Gulian Verplanck was an American writer and politician. He was born in 1786 and died in 1870. He was a member of the New York Legislature from 1820 to 1832. He represented New York in the US Congress as a Democrat from 1825 to 1833, and was a State Senator from 1838 to 1841. He wrote 'The Bucktail Bards', a series of political pamphlets; 'Discourses on American History, Arts and Literature'; 'The American Scholar', and was joint editor of the Talisman. Research Gulian Verplanck
Michael William Balfe was an Irish composer, He was born in 1808 at Dublin and died in 1870. In his seventh year he performed in public on the violin, and at sixteen took the part of the Wicked Huntsman in Der Freischiitz at Drury Lane. In 1825 he went to Italy, wrote the music for a ballet La Peyrouse for the Scala at Milan, and in the following year sang at the Theatre-Italien, Paris, with moderate success. He returned to Italy, and at Palermo was given his first opera, I Rivali (1829). For five years he continued singing and composing operas for the Italian stage. In 1835 he came to England, and composed a number of operas, amongst others The Bohemian Girl (1843), Rose of Castile (1857), Satanella (1858), and The Talisman (first performed in 1874). His operas are melodious and many of the airs are excellent. Research Michael Baife
Robert C Sands was an American journalist and writer. He was born in 1799 at New York and died in 1833. He was assistant editor of the New York Review from 1825 to 1827, and of the Commercial Advertiser from 1827 to 1832. He wrote with Bryant and Verplanck The Talisman. Research Robert Sands
In Roman beliefs, bay - the tree of Apollo - was considered a talisman against lightning, and hence was often worn in a wreath upon the head by the emperors. Research Bay
In Japanese mythology, maneki neko (the beckoning cat or waving cat) originates with a story of a cat that stood in the doorway of the Gotoku-ji temple and raised her paw in the traditional Japanese beckoning gesture to a passing feudallord. The feudallord followed the cat into the temple and as he did so a lightning bolt struck the place where he had been previously standing. The lord realised that the cat had saved his life and from then on the beckoning cat represented the goddess of mercy. From Japan the mythology of the beckoning cat spread to the rest of the Orient including China, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam. The cat depicted beckoning with its right hand beckons money and good fortune, the cat beckoning with its left paw is beckoning customers and good fortune. Typically the cat is depicted in three colours, however it is also produced in black as a talisman against evil and stalkers. Research Maneki Neko
HMS Talisman was a British Triton Class patrol type submarine of 1090 tons displacement built by Cammell Laird and launched in 1939 and sunk during the Second World War. She was armed with one 4-inch gun; two smaller guns and ten 21-inch torpedo tubes. She had a top speed of 15.25 knots surfaced and 9 knots submerged and carried a complement of 53. Research Talisman
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Gulian Verplanck
