| City Graces may return from isles
Three statues that once stood in the centre of Inverness could be on their way back to the city after 50 years in a garden in Orkney. The group - depicting The Three Graces or Three Virtues - once took pride of place on the roof of a drapery store on the High Street. The death of the collector who bought them when the building was pulled down in 1955 has led to their sale. Inverness Provost Bill Smith hopes to begin a debate on bringing them back. Norris Wood - a collector from Orkney - kept them in his garden and they are being auctioned off along with his extensive antiques collection. 'Very keen' Mr Smith said the city had tried before to have the statues returned. He said: "One of my former colleagues, the late Margaret MacLennan, was very keen to get these statues back." The provost said Highland Council has made tentative enquiries about the statues.
Eager Beavers Won't Wait for Janey
No one will come right out and say it, but the message from every power center in the District government is clear: The coming storm of school reform and reconstruction will be swift, sweeping and supervised by someone other than Superintendent Clifford Janey. Mayor BlackBerry doesn't do slowpokes, and when Adrian Fenty gets his thumbs on the D.C. public schools, as he expects to some time this spring, Janey's intelligence and dedication will matter far less than his plodding pace. .
A double treat with our Henry
Speaking about the Life of a Potaholic will be the star of the BBC's popular Antiques Roadshow programme - author and lecturer Henry Sandon. Not only will the audience be entertained by Henry's vast and detailed knowledge of Worcester porcelain, but - if time permits - he is prepared to give his opinion on a small number of selected pieces of pottery taken along by the audience. For many viewers who delight in Henry's easy, relaxed manner, it will come as a surprise to learn that he was born a Cockney into a musical and artistic family. Henry came to Worcester, where he now lives, in 1953 to sing in the cathedral choir and teach music at the city's Royal Grammar School. He sang many times in Bromsgrove parish church and lectured for Birmingham University in surrounding villages such as Burcot.
Treasure trove of maps
In a case of the 15th century meeting the 21st, the Jewish National and University Library at Givat Ram recently completed posting its extensive collection of antique maps of Jerusalem, the Holy Land and historic cities on the Internet. More than 250 rare maps and antique prints of Jerusalem can now be viewed at www.jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/maps/jer/html/about.html while the library's collection illustrating the land of Israel and surrounding areas is at www.jnul.huji.ac.il/dl/maps/pal/html. A third collection of 1,000 historic maps of cities ranging from Aden to Zurich can be viewed at http://historic-cities.huji.ac.il. The priceless collection, ranging from 1462 to the present, has been digitized in high resolution so that viewers can zoom in on the maps to see details. Each map comes with a bibliographic description as well.
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