Victorian Books

This book is the unedited diary of socialite Sarah Apthorpe Cunningham Clinch. Everything she wrote is presented as-is, with no changes made by the editor (spelling errors and all!).

Because of this, the reader gets an authentic sense of life in Canada (seen through the eyes of a "Yankee", no less) during the 19th century. Photographs, footnotes, and other similar extras unobtrusively add to the allure of this beautiful book. Coloured pages and illustrations abound.

Wonderful to read slowly over a few weeks.

Nothing says Victorian more than Christmas, and this excellent book by Simon Callow presents a Victorian Christmas as seen through the eyes of the most popular of the Victorian era authors. Charles Dickens unintentionally reinvented the way we celebrate that glorious holiday by one short novel he wrote in 1843 called 'A Christmas Carol.' At the time of writing, the Christmas celebrations he described in his little book were virtually non-existant, but it was Mr. Dickens' descriptions of the way he felt that Christmas should be celebrated that took England, then America, by storm. The party at Fezziwig's, nephew Fred's gathering of friends and family, the Cratchit's meager only in sight celebration. All in descriptive detail. And it's because of Dickens' view on the matter that we celebrate the holiday the way we do now.
Mr. Callow's book gives the reader a full view of an early Victorian Christmas celebration in a number of ways. First and foremost, the complete as it was written novel of 'A Christmas Carol' is here so one can read how it all began. Callow's book goes on to explain the holiday feasts that the celebrants partook in as the Christmas Season grew in popularity, as well as the many traditions - old and new - that became popular. One very old tradition that is still carried on today is wassailing - that is, the singing of Christmas Carols for money or hot chocolate, although in days of old, the waites sang for money or a fruity rum-laced drink!
There are plenty of original 19th century drawings and paintings throughout to give the book the look of Dickens' time.
As this book rightfully states, the only images of Christmas that owe nothing to Dickens are those of the Nativity and of Father Christmas/Santa Claus. Well...ok...the Christmas Tree was introduced to the English through Prince Albert.
I love the Christmas Season and, besides the original Biblical account of the birth of Christ, 'A Christmas Carol' in its many movie versions as well as, of course, the original Dickens writing, is the epitome of the spirit of the holiday. This book by Simon Callow will help anyone who desires to have a Dickens Christmas celebration of there own, either through thoughts while reading it or, if you would like to take it a step further, by having your own Victorian/Dickens Christmas party.
This book by Simon Callow, by the way, is well worth your hard earned dollar.

Maurois writes in a lovely, almost poetic, style. He is able to present the flow of Disraeli's life very clearly and prettily. He picks lines from letters or snippets of conversation that are evocative, so the book presents Disraeli's life in a warm, non-pedantic manner. It may be a bit old fashioned, but it is very easy to read and rich in word pictures. He presents the historic debates and decisions of Parliament and does not get bogged down in background information.

The first book 'The Secrets of Cheatem Manor' is a Victorian coming of age book. A young Edward is packed off to Cheatem manor in the English countryside after his father dies and the uncle who has inherited the estate is too busy to concern himself in the upbriging of the young lad. Instead he is sent to Cheatem to be educated by the uncles' half sister, Lady Amanda, and her two young wards Catherin and Prudence......

An education he certainly does get from the three ladies who use sex as a weapon to teach Edward that although he may be bood kin of the owner he certainly makes a wonderfull boy toy to be punished .... repeatedly .... When uncle finally shows
he then takes over the education process and certainly more than turn the tables on our happy little playfull group of hedonists ...

This book was published as a seperate novel with the same title ......

In the second book 'The Insatiable Mistress of Rosedale', also published as a seperate novel and I really hated it the first time I read it, but on re-reading this volume I have no idea why I didn't like it the first reading ... it's a great erotica book .....

In this volume we have Edward married to Penelope, living of course in that ubiquitous English countryside mansion. Edward invites a young James to join him, his wife and a young friend ,of his wife, Fiona for a few days stay with the three of them. Hey, who can say no to that kind of offer ..... To say that James got an eyefull durimng the few days he stayed with Edward and Penny would be a gross understatement ....

The third book 'To The Manor Bound' we leave Edward and his pursuit of the greatest of hedonistic pleasures and meet Phillipa and her new husband Nigel as they go to visit Lady Maude and Lord Max for a few days at .. YOU GUESSED IT ...
that countryside English manor .. WOW what I wouldn't give to have spend at least ONE miserable weekend of my life with these interesting folk ... anyway ...

Lady Maude and Max are pretty free wheeling people and decide to help poor Nigel train his very very uptight wife about the ins and outs, forgive the OBVIOUS pun, of married life and devotion a wife should give her husband .. Super educational program I might add..

Don Winslow is a master Victorian erotica author and I recommend this book more highly than ever ......yummmmmmie .....

Evangelicalism had rigorous logic and in early Victorian times produced a sort of mind-set for leaders. Ameliorating the circumstances of workers in manufactures and other kinds of employment was an outgrowth of evangelical faith, particularly in the sense that its attributes, duty and renunciation, comprised a woman's ethic. Also, evangelicalism secularized was a strong binding force. The French wars made England insular. England was spared the revolutionary tumult and civil and foreign wars undermining the economic circumstances of the continental countries and of the United States.

Patriotism in early Victorain times was a pride in human capacity. The utilitarians were influential. No one could escape them. The early Victorians had exuberance and facility. Mr. Gladstone formed his style by reading sermons aloud. The sermon was the standard vehicle of serious truth. There was paradox. Practical ideals were at odds with religion. Religious belief might find itself in opposition to intelligence.

Evangelicalism was met by Tractarianism, the Oxford Movement, and the teachings of Arnold, the school master. People responded to the currents of the age and the result was good government and the improved lives of the masses by the 1850's. There were rising wages, more food, and more cleanliness. The basis of mid-Victorian prosperity was a balance of land and industry. Representative institutions and the family dominated Victorian England.

The books presents a marvelous mixture of ideas and politics. Representative personalities are woven into the narrative by the author in this brisk and spritely rendering of the Victorian Age.

"Dream Spells" is illustrated in a folk-artsy style and contains 6 indexed spells which were gleaned from the journals of the author's great-grandmother, a Victorian "wisewoman", as well as dream lore from many other cultures.

Ms. Nahmad has included entries for "Precious Stones which Evoke Dreams", "Phases of the Moon for Dreaming", "Dream Days and Hours", "Saints, Gods and Magical Beings which bring Dreams and Visions", as well as directions for creating a hand bound-dream journal.

I was delighted to receive this book as a birthday gift, and I highly recommend it!

This book is divided in three with each of the three authors taking their own section. Throught there are illustrations of the times. Particularly interesting are some of the goods available at the time.

The first is "The Growth of Victorian Dublin" where Mary Daly takes a look a how Dublin grew and the ways it was influenced by fashion and economics. It looks at the naming of streets and how various parts were incorporated into Dublin Corporation (now Dublin City Council) over the years. This was a boom time for the city and a time of great change. A time when industry crept in and when things like electricity and trains made life much different from the previous centuries.

The Second part is "How Victorian families lived" by Mona Hearn which details the ways in which the Victorians of Dublin lived, worked and played, with an emphasis on the domestic life of the Victorian. This would be of great use to novelists looking for details of this sort.

The last part is "Looking after a Victorian house" by Peter Pearson. This goes into detail on restoration of Victorian houses and how you would go about being sympathetic to the original without sacraficing comfort. This is possibly the most dated part while still having a good core. The book was written 10 years ago and so some techniques would have changed in the interim.

The appendix on "Exploring the history of your own house and street" has some very useful resources as does the Appendix on "Select list of specialists in conserving and repairing Victorian houses" though this is possibly the most inaccurate part of the book as in the years since it's publication many of these companies may no longer exist or be under another company, though they do state where they compiled the information and these may be good points to return to if the resources are exhausted during checking.

The book is crowned by a select bibliography and a helpful index.

Altogether a useful book if you're looking at life and living in Victorian Dublin.

When I visit a strange town, there's nothing I like better than to wander up and down the streets, checking out the stores and the housing styles. If I happen on a district of Victorians, you can't pry me out with gunpowder--which is why San Francisco is one of my favorite cities. Owning this book is like being able to take a "house walk" any time you care to--even if it's 10 PM and blizzarding. Naversen's gorgeous full-color photographs, each arranged in a double-spread with some history about the house, take us from the Wedding Cake House (an 1826 Federal house in Kennebuk, ME, that was Victorianized in the mid-'50's) and Lyndhurst, a Gothic stonework castle begun in Tarrytown, NY, in 1838, to the Beaux-Arts Burrage Mansion, built in Boston's Back Bay 61 years later. Along the way he touches on all the major styles of Victorian domestic architecture, and presents houses large and small, well-known and obscure, masonry and frame, stark white and joyous Painted Lady. (His photos of the Lesley-Travers Mansion in New Castle, DE, and the Edward King House in Newport, RI, were taken around sunset and make the buildings appear to have dipped in blood, while the 1861 Moses Bulkeley House of Southport, CT, dozes amid lush greenery, the gorgeously and emphatically Pink House of Wellsville, NY, stands like a shout against an overcast sky and foliage just beginning to turn, and the Philadelphia house called Burholme is glorious in bisque against an unbelievably blue sky.) If you love to stare at the best examples of Victorian housing, this book and its companion are for you--but you may want to use a napkin to protect the pages!

Ever wonder what it might have been like to live amongst New York City's upper-class of society, oh say, about a century ago? Well then, you're in luck, because this book, with its very nice pictures and well-written copy, is capable of providing just such a trip back in time!

This excellent bibliography is a must for any Elizabeth Robins scholar or reader. Author Sue Thomas has meticulously listed every Robins-authored works in several convenient categories and documented hundreds of print reviews of her books. She has examined archival material on three continents. And for any work she has not personally examined, she provides a cross listing to the source of her information by item number. Both those somewhat familiar with Robins' careers as actress and writer and those who need a thumbnail introduction to Robins and her works will benefit from the biographical sketch. Thomas gives a succinct overview of each of ER's major novels and provides a rationale for why her reputation went into decline in the 1920s, when modernist trends made her dated. She hints at forthcoming biographies, now in print, that have restored the writer's status as an early twentieth-century feminist, both in her fiction and with her social activism. (Robins was the first Hedda Gabler on the London stage. Her women's suffrage play, Votes for Women, captures the mood of the early 1907 political campaign in Britain.) The volume is a valuable addition to every woman's library.