Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire in the 1700 and 1800s
The Chateau de Chaumont-sur-Loire is in the village of Chaumont-sur-Loire in the Loire Valley, and the name Chaumont is derived from the French chauve mont, meaning “bald hill.” It was initially a fortress built around 1000 by Odo I, Count of Blois. The original château had four sides surrounding a courtyard. However, after it was…
Read More
James Lackington Revolutionized the Book Trade
James Lackington revolutionized the book trade because of his innovative book-selling practices. He was born in on 31 August 1746 in Wellington, Somerset to a shoemaker and was one of eleven children. His father had some money and young Lackington was lucky enough to attend a “Dame School,” but it lasted only a short time…
Read More
Theatres of Paris from the Late 1700s to Early 1800s
Theatres of Paris from the late 1700s to early 1800s were extremely popular, always open, and constantly full of patrons. Supposedly, they were also considered the “idol of Parisians,” but at the time, there were not more than about twenty theatres that provided public recreation for the French masses. Parisian theatres were also known to…
Read More
The History of Goody Two-Shoes
The History of Goody Two-Shoes (with or without a hyphen) was a children’s story written anonymously in 1765, published by John Newbery, and a variation of the story of Cinderella. Goody Two-Shoes was the nickname of a poor orphan named Margery Meanwell who goes through life with one shoe until a rich gentleman gives her…
Read More
The Executioner’s Rope of the 1700 and 1800s
The executioner’s rope of the 1700 and 1800s was one the hangman’s most important tools as no hanging could be accomplished without it. All executioners relied on a good rope, chief among them was William Marwood. He was known for having developed the hanging technique known as the “long drop.” It ensured a prisoner’s neck…
Read More
Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey
Before Jane Austen published Sense and Sensibility, her father had tried to get her book Susan (the original version of Northanger Abbey) published. He failed and then her brother Henry took over and through his business partner, William Seymour, who was also a lawyer, it was sold to a London publisher, Crosby & Company. Austen…
Read More
The boy Jones Who Broke into Buckingham Palace
Edward Jones was nicknamed “the boy Jones” by newspapers and became notorious for breaking into Buckingham Palace multiple times between 1838 and 1841. His first break-in occurred in 1838 when he entered disguised as a chimney sweep having gained admission by squeezing through a hole in the March Arch at the principal entrance of the…
Read More
Three Paris Gardens in the late 1700 and early 1800s
Paris has always been a city of many types of public recreations. Among these recreational places were three Paris gardens in the late 1700 and early 1800s that were more popular than others. These gardens — Tuileries Garden (Jardin des Tuileries), the Garden of the Plants (Jardin des Plantes), and the Garden at the Palais-Royal…
Read More
How Napoleon Controlled His Image
It is interesting how Napoleon controlled his image to become a “master of spin.” He realized that to gain power and to stay in power, his popularity depended not only on his ability to achieve military success but also on his ability to ensure that he was politically popular with French citizens too. One way…
Read More
The Cold or Catarrh in the Late 1800s
Many doctors of the late 1800s wrote about and investigated the cold, or at it was often called, catarrh. Nineteenth-century doctors also had advice about the best ways to avoid or prevent a cold. Of course, that was not always possible and so when a cold happened, doctors and even quacks wanted to cure it…
Read More