Bonsai, Fairy Tales, Pickles, Seafoam Green, Slow-Burn Romance & More: Endnotes 03 April

Every Friday, we celebrate the weekend — and all the reading and relaxing and daydreaming time ahead — with Melissa's favorite book- and travel-related links of the week. Why work when you can read fun stuff?!

This post is part of our Endnotes series.

Tiny things are so whimsical and cute: Dollhouses! Model villages! And bonsai trees! Here’s the fascinating history of this ancient art. (‘Under dedicated and proper care, they can live for centuries, with some estimated as over 1,000 years old.’) Bonsai Empire has everything you need to know to try it yourself, and this instructional video promises ‘no fluff, just facts.’ Want to get superlative?! Here are the most awesome bonsai trees on Earth. You should also really take a peep at the beautiful photos of Goshin, the famous bonsai forest created by Japanese American bonsai artist John Nak — more photos and story here.

• I wrote about the book Werner’s Nomenclature of Colors last week on our Substack — and now it keeps popping up in my life. I’m not complaining!

• The British Library has a new exhibit that celebrates fairy tales! The collection includes a gingerbread cottage (!), four different editions of Cinderella, original artwork for the title page of Household Tales by the Brothers Grimm, and more. Info here and here.

• Can you read cursive? Do you think you’d make a great amateur sleuth? Newberry Transcribe (part of the Newberry Library) would like your help!

• I found the story of artist Edna Clarke Hall compelling, frustrating, and ultimately, inspiring. Meet the 19th-century artist who seemed ‘destined for similar success’ until a bad marriage intervened. (Happy ending! Her timeless illustrations for Wuthering Heights live on.)

• Oh, to be a 19th-century explorer with a cabinet of curiosities! Like this one in Venice that you can tour online. Learn more about these very personal, eclectic museums in our podcast episode Museums: A Gathering of Muses, A Clutch of Curators.

• Historia asks, Can books save lives? ‘If we could step back in time, to London during the First World War, and ask this question of the soldier patients at Endell Street Military Hospital, they would undoubtedly answer yes.’ Read about Endell Street, an all-female-run WWI hospital with a library.

• I cannot improve on this headline: A Brief and Essential History of the Most Important Food Ever Invented: The Pickle. The article also uses the phrase ‘modern pickle renaissance.’ Five stars, no notes.

• This monster-filled garden in Italy is very inviting. More on Sacro Bosco.

• The color theory behind industrial seafoam green explains why so many control rooms were seafoam green. (I also really love this font the author designed.) (Also, also: her design work is AMAZING.

• ‘Not every reader crafts, but almost every crafter reads.’ CrimeReads explores Why Cozy Readers Are Taking Up Grannycrafts.

• These paintings by ‘Monsieur Chandelle’ have a very strong sense of place (and time).

• Love news like this! A ‘massive marine park’ has been created off the coast of Brazil. A total fishing ban will be in effect around the park to help protect 23 species of endangered sharks and rays. ‘This park is a source of hope and a small step in the right direction. It will be a very important area for whales, dolphins, turtles, and fish in general, where they’ll be able to recover from all the overfishing and ship strikes.’ For more on Brazil, listen to our podcast episode Brazil: Sugarloaf, Samba, and Sao Paulo.

• ‘In a world of instant gratification, slow burns transform desire into something genuine, reminding us to pause—to notice.’ Laura Vogt recommends Jane Austen, Charles Frazier, Erin Morgenstern, and more in her essay, The Magic of a Slow-Burn Romance.

May you find joy in the big and the small.

Top image courtesy of Martin Baron/Unsplash.