1814 and 1819 Editions of the Children’s Book: Cinderella or the Little Glass Slipper

Last week I featured the book, The History of Little Goody Two-Shoes, a moralizing children’s book that Jane Austen kept all through her lifetime. As she was growing up, she was probably familiar with the Cinderella fairytale. Hundreds of versions of the folk tale from a variety of European sources exist, but the myth goes [...]

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18th Century Umbrellas

During the 17th century, ladies used parasols for protection from the sun. A century later they were using oiled umbrellas as protection from the rain as well. By the early 19th century, the design of the umbrella had improved and its use had become widespread. After Maria’s marriage, Fanny Price was overtaken by a heavy [...]

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The Ceremonial Horses of the Royal Wedding Procession

The Magnificent Ceremonial Horses of the Wedding Procession Conduct the Royal Couple to a New Life is an article written by Patty of Brandy Parfums for Horse Directory Magazine. Patty and the editor of the magazine have graciously allowed me to publish the article on this blog. Royal-horse-loving early-risers who tuned in on April 29, 2011 for the [...]

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18th Century Children’s Book: The History of Goody Little Two Shoes

Among the possessions Jane Austen passed down after her death is a miniature book for children, The History of Goody Little Two-Shoes, whose pages were filled with moral lessons for children. During the 18th century, it was regarded as one of the most popular children’s books, and its popularity lasted into the 19th century. As [...]

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Review: The Truth About Mr. Darcy, by Susan Adriani

From the desk of Shelley DeWees…The Uprising. If Elizabeth had not known better, she would have sworn he was deliberately throwing himself in her way, but she did know better. Whenever they were in company together, Darcy was usually cool and aloof, yet he chose to stare at her constantly, and with a level of [...]

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Join Jane Austen at the Classroom Salon

This post was published by Mags at Austenblog, who also graciously allowed me to publish it on this blog. We are pleased to announce that the Gentle Readers of AustenBlog, as well as Janeites everywhere, have been invited to join a discussion of Sense and Sensibility at Classroom Salon, a free discussion platform from Carnegie Mellon [...]

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Regency Manners: Seating at Table

When dinner is announced, the mistress of the house requests the lady first in rank, in company, to shew the way to the rest, and walk first into the room where the table is served; she then asks the second in precedience to follow, and after all the ladies are passed, she brings up the [...]

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The Library of an 18th Century Gentleman

Post contributed by Tony Grant. All rights reserved, Tony Grant. At the start of our Easter Holidays, on the 11th April, Marilyn, Abigail and myself drove up to Scarborough to spend a few days. Scarborough is on the beautiful rugged Yorkshire coast in the North East of England. We wanted to visit somewhere different and [...]

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Regency Fashion: Country Shoes vs City Shoes

In a previous post, I discussed how ladies slippers and boots were so delicately made that they could not withstand much wear and tear. In fact, a lady would not venture to walk outside the house in rainy weather and would be confined inside, whether she was in the city or country. Jane Austen described [...]

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Review of The Jane Austen Handbook or Proper Life Skills from Regency England, by Margaret C. Sullivan

Review by Tony Grant. To start with, it is a pleasure to be holding a book with a hard cover and with a glimpse of the brown and cream page binding at the top and bottom of the spine. It gives the reader the interesting, pleasurable knowledge that this is a sewn binding in the [...]

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Sanditon and the Development of New Settlements

Contributed by Tony Grant, all rights reserved. Images by Tony Grant. Towards the end of her life Jane Austen was writing a new sort of novel, Sanditon. It appears to have been, in it’s far from completed form, an analysis of change going on in the world of the 18th century.The main female character in [...]

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The Royal Wedding of Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine Middleton of Berkshire, April 29, 2011 and a March Through Time of Royal British Weddings

Gentle Readers, this lovely post comes from Patty at Brandy Parfums. I think she captured the day and its history perfectly, don’t you? “Are you happy?  Yes, are you happy?  Yes, very happy.”  These words the experts say were spoken by Prince William and his bride Kate Middleton in the 1902 state landau right after [...]

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