The Long Victorian – c.1789 – 1914
The literary world of the Long Nineteenth Century, c.1789 – 1914
This is a short postscript to the last post, it's not going to be a regular theme. I prefer to focus on the positive, if possible. Another public museum is selling off art to pay the bills. Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts (USA) is selling off 40 of it's most notable paintings, sculptures and drawings -… Continue reading A postscript to “Selling public art” – another sell-off
Going, going ... GONE! When is it acceptable to sell public art? It's happening more frequently than you might think. There was a time when I had assumed that once a work of art had been gifted or bought by a public art gallery, there it would stay (apart from loans and special exhibitions). Later… Continue reading Going, going … GONE! When is it acceptable to sell public art?
Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) Henry Thoreau was many things: an essayist, poet, practical philosopher, abolitionist, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor and historian. Those were days when there was still room to do many different things, rather than the intense specialism that is common today. But perhaps most famously, he was author of the book… Continue reading Happy birthday, Henry David Thoreau. 200 years old today (1817-1862). Quotes & thoughts
Today is the anniversary of the death of Sir David Wilkie (18 November 1785 – 1 June 1841). A Scottish painter. When I think of Wilkie, I immediately think of the The Letter of Introduction. The Letter of Introduction (1813) Readers reading series #11 The painting was completed in the same year that Jane Austen's… Continue reading Painting: The Letter of Introduction (1813) by David Wilkie (we’ve all been in this room)
I enjoy blogging, but wish I did it more frequently. Usually my thoughts don't get further than the garden, some end up as tweets. So here is a compromise solution, a half tweet/half blog post, though by the time you read this it may have grown. There is a book quiz at the end. Today… Continue reading OTD b. Edward Bulwer-Lytton. More to him than one famously bad opening line
On this day in 1830, a poem (later a nursery rhyme) Mary Had a Little Lamb, by Sarah Hale was published. Later in the decade Lowell Mason set the poem to a melody adding repetition in the verses. The poem was the first thing recorded by Thomas Edison on his newly invented phonograph in 1878… Continue reading OTD in 1830 a poem was published, supposedly the first words ever recorded (1878)
Emily Dickinson - and the benefits of obscurity to a writer Today is the anniversary of the death of the great American poet, Emily Dickinson (10 Dec 1830 – 15 May 1886). Another author from my 'famous and appreciated … too late' series. All quotes in this post are from Emily's writing, unless mentioned otherwise.… Continue reading OTD d. Emily Dickinson – and the benefits of obscurity to a writer
Today is the anniversary of the death of Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856 - 1925). Haggard was a Norfolk born English writer famous for his adventure stories, but he also wrote non fiction. His two most popular books were King Solomon's Mines (1885) and She (1886). A Rider Haggard Society (UK) was formed in 1985.… Continue reading OTD d. H. Rider Haggard – 12 quotes & how to survive reading in the modern era
Three Sisters of Haworth - a graphic story I have two interests that rarely get reflected on this blog. I collect/sell vintage prints (on a small scale) and I'm a fan of the world of speech bubbles (cartoons and graphic art). So I was delighted when my love of these collided with my love of… Continue reading Three Sisters of Haworth, the Bronte family in wonderful 1950s graphic art
Famous and appreciated … too late Yesterday I tweeted a short piece on Anna Sewell (1820-78), author of Black Beauty on the anniversary of her death. She was an English novelist, the author of Black Beauty. Born in Norfolk, England into a devout Quaker family. “It is good people who make good places.” It would be… Continue reading Anna Sewell (Black Beauty) & other writers appreciated too late
