VictorianLondon
@victorianlondon.bsky.social
Lee Jackson, Victorianist, historian, author of 'Dirty Old London' (Yale, 2014), 'Palaces of Pleasure' (Yale, 2019), 'Dickensland' (Yale, 2023) ... new book out soon 'Covent Garden: A People's History' (Yale, 2027)
I’ll be talking about women’s social & urban reform activism in Edinburgh’s late Victorian/Edwardian Old Town for the Vic Soc soon: www.victoriansociety.org.uk/event/autumn... @thecockburn.bsky.social @womenshistscot.bsky.social @oldedinburghclub.bsky.social
Autumn Online Lecture Series 2026 4: Women and the Re-making of Edinburgh’s Old Town in the late Victorian Era - The Victorian Society
This talk explores the way that women of all classes sought to re-make the urban environment in Edinburgh’s Old Town.
victoriansociety.org.uk
most of my research time is now taken up explaining to a cat that it is not lunchtime.
Johnny Eagle, the Tower Hill Escapologist and Strong Man who performed on Tower Hill for many years, photographed by my father in the early 1950s and from my post with more photos at alondoninheritance.com/london-chara...
it warms the cockles of my existential phenomenologist heart that this man sees so clearly what is at stake in this moment.
E.E. Reed@poetryforsupper.bsky.social · last wk.talk about Phenomenology Friday:
one for both @misterslang.bsky.social and any early modern toilet enthusiasts ... I'm assuming 'handle for jaques' means 'handle for a jakes' (i.e. toilet) but what handle are we talking about - for a door, or seat in some sense? and is it an early use of 'handle' hinting at penis? (1656) or not?
One of the painters I’ve written about in my book on obscure British 20thC artists is Brian Hatton, a friend of John Singer Sargent, who was killed in WW1. This portrait from 1908 is of his sisters Ailsa and Marjorie.
coming in March 2027 ... COVENT GARDEN: A People's History Yale UK are taking pre-orders ... yalebooks.co.uk/book/9780300...
Roger Mayne. ‘Photography involves two main distortions, the simplification into black and white and the seizing of an instant in time. It is this mixture of reality and unreality, and the photographer’s power to select, that makes it possible for photography to be an art.’
GROSSBLOCK Plaspi, un jouet de construction de maisons est-allemand des années 1970.
Carl Wilhelmson, Sweden (1866-1928). The Black Cat. Date of artwork 1922. Oil on panel. Dimensions: 42 cm × 31 cm. #art #painting #artist #BlueSkyArt
Get the feeling Jeff isn't really much of a book guy.
looking at the legislation for Thames watermen drafted in 1555. hiding from being conscripted into the navy meant two weeks in prison and a one year rowing ban.
The cat on the left is gorgeous but its "first cat photo" internet fame has been a continuous source of aggravation for me and @fakehistoryhunter.net.
The one on the right is a viable candidate but the actual first photo of a cat has never been conclusively identified. The one on the left has gone viral many, many, many times as being "the first cat photo" but the claim is patently false. www.snopes.com/fact-check/w...
C6H4(CH3)(NO2)@nitrotolueno.bsky.social · 4d agoA question maybe you can know: which is the first known photo of a cat? When you ask Google usually sugests te left gorgeous cat from 1840-1860, but there are other photos like the blurry photo of the right from 1860. Is there any confident data about this important issue?
definitely a very real and not fake request from, erm, Denis Bovell who - checks notes - hosts 'Dub on Air', a show devoted to all things reggae.
Henry VIII passed an act formally laying down the fares for watermen on the Thames in 1514. So I'm thinking he was the first regulator of fares for London transoport - anyone know any different? Sadly, though, no oyster cards.
FASHION LIFE La robe Mondrian d’Yves Saint Laurent (1965) est l’une des créations les plus emblématiques de l’histoire de la mode. Inspirée des compositions abstraites du peintre néerlandais Piet Mondrian, elle reprend ses célèbres aplats de couleurs primaires (rouge, bleu, jaune)
The magnificent alabaster tomb of William Phelip, 6th Baron Bardolph (d.1441) & Joan, Lady Bardolph (d.1447) at St Mary, Dennington, Suffolk. Sir William fought with Henry V at Agincourt. In 1438 the couple obtained a royal licence for a chantry at Dennington.
one for the 'what frightened you as a child' thread ...
Scrolling around for gloves, I stumbled on a chimera. Meet THE GLUFF. Yours for £154.
not sure I knew that old London Bridge had a drawbridge, just slightly, erm, smaller than the current arrangement
for someone who isn't very used to older London, something quite magical about this painting of Westminster in the 1600s collections.britishart.yale.edu/catalog/tms:... ... you can see why the Victorians went all in for everything ye olde
Dominique Cabrelli Little girls reacting to a wedding kiss, 2011
"Unidentified buildings, possibly movie set, associated with Famous Players-Lasky." Arnold Genthe, c.1920
