This month’s roundup features primary sources related to fiber arts and clothing manufacture in the 18th century. From sourcing the materials for fabric dyeing and weaving to the purchase and upkeep of the finished product, textile production and circulation provides a fascinating point of entry to 18th-century studies. These works give a closer look at […]
Did you know that on 18thConnect, you can not only search the local database, but also the NINES (Networked Infrastructure for Nineteenth-Century Electronic Scholarship) and MESA (Medieval Electronic Scholarly Alliance) databases as well? This week’s image, courtesy of the MESA database, comes from the French historical collection Chroniques de France by Saint-Denis in the 13th century. Entitled “Detail of a miniature of […]
This month, we will be collecting objects focused around Halloween and the traditions that surround it. Today’s post focuses on the black cat and how it came to be the Halloween symbol we know today. For further research and exploration, here are some saved searches on Halloween poetry, Halloween-centered literary criticism, and the late 19th […]
Celebrate female friendship this week by investigating the friendship book of Anne Wagner, or the Anne Wagner album, 1795-1834. (Also called the Anne Wagner keepsake album, 1795-1834 and Souvenir D’Amitié.) Searchable in 18thConnect, this friendship book is hosted on the New York Public Library’s Digital Gallery. The album contains missives, watercolors, and collages to and from […]
Inspired by the oncoming summer heat waves, this week’s image is a hand-colored cartoon etching by Isaac Cruikshank (1764-1811), a British printmaker and caricaturist. The above image is of a giant locust eating the remains of “Poor Old England,” as reinforcement locusts (labeled “French Priests”) fly in the background, during the summer of 1795. As seen […]
The History of Green and St. Patrick’s Day by Taylor Phillips St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17th with parades and festivals adorned in green. This color represents the ‘emerald isle’ of Ireland, as well as the famous shamrock that St. Patrick used as a metaphor to teach about the holy trinity. But despite […]
This week’s image is pulled from the New York Public Library and is a portrait of the actress, Frances Abington. Her rise to notoriety and her prominence in the fashion scene thereafter make her story interesting and romaticized. Frances began as a poor flower girl and street singer. She then moved on to work under […]
This week’s image shows how the myth of “sasquatch-like” habitants in the Patagonia region continued to live on during the 18th century in texts like The Habit of the Patagonians. This legend first sprung from Ferdinand Magellan’s accounts of his travels along the coast of South America. It is said that while on his quest […]
Today’s picture comes from the New York Public Library Gallery and features Francis Marion, a military officer who served in the American Revolutionary War. The 18th century image depicted shows Marion jumping out of a second story window. Though the scene seems simply comical, it is actually an account of a historically true event. […]
Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) created this drawing and watercolor picture, “Death in the Dissecting Room,” as well as similar others depicting Death. His illustrations of death accompanied William Comb’s (1742-1823) book of poetry, The English Dance of Death, which was eventually published (with Rowlandson’s pictures) in 1903. This picture was created in 1815 and shows Death violently […]