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Armand de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun and Biron
Anyone familiar with the court of Louis XVI will have heard of Armand de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun and Biron. But it was only after reading Mistress of The Revolution by Catherine Delors (it's one of my...
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Historical Reads: Cromwell's "Gay Attire"
How did people dress at the court of Oliver Cromwell? History Today investigates. To quote:The details may elude us, but there is every reason for believing that, while Cromwell occasionally adopted a...
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A Petition To Time In Favor Of The Duchess Of Devonshire
Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, was considered one of the beauties of her time. But it wasn't so much her looks, as her personality and manners, that charmed people. Here's how her contemporary...
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Jane Austen Inspired Goodies
Jane Austen's works have not only inspired countless movies, Tv adaptations and books, but every sort of item you can think of. Mugs, t-shirts, table games and jewelry are just some of the goodies that...
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Book Review: Rosso E Nero By Renzo De Felice And Pasquale Chessa
Renzo De Felice is an Italian historian who spent most of his life researching fascism and writing a biography, published in several volumes, on Mussolini. De Felice approached his work like any good...
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I Am Very Sorry, But I Mean To Be Just As Naughty Next Time
Princess Victoria, the eldest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, was a willful and stubborn child who often got in trouble for doing what she shouldn't. Her parents punished her, but to little...
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The New Duchess Of Devonshire Is Presented At Court
In her book, Georgiana Duchess of Devonshire, Amanda Foreman discusses the newly married duchess' presentation at court:He [The Duke] provoked more gossip when he turned up four hours late for his...
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Historical Reads: Frances, Countess Of Jersey
Heather Carroll has written an interesting post on Lady Jersey, the mistress of the Duke of Devonshire and the Prince Regent, the future King George IV. To quote:Her most famous affair was, of course,...
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Fashions For June 1810
What would the fashionable Englishwoman have worn in June 1810? Let's take a look:The evening dress is really beautiful, isn't it? Instead, I find the walking dress only so-so. I love the yellow colour...
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Marie Antoinette Becomes Officially French
Marie Antoinette hadn't even set her dainty little foot in France yet, and already she had a taste of the minute, stringent, sometimes absurd, rules of etiquette that would govern her life at...
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Book Review: Intervista Sul Fascismo By Renzo De Felice
Renzo De Felice firmly believed that historians should "reconstruct" and write history as it really happened, based on the documents and testimonials left by the people who made it, and not how they...
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Politeness, Etiquette And Good Breeding
In his manual of etiquette, Our Deportment, John H. Young quotes some French and English writers to explain what politeness, etiquette and good breading are and why they are important:To go through...
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A Royal Austen Fan
Princess Charlotte of Wales was a fan of Jane Austen, and didn't even know it. When her uncle, the Duke Of York, lent her a copy of Sense and Sensibility, written by an anonymous lady, he believed, and...
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Historical Reads: Everything You Know About Corsets Is False
Collectors Weekly debunks some myths about corsets. To quote:2. Corsets did not create misshapen livers or life-threatening diseases.Over the years, corsets have been credited with causing a whole...
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Strange French Fashions
French fashions during and after the Terror were the subjects of many satires in England, as Graham Everitt discusses in his book, English Caricaturists and Graphic Humourists of the Nineteenth...
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The Birth Of Mary I
On 18 February 1516 , at 4:00 am, at the Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Queen Catherine, holding in her hands the belt of Saint Catherine to ease the pain of a long labour and pray for a safe...
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Short Book Reviews: Leap Of Faith, Vanished & His Bright Star
I collected quite a lot of Danielle Steel's books when I was in high school. Her works may not be masterpieces, but they are a light read that's ideal for travelling or when you just want to relax with...
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Bed-Rooms, Beds, And Bedding
How many of you hate making your bed? It takes only a couple of minutes, but it feels like such a chore, doesn't it? Yet, we're very lucky. In the past, making the bed was a long and arduous process,...
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Button Hooks
The Victorians certainly loved buttons. They'd use them everywhere. On their boots, on their gloves, on their corsets, on their jackets... It would take a woman hours to hook them all on her own. The...
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Historical Reads: The Symbolism Of Gloves In The 17th Century
Over at Hoydens & Firebrands, author Deborah Swift discusses the symbolism of gloves in the 17th century. To quote:Judges often used to wear gloves as a symbol that their hands were unsullied by...
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