Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:50:16 -0400 Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:50:16 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Historical Snippets of Regency England http://quikonnex.com/channel/page/tinuviel en Quikonnex Publisher 60 http://quikonnex.com/QMTP/feedcontact/tinuviel ]]> Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:50:16 -0400 http://quikonnex.com/QMTP/feedcontact/tinuviel http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=35073 rapid rise of the craze for the velocipede in Regency England. Introduced first in London, early in 1819, by the enterprising coachmaker, Denis Johnson, the velocipede was all the rage by the early spring of that year. It quickly spread to other cities and towns across the country, and was particularly popular with young men of leisure.

Yet, by the end of that same year, 1819, the craze for the velocipede was over. How did this near mania for a human-powered two-wheeled vehicle fall nearly as quickly as it rose?

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:12:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=35073 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=35069       ... it was Jessamy who plunged him, not many days later, into the affair of the Pedestrian Curricle.

     Boy enough to wish to startle his family with his unsuspected prowess, Jessamy had said nothing to them about his new hobby. Once he had perfected his balance, and could feel himself to be master of the Pedestrian Curricle, he meant to ride up to the door, and call his sisters out to watch his skill. ...

Chapter 14 of Frederica by Georgette Heyer.

Of course, anyone who has read Frederica knows that the Pedestrian Curricle which Jessamy was riding was smashed to bits in an accident involving a pair of dogs, a man mending a chair and landaulet drawn by a pair of high-stepping horses. Fortunately, the Marquis of Alverstoke was able to sort everything out, and "the affair of the Pedestrian Curricle" resulted in a "command" from the Marquis to Jessamy to ride his horses, much to the young man's delight.

"Pedestrian curricle" was just one name for vehicles like that from which Jessamy took his tumble. They were also known as "velocipedes," "draisiennes," "hobby-horses" and "dandy horses," among others. The grand fashion for these contraptions flourished briefly at the very end of the Regency. This week I will tell you about the meteoric rise of the Regency craze for the velocipede ...

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 05 Mar 2010 07:05:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=35069 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=35000
Initially published anonymously in the last year of the Regency, this racy novel telling the tales of a young Greek's adventurous travels through the Levant was a runaway best seller and remained in print for thirty years. Yet few today even know of its existence. It was originally attributed to Lord Byron, but in the second edition, published the following year, the shy yet cultured man who wrote it admitted his authorship. And practically no one believed him.

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:26:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=35000 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34999 display of paintings in public galleries. This week my topic is how paintings were displayed in large private homes during the decade of the Regency. Some of the methods for the display of art in public galleries were also employed in private homes, especially the homes of royalty and the aristocracy. But there was more leeway to deviate from these practices in private galleries, and many wealthy connoisseurs indulged their whims as they pleased. Not only in how they displayed their art, but in the type of art they chose to collect, some of which was not suitable or appropriate for display in mixed company or for public viewing.

The secrets of the display of art in the private spaces of the Regency ...

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 19 Feb 2010 07:19:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34999 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34998
The display of paintings in Regency art galleries and the now antiquated practice of skying ...

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:12:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34998 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34967
A brief history of the orrery and some personal recollections of these elegant devices ...

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:05:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34967 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34905 Palace of Knossos, designed by Daedalus, in which Theseus vanquished the Minotaur.

A brief tracing of the path of the labyrinth and the maze from Crete to the English Regency pleasure garden ...

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 29 Jan 2010 07:29:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34905 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34885 Uranus in Regency England, though that name, among others, was used on the Continent.

The seventh planet, its name(s) and its discoverer ...

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 22 Jan 2010 07:22:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34885 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34884
A brief summary of the measurement of time, what that meant for denizens of the Regency, and when and why the minute became important.

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 15 Jan 2010 07:15:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34884 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34714
By the Regency, most people owned a pen knife, and many of those knives did fold. They could therefore be safely carried in pockets or reticules. But there were also other knives which looked very like pen knives, but served different purposes. A bit about pen and other specialty folding knives of the Regency ...

[READ MORE] [COMMENT]]]> Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:08:00 -0500 http://quikonnex.com/channel/link.php?id=34714