@saxonhenry.bsky.social
Author and journalist who publishes indie books, a salon series on Substack, and other blogs as The Modern Salonnière. https://saxonhenry.substack.com
Saxon Henry went through Henry Miller's notebooks from his time in Paris.
When Henry Miller haunted the streets of #Paris in search of inspiration, he was homeless, hungry, and happy--three words one would not think relate. I combed through his notebooks from his time as an expat in France and it was thrilling. #armchairtravel #writingcommunity #nonfiction #substackauthor
05.02.2026 15:44 — 👍 4 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Saxon Henry quotes Marie le Jars de Gournay, Michel de Montaigne’s adoptive daughter.
Marie le Jars de Gournay describes the cause of violence in her time as, “The power...conferred on noblemen by the sword...except in the case of a few superior minds, [it goes] to men’s heads.” It feels like we've gone back in time given all of the saber-rattling that's going on now: do you agree?
02.02.2026 20:30 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 1 📌 0
While in Siena, I learned that #Michelangelo had such a deep love for a 16th-century poet, he worshiped her: welcome to the salon! #history #poet #renaissance #reformation #tuscany #medievalmonday #MedievalSky #nonfiction #substack #themodernsalonniere #armchairtravel #substackauthor #siena #italy
02.02.2026 20:21 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
In this salon exploration, I'm in #Tuscany channeling a 16th-century celebrity in a medieval village known as #castelmonastero. #history #poet #renaissance #reformation #italy #MedievalMonday #MedievalSky #nonfiction #substack #writingcommunity #themodernsalonniere #armchairtravel #substackauthor
02.02.2026 20:19 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
An encounter with an ancient piece of architecture brings an unexpected surprise. #history #culture #indieauthor #MedievalMonday #MedievalSky #history #themodernsalonniere #armchairtravel #writingcommunity #nonfiction #substack #substackauthor #bologna #italy #santostefano
02.02.2026 20:17 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Fascinating! Thanks for answering.
31.01.2026 18:19 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
People walking on the sreet, old stone building, big tree, cars, mild autumn sunlight at the back, tall tower.
It’s freezing cold in Finland and while going through my never ending archives, a travel photo came up. For a change, Eiffel tower, enjoy!
#Photography #StreetPhotography #CityScape #BlueSky #Memoir
#NewRelease!
Egypt, 58 BCE
Ptolemy Princess Cleopatra grows up in a palace of wonders, delights & dangers
Through peril & politics Cleopatra's fate unfolds, leading her to Egypt's throne
The Last Queen
£2.99
#Free #KindleUnlimited!
#Histfic #Ancient #KU ##booksky 📚💙📚💙📚
amzn.eu/d/9h1wHWL
Can we fault a Beat poet for seeing Peggy Guggenheim as less desirable than her daughter? Guggenheim certainly did and Corso became persona non grata in #Venice and beyond. #peggyguggenheim #gregorycorso #history #culture #themodernsalonniere #beatpoetry #poetry
31.01.2026 17:54 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Silver penny of Æthelstan bearing his name, portrait and the title rex to Brit, 'King of all Britons'.
Æthelstan, king of the Anglo-Saxons, met Sigtryggr, king of York, at Tamoworthig (Tamworth, Staffordshire), #OTD in 926, where Æthelstan gave him his only known full sister in marriage. Roger of Wendover says Sigtryggr was also baptised on this occasion. 📸Athelstan Museum #medievalsky
30.01.2026 07:34 — 👍 40 🔁 5 💬 1 📌 1
Would you be surprised to know that a woman who grandly succeeded in luring some of the most important creatives of the #Edwardian era into her drawing rooms was beset with a debilitating lack of inner confidence? #history #culture #themodernsalonniere #england #booksky #nonfiction #amwriting
31.01.2026 17:08 — 👍 3 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Honoré de Balzac is a rather desperate case of a talented creative taken over by excess. His extreme reversals of fortune were brought on by a terrible head for business and an absurd mania for the aristocracy. #history #indieauthor #themodernsalonniere #france #nonfiction#booksky
31.01.2026 17:06 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Proof that the sword is mightier than the pen litters history. A fairly famous case is the duel between Germaine de Staël and #Napoléon, whose war of words cost the author her most fervent desire—to stay in #Paris with the literary set. #history #culture #france #indieauthor #themodernsalonniere
31.01.2026 16:59 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
In the post-Blues Brothers era, the phrase “elegant toga party” seems oxymoronic but telescope 230 years into the past and it is the perfect description for a soirée held by Élisabeth Vigée-Le Brun in 1788. Her habitués had quite the time! #history #culture #indieauthor #themodernsalonniere #france
31.01.2026 16:57 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.”
– Gertrude Stein
@jackewilson.bsky.social talks to biographer Francesca Wade about her new book Gertrude Stein: An Afterlife.
#books #biography #modernism @scribnerbooks.bsky.social
After reading Alan Montgomery’s book about the Antonine Wall I’m thinking of visiting the Hunterian - the oldest public museum in Scotland - at University of Glasgow to see their many resources about that Roman Monument- now a World Heritage Site
#archaeology
#history
www.gla.ac.uk/hunterian/co...
The Alfred Jewel: A 1,100-year-old treasure from England's first king that proclaims 'Alfred ordered me to be made'
www.livescience.com/archaeology/...
"The Alfred Jewel: An Historical Essay" at PG:
www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/59372
#art #history
#castles #architecture #Wales #Cymru #history
Dolwyddelan Castle, looking suitably wintry, built in the early half of the 13th Century by Llywelyn ab Iorweth - Llywelyn Fawr - Prince of Gwynedd, slap bang in the middle of #Eryri
(pic - Cadw)
🪨🏺The things you find when you are not looking for them…three Roman polished stone gaming pieces dating to 43-410 AD.
#Archaeology #Roman #Wirral #History #Heritage
For #PalacesAndGardens #GrandEstates. My favorite castle, the Alcázar de Segovia in Spain (1999). Once the home of the kings/queens of Castille. The city of Segovia generally is a magical place, too. #travel #photography #Segovia #Spain #photographersofbluesky #EastCoastKin #castles #castle #history
29.01.2026 15:55 — 👍 33 🔁 4 💬 2 📌 0
Inside a church with a two large columns with ribbed spiral patterns, holding up several arches that lead up to the roof
#MedievalMonday Two ribbed spiral columns from the original Romanesque church that is now Norwich Cathedral, founded by the Normans in 1096
Together they mark the spot where the original Norman altar once stood
📸 Mine
#history #archaeology #photooftheday 🏺
#TombTuesday
the Weiden Roman #tomb is today one of the best-preserved and most impressive burial sites from #Roman times north of the Alps. It shows a large part of its original furnishings - pure antiquity. 🧵 (1/2) 📸 A Thünker
#Archaeology #History #RomanArchaeology
This reminds me of Eudora Welty. Was it based on any particular writer?
31.01.2026 16:31 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
This Day in #History 1845
American writer Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" is first published in The Evening Mirror newspaper (New York City).
Portrait of Horace Walpole by Joshua Reynolds, 1756
272 years ago, on the 28th of January 1754, the word serendipity was first used. English writer and politician sir Horace Walpole used the word in a letter in reference to the Persian fairy tale 'The Three Princes of Serendip'. #otd #history 🗃️
28.01.2026 08:13 — 👍 106 🔁 21 💬 3 📌 2
As Napoleon enters his final exile on St. Helena, Marie Louise’s marionette-like existence continues as the puppet-strings change hands. My latest exploration is live on Substack: Welcome to the salon… #empressmarielouise #frenchempress #napoleoni #frenchhistory #paris #austria
31.01.2026 14:51 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Saxon Henry found this letter Mia Farrow sent Thornton Wilder in the Beinecke Library.
Saxon Henry found this letter Mia Farrow sent Thornton Wilder in the Beinecke Library.
Saxon Henry found this letter Mia Farrow sent Thornton Wilder in the Beinecke Library.
When Mia Farrow was filming "The Great Gatsby," she said she would be glad when they wrapped in 10 1/2 days. I decided to watch the 1974 film with her in the starring role alongside Robert Redford several nights ago; it reminded me how mesmerizing she was on the screen. #history #films
17.01.2026 18:52 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
Saxon Henry traveled to Castel Monastero in Siena, Italy, to channel Vittoria Colonna’s era during the Italian Reformation.
During the #Reformation in #Italy, women of stature took advantage of lodgings at convents when they traveled, as Vittoria Colonna did in #Orvieto and #Viterbo. I traveled to Castel Monastero in #Siena to capture her era. Have you had an experience of drifting back in time? #history
16.01.2026 14:04 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Saxon Henry found this letter by Lucille Ball to the actress Ruth Gordon in Thornton Wilder’s papers.
Lucille Ball wrote this letter to the actress Ruth Gordon. It was saved with the rest of Thornton Wilder's papers in spite of it being marked to be destroyed. Imagine receiving such a letter from the inimitable "I Love Lucy!" #history #lucilleball
16.01.2026 13:56 — 👍 1 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Saxon Henry found this verse by Edna St. Vincent Millay in her papers at the Beinecke Library at Yale.
Going through Edna St. Vincent Millay's papers was incredible. This verse she wrote begins with, "I too beneath your moon, almighty sex…" She settled into #NYC with bravado after leaving a poverty-stricken childhood in #Maine. I will post a #salon exploration about her this summer. #history #poetry
16.01.2026 13:50 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
