's tour of Australia which I have mentioned previously.

Astronomiæ Instauratæ Mechanica

Instruments for the Restoration of Astronomy Tycho Brahe (1602) - here in colour.

Romanian Fireplaces Well Covered

An album of ethnographic architecture in Romania.

Portuguese Scenes

Sketches of Portuguese life, manners, costume, and character (1826). A very interesting read. The illustrations form the basis for the narratives. This for example, accompanies the last illustration shown here:

I was in one of these stables, when a slave merchant from the latter place came in and enquired what sort of stuff was on sale. The shopman, anxious to transact business immediately, took a sack of arrow-root (farinha de pao) and placing about a dozen little handfuls of it here and there on the ground, made signal to the slaves to come and eat, just as we see done by a servant to call together the fowls in a poultry yard. The slaves made a rush at the little heaps, and squatting down on their haunches, just like monkeys, began to eat with avidity.

It then goes on to relate several anecdotes and observations regarding the slave trade in this region.

Brazilian Lithographs

Images from Voyage pittoresque et historique au Brésil Volume 1 — Jean Baptiste Debret 1768-1848. Volumes 2 and 3 are available on the site too but I didn't find them as interesting, depicting as they do the 'civilizing' of the natives. You can see them in colour (albeit at lower resolution) via S4U.