Bayeux Tapestry, Map Lies, Thank You Notes, How Rhyme Works & More: Endnotes 11 September

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.

This week in your timelines, you’ve probably seen a whole lot of the Bayeux Tapestry, the epic, 950-year-old piece of embroidery that depicts the lead-up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. ‘Piece of embroidery’ doesn’t begin to describe this stunning example of textile arts. At nearly 230 feet long (and 20 inches tall), it’s essentially a historical graphic novel that illustrates feasting, cooking, Halley’s Comet, a fleet of ships, the death of King Edward, the coronation of Howard, and — very dramatically — Howard’s demise when he’s struck in the eye by an arrow. There are also horses aplenty, as well as dogs, foxes, wolves, pigs, deer, hares, frogs, camels, lions, and mystical creatures including dragons, griffins, centaurs, and sphinxes; read all about the animals. It’s an action-adventure/fantasy/historical novel rendered in careful stitches. And it’s survived for nearly 1000 years. Its usual home, the Bayeux Tapestry Museum (Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux) in Bayeux, France, is undergoing renovations, so the Tapestry is on holiday at the British Museum in London until July 2027. Tickets are a hot commodity, and the next batch will be released on 21 October. Here’s a BBC report on the whole shebang, and everything you need to know about the Bayeux Tapestry. If you can’t get there in person, there’s a very well done online experience with a tour mode and the ability to browse the Tapestry following your whims. This episode of the History Extra podcast features an interview with the curator who helped bring the Tapestry to London — and the official website is rich with fascinating info, interviews, and online events. There are also shopping opportunities! How cute is this ceramic Lady Edith?! Perhaps you need a Norman Nasal Helmet or a tea towel.

• Last weekend, I devoured (and loved loved loved) Kiss Slay Replay by Rachel Harrison, the queen of comedy-horror novels (with lived-in characters, fantastic dialogue, and heart to go along with the horror). In this essay for Crime Reads she explores why weddings are such a great setting for horror stories. And in this essay — Do You Guys Ever Think About Dying? — she gets real about ‘anxiety, horror, and coming to terms with her inevitable death.’ But in a fun way!

• Neat! How Rhyme Works (and Why). ‘Two syllables are said to rhyme if they share a rime. Got it? Not at all confused? Excellent.’

• If Wuthering Heights is One of Your Books™, you might be interested in this first edition facsimile coming soon from British Library Publishing. The pretty package includes a reproduction of the first edition Wuthering Heights in two volumes; a first edition facsimile of Emily Brontë’s own copy of _Poems by Currer, Ellis and Acton Bell (1846) with her handwritten notes; and facsimile looseleaf pages from her poetry notebook. It’s available for pre-order now at a discounted price.

• For your TBR: The Best Crime Novels, Mysteries, and Thrillers of September; 20 Must-Reads for Obsessive Book Lovers; and 15 Art Books for Your Fall Reading List.

• Well, this is beautiful:

• This week the UN backed a resolution to change the way Africa and other areas are represented on world maps. Here’s an essay that explores how every map ‘starts with a lie’. And the BBC explains what different world maps get right - and what they get wrong.

• This might be my favorite link of the week — Any Human Ever. I’ll let them tell you what it’s all about: ‘Over 100,000,000,000 people have ever lived. You’ll draw, step by step: a year, a place, a life, each taken at random from real data.’ The revelations of the different data points and the final story are surprisingly moving.

• On a lighter note, The Most Beautiful Museum Cafes in the World.

• Tangentially related: The American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, OH, looks fun.

• La Scala, the famous opera house in Milan, now has gorgeous opera, ballet, and concert productions available to stream for free. I love opera in small doses, so this is such a gift! The Marriage of Figaro! Giselle! Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 6 in B minor!

• Wanna see a butter shop?!

• This is a very nice love letter to the thank-you note. ‘… at a time when people simply text their thanks – if they extend any appreciation at all – the act of sending a handwritten note signals something honorable about the sender.’

• Quiz: How well do you know your train stations? I got 8/12.

• I’ve been enjoying the Opening Lines podcast. In each episode, the host explores the themes, background, and structure of famous books, plays, and stories with the first line as a jumping off point. This post is also great: The First and Last Lines of Classics That Are Just Delicious. ‘Some books introduce themselves like a handshake. Others walk into the room, steal your drink, and make you rearrange your entire emotional life.’

• This free online talk from The Getty Center looks very interesting. Rethinking the Egyptian Book of the Dead. ‘The Egyptian Book of the Dead is widely known as a guidebook to the afterlife. Yet when we look closely, its texts and images often suggest prayers and ritual instructions that make little sense in relation to death. Egyptologist Rune Nyord explores whether modern interpretations have been shaped by Christian ideas of trial, judgement, and salvation and offers a fresh reading of the ancient texts rooted in their Egyptian cultural context.’ Tickets are free, but you need to register.

• Calling all Lonesome Dove fans. Reading Maps now has an interactive map of all the locations in Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer-winning epic.

ISTI MIRANT STELLA.

(‘These people marvel at the star.’ from the segment of the Bayeux Tapestry that depicts Halley’s Comet.)