Julia Herdman's Blog: Julia Herdman Books, page 14
May 16, 2017
A Nice Bit of Blue and White
I drive past the Spode Factory each time I pick up or drop off my daughter at university; so as I have always been a fan of nice bit of porcelain I decided to find out about it. The factory was started by one Josiah Spode in 1761. The enterprising Josiah worked for Thomas Whieldon from […]
May 15, 2017
What the 18th Century Man Wanted
Today wanting marriage is considered a very female desire. From Rom-coms to slimming magazines the ideal is always to get the right man down the aisle. Bachelors are seen as reluctant, fun loving and free and it is hard to imagine a time when marriage represented the summit of a young man’s hopes. Since the introduction […]
May 13, 2017
The Doxy and the Duke
English society expected, even encouraged, men to pay for sex in the 18th century. Prejudice and the law barred women from all but the most menial of jobs so prostitution with all its dangers was a career option worth exploring for some becasue a typical harlot could earn in a month what a tradesman or […]
May 12, 2017
Marriage a la mode
Marital ethics were the topic of much debate in 18th-century Britain. The many marriages of convenience and their attendant unhappiness came in for particular criticism, with a variety of authors taking the view that love was a much sounder basis for marriage than money. Hogarth for one felt the disquiet in British society sufficient to […]
May 11, 2017
Anne of Hanover, successful, accomplished and arrogant
Princess Anne, the Princess Royal was the eldest daughter of George II. She was born into what we would call an extremely dysfunctional family in May 1709. Anne was a remarkable woman in many ways; she is criticised and praised by contemporary chroniclers for her arrogance and her accomplishments both of which she had in […]
May 10, 2017
Mary Moser – Founding Member of London’s Royal Academy
Mary Moser (1744-1819) was “one of the most celebrated women artists of 18th-century Britain,” yet today she’s mostly overlooked. Along with Angelica Kauffmann, Mary Moser was one of only two female founding members of 36 member Royal Academy. It would be more than 115 years until the next woman, Dame Laura Knight, would be invited […]
May 7, 2017
Art on a Plate – The Sèvres Factory
The Sèvres factory founded in the town of Vincennes in 1740 became the preeminent porcelain manufacturer in Europe in the second half of the eighteenth century. Louis XV was an early investor in the fledgling ceramic enterprise and became its sole owner in 1759. However, due to the upheavals of the French Revolution, its financial […]
May 6, 2017
Writers of Influence: Fanny Burney
Throughout her career as a writer, her wit and talent for satirical caricature were widely acknowledged: literary figures such as Dr Samuel Johnson, Edmund Burke, Hester Thrale and David Garrick were among her admirers. Her early novels were read and enjoyed by Jane Austen, whose own title Pride and Prejudice derives from the final pages […]
May 5, 2017
How is the Modern-day Hipster like a Macaroni?
The emergence of the modern day Hipster is the antithesis of the 18th century macaroni but they did have some things in common.The Macaroni was a fashionable fellow who dressed and even spoke in an outlandishly affected manner. The term pejoratively referred to a man who “exceeded the ordinary bounds of fashion” in terms of […]
May 4, 2017
No Exaggerated Praise
Anna Laetitia Barbauld, née Aikin; 20 June 1743 – 9 March 1825 was a prominent English poet, essayist, literary critic, editor, and children’s author. Anna was a “woman of letters” who published in multiple genres. Anna had a successful writing career at a time when female professional writers were rare. She was a noted teacher at […]
