cards of great historical figures

[G1911]

Seems to early to let this die already. Here's my very first cabinet card, a German image of the Bard I got when I was 12 or 13. I don't know if the 1881 date relates to the cabinet, or the image. Probably the image. One of the most significant figures in literary history, and I think still an enjoyable read today (Macbeth > everything else).

Looking a little piratey with the earring.

[G1911]

And for those that don't like old playwrights, here's my favorite card of George Washington. Trenton might have been Washington's most impressive military engagement.

[Peter_Spaeth]

And that transitions into Cole Porter, whose Brush Up Your Shakespeare is incredibly brilliant IMO. I think Hamlet is as good as MacBeth, but those two above the rest.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

And that transitions into Cole Porter, whose Brush Up Your Shakespeare is incredibly brilliant IMO. I think Hamlet is as good as MacBeth, but those two above the rest.

My primary hobby is really reading more than cards, though I don't collect books, just reading copies. I love that song, anything that begins by shouting out Aeschylus and Euripides is a gem. Though I'm apparently not doing it right, unlike Mr. Porter citing Euripides and Shakespeare has yet to wow a lady....

I will never complain about Hamlet. The Laurence Olivier film version of Hamlet is one of my favorite movies of all time.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I have no idea if it's still available, but there's an amazing recording with Richard Burton as Hamlet. I guess if I had to choose I would rate Hamlet first, the Burnham Wood coming to Dunsinane and no man of woman born feel a little too gimmicky to me although the central soliloquy is better. I also find Hamlet's situation ultimately more interesting because the circumstances that test his character are thrust upon him whereas MacBeth's are of his own making.

[Bored5000]

Just added to my Amelia Earhart collection today with this very tough 1933 Orami card from Germany. The PSA population shows just three Earhart cards from the set. The card is about the size of a T206 and glossy. Even though the image is black and white, I think this is my favorite Earhart image on any of her cards. I am surprised this image of Earhart is not seen more often beyond this obscure German card.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I have no idea if it's still available, but there's an amazing recording with Richard Burton as Hamlet. I guess if I had to choose I would rate Hamlet first, the Burnham Wood coming to Dunsinane and no man of woman born feel a little too gimmicky to me although the central soliloquy is better. I also find Hamlet's situation ultimately more interesting because the circumstances that test his character are thrust upon him whereas MacBeth's are of his own making.

I think my preference for MacBeth is more of personal grounds than literary analysis. It was the play that caught me first when I read Shakespeare originally, and some of its lines still resonate particularly well. Both are masterpieces and I would watch pretty much any version of either being performed.

Shakespeare is very fun to see as a play, but I think one of the merits of him that has helped him age so well is that, like the 3 surviving classical Greek dramatists, his work reads very well on the page even though that was not the original intent and presentation.

He has the Look N See, and a Goodwin and Allen & Ginter card that are easily found among a ton of more obscure items. I pick his stuff up whenever I come across something I don't have cheap. I would love for a full set of great writers cards like some of the old cigarette issues to be made again, but I imagine the market for that is about a dozen non-sport guys total.

[G1911]

And as not to sidetrack too far, here is another great writer on a similar German cabinet card. Poet, playwright, novelist, but also a scientist who published several books on botany and anatomy, and a politician. Faust is his masterpiece, but Elective Affinities and it's tragic characterization of reason versus passion I enjoyed most.

This card was about $7, the missing corner doesn't bother me with the clean image.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by G1911

I think my preference for MacBeth is more of personal grounds than literary analysis. It was the play that caught me first when I read Shakespeare originally, and some of its lines still resonate particularly well. Both are masterpieces and I would watch pretty much any version of either being performed.

Shakespeare is very fun to see as a play, but I think one of the merits of him that has helped him age so well is that, like the 3 surviving classical Greek dramatists, his work reads very well on the page even though that was not the original intent and presentation.

He has the Look N See, and a Goodwin and Allen & Ginter card that are easily found among a ton of more obscure items. I pick his stuff up whenever I come across something I don't have cheap. I would love for a full set of great writers cards like some of the old cigarette issues to be made again, but I imagine the market for that is about a dozen non-sport guys total.

Perhaps not one of the more famous passages, but to me, someone who (sorry to get opinionated here) thinks psych drugs are in many cases overprescribed, this really resonates and shows remarkable insight.

Macbeth:
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?

Doctor:
Therein the patient
Must minister to himself.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Perhaps not one of the more famous passages, but to me, someone who (sorry to get opinionated here) thinks psych drugs are in many cases overprescribed, this really resonates and shows remarkable insight.

Macbeth:
Canst thou not minister to a mind diseas'd,
Pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow,
Raze out the written troubles of the brain,
And with some sweet oblivious antidote
Cleanse the stuff'd bosom of that perilous stuff
Which weighs upon the heart?

Doctor:
Therein the patient
Must minister to himself.

He has so many lines that resonate in many contexts. Off memory so I've probably got some of these a bit off, but the point remains:

"There's daggers in men's smiles"

"Present fears are less than horrible imaginings"

"Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill"

"What's done cannot be undone"

"The false face must hide what the false heart doth know"

I find him always worth returning too for another read.