About the Cover Illustration

The figure on the cover of Storm Applied is captioned “Man from Konavle, Dalmatia, Croatia.” The illustration is taken from a reproduction of an album of traditional Croatian costumes from the mid-nineteenth century by Nikola Arsenovic, published by the Ethnographic Museum in Split, Croatia, in 2003. The illustrations were obtained from a helpful librarian at the Ethnographic Museum in Split, itself situated in the Roman core of the medieval center of the town: the ruins of Emperor Diocletian’s retirement palace from around AD 304. The book includes finely colored illustrations of figures from different regions of Croatia, accompanied by descriptions of the costumes and of everyday life.

Konavle is a small region located southeast of Dubrovnik, Croatia. It is a narrow strip of land picturesquely tucked in between Snijeznica Mountain and the Adriatic Sea, on the border with Montenegro. The figure on the cover is carrying a musket on his back and has a pistol, dagger, and scabbard tucked into his wide colorful belt. From his vigilant posture and the fierce look on his face, it would seem that he is guarding the border or on the lookout for poachers. The most interesting parts of his costume are the bright red socks decorated with an intricate black design, which is typical for this region of Dalmatia.

Dress codes and lifestyles have changed over the last 200 years, and the diversity by region, so rich at the time, has faded away. It is now hard to tell apart the inhabitants of different continents, let alone of different hamlets or towns separated by only a few miles. Perhaps we have traded cultural diversity for a more varied personal life—certainly for a more varied and fast-paced technological life.

Manning celebrates the inventiveness and initiative of the computer business with book covers based on the rich diversity of regional life of two centuries ago, brought back to life by illustrations from old books and collections like this one.