CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
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Abecedarian personal effects of 'a mad genius'
A Turkish Delight of musings on languages, deflations of metaphysics, vauntings of arcana, and great visual humor.

Found 112 posts tagged ‘1850s’

Restoring the Lost Sense – July 8, 2026 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #tom thumb #tiny man #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 7, 2026 (permalink)

From The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales For My Children by Charles Kingsley and illustrated by Helen Monro, 1855.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #mythology #ship #illustration #heron #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 8, 2026 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.  We previously saw this version.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #snail #giant snail #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 11, 2026 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #barber #pig #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 10, 2026 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858. 
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #cat #bell #well #illustration #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 8, 2026 (permalink)

"They were dry like the eyes of a snake."  From The Heroes, or Greek Fairy Tales For My Children by Charles Kingsley and illustrated by Helen Monro, 1855.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #mythology #illustration #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – January 7, 2026 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858. 
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #anthropomorphism #flower people #faces in things #flower #illustration #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – December 10, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858. 
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #finis #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – November 6, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858. 
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #anthropomorphism #letters #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – October 9, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858. 
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #tiny people #illustration #fat and thin #plate #1850s #jack sprat
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Restoring the Lost Sense – September 10, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858. 
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #flower people #flower #illustration #nursery rhyme #garden #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – September 8, 2025 (permalink)

From The Fables of Aesop, illustrated by Harrison Weir, 1859.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #goat #fox #aesop #well #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – August 8, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858. 
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #shoe #old woman who lived in a shoe #illustration #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – July 9, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.  We previously saw this version.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #anthropomorphism #bell #illustration #nursery rhyme #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – June 10, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.  We previously saw this version.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #pig #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – May 8, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.  We previously saw this version.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #king #illustration #nursery rhyme #pudding #poem #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – April 9, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.  We previously saw this version.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s #crooked man
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 5, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.  We previously saw this version.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #humpty dumpty #illustration #1850s
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Restoring the Lost Sense – March 1, 2025 (permalink)

From The Fables of Aesop, illustrated by Harrison Weir, 1859.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #fox #aesop #grapes #1850s #grape
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Restoring the Lost Sense – February 6, 2025 (permalink)

From Old Nurse's Book of Rhymes, Jingles and Ditties, written and illustrated by Charles H. Bennett, 1858.  We previously saw this version.
> read more from Restoring the Lost Sense . . .
#vintage illustration #moon #cobweb #illustration #nursery rhyme #poem #1850s
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