A Regency Era Timeline 1801 in progress
Timeline
Each time I start a year, I have already compiled a list, months ago with about 6000 entered of what happened from 1788 to 1837. My first step now (It took several trials to get this down to a science) is to cut out the specific year I will work on and paste it into its own spreadsheet to work with. When I worked on the entire spreadsheet, sometimes inserting a line, with all the graphics I had begun to place, took a long time. Working on each year alone, is a lot faster.
With the year separated out, I now turn to my book sources,
The Timetables of History by Grun and Stein
Chronology of CULTURE by Paxton and Fairfield
What Happened When by Carruth.
, History of the World. A beautiful Dorling Kindersley book.
I now and diligently look through each of these to find entries that I did not come across on the internet, and other printed lists. It is possible that there are places that have more listings for each year. I have not found them. And when you go to the Timelines at the Regency Assembly Press page, there you will see all the graphical references as well. Something that I did not find anywhere else.
Here is the start of 1801:
Year
Month Day
Event
1801
Jan 1
Giuseppi Piazzi (d.1826), Italian astronomer, discovered an asteroid orbiting between Mars and Jupiter. He believed it to be a planet and named it Ceres (goddess of the harvest).
1801
Jan 11
Domenico Cimarosa (51), Italian composer (Matrimonio segreto), died.
1801
Jan 20
US Secretary of State John Marshall was nominated by President Adams to be chief justice. He was sworn in on Feb. 4, 1801. Marshall effectively created the legal framework within which free markets in goods and services could establish themselves.
1801
Jan 28
Francis Barber (ca. 1735 – 1801), the Jamaican manservant of Samuel Johnson (1752-1784), died at the Staffordshire General Infirmary.
1801
Jan
Toussaint Louverture, ignoring the commands of Napoleon Bonaparte, overran Spanish Santo Domingo, where slavery persisted.
1801
January
January: Emma Hamilton gives birth to the illegitimate daughter of Lord Nelson.
1801
January
January: the Act of Union with Ireland creates the United Kingdom.
1801
Feb 4
John Marshall was sworn in as chief justice of the United States.
1801
Feb 7
John Rylands, merchant, philanthropist, was born in England.
1801
Feb 17
The House of Representatives broke an electoral tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr, electing Jefferson president. Burr became vice president. When George Washington announced that he would retire from office, he set the stage for the nation’s first two-party presidential campaign.
1801
Feb 17
Thomas Jefferson won the White House vowing to get rid of all federal taxes. He was supported by a new coalition of anti-Federalists that was the ancestor of the Democratic Party. In 2003 Jules Witcover authored “Party of the People: A History of the Democrats.”
1801
Feb 21
John Henry Newman, was born. He was the Protestant vicar who converted to Catholicism and became a Roman Catholic Cardinal. He authored “Dream of Gerontius.”
1801
Feb 27
The District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.
1801
Feb 28
Motiejus Valancius, Lithuanian educator, historian, writer and bishop, was born in Nasrenai in the Kretinga region. He died May 29, 1875, in Kaunas. His portrait is on the 2-litas note.
1801
February
February: The government of William Pitt collapses over the issue of Catholic emancipation. Pitt had made veiled promises of emancipation in order to secure the Act of Union, but George III would not support it, and Pitt resigned.
1801
February
February: The Treaty of Lunéville, between France and the Holy Roman Empire, is signed, giving France control up to the Rhine and the French client republics in Italy and the Netherlands. Britian is now the sole nation fighting against France.
1801
14-Mar
Prime Minister of Great Britain: Henry Addington, 1st Viscount Sidmouth
1801
Mar 3
1st US Jewish Governor, David Emanuel, took office in Georgia.
1801
Mar 4
Thomas Jefferson became the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C. (1801-1809). James Madison became secretary of state. In his inaugural address Jefferson said: “Though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will, to be rightful, must be reasonable; the minority possesses their equal right, which equal laws must protect, and to violate would be oppression.”
1801
Mar 10
Britain conducted its first census in order to find out how many men were available for conscription.
1801
Mar 11
Paul I (46), Czar of Russia (1796-1801), was strangled in his bedroom in St. Petersburg ending 4 years of insane rule. His son Alexander I Pavlovich (23) succeeded him.
1801
Mar 14
Christian Friedrich Penzel (63), composer, died.
1801
Mar 21
Andrea Lucchesi (59), composer, died.
1801
Mar 24
Aleksandr P. Romanov became emperor of Russia.
1801
Mar 25
Anthony Ziesenis (69), architect, sculptor (Camper), died.
1801
March
March: England conducts its first census.
1801
March
March: Henry Addington becomes Prime Minister.
1801
March
March: The London Stock Exchange is founded.
1801
March
March: Thomas Jefferson becomes the third President of the United States.
1801
March
March: Tsar Paul I of Russia is assassinated. He is succedded by Tsar Alexander I.
1801
Apr 2
The British navy defeated the Danish at the Battle of Copenhagen.
1801
Apr 8
Soldiers rioted in Bucharest and killed 128 Jews.
1801
Apr 11
Johann von Schiller’s “Die Jungfrau von Orleans (The Maid of Orleans),” premieres in Leipzig.
1801
Apr 12
Josef Franz Karl Lanner, Austrian composer, violist, was born.
1801
Apr 21
Saudi Arabs led Sunni raids into Karbala, Iraq, killing about 5,000 people.
1801
Apr 24
The 1st performance of Joseph Haydn’s oratorio “Die Jahreszeiten (The Seasons).”
1801
Apr 28
Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the seventh Earl of Shaftesbury and a leading social reformer of the Victorian Age, was born in England. Shaftesbury labored to establish schools, to abolish the use of small children as chimney sweeps, and to wipe out child prostitution. He was a vocal opponent of slavery but had little respect for the United States’ President Abraham Lincoln and thought the South should be permitted to secede from the Union.
1801
April
April: At the Battle of Copenhagen, Lord Nelson deals a death blow to the League of Armed Neutrality (Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and Prussia) with his destruction of the Danish fleet. When he returns to England in June, he is elevated to a viscount.
1801
April
April: The U.S. Library of Congress is founded.
1801
May 6
British Lt. Thomas Cochrane, commander of the 14-gun sloop HMS Speedy, engaged and captured the 32-gun Spanish frigate El Gamo. The climactic battle in Patrick O’Brian’s novel “Master and Commander” is based on the Speedy’s fight with El Gamo. Cochrane was later elected to Parliament, pointed out corruption and was arrested on trumped up charges. After that he served as the first commander of Chile’s navy, then Brazil’s navy and the Greek navy before returning to England. In 2000 Robert Harvey authored “Cochrane: The Life and Exploits of a Fighting Captain.”
1801
May 14
The Pasha of Tripoli symbolically declared war on the US by cutting down the glagstaff in front of the US Consulate, after learning that Pres. Jefferson had refused to pay a renewed tribute of $225,000.
1801
May 16
William Henry Seward was born. He was later Gov. of New York and the American Sec. of State from 1861-1869. Under Pres. Lincoln he purchased Alaska for the United States at 2 cents per acre.
1801
Jun 1
Mormon leader Brigham Young (d.1877), the second president of the Mormon Church, was born in Whitingham, Vt.
1801
Jun 10
The North African state of Tripoli declared war on the United States in a dispute over safe passage of merchant vessels through the Mediterranean. Tripoli declared war on the U.S. for refusing to pay tribute.
1801
Jun 14
Former American Revolutionary War General Benedict Arnold died in London.
1801
Jun 29
Frederic Bastiat (d.1850), French free-market economist, was born in Bayonne. “The state is the great fictitious entity in which everyone seeks to live at the expense of everyone else.”
1801
June
June: Cairo falls to British troops.
1801
Jul 3
Johann Nepomuk Went (56), composer, died.
1801
Jul 5
David G. Farragut (d.1870), American naval hero, was born in Knoxville, Tenn.
1801
Jul 7
A new constitution, drafted by a committee appointed by Toussaint Louverture (L’Ouverture), went into effect and declared the independence of Hispaniola. The constitution made him governor general for life with near absolute powers.
1801
Jul 16
Pope Pius VII and 1st consul Napoleon signed a concord.
1801
Jul 17
The U.S. fleet arrived in Tripoli after Pasha Yusuf Karamanli declared war for being refused tribute.
1801
Aug 1
The American schooner Enterprise captured the Barbary cruiser Tripoli.
1801
Aug 6
A 9-day revival began at the Cane Ridge Presbyterian Church in Bourbon County, Kentucky. Some 20,000 people showed up for the revival called by Rev. Barton W. Stone. 3 evangelistic Christian groups grew out of the meeting.
1801
August
August: The West India Docks open after a two-year design and construction project by William Jessop. Built on the Isle of Dogs, they are the first large wet docks built in the Port of London, and can accommodate 600 ships.
1801
Oct 6
Napoleon Bonaparte imposed a new constitution on Holland.
1801
Oct 23
Gustav Albert Lortzing, composer, was born.
1801
Oct 23
Johann Gottlieb Naumann (60), German composer, died.
1801
October
October: The Treaty of London is signed, a preliminary peace treaty ending the war between France and Britain.
1801
Nov 3
Karl Baedeker (d.1859), German publisher, was born. He became well known for travel guides. His 1835 “Travel on the Rhine” is widely considered as the 1st modern guidebook.
1801
Nov 3
Vincenzo Bellini, Italian opera composer (La Sonnambula, Norma), was born.
1801
Nov 9
Carl Philipp Stamitz, composer, died.
1801
Nov 9
Gail Borden (d.1874), inventor of condensed milk, was born in New York.
1801
Nov 10
Samuel Gridley Howe (d.1876), educator of the blind, was born. He was the husband of Julia Ward Howe, author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
1801
Nov 10
Kentucky banned dueling.
1801
Nov 16
The 1st edition of New York Evening Post was published. Alexander Hamilton helped found the paper and served as editor.
1801
Dec 24
Richard Trevithick, inventor of the steam locomotive, completed a road test of his 1st “traveling engine” in Camborne, England.
1801
December
December: Richard Trevithick builds and demonstrates the first steam-powered road locomotive.
1801
Another Act of Union joins the Kingdom of Ireland to England and Scotland, and the Union Flag sees the addition of the diagonal red cross.
1801
Architects Charles Percier and Pierre-François-Léonard Fontaine publish the Recueil de décorations intérieures, a compilation of drawings of contemporary design that will set the standard for the Empire style of interior decoration that spreads throughout Europe.
1801
Beethoven completes the “Moonlight Sonata” (Piano Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Opus 27).
1801
English horse racing at Goodwood is introduced by Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond.
1801
Lord Elgin, with permission of the Turkish government that controls Athens, begins the removal of sculptured portions of the Parthenon, a task that takes five years to complete.
1801
Maria Edgeworth’s Belinda is publlished.
1801
The first census is held.
1801
The Union Jack becomes the new flag of the United Kingdom in 1801, incorporating the Cross of St. George (England), the Cross of St. Andrew (Scotland), and the Cross of St. Patrick (Ireland).
1801
Robert Trevithick demonstrates a steam locomotive.
1801
Britain is rising as an industrial power. The average life expectancy is around 40. A fictional “better-off” family will be described as drinking water that has a cow taste because it is taken from a brook from which cows drink. Meat is rare. Dental care is poor. The family eats with wooden spoons. Candles are rarely used because they cost too much. The father “visited the city once, but the travel cost him a week’s wages… The children sleep two to a bed on straw mattresses on the floor.”
1801
Britain makes Ireland part of a single British kingdom. Parliament in Dublin is abolished. The Anglican Church is to be recognized as the official church in Ireland. No Catholics are to be allowed to hold public office.
1801
Napoleon of France has defeated Austria. In the treaty of Lunéville, Austria renounces claims to the Holy Roman Empire.
1801
Rembrandt Peale painted his brother’s portrait: “Rubens Peale with Geranium.”
1801
Francois Rene de Chateaubriand (1768-1848), French writer, authored his novel “Atala” following a trip to the US.
1801
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, wrote to Sir Humphrey Davy a letter in which he says: “I seem to sink in upon myself in a ruin, like a Column of Sand, informed and animated only by a Whirl-Blast of the Dessert.” Coleridge had become addicted to opium in this year.
1801
Beethoven composed Op. 25 Serenade for flute, Violin and Viola.
1801
Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, took the 2,500 year-old bas-reliefs from the Parthenon while he served as the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. 17 figures and 56 panels were put on display at the British Museum in 1816. Around 1939 the marbles were subjected to a botched scouring operation that damaged 40% of the collection. Elgin had hired Giovanni Lusieri, an Italian artist from the court of the King of Naples, to oversee the Parthenon project.
1801
Thomas Jefferson began a set of proper rules for the Senate when he wrote: ” No one is to disturb another in his speech by hissing, coughing, spitting, speaking, or whispering to another.”
1801
Elder John Leland, a Baptist minister, helped commission a 1,235-pound wheel of Cheshire cheese as a gift of gratitude for Thomas Jefferson’s steadfast support of religious liberties.
1801
The London Stock Exchange formed. British government debt was the only security traded and this remained so until 1822.
1801
French artist Girodet depicted Ossian, the mythical 3rd century blind Scottish poet, before the story was exposed as a fraud.
1801
In France Napoleon opened the Louvre to the public.
1801
Napoleon’s army in Egypt surrendered to Turkish and English forces. The French civilian toll topped 25 of 150, while the military toll topped 25,000 over the 3-year expedition.
1801
Friedrich von Hardenberg (b.1772), German poet (Novalis), died. He was later known as the father of German romantic nationalism.
1801
In Mexico La Iglesia de Nuestra Senora del Refugio was a Franciscan-style mission church built in the border town of Guerrero Viejo.
1801
South Ossetia was absorbed into the Russian Empire along with Georgia.
1801-1806
Alexandre Dumas (d.1870) covered these years of French history in an 1869 serialized novel printed in the journal, “The Universal Monitor.” In the 1980s Claude Schopp, a retired French lecturer, discovered the epic novel on microfilm. He got it published under the title “Le Chevalier de Sainte-Hermine,” and in 2005 it became a top ten seller.
1801-1835
John Marshall (1755-1835) was chief justice of the US Supreme Court. In 1996 Charles F. Hobson wrote “The Great Chief Justice: John Marshall and the Law” and Jean Edward Smith wrote “John Marshall: Definer of a Nation.”
1801-1848
Thomas Cole, English born US painter. He and Asher B. Durand became fathers of the Hudson River School of painting and founded the National Academy of Design.
1801-1864
Caroline Matilda Stansbury Kirkland, American author: “Like other spurious things, fastidiousness is often inconsistent with itself, the coarsest things are done, and the cruelest things said by the most fastidious people.”
1801-1866
Jane Welsh Carlyle, English writer: “In spite of the honestest efforts to annihilate my ‘I-ity,’ or merge it in what the world doubtless considers my better half (historian Thomas Carlyle), I still find myself a self-subsisting and alas! self-seeking ME.”
1801-1921
A single Parliament legislated all the British Isles. A history of the archipelago was written in 2000 by Norman Davies: “The Isles.”
2 Peas in a Pod Excerpt
I continue with more of Chapter One for the new book to be released in the next few weeks: Two Peas in a Pod 
.
Two brothers that were so close in appearance that only a handful have ever been able to tell them apart. The Earl of Kent, Percival Francis Michael Coldwell is only older than his brother, Peregrine Maxim Frederick Coldwell by 17 minutes. They may have looked as each other, but that masked how they were truthfully quite opposite to one another.
For Percy, his personality was one that he was quite comfortable with and more than happy to let Perry be of a serious nature. At least until he met Veronica Hamilton, the daughter of the Baron Hamilton of Leith. She was only interested in a man who was serious.
Once more, Peregrine is obliged to help his older brother by taking his place, that the Earl may woo the young lady who has captured his heart. That is, until there is one who captures Peregrine’s heart too.
Chapter 1 Continued
Finally out of his camp seat, Percival checked to make sure he had his own coat on. They had once been playing their little trick on the Countess, their mother while growing up and made the mistake of not checking. It had gone terribly wrong after that. Raising the tent flap, he called for a runner, and then sent the man to fetch a doctor. After such a day, though, there were not many available. Peregrine, had to take his poorly bandaged self to a doctor. Where he was turned over to an assistant to have his wound cleaned, sewn, and bandaged.
Percival went to attend his own men, something that Peregrine had been urging, Not only as a brother giving advice, but as a superior officer telling his subordinate what to do. Percival often chose to ignore orders from Peregrine, when he thought that he could. He was the elder, and the Earl.
Peregrine had been reminded of that enough when little things stood between them. Percival had not thought to play that particular card when it was something of importance. Not as yet. Peregrine had no illusions that one day his brother would go too far and make an issue of his titled rank. That would be a bad day for the brothers. They may not have been dissimilar in appearance, but they certainly were most dissimilar in spirit.
Wellington, some few days later had summoned Peregrine to his quarters, once they had moved the force back to somewhere quieter. Battlefields were no place to have encampments. Peregrine knew that Napoleon had once again been thrown from power and was even then having his disposition decided. Probably not back to Elba. He had been apprehended, or had turned himself over. News was not exact in the army. “Recovered well?” Wellington asked. Peregrine had to have the arm in a sling for a week. Colonel Askew was all concerned how he had gotten wounded, when during the fighting he did not remember his second coming under attack.
“Yes, sir. Thank you.”
“Good. I will not mince words with you. I should desire that you refrain from this game of yours in my presence in future. You are more valuable to me then as a commander of a company. Askew goes home and you will be Colonel for the nonce until you return. I have many company commanders and if your brother needed a moment to find such courage, give him a swift kick next time. I do not have enough men to command my battalions and regiments. I will say, though, that when I need something done, I but yell for Coldwell and have more than I needed done, even if I do not know which one you are.” The Duke smiled.
“Sorry sir. I won’t let it happen again,” Peregrine said.
“I expect you will. I will talk to the Earl also, for what you do with others mostly does not concern me. I do not expect we shall have another fight. But it is time to put such actions aside, don’t you think?” Peregrine nodded. He did, but Percival would have been an ill choice to lead the troops that day. Even though he had done well on others.
“Yes sir. I agree. If Napoleon is truly caught, won’t we all be going home soon?”
A forced laugh came out, “I had thought that the fighting was done once before. We shall see. If we do go home, what of you? Are you planning to remain a soldier?”
Peregrine said, “I think I will resign my commission, sir. I have had much of soldiering, and think I should do better elsewhere.”
“Yes, you are the one who did graduate University, and your brother will be happy, no doubt, to sit in Lords and sleep the day away.”
Peregrine smiled in response to the Duke’s observation. Wellington was being funny with a small amount of truth to it. “I expect you are correct, your grace.”
“Out of here. Call me that in London, but not in my camp.” The Duke look irritated but he dismissed Peregrine readily enough. Peregrine really had not thought about the future beyond thanking the creator that the war was over. That it had seemed over. He did not like the chance of dying, nor of killing over much. No, he was not fond of that part of it all. He did like living after the battle. And Peregrine knew that directing where men should be was a skill he had. But it was a skill no man should excel at. Being a very good butcher of other men was not something to be very proud of.
* * *
Percival thought that London hadn’t changed. He had left the army ahead of Peregrine and the carriage was taking him to Coldwell House, the home he now owned on Bedford Square. He would stay in Town for a few weeks before he left for the country and see to the estate.
That was a euphemism for him that meant to do nothing. He had a man of business that saw to such things. He had a factor that ran the estate, and had done so while he was off fighting. The manor in Chartham, Kent Park, was the largest for miles around, and close enough to Canterbury that there was some civilization nearby. One long day of travel from Town, or two should he want to make his way at a leisurely pace. He was going to choose the latter. He looked forward to seeing the estate and doing nothing. A great deal of nothing. He would have to put up with his sister Penelope, but she was so young, that she would not be a bother.
Percival shook his head even as the arrived in Bedford Square. Penelope was supposed to be of an age and leave the schoolroom that season. He was sure Peregrine had mentioned it. Perry had a head for such twaddle. She could not be a woman grown. Percival distinctly remembered her as a spindly little child. It had been four years since they had seen one another, but surely she would not have grown overmuch.
Four years ago he was the same size, in height at least. He might have gained a stone or near two, since then. The fourth Company’s mess never lacked for good victuals. Well sometimes it did, but when well supplied, they had the best of many things that other companies and regiments did not. He was a Grenadier Guard Captain. He had to maintain a certain level of style, also as Earl people expected him to be of a certain status. Percival was sure that even Wellington was envious of the table that he could lay.
Upstart India robber was new come to his wealth and so didn’t appreciate the finer things. He would, but Percival was the ninth Earl and had a certain level of decorum to maintain. Arriving at the house, he found the butler awaiting him. The man and the entire staff, though many were new as the house had only a caretaker while he was on the continent. “Ah, Williams, everything seen to? You were able to come and put all to rights?”
“Yes my lord. We have been able to hire all the staff that Coldwell House requires per your instructions…”
“Hmm, do you still have those. Perry wrote them and I just glanced at them, having so much to do to prepare to leave France when I was told I could leave. I suppose it would be well if I reviewed them fully. Cook…” Percival said quickly. “Did you bring Cook with you. I should like something familiar to eat. Or is Cook at Kent Park? No I am sure I told Perry to instruct you to bring Cook with you.”
Williams said, “Yes my lord. Cook is here and when we received your note that you should arrive today, she began preparing many of your favorites. Master Peregrine also suggested we hire a chef just for London, and that they train with Cook so that they would learn your favorites. I have done so and hope you shall approve of my decisions…”
Percival waved his hand, “Of course, of course I trust you implicitly man. Why you know more about running our houses then I do, now best you let me meet the staff, what, you have them assembled, already?” Percival said as he walked into the foyer and saw them all there. “You see, you know more than I…”
Percival saw a mix of servants that he knew and some who must have been new. Two maids, he had never seen before and they were just the right age for flirtation and sport should he be so inclined. He smiled to himself at that thought. There had been any number of opportunities in Portugal, Spain and France for that sort of activity, but now that he was in London, unless he wanted a barque of frailty, he would have to go to one of the houses, or find some other doxie. There were not going to be any women of quality crossing his path for such fun.
He remembered that he had been very cozy with two women at Kent Park. Briefly he wondered what had become of them since he had gone to fight. Peregrine never would have done something like that with the servants, not that it had stopped the man from pursuing the ladies of quality that had shadowed the army. Peregrine seemed to always have some woman eating out of his hand. But he did not seem to bed those willing to jump in and spend a night relieving their tensions and enjoying one’s company. His younger brother was a fool, all too often. Percival was sure of that.
Percival found that Cook was indeed in true form and after a very sumptuous meal, he was ready to retire. It had lulled him as well as the day’s travel. In any case, he had no reason to stay up late. Nor rise early. He was perfectly able and meant to enjoy the luxury of sleep. Seeing how fetching the maids were, he wondered if he should try and have one join him that night, but his own lassitude prevented that. Besides he had a fortnight, he thought, to pursue that interest.
The following day, rising as late as he thought he could get away with it, Percival composed letters and then took his card to the few places he knew that he must call. Some he sent the boy, damned if he could remember the boys name, but there was always a boy about to run errands. One thing he had to do, was assure himself that Dorset was not in town. Percival did not relish encountering his sister, and as it was not yet the Season, it was highly possible that she was not. Priscilla, especially married and a Marchioness, would be a stickler for the rules of society.
As Dorset had a very nice country estate, she should be there. Percival shivered with the thought of a reunion with his elder sister. She was so pushy. Not at all like sweet Penelope. A young biddable girl, woman, now. Well they would be reunited shortly. Other matters he was concerned with was his taking leave from the regiment, which would be permanent. The army would no longer need so many Captains, and certainly not an Earl who had done his bit. No, Horse Guards was going to see him ride off into the night, never to be heard from again. He would of course sell his commission. Why let that money go to waste. He vaguely wondered, now that the war was over, what kind of man would want to buy it. Would it be a fire eater, or some young lieutenant wanting to move up?
He returned to Coldwell House and found that no letters had been returned yet, and no cards showing that anyone knew he was home. He could not blame any friends from society, though few would be in town. They, as his sister, would all be at the ends of the country, enjoying the last of fall before winter came. Before they flocked back to Town.
Another day thus came to an end, but now he had his rest and could start approximating Town hours. He was able to stay up till the clock struck two, catching a glimpse of one of the maids on the backstairs in her night gown with dressing coat over it. Yes, there was a flirtation there. One that led to the rest of the night being full of just the best type of exercises.
Notes on Editing
Not to say I don’t like editing, but I don’t like editing. It takes a lot of hours and it interrupts what I was thinking of creatively on the new work. It is also the place I am right now. Using Thesauri, (more than one) the OED which if you are a writer, and write in English (any form of English) you do need. Forget anyone’s else’s dictionary like Webster’s. You need an OED.
So I sit with my manuscript printed out and go page by page, line by line and make corrections. Think about words. Decide if I need a new paragraph. I have a few things I keep developing in the process PP-new paragraph, SP-check spelling, TH-check for a different word choice, OED-check to see if the word is historically accurate.
I did this in 9 point type, two columns to a page to give me a book life feel and save on paper. That didn’t work so now I am trying printed out with 1 inch margins, double spacing and 14 or 16 point type so my eyes don’t blur too much. I am getting old and will need bifocals soon I think.
Notes on LendInk, and the free lending of eBooks
I have another friend who found on Facebook that some one in Canada was giving out her books for free. That just does not seem right and with a great deal of effort, Facebook took the site down. Facebook is slow to admit that their system allows the creating of illegal and bogus material of any sort, since of course all you have to do is click a few buttons and type what you want about anything.
I hope all my readers know that I am selling the Brooklyn Bridge for $1400 dollars US if you send it to my Paypal account here…
But seriously, the question of copyright comes up. And then there is LendInk which may have started as a good idea, but it is a corruptible idea surely through no fault of the founder, but of many of the users. The last few days I have seen posts by relatively intelligent writers who have of course, no skin in the game, saying that it is a travesty that LendInk has been put to bed.
That is not so, and I will explain me (Like Ricky in I Love Lucy)
In the days when a book was a book. You may remember it, it was not but a very few years ago. You would pay your $7.99 or whatever and read the book. You had one copy, and then you would have a friend, someone you knew, someone you had talked to more than once for 3.87 seconds. And so you knew what books they might like as well.
Well, you being done with a book, you would offer to lend them a book, or even, should you be rich enough in soul and pocket, give them the book.
I think all authors (and I know I take on a lot when I include all authors) are quite fine with such a model. Then we have LendInk (and other sharing services. I name LendInk since there is a great deal of Internet bits and bytes about it right now), and while the concept may seem alright, I think again most authors have a problem with it. (See I switched things there a little) And that is what LendInk does/did.
They used the idea that we authors had given our okay to lend out the eBooks because, well Amazon made it a condition of offering the book at a reasonable price to readers. So we really had NO CHOICE. Did I say that loud enough for all involved in the controversy. Let me say it again. AMAZON GAVE US NO CHOICE if we were to sell a book to you so that a reader could afford it. Want to sell a book for below $10.00 then you have to allow it to be leant for free.
But then we all believe that you still can lend one of our books that you purchase to your friends. Your friends. People you know for more than 3.87 seconds. People who are really your friends and not those who follow you on Twitter, or friended you meaninglessly on Facebook just to make your little circle bigger.
Quibbling over the definition of friend in the “Social Network” age is meaningless for just as people do know what is good and what is not good, readers will know what a friend is.
So that means that we authors (most of us) encourage you to buy our books and then when you have fallen in love with our wordcraft, and are gushing to your friends and meet up with them, go ahead and lend out the book to your friend. Touch Kindles and transfer the eBook. Giving away a book to someone on a website you never met before so you can get a book from someone else you do not know, is not the lending analogy we agreed too with Amazon.
So an anonymous site where you let people you have never met know that you bought 5 books for your Kindle and thus can now lend them. You can then borrow from people you have never met, 5 books that you do not have to pay for, and that the author who spent hundreds of hours writing will not get paid for. That is the fallacy of LendInk and similar services. It takes the lending to a friend out of lending and does indeed make this as piracy. A reader only has to have 1 book purchased and then they can put that up to lend and borrow again without ever buying another book.
Is that fair? Whatever business you are in, is that fair? Would these bloggers, presumably being paid through advertising on their blogs like it if the advertisers got together and compared notes and said, that since they placed one ad, they now had the right to swap their ad from site A to the bloggers site, with the person who had bought ads on the bloggers site, and then never pay again? Of course not. But the bloggers who are defending the now defunct site don’t care if a writer gets no money and won’t be able to eat. The blogger will get money and be able to eat and eat more since they can get free reading material at pirating sites. LendInk may not have started out that way, but it is easily abused that way.
But lest you think I am heartless and should deny you reading literature, even great literature, for if the free bottom feeders can’t even afford $.99 for a great many books, they can often get books for free each and every day around the net that authors are giving away. But there is Project Gutenberg that had scores of volunteers who typed word by word the original manuscripts of out of copyright MASTERPIECES and CLASSICS. They have so many books available for free, that a newborn living to a hundred would die before finishing that FREE library.
