I traditionally buy myself a Christmas present (or ten). The cold winter day I popped into my favorite second hand bookstore in the town I didn’t expect to find anything. I was out taking photos; I needed to thaw out my hands (any excuse). While combing the history section for Medieval knights I caught sight of the words “Mrs Hurst Dancing”. My brain didn’t even compute the smaller print on the spine. The size of the book suggested it contained lots of pictures. Being a curious wench I wanted to know why someone would write a book about some married woman who danced. I couldn’t believe it when I saw the cover. There in my hands was a book I’d never heard of called (now that my brain bothered to read the subtitle) ‘Mrs Hurst Dancing & Other Scenes From Regency Life 1812-1823 Watercolours by Diana Sperling… I held my breath as I opened the cover to find the penciled price. It was only £6. I clutched it to my chest and laughed as I resisted dancing in the confined space. I flipped through a few pages and was enchanted. I quickly closed the book and decided it would be one of my Christmas presents which means I didn’t look at more than five of the 70 plates till Christmas day. If you love the Regency era, and you’ve never seen this book, you will want your own copy. Diana Sperling, the young woman painting scenes from her life, had a great sense of humor and clearly a love of the absurd. I had to share a few of the pictures. These aren’t even the best ones (though I include my single favorite). These few give a flavor of the rest. Diana was part of a wealthy family (her father was Lord of the Manor) who were happy and content regardless of what was going on outside their little world. The first painting introduces most of the main people in her paintings… [Read more…] about Regency Note: Mrs Hurst Dancing…
Regency Notes
Have question need answer…
One of the blogs I follow is Literary Soundtrack. It’s written by two sisters who are voracious readers (as well as talented writers). If readers were dinosaurs I’d be a brontosaurus, the big herbivore that probably needed half a dozen stomachs to digest the odd mouthful of wood pulp. They’d be a pair of raptors. Even the T-Rex would know not to enter a reading competition with these two. He wouldn’t have a chance! They love finding music that musically fits favorite books as well as interviewing writers about how music inspires their writing. I love how they mention things that make me think about things I’ve never thought of before. Yesterday they posed a question that set my brain whirling. “Why do you read the genre that you do?” The surface answer would be; because I like it. But that’s not really an answer. Why are we drawn to specific genres? Why don’t I love reading Westerns? Why do I have no desire to read… This is where I fell off the cliff of sanity. How can I know why I read the genres I do unless I know all the genres I don’t? How many genres are there? How many of them have I not read? If I’ve never read a certain genre, how do I know I don’t want to read it? I ogled my computer like a starving piranha and forced myself to go to bed. This morning after seeing the Goblin off I was going to get some more sleep. It’s long gone midnight and my pillow is still waiting. I went onto Wikipedia and found under ‘list of literary genres’ what I was craving. Answers! [Read more…] about Have question need answer…
Hester Bateman – Georgian silversmith…
One of the things I often say to myself is, “You don’t know something until you know it.” Perhaps I need a constant reminder of the obvious because I tend to assume things. For instance; I assumed that Georgian silversmiths were all men. Today I’ve learned that they weren’t. This shouldn’t surprise me (having researched numerous women artists from all ages), but it does. My knew piece of knowledge (like most of my interesting knowledge) was accidentally acquired. I walked into town to get a few things and stopped off at the charity shop (again) and found four issues of a magazines from 1967, ‘The Antique Dealer and Collector’s Guide’. I flipped through them all and found they each had pictures or articles about some Regency or Georgian item/artist that I had to have. At home at my desk I pulled the first one off the pile and was flipping through to find “the good stuff” when I came to an ad titled Silver by Hester Bateman. I assumed Hester was a dealer. Having admired the tea pot, I read the paragraph under this photo… [Read more…] about Hester Bateman – Georgian silversmith…
An inkwell to write for…
They called them inkstands (some times referred to as desk sets), but really they were glorified inkwells. In this day of throw away ink-pens does anyone actually need an inkstand? Yes! I do! It’s true my quill pen is gathering dust. (I got one for Christmas a few years back…it’s a messy, but enjoyable experience writing with real quill…ink gets everywhere, though that could be me.) But there’s no law that says you have to use what you buy. Some things you own to look at…because they’re lovely…make you smile…and transport you (mentally) back in time…
I don’t own an inkstand or even a proper inkwell (a cheap bottle of ink doesn’t count) but every now and then I’ll see one and think, ‘Hello! Come live on my desk!’ The Sotheby’s catalog (for London 8 July 2008) that I found at the charity shop had one. My favorite inkwell ever was one with cupid, but this porcelain inkwell…is SO adorable I’d happily put him on my desk and tell him every day to hurry up and write his love letter so he can start work on my novels. [Read more…] about An inkwell to write for…
Hermsprong…
My favorite local secondhand bookshop is blessed with a split personality; in the back there’s a tidy room of locked glass cases containing special expensive editions, but to get to it you pass through two small rooms turned into a short maze of dusty shelves that display anything the proprietors think they might sell to someone…anyone. At the foot of some private stairs (that you pass by to reach the second room) there’s even a disorganized paperback section where you can find the odd Catherine Cookson pressed tightly between Chaucer and Ian Fleming or some long dead Greek playwright. It’s a very egalitarian bookshop. I went in hope of finding a cheap anthology of middle English poetry, but I couldn’t find anything other than Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (which I haven’t yet desired to read). I kept browsing. In the second room, the far left corner holding European history is separated from the shelves of literature by a grubby stand with more paperbacks, most of them cheap editions of great literature published in the fifties and sixties. I spun it round and caught sight of a book with a cover portrait of a beautiful young man with intelligent eyes. I’d never heard of Robert Bage or his book called Hermsprong; Man as He is not. Flipping it open I found the novel was published in 1796. Reading the back it said it was funny (and as it only cost £1) so I bought it. [Read more…] about Hermsprong…
Isn’t she lovely…
There’s something special about the Venus de Milo. I can see her sculptor finishing her and standing back, covered in white dust, feeling awed that this serene lady captured in stone had come from his hands. She was found in 1820 (during the Regency). She’d somehow become buried in a niche in the ancient ruins of Milos on the Aegean island of Milos and forgotten. Sculpted by an Alexandros son of Menides, citizen of Antioch some time between 130 – 100 BC, she’s made of marble and slightly larger than life. She was apparently made to be seen from her right. Her left arm (now missing) was outstretched, her hand holding an apple the symbol of Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. She is still enthralling people over 2000 years later. Minolta, the camera people, have done a study of the sculpture using new technology that shows her like she’s never been seen before. If you’ve never seen her in real life, or even if you have, these new images are so beautiful. Many people today think art is about ugly controversial objects created to shock or upset the viewer. Once upon a time, it was only about ceating beauty. Have a look! The Venus de Milo