Will there be rain, sun or snow within the next days? Should I plant my crops – or rather delay a journey? Predicting the weather was an art by itself in the 18th century. A scientific approach to weather forecasting started in earnest from the early 18th century, but progress was slow. So how did people like Jane Austen forecast the weather?
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In the early 19th century there was hardly a more experienced kingmaker than Napoleon Bonaparte: He had crowed himself as Emperor of France in 1804, became King of Italy in 1805, and made his relatives Kings of the Kingdom of Holland (1806), the Kingdom of Naples (1806 and 1808), the Kingdom of Westphalia (1807) and of Spain (1808). He also made his ally, Maximilian IV Joseph, prince-elector of Bavaria, a King in 1806. The coronation of the King of Bavaria was planned to be a splendid affair, and everyone invested large amounts of money, time and craftsmanship, but alas….
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Of course there were clocks, cannons and sundials in the 18th century. There also was an elaborate instrument that seems to be a mix of all of them: the meridian cannon – a sundial with a little cannon announcing 12 o’clock noon with a loud bang.
What looks like a pyrotechnic gadget to amuse your guests or annoy your neighbours is actually a scientific instrument to measure true solar time correctly in an age where many timepieces lost or gained 15 minutes a day.
France, center of fashion for all matters of beautiful living! In the 1. half of the 18th century, the court indulges in heavy scents. Perfume is a fashion statement as well as a necessity: scents are used to protect oneself from bad, contagious smells, and they are also a symbol of social power. But progress in medical knowledge leads to a new view on scents, and with this, new fragrances become fashionable. This so-called olfactory revolution is eagerly adopted by British noblemen and -women on their Grand Tour of the Continent …
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Eight years after the Napoleonic Wars, the economy gets back on track. Science and technology advance significantly. Politicians are discussing reforms, and some repressive laws have already been repealed. All the while, high society sticks to the ‘old’ ideas and rules.
The book market is a mirror of this situation: the fiction genre mainly celebrates the familiar authors, but at the same time it starts to open towards more ‘radical’ topics.
In non-fiction, new publications highlight the path to the future, or look back to the ‘good old times’ of everyone’s favourite enemy: Napoleon.
Check out my list of popular fiction and non-fiction releases. I have added links to online versions of each book, so you can actually read like its 1823!
May I have the pleasure of this Waltz? It is the most controversial dance of the Regency Period. That the Waltz was considered scandalous certainly isn’t new to you. But there were more reasons than too much intimacy between the dance partners that made people turn up their noses at the Waltz. Among the despisers was e.g. Lord Byron who can hardly be counted among the moralisers of the age. So what was wrong with the Waltz? Continue reading
It’s Christmas Eve, about 200 years ago. The church organ has broken down in a small town in Austria. The aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars still haunts the people. In this night, a very special song is born. Nobody knows yet that it is to become one of the most popular carols in the world. Continue reading
Dear time travelling gentleman on the way to the 18th century, please make sure to take with you one thing: a hat!
In the 18th century, a hat is not only useful in bad weather, and it is more than a fashion accessory. A hat indicates your role in society. Without a hat you are a nobody.
Follow me to a brief introduction to the history of 18th century hats. We make sure you pick the correct one for each period, and we also find out about hat etiquette.
During the Regency period, horses seemed to be everywhere: They were indispensable partners for work, transportation, warfare, sport – and even for lifestyle and fashion. Horsehair from manes and tails was used for brushes, wigs and string instruments, and it was proceeded into haircloth. Haircloth was a great fabric for upholstery or for stiffening crinolines and the front panels of a suit. All these usages relied on the robustness of the material. But did you know that delicate ladies’ hats were made of horsehair, too?
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For a young lady few things would be more satisfying than being a sought-after dancing partner at a glamourous ball. But if she was in constant demand, how would she keep track of the partners engaging her for the waltz or the cotillion later in the evening? And how would a gentleman secure a dance with her?
Keeping track of the gentlemen who had promised a dance in the course of the evening was done – on the Continent – with the assistance of a so called ‘carnet de bal‘ (a dance card). A gentleman would ask a lady to write down his name on the card a for a specific dance. These small and often precious carnets de bal were very popular in France and Austria throughout the 18th century.
In Britain, the dance card became fashionable at around the turn of the 18th century. The carnet de bal initially was often less elaborate than the Continental model.
