Amelia Soth is a writer and editor based in Chicago, Illinois. She writes the column “Cabinet of Curiosities” for JSTOR Daily and has also contributed articles to Gastro Obscura, the Wellcome Collection, and Hyperallergic.
ESSAYS
“These Bizarre Ivory Cups Were Carved By Princes,” JSTOR Daily.
“Insect Jewelry of the Victorian Era,” JSTOR Daily.
“Why Ottoman Sultans Locked Away Their Brothers,” JSTOR Daily.
“The Lumpy Pearls That Enchanted The Medicis,” JSTOR Daily.
“Why Elite Romans Decorated Their Floors With Garbage,” Gastro Obscura.
“The Man Whose Face Got Stuck Like That,” JSTOR Daily.
“A Roman Feast of Death,” JSTOR Daily.
“Burn This Book,” JSTOR Daily.
“The Occult Remedy the Puritans Embraced,” JSTOR Daily.
“The Afterlife of Royal Hair,” JSTOR Daily.
“Paper Theaters: The Home Entertainment of Yesteryear,” JSTOR Daily.
“The Souls of Magnets,” JSTOR Daily.
PHOTO ESSAYS
“Southern Italy’s Centuries-Long Dancing Mania,” Wellcome Collection.
“Bloodletting at the Barber-Surgeon’s,” Wellcome Collection.
“Electric Marvels in the Age of Enlightenment,” Wellcome Collection.
“When Civilization Made People Sick,” Wellcome Collection.
“Deadly Stinks and Life-Saving Aromas in Plague-Stricken London,” Wellcome Collection.
“Exposing the Secrets of the Human Body,” Wellcome Collection.
“Miracle Cure-Alls Throughout the Ages,” Wellcome Collection.
“Vintage ‘Soviet Santa’ Postcards Were Propaganda for the Space Race,” Hyperallergic.
Preoccupations
Illuminated manuscripts. Arachnids. Microbes. Alchemy.