[Ansteorra] online Compleat Anachronist

[Mark.S Harris]

Gustave alf Blitzgarten wrote:
> High Praise and most Glorious Salutations unto Thee Dear Sir!!!!

Well, thank you kind gentle.

> I have been diving and reading through your archives only for a little while
> now, but it is very enjoyable and refreshing in most all respects.  And I
> know it must not have sprung up over night, but the shear volume of
> information is astounding.  You must have a small army to keep up with
> everything.

I've been doing the Florilegium (although until 96 or so, it was
known as the Rialto files or Rialto Archive) since 89 or so.

Well, as for the editing of the files and the maintenance of the site,
really there's just me. HOWEVER, most of the material at the site is
not from me, it is from many, many SCA and some non-SCA folks who have
been willing to share their knowledge through the years over various
Internet newsgroups and maillists and through authors who have been
willing to contribute their work to help improve the knowledge of
the collective "Known World".

I would love to have additional help with the Florilegium. From as
simple as sending me useful messages from mail lists I'm not on
(there are literally hundreds of such SCA lists now - I can only
keep up with a few), to sending me useful articles that they may
have written. If someone has some other idea on how they would like
to help out, please contact me.

> But in some ways, line drawings are necessary to 'illustrate' a point,
> particularly costuming and weapons design.  And no matter how you cut it,
> pictures just hog down memory.

Well, there aren't many pictures in the Florilegium because most of
material has come from the newsgroups and maillists, which don't
have such things. There are getting to be more and more files in
the Florilegium that do include pictures and diagrams, mostly in
articles submitted to me by their authors. If the author has
permission to use a picture or diagram, I'm happy to have it.

> Not to get personal, but how much space dose your current archive take up?

Don't worry about the space. It's my hosts machine. Traffic is what he
is paying for. Currently the Florilegium, with most files in text, HTML
and RTF formats takes up just under 200 Mbytes.

> Do you have an opinion as for this line of inquiry or is it 'just beating a
> dead horse'.

???? I do have some period horse recipes. I can't remember if they call
for tenderizing or not. :-)

> I do have a little experience in scanning/archiving/d-basing information.
> And though this would be a huge project covering the Known World, I believe
> it would be profitable to all to undertake it (just wish I had more Java
> training).

I'm still not sure if you are volunteering to help with the Florilegium,
or have something else in mind or what. Please feel free to contact
me by email.

> As a side note on White metals:  Reo Grande (www.reogrande.com) has a better
> price once you take into account S&H in quantities less than 42 pounds.  42
> pounds and over you would go to White Hall as you suggested in your
> archives.
>
> Also White Hall is becoming more and more interested in the SCA due to the
> fact that we now make up about 1/8 of their over all business.  They are
> also had up for someone to remake their web sight.  Being that I'm a really,
> Really small fish in the sea, could someone contact the local Barony
> (somewhere in RI) so as to make proper introductions?

I've not bought from either of these places myself. The place I'm
currently buying my lead-free pewter from is
> Hallmark Metal Co (hallmark.metal at juno.com) 1-888-467-8000
> http://www.hallmarkmetalscorp.com/
>
> MPK is a Tin/Copper/Bismuth/Silver alloy melts 5-600 degrees f $4.25 lb.
> 928 is a Tin/Antimony/Copper alloy / melts 550-650 degrees f $3.75 lb.
>
> Call before ordering as this material is a commodity and varies from day to day.
>
> The bars are available in 7 lbs, and are notched for three pieces
> or can be cut at the factory.

Shipping was about a dollar a pound, I think.

For those who would like to find out more about period pewter casting,
consider attending mine and Alexandria's class at the upcoming King's
College in a few weeks.

Or check the: pewter-msg, casting-msg and soapstone-msg files in the
Florilegium. :-)

Stefan li Rous
stefan at texas.net