Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Humanities/2022 February 13

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February 13

Who was Phillips?

In Phillips v Eyre we know who Eyre was, but who was Phillips? Thank you, DuncanHill (talk) 02:36, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

A writeup about the 1865 Jamaica problems, appearing in an 1868 newspaper, indicates Alexander Phillips. (And see Morant Bay rebellion). --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 03:23, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

• Handford, Peter (December 1, 2008). "Edward John Eyre and the Conflict of Laws" (PDF). Melbourne University Law Review: 844–5.

Thank you. DuncanHill (talk) 10:47, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Download high-resolution files of public domain art

A few years ago I read that you could download high-resolution files of classic art (which is in the public domain). I googled for such a site but I couldn't find it. Is there such a site? Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 05:25, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

There are a lot of them on Wikimedia Commons... -- AnonMoos (talk) 23:31, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

I'm looking for files of particular ones that are good enough to print to hang on the wall. What I found either had the colors off or were of too low resolution to print out at the size I want. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 23:45, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

This is an online ultra-high resolution photograph of Rembrandt's The Night Watch. I hope your wall is large enough.  --Lambiam 10:43, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

Bubba73 There's Haltadefinizione in Italy, which is ultra but not free. Museums also often have high res, though you'd need to check sizes. See the ones linked from this article: On Friday, The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced that “more than 400,000 high-resolution digital images of public domain works in the Museum’s world-renowned collection may be downloaded directly from the Museum’s website for non-commercial use… In making this announcement, the Met joined other world-class museums in putting put large troves of digital art online. Witness the 87,000 images from the Getty in L.A., the 125,000 Dutch masterpieces from the Rijksmuseum, the 35,000 artistic images from the National Gallery, and the 57,000 works of art on Google Art Project. Some others mentioned at A Guide to Little-Known Image Collections with Millions of Free, Hi-Res Images. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 18:31, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

That big link looks very promising, I need to explore it. Thanks. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 00:50, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

Well, I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 04:50, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

That's a shame, I know it's frustrating not to find something you'd found before. I only have one more suggestion to offer: Public Domain Images For Artists. Maybe there is a wikiproject related to art that could help? 70.67.193.176 (talk) 17:00, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

Thanks, I'll look at it. Bubba73 ^{You talkin' to me?} 17:32, 18 February 2022 (UTC)

Middle initial

Ok, I have to ask. Did any of the German author Alfred Neumann (writer) (1895-1952), the Austrian architect Alfred Neumann (architect) (1900-1968), or the East German politician Alfred Neumann (East Germany) (1909-2001) have middle initials? Thanks. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 11:57, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

They were, respectively, Alfred Ernst Neumann, Alfred Erich Neumann and Alfred Emil Neumann. Just kidding.  --Lambiam 14:18, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

(edit conflict) Were you thinking of Alfred E. Neuman by any chance? :-) Alansplodge (talk) 14:21, 13 February 2022 (UTC)

I was thinking of Alfred E. von Neumann, Johnny's stupider cousin. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 01:08, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

At least 99.999% of people are stupider than Johnny. Clarityfiend (talk) 07:15, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

A fairly thorough Google search failed to find any middle names for any of those Alfreds, except that the East German chap liked to be called "Ali". Alansplodge (talk) 11:40, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

In Germany, second and additional names are not that frequent (about 40% of current new-borns, less that for older people), and the use of middle initials is extremely rare. I have a very frequent name combination, but it never transpired to me to use my middle initial in scientific publishing until it was too late. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 12:38, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

Using a middle initial is a peculiarity of Americans. This previous RefDesk thread came to no conclusions as to why that might be so. Alansplodge (talk) 15:13, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

It's not unique to Americans. Lots of South Africans are known with middle initials, F. W. de Klerk, P. W. Botha, C. R. Swart, etc. --Jayron32 13:21, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

It balances all the extra u's in British English words. --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 14:43, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Geoffrey Sampson (an English linguist) said somewhere on his website that he is willing to be known as either Geoffrey Sampson or as G. R. Sampson, but Geoffrey R. Sampson would be an Americanism. —Tamfang (talk) 03:31, 17 February 2022 (UTC)

@Stephan Schulz: Do you have a source for only "40% of current new-borns, less that for older people" having second names in Germany? In my personal experience a clear majority has several given names (usually two), though most people rarely use their second name. --46.114.2.7 (talk) 19:04, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

I relied on this German source: https://blog.beliebte-vornamen.de/2016/09/wie-viele-zweitnamen/ Not a source I would use in an academic paper, but it agrees with my experience. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 20:02, 14 February 2022 (UTC)

Interesting, I wonder if that is a modern practice. I can immediately think of several German or Austrian historical figures with middle names (Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart, Rainer Maria Rilke, Johann .* Bach, Carl Friedrich Gauss, Hans Christian Andersen (ok, not German), etc. Contemporary names of that sort don't immediately come to mind though. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 02:34, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

If you go go back far enough, naming conventions drift. Moreover, second names are more prevalent among the upper classes, and people you know from 200 years ago are mostly upper class, so there is a selection bias. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (note the "a") was baptised Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart - note that "Theophilus" is the Greek version of "Amadeus", and that he also sometimes went by "Gottlieb", which is the German equivalent. He mostly signed his name "Wolfgang Amadé Mozart" (with the French version ;-). And it's debatable if he was German - he was born in Salzburg, and mostly lived in Vienna, both now in Austria, but he lived before the Bismarck German unification (which left Austria out). --Stephan Schulz (talk) 17:14, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

It's only debatable if we use modern, anachronistic definitions of nation states, a concept that really did not fully exist at the time Mozart was alive, though it was certainly in development. The medieval and early modern understanding of "Germany" would have included Austria, which was not at the time thought of as "not-Germany". It was as German as Prussia or Hesse or any of the other German-speaking lands of the Holy Roman Empire. The idea that Austria was not part of Germany was not really considered until the the late 19th century when they were deliberately excluded from the German Empire; even then German question was not fully settled until 1945. --Jayron32 19:12, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Well, your point is well taken. But, as you say, the concept of German was not well-defined at that time. Mozart certainly called himself "Teutscher", so he certainly self-identified as a German. But Hanseatic culture was very different from Rhineland culture was very different from Vienna culture. --Stephan Schulz (talk) 23:50, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Midlands culture is different than London culture is different than Merseyside culture, and yet they're all English... --Jayron32 13:20, 16 February 2022 (UTC)

But not Wolgang A. Mozart or Johann S. Bach... :-) Alansplodge (talk) 13:00, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Well I put in "German or Austrian" to account for Mozart being Austrian... 21:54, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Kurt Georg Kiesinger is a 20th century German politician, and used a middle name. Anna Maria Mühe is a 21st century German actor, who uses a middle name. It seems to still happen in German. --Jayron32 14:58, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

Yes, the link above says that 40% of German newborns have a middle name; the remaining 60% don't. Alansplodge (talk) 18:29, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

There is also a difference between having one and using one. People may have (as in, we granted at birth on their birth certificate) a middle name, but may not use that name in common or official use. --Jayron32 19:03, 15 February 2022 (UTC)

It occurs to me that the German-born physicist Hans A. Bethe used a middle initial at least some of the time (or at least, other people sometimes used it when referring to him), but a) ok fine, there are some unusual cases, and b) he moved to the US in the 1930s and may have only started using his middle initial afterwards. 2602:24A:DE47:B8E0:1B43:29FD:A863:33CA (talk) 21:54, 15 February 2022 (UTC)