About the Cover Illustration

The figure on the cover of Spring Integration in Action is captioned “A man from Split, Dalmatia.” 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.

Split is an ancient port city on the Adriatic coast that is over 1700 years old. It is the second-largest city in Croatia and an important cultural, academic, and economic center as well as a popular tourist destination. The figure on the cover is wearing dark blue woolen trousers and an embroidered jacket over a white linen shirt, the typical costume for men in Dalmatia for hundreds of years. A red sash and red cap complete the outfit.

Dress codes and lifestyles have changed, and the diversity by region, so rich only 200 years ago, 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.