HARRISON WEIR COLLECTION © A-Cat-Emy Concepts
PUBLISHED BY A-CAT-EMY CONCEPTS for THE HARRISON WEIR COLLECTION EDITOR
John G. Smithson
MAY 2022
VOLUME 2 NUMBER 11
editor@felishistorica.com HISTORY PARTNERS The CFA Foundation COLUMNISTS/CONTRIBUTORS
Karen Lawrence
EDITORIAL The Editor outlines the contents of Felis Historica – Volume 2 No.11
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CONTRIBUTING TEAM MEMBERS Gallery of our Team of Columnists, Contributors & Correspondents
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Contents
THE MANX BREED - by Joy Yoders Day An Introduction to Ancient Breed by the Breed Council Secretary
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SILVER JESSAMINE (1897) - by John Smithson The story of a Chinchilla female sired by Ch. Silver Lambkin.
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THE BILLINGSGATE POET – Abridged notes from ‘The Poet of Nature’ A biography of Harrison Weir (1824-1906) - by John Smithson
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(Muscat, Oman)
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GENETICS YOU CAN LEARN FROM YOUR CAT! - by Dr. Leslie Lyons The Genetics of the Manx….
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Florent Fissot
INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATION GALLERY – THE MANX & THE CYMRIC
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GARDENING WITH CATS – Cartoons by Graham Harrop A Cats Guide to the Flower Bed!
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THE AMERICAN SHORTHAIR – New Book Release information.
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MANX SILVERWING (1899) – by John Smithson An early Silver Tabby Manx Shorthair female
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THE DESCENDANTS OF BASTET – by Karen Lawrence. New Book release information…
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A PERSIAN RHAPSODY IN BLUE – by John Smithson. New Book release information…
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CELEBRATING MODERN DAY LEADING CATS – Our Feature Cats: Manx LH & SH CFA GC, NW BRIAR-MAR ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS CFA GC, BW, NW BRIAR-MAR ME TOO OF DEYDREAM
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(St. Catharines, Canada)
Lorraine Shelton (California, USA)
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Dr. Leslie Lyons (Missouri, USA)
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Chloe Chung (Hong Kong)
Laura Vocelle
(Monsegur, France)
Dr. Victor Zaalov (Acre, Israel)
Valerie Sheldrake Feline Historian (Suffolk, UK)
Jamie Christian (Ohio, USA)
PHOTOGRAPHY / GRAPHICS
Helmi & Ken Flick (Florida, USA)
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Jack Terry (Florida, USA)
CONTENT All Rights Reserved © A-Cat-Emy Concepts SUBSCRIPTIONS Published Monthly Single Issue $4.00 USD ANNUAL $48.00 USD
FELIS HISTORICA
Editorial Editorial ’FELIS HISTORICA’ JOHN G. SMITHSON EDITOR
OUR COVER PHOTO Mother Cat and Kittens Illustration by Harrison William Weir from “Harrison Weir’s Pictures of Birds & Other Family Pets” Published by The Religious Tract Society Circa 1877. Photo: Helmi Flick COPYRIGHT ISSN: 2744-4430 National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa © A-CAT-EMY CONCEPTS / FELIS HISTORICA THE HARRISON WEIR COLLECTION No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, screen capture, or otherwise, without prior written permission. No responsibility is accepted for accuracy of advertisements or information. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED www.felis-historica.com www.harrisonweir.com
This May 2022 edition of Felis Historica coincidentally marks the 198th anniversary of the birth of Harrison William Weir – and as I am now also fully engaged in putting together his biography with his bi-centenary in mind, it seems fitting to include in this issue just one of the many stories about the myriad of discoveries that have been uncovered about his life, during more than 15 years of discovery and research. On this occasion I have put together a short article based upon notes for my book ‘The Poet of Nature’, and the subject of it, is ‘The Billingsgate Poet’ about which I will say no more, as you really must read it to appreciate the find and what it means. This find, would not have been possible, without the aid and hospitality of Jon and Jeannine Parfitt when I spent a month on the United Kingdom on a fact-finding tour, in 2017. Sadly, I must report that Jon recently passed away as the result of a tragic accident at home, so this story is in part at least, dedicated to his very role in the discovery of the Billingsgate Poet in the life of Harrison William Weir, one amongst many such finds made during my stay with his family, very few which could have been achieved without his direct assistance. Adieu dearest friend! Our feature Breed this month, is the Manx, and we have both Shorthair and Longhair Manx in the mix. Of course, not all registries around the world register both Shorthairs and Longhairs as Manx, some preferring to call the Longhairs Cymrics. Our Breed gallery this month, allows for this. The feature Shorthair Manx is GC NW Briar-Mar Absolutely Fabulous, bred by Omar Gonzalez and Gary Veach, a stunning Calico who was CFA’s All Breed Kitten of the Year for the 2016/2017 show season. Not only that, but she also went on to produce another Manx Shorthair who similarly claimed the
GC, BW, NW BRIAR-MAR ME TOO Photo: Chanan
IN CELEBRATION OF
MAY 2022
MANXSHs CATS BRITISH & LHs
the same National win as CFA’s Best Kitten for 2017/2018, in GC NW Briar-Mar Ready Aim Fire! As if that were not enough, in 2018 she then produced in a litter, a Longhair Manx, this time sired by GC, BW, NW Briar-Mar Good To Be Me (CFA’s Cat of the Year 2015/2016), in GC, BW, NW Briar-Mar Me Too, who went on the take out 2nd Best Kitten nationally in 2018/2019. Her story and that of her Longhaired manx son, complete the features on modern-day cats, but the Breed Gallery will delight with images of Manx, both short and longhaired from around the globe, and more from the catteries of Gay Van Weeldon, Omar Gonzalez and Gary Veach, Joy Yoders-Dey and Tuija Aaltonen to name but a few. Our historic cats this month include the early Chinchilla named ‘Silver Jessamine’ born in 1897; and the early Silver Spotted tabby Manx female, named ‘Manx Silverwing’ born in 1899. Our thanks to Breed Chair for the Manx, Joy Yoders-Dey who early on, provides an outline of the Manx as a breed. Dr. Leslie Lyons provides us with another article in her series named “Everything you need to know about Genetics – you can learn from your cat!” This time the subtitle is ‘Tale of the Tails’ – which takes us on a genetics journey touching upon Manx, Japanese Bobtails, Pixiebobs, American Bobtails, Toybobs and the like. We certainly hope there is plenty in this issue for you to enjoy, a special thanks to the breeders and photographers who have contributed to this May edition!
John
EDITOR
Above: CFA GC, NW BRIAR-MAR ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS Calico Manx Shorthair Photo: Chanan
Below: CFA GC, NW BRIAR-MAR PLAYING WITH FIRE Red Classic Tabby & White Manx Shorthair. Photo: Omar Gonzalez