A Writer’s Travel Guide to London’s Bookbinding Trade

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bookIn the Georgian age, the book trade flourished in London. Reading was a popular pastime. Books were often read to friends and family for entertainment. Until the end of the 18th century, newly published books were sold without a binding. A person who bought a book received only the printed paper with temporary sewing, a so-called “board”. He/she would go on to engage a bookbinder to have it bound to match his/her personal library.

A bookbinding of high quality would find admirers in highest ranks. Wealthy aristocrats and gentry were affluent enough to order specially designed books for their libraries. Their books collections were made to impress, and so the books had to be bound befittingly. Many quality bookbinding workshops were located in Westminster, in the vicinity of the tailors. Thus, a gentleman could conveniently order a new coat and a binding for a new book in one afternoon.
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The Castle of Atraños (A 5-Minute Novel)

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In this post:
The storyline of The Castle of Atraños
8 historical facts that bred plot bunnies

Author’s Note

This is my first 5-Minute Novel. Inspiration hit me when I was doing research for my introductory text to the new exhibition about letterpress printing at the Museum of Creativity. I found a most useful book about printing at the university library: Michael Twyman’s “Printing 1770 – 1970, an illustrated history of its developments and uses in England”. It provides helpful information about the printing business in the Regency period and new techniques. While I read it, plot bunnies started hopping all around me. Read here the story they carried with them, and find out which historical facts inspired them.

A Writer of a Gothic Novel

It is the City of London in June of the year 1808. The Honourable Thomas Morrington is the second son of a squire. He is 20 years old and fond of novels and writing. It is his dream to write a great gothic novel and become as famous as Ann Radcliffe.

Some time ago, Thomas finished writing his novel “The Castle of Atraños”, an eerie tale about an alchemist practising magic in the dungeons of his castle, which his perched above the village of Atraños in the Spanish Pyrenees. Mysterious ingredients are required for the magic, including the locks of blond virgins. A lady in distress has to be rescued by the hero of Thomas’s novel, whose looks bear a striking resemblance with Thomas’s, but owns a great fortune (whereas Thomas’ allowance is meagre). Continue reading →

Inspired by History: The 5-Minute Novel

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Regency Explorer starts a new series of posts combining entertainment and facts about the Regency: the 5-Minute Novel.

When researching history, you come across historical facts that turn into plot bunnies just by themselves. A plot bunny is an idea for a scene or a story. So you read something about history and immediately get an idea for using it in a story. You think some more about it and see a whole novel developing.

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What Would Have Been Your Role at the Congress of Vienna 1814/1815?

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Vienna, 1814. 271,000 people live in the capital of the Austrian Empire. The city is going to host one of the major political events of the early 19th century: The Congress of Vienna. The heads of the five reigning dynasties, representatives from 216 noble families and their entourage travel to Vienna. 16.000 visitors are already arriving in September. More are to follow: plenipotentiaries, ministers, noblemen, servants, musicians, artists, merchants, fortune-hunters and card sharps.

Have a glimpse behind the scenes

Organising the Congress is a huge task. Regency Explorer takes you behind the scenes as either the Head of the Police Ministry or the Master of Ceremonies and tells you more about the history of the Congress and the tasks that had to be fulfilled.

First, find out in which role you would have fitted best at the Congress by answering the three questions below. Count your points to get a proper result, and then read on to learn more about the challenges the real historical persons of Baron Hager, Head of the Police Ministry, and Count Trauttmansdorff, Master of Ceremonies, had to face.

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Writer’s Travel Guide: Anna-Maria Hunt and the Rescue of Lanhydrock House

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In this post:

Lanhydrock House is located 3 miles from Bodmin, Cornwall. Today, the house is presented mainly on the basis of the events and owners of the Victorian age. But Lanhydrock House is well rooted in the Regency period and can tell you the story of Anna-Maria Hunt (1771-1861) and her arduous inheritance.

An Arduous Inheritance

Anna-Maria had always been considered the heir of Lanhydrock House, at that time owned by her uncle, George Hunt. In the eyes of the fine society, she was a lucky heiress, the aim of every fortune-hunter. But when her uncle died in 1798, she was confronted with a tricky testament and the strange humour of Uncle George:  He left her Lanhydrock, but also the shocking amount of £68,000 (£2.2m in today’s money) in debts. Uncle George’s money, his shares in mines, arrears from tin, copper and timber dues and even the furniture of Lanhydrock went to some distant cousins. Anna-Maria found herself with £100 with which to run the estate and only three people in service living in Lanhydrock: an aged housekeeper, her daughter and the gardener. Continue reading →

Napoleon’s Taste in Shoes and other Delightful Trivia

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Truely imperial luxury: stairs leading up to Napoleon's bed

Truly imperial luxury: stairs leading up to Napoleon’s bed

Napoleon – hero and ogre in one person. I travelled to France this spring to learn more about one of the most famed and famous men in history. I found many treasures and many quirks. Watch my short photo-film “Napoleon – Treasures at Fontainebleau Palace” to learn

  • was Napoleon shortsighted?
  • what was his taste in shoes?
  • did he take snuff?

and to enjoy the beautiful objects.

Click here to go to the video.

People and Places of the Regency – A Writer’s Travel Guide

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Dear Regency Enthusiast

IMG_1376The most entertaining way of doing research for your novel is by travelling. In many towns and historic houses you can still find traces of the Regency and its famous or infamous people. Visiting the right places is almost as good as travelling back in time to the Regency era. I went to many such places in the past years, and to give you an idea of what’s waiting for you, I have written a series of articles about the places, the related people and the history. Continue reading →

Adventures for Regency Enthusiasts: Handling a Bird of Prey

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In my post “Falconry in the Romantic Age”, I described that falconry was still practiced in the Regency period by gentlemen and ladies alike. Just as scriptwriter Andrew Davies, who used falconry in the movie adaptation of “Sense and Sensibility” to characterize Colonel Brandon, you might want to include falconry in your novel. You could create a thrilling hunting scene or have your heroine impress your hero with her falconry skills.

In the Romantic Age, Falconry was called hawking. To get an idea of how a character of a Regency novel would experience hawking, I took a discovery course in this noble sport myself when I went to England last year. I had pre-booked a half-day experience at The Birds of Prey & Conservation Centre at Sion Hill Hall, near Thirsk, Yorkshire. There are of course many other falconry centers in the UK, and also some country hotels that have similar offers.

A Falconry Experience

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