January 10, 1772: “Believe me sir I dun as hard as is proper.” This sentence always kind of stood out to me. When read with a modern ear, one hears, “I done as hard as is proper,” and it makes him sound uneducated. But, this is Hamilton, and I don’t think he would have written […]
Archive for the ‘Hamilton’ Category
An obsolete term
Posted in Hamilton on February 5, 2017 | Comments Off on An obsolete term
A Short Play
Posted in Hamilton on January 31, 2017 | Comments Off on A Short Play
Scene: A Bank of America ATM in Berkeley, CA, 1997. I have traveled through time to talk to my past self. Past Me: (withdraws a $10 bill from ATM, because that used to be possible) Future Me: One day, decades from now, you will shed real tears over the man pictured on that ten, while […]
Artifacts for sale
Posted in Hamilton, History on January 18, 2017 | Comments Off on Artifacts for sale
I just watched a live Sotheby’s auction in HD on my phone. Up on the block was a collection of letters and artifacts from the family of Alexander Hamilton. One particular item was a small coil of his hair, cut from his head after he died, then kept in a tiny round case like a […]
Captain of the New York Artillery
Posted in Hamilton, History on January 13, 2017 | Comments Off on Captain of the New York Artillery
This is one of my favorite Alexander Hamilton portraits, perhaps because he is so young and his hair isn’t powdered, and maybe it’s not an accurate likeness but at least it’s not a Charles Peale, who was very bad at art and yet somehow did lots of shitty portraits. This is actually a detail view […]
You will oblige me singularly
Posted in Hamilton, History on January 13, 2017 | Comments Off on You will oblige me singularly
I’m still re-acclimating to this format, but I am determined. As a kind of test, and a taste of what is to come, my friends, observe the above letter, which I shall transcribe here: Sir, I am extremely anxious to get across to Head Quarters this night, and it seems hardly possible to cross the […]