Linen drapers, such as
Harding and Howell in Pall Mall, were extremely important in an era when clothes were sewn by hand. In 1811, Jane Austen described a shopping expedition she made to a London establishment that sold handkerchiefs, gauzes, nets, veils, trims, and cloth:
We set off immediately after breakfast and must have reached Grafton House by 1/2 past 11 -, but when we entered the Shop, the whole counter was thronged & we waited a full half an hour before we c'd be attended to. When we were served however, I was very well satisfied with my purchases.A century before Jane's shopping expedition, London shopkeepers began to spruce up their shop fronts and displays to attract customers. Large bow-windows, such as the silk merchant's in the image above from Spitalfield, allowed for the entry of light as well as an attractive space for the display of goods. By the end of the 18th century, it was estimated that around 200 different types of shops could be found in London. Shops tended to be open for long hours, from around seven AM until seven or eight PM. These hours were perhaps one of the reasons why shopkeepers and their assistants tended to live on the premises, with a shop area in front and a parlor behind.
Shops also tended to be grouped. For instance, the ladies of the Ton frequented fashionable shops Oxford Street or Bond Street located in Mayfair, whereas the shops and clubs for gentlemen were clustered in St. James's. The discerning shopper could also purchased goods at warehouses in Covent Garden, mercers and linen drapers in Cheapside, and new shops in the Strand.
A number of shops from that era still thrive today.
Berry Brothers Wine Shop in St. James's was founded in 1698 and remains essentially unchanged since its founding, as the interior above attests.
Locks, the hatters in St James's, also founded in the seventeenth century, still makes hats and bowlers for the fashionable set. And
Floris , a fragrance shop Beau Brummel frequented, can still be found on Jermyn Street.
Shop keepers advertised through circulars, trade cards, newspaper notices, or board-men, who were employed to roam the streets. In the 1760's, the large shop signs that had once hung over shops and identified the shop's merchandise to a populace that largely could not read were deemed hazardous. They were removed by law, but a few managed to survive, as this account in the
Book of Days describes:
In Holywell-street, Strand, is the last remaining shop sign in situ, being a boldly-sculptured half-moon, gilt, and exhibiting the old conventional face in the centre. Some twenty years ago it was a mercer's shop, and the bills made out for customers were 'adorned with a picture' of this sign. It is now a bookseller's, and the lower part of the windows have been altered into the older form of open shop. A court beside it leads into the great thoroughfare; and the corner-post is decorated with a boldly-carved lion's head and paws, acting as a corbel to support a still older house beside it. This street altogether is a good, and now an almost unique specimen of those which once were the usual style of London business localities, crowded, tortuous, and ill-ventilated, having shops closely and inconveniently packed, but which custom had made familiar and inoffensive to all; while the old traders, who delighted in 'old styles,' looked on improvements with absolute horror, as 'a new-fashioned way' to bankruptcy.Learn more about shopping during the Regency Era in the following links:Texts: Eighteenth Century London, Nichola Johnson, ISBN 0-11-290448-3
A Frivolous Distinction: Fashion and Needlework in the Works of Jane Austen, Penelope Byrde, Bath City Council, ISBN 0-901303-09-7
High Society, Venetia Murray, ISBN 0-670-85758-0
Gentle Readers,
Lady Middleton was the daughter of the first Earl of Chichester. She married in 1778 and died in childbirth five years later. View a sampling of her embroidery patterns in the following site: Whitework embroidery patterns
The Marriage Act of 1753 made it increasingly difficult for upper class men to "marry down," and for women to marry men outside their rank. In fact, the Act stipulated that:
Harmony Before Matrimony by James Gillray
Rowlandson's satiric wedding scene
Painting: Pamela is Married, Joseph Highmore
In this YouTube clip about George Brummell, find a discussion about this fascinating man and the Prince Regent and how their relationship ended in an entertaining monologue by George Stuart, artist and raconteur.
Excerpt is directly from the Regency Project, an amazing reproduction fashion site.
Image above from: The Dandy's Perambulations, 1819, from Dandyism.net
Only two years after the bicycle was invented, an unknown gentleman wrote the delightfully droll The Dandy's Perambulations. (Click on the link at the top of this post to read it.)
JaneEyre112, the individual responsible for placing ITV Persuasion and Mansfield Park videos on YouTube, has also placed Northanger Abbey videos on that platform. Click here to view the first video, then look on the sidebar to click on subsequent videos 1-15, and one titled "Last Part."
Pride and Prejudice made its debut in January, 1813, sixteen years after Jane finished the first draft titled First Impressions. As was the practice with female authors of her time, the novel did not bear her name, and she was identified only as "The Author of Sense and Sensibility."
One can easily imagine the early editions of this novel being sold by Messrs. Lackington Allen & Co, booksellers at the Temple of Muses, Finsbury Square. Theirs was one of the first cash booksellers in London. The book has been in print ever since it was first published. Today we know it in many forms, as a novel, a Great Illustrated Classics, movie interpretations, books on tape, podcasts, screensavers, paper dolls, tours, memorabilia, and as downloadable PDF files on the Internet.
If you are patient, you can watch the creation of a comic book version of the novel on flickr. Liz Wong, the artist, began the comic a year ago. She has reached the scene at Netherfield when Caroline Bingley first notices Mr. Darcy's attraction for Elizabeth. It will take her a while to draw the entire book, but something tells me the wait will be worthwhile. The first page is drawn awkwardly, but she gets better with each page, getting the feel for the characters, and finding ways to condense the book but still retain the gist of the story.
Read more about Pride and Prejudice in the following selection: Inside Pride and Prejudice, John Halperin
For days, Austen Blog and A Lady's Diversions have exhorted readers to go to The Book Mine Set and vote for our Jane. Seems that the fellow on this blog has pitted her against Edgar Allan Poe. He must be daft. Jane is winning. But perhaps we should let him know once and for all who we prefer. You have until tomorrow to vote.
Linen drapers, such as Harding and Howell in Pall Mall, were extremely important in an era when clothes were sewn by hand. In 1811, Jane Austen described a shopping expedition she made to a London establishment that sold handkerchiefs, gauzes, nets, veils, trims, and cloth:
A number of shops from that era still thrive today. Berry Brothers Wine Shop in St. James's was founded in 1698 and remains essentially unchanged since its founding, as the interior above attests. Locks, the hatters in St James's, also founded in the seventeenth century, still makes hats and bowlers for the fashionable set. And Floris , a fragrance shop Beau Brummel frequented, can still be found on Jermyn Street.
Shop keepers advertised through circulars, trade cards, newspaper notices, or board-men, who were employed to roam the streets. In the 1760's, the large shop signs that had once hung over shops and identified the shop's merchandise to a populace that largely could not read were deemed hazardous. They were removed by law, but a few managed to survive, as this account in the Book of Days describes:
In Holywell-street, Strand, is the last remaining shop sign in situ, being a boldly-sculptured half-moon, gilt, and exhibiting the old conventional face in the centre. Some twenty years ago it was a mercer's shop, and the bills made out for customers were 'adorned with a picture' of this sign. It is now a bookseller's, and the lower part of the windows have been altered into the older form of open shop. A court beside it leads into the great thoroughfare; and the corner-post is decorated with a boldly-carved lion's head and paws, acting as a corbel to support a still older house beside it. This street altogether is a good, and now an almost unique specimen of those which once were the usual style of London business localities, crowded, tortuous, and ill-ventilated, having shops closely and inconveniently packed, but which custom had made familiar and inoffensive to all; while the old traders, who delighted in 'old styles,' looked on improvements with absolute horror, as 'a new-fashioned way' to bankruptcy.
Choice D
The Janeites on the James meet every other month or so. This past time I brought my new stash of four Jane Austen resource books and showed them around. One elicited a laugh the moment the Janeites saw it: Jane Austen for Dummies.
You can find a description of a scullery and kitchen of Fota House, a Regency Style house in Ireland, here. And see the basement annex to the Regency Townhouse in Hove, East Sussex here. One can view the kitchen in a virtual tour, but not the scullery, which I suspect sits adjacent to the kitchen and coal bin.
