Woman with a Pekinese, 1908.
Daguerrotype of a lapdog (above) and greeting card (below) from AntiquePooch.com
Caption: "Wee Willie Winkie."
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Popular Victorian Lapdogs
By the 1800s, lapdogs had long been synonymous with ladies of fashion. Victorian women favored short-hair "toy" breeds because they could be taken everywhere and didn't shed on furniture or clothing. According to Victoriana.com, popular dogs of the time were the Yorkshire terrier, Skye terrier, Schipperke, Maltese, King Charles Cavalier, Blenheim spaniel, Pug, and Greyhound toy. Lapdogs were treated as almost an extension of a ladies clothing and were treated as a well-maintained accessory. The Victorian lapdog's diet was strict and extravagant and its coat groomed several times a day. Devoted owners even had pictures taken of them, which was quite an expense at the time. I've posted a few of my favorites below. Enjoy!
Woman with a Pekinese, 1908.
Daguerrotype of a lapdog (above) and greeting card (below) from AntiquePooch.com
Caption: "Wee Willie Winkie."
Woman with a Pekinese, 1908.
Daguerrotype of a lapdog (above) and greeting card (below) from AntiquePooch.com
Caption: "Wee Willie Winkie."
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Vita Sackville-West
As I said in my first post, in addition to the Victorian time period, I am also interested in the Edwardian era. While Vita Sackville-West was born at the end of the 1800s and perhaps does not qualify as Edwardian, she did write a novel called The Edwardians and her life is rather fascinating, so I can't help but include her here.
Philip de Laszlo portrait painted in 1910.
I first came across Vita while doing a little research on Virginia Woolf. Supposedly, the two were lovers...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Victoria Mary Sackville-West was born in 1892 to Baron Sackville of Kent. While attending Woolf's school, Vita met her first love, Rosemund Grosvenor, at the age of seven. Their relationship ended when Vita was married to politician and author Harold Nicolson in 1913.
Harold and Vita in old age.
That is not to say that, after her marriage, she didn't continue to have affairs with women; Harold was bisexual as well, and the two had an open marriage which lasted until Vita's death in 1962. Her affair with novelist Violet Trefusis was perhaps the longest and most serious. Though both women were married, they would frequently escape to France, where Vita, dressed in men's clothing, would pretend to be a young man. She had other affairs with prominent women of the time, but none so famous as Virginia Woolf. According to Vita's son Nigel, Woolf's novel Orlando (assumedly addressed to his mother) is "the longest and most charming love-letter in literature."
Vita had two children: Nigel, who would become a writer and politician like his father, and Benedict, an art historian. After returning to England from Spain in the 1930s, the family acquired Sissinghurst Castle, where Vita immersed herself in gardening. The gardens at Sissinghurst are still renowned as being one of the most beautiful in England.
Modern day gardens of Sissinghurst in Kent.
Most importantly, Vita Sackville-West was a writer. She published 17 novels, 6 nonfiction books (including a biography on Joan of Arc), and 11 volumes of poetry. Her most famous novels are The Edwardians and All Passion Spent, which was made into a film by the BBC in 1986. Vita won the Hawthorne Prize for her poem The Land in 1927 and again in 1933 for her Collected Poems. She is currently the only writer to have ever won the award twice.
A Selection of Sackville-West's Poems
Philip de Laszlo portrait painted in 1910.
I first came across Vita while doing a little research on Virginia Woolf. Supposedly, the two were lovers...but I'm getting ahead of myself. Victoria Mary Sackville-West was born in 1892 to Baron Sackville of Kent. While attending Woolf's school, Vita met her first love, Rosemund Grosvenor, at the age of seven. Their relationship ended when Vita was married to politician and author Harold Nicolson in 1913.
Harold and Vita in old age.
That is not to say that, after her marriage, she didn't continue to have affairs with women; Harold was bisexual as well, and the two had an open marriage which lasted until Vita's death in 1962. Her affair with novelist Violet Trefusis was perhaps the longest and most serious. Though both women were married, they would frequently escape to France, where Vita, dressed in men's clothing, would pretend to be a young man. She had other affairs with prominent women of the time, but none so famous as Virginia Woolf. According to Vita's son Nigel, Woolf's novel Orlando (assumedly addressed to his mother) is "the longest and most charming love-letter in literature."
Vita had two children: Nigel, who would become a writer and politician like his father, and Benedict, an art historian. After returning to England from Spain in the 1930s, the family acquired Sissinghurst Castle, where Vita immersed herself in gardening. The gardens at Sissinghurst are still renowned as being one of the most beautiful in England.
Modern day gardens of Sissinghurst in Kent.
Most importantly, Vita Sackville-West was a writer. She published 17 novels, 6 nonfiction books (including a biography on Joan of Arc), and 11 volumes of poetry. Her most famous novels are The Edwardians and All Passion Spent, which was made into a film by the BBC in 1986. Vita won the Hawthorne Prize for her poem The Land in 1927 and again in 1933 for her Collected Poems. She is currently the only writer to have ever won the award twice.
A Selection of Sackville-West's Poems
Saturday, November 6, 2010
The Astor House
Next semester I'm taking a class on William James (1842-1910), psychologist/ philosopher/ doctor and brother of writer Henry James. While googling him, I learned William James was born at the Astor House, or Astor Hotel, in New York City. Funded by John Jacob Astor, the Astor House was built on accumulated lots surrounding his former home. While this post is dedicated to the hotel, I ran across some photographs of John Jacob Astor's own home I just have to share...
From a book on Fifth Avenue, excerpted here:
From an entry on Astor, a hero of the RMS Titanic, on Encyclopedia Titanica:
Anyway, the hotel was located on Broadway and opened in 1836. The Astor House was designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style, complete with huge doric columns, gas lights, a cast-iron rotunda, 6 stories, and over 300 rooms. The Astor House became the most fashionable place to eat lunch for wealthy gentlemen. However, after inspiring competitors, it was later regarded as old-fashioned and middle class. In 1913, the south section of the Astor House was torn down to make way for the subway, and the rest of the hotel was demolished in 1926. Still, the Astor House remains a legend in literature and New York memorabilia.
1905: St. Paul's Chapel, The Astor House, and the U.S. Post Office.
A stereoscope view of the Astor House.
In addition to William James, other famous people associated with the Astor House are Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (who honeymooned there), Charles Evans Hughes, Fanny Kemble, Abraham Lincoln, and Confederate Admiral Rapheal Semmes.
From a book on Fifth Avenue, excerpted here:
From an entry on Astor, a hero of the RMS Titanic, on Encyclopedia Titanica:
Anyway, the hotel was located on Broadway and opened in 1836. The Astor House was designed by Isaiah Rogers in the Greek Revival style, complete with huge doric columns, gas lights, a cast-iron rotunda, 6 stories, and over 300 rooms. The Astor House became the most fashionable place to eat lunch for wealthy gentlemen. However, after inspiring competitors, it was later regarded as old-fashioned and middle class. In 1913, the south section of the Astor House was torn down to make way for the subway, and the rest of the hotel was demolished in 1926. Still, the Astor House remains a legend in literature and New York memorabilia.
1905: St. Paul's Chapel, The Astor House, and the U.S. Post Office.
A stereoscope view of the Astor House.
In addition to William James, other famous people associated with the Astor House are Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (who honeymooned there), Charles Evans Hughes, Fanny Kemble, Abraham Lincoln, and Confederate Admiral Rapheal Semmes.
Godey's Lady's Book
I became familiar with this magazine last year while researching American female authors around the turn of the 20th century. Godey's Lady's Book was a popular monthly magazine that covered women's interests and included clothing patterns, gossip, engravings, and short stories/poetry (often written by women). There were, however, no political or controversial pieces. Published by Louis A. Godey in Philadelphia, the magazine ran from 1830 to 1878. Godey began copyrighting each issue to dissuade piracy in 1845, this being the first instance of magazine copyright in America. Noted Godey contributors are: Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Washington irving, and (a favorite author of mine) Frances Hodgson Burnett. (Burnett's first short story "Hearts and Diamonds" was published in an 1868 issue of Godey's.)
Recently, I browsed eBay for Godey's and came upon an issue from 1889 for only $20. Naturally, I bought it. Here are some pictures:
"A magazine devoted to the interests of the family... $2 a year."
Hand-colored engravings of popular millinery.
Three-story house plan.
A fold-out tea cozy pattern.
Prizes offered to readers who attract more subscribers: an organ (?), a sewing machine, dress material, and a time-piece.
The pages are brittle but the colors are surprisingly brilliant for a magazine over 120 years old!
If you're interested in reading some of the material from Godey's, I've found a few websites on Google that have entire issues, like this one. Also, if you're a member of a library (especially a university), you may be able to view actual copies or electronic versions.
Recently, I browsed eBay for Godey's and came upon an issue from 1889 for only $20. Naturally, I bought it. Here are some pictures:
"A magazine devoted to the interests of the family... $2 a year."
Hand-colored engravings of popular millinery.
Three-story house plan.
A fold-out tea cozy pattern.
Prizes offered to readers who attract more subscribers: an organ (?), a sewing machine, dress material, and a time-piece.
The pages are brittle but the colors are surprisingly brilliant for a magazine over 120 years old!
If you're interested in reading some of the material from Godey's, I've found a few websites on Google that have entire issues, like this one. Also, if you're a member of a library (especially a university), you may be able to view actual copies or electronic versions.
Paris Flat Unopened For 70 Years
I stumbled across this story on The Paris Apartment blog (full story here):
An apartment that had been unopened for over 70 years was recently discovered in Paris. The owner had left France before WII and never returned. "Entering the untouched, cobweb-filled flat in Paris’ 9th arrondissement, one expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900." In the apartment was a lost Boldini portrait of the owner's grandmother, Marthe de Florian, an actress. The painting sold for $2.1 million.
An apartment that had been unopened for over 70 years was recently discovered in Paris. The owner had left France before WII and never returned. "Entering the untouched, cobweb-filled flat in Paris’ 9th arrondissement, one expert said it was like stumbling into the castle of Sleeping Beauty, where time had stood still since 1900." In the apartment was a lost Boldini portrait of the owner's grandmother, Marthe de Florian, an actress. The painting sold for $2.1 million.
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