"Very little white satin, very few lace veils; a most pitiful business!" grumbled Mrs Elton at the marriage of Emma and the divine Mr Knightley. How times have changed!
This rich historical analysis argues that the Enlightenment was a failure on its own terms. Terror, revolution, corruption, gross commercial excess and Empire prevailed instead of Reason.
The two great cabinet-makers worked together for nearly half a century; their clientele and influence were on a par with those of their more famous contemporary, Thomas Chippendale. This mag... read more
A new edition of this pioneering account of England's large black community in the C18th - from freed slaves to prosperous citizens. (First published 1995.)
From the publisher who bought us Cathryn Spence's gorgeous Nature's Favourite Child: Thomas Robins and the Art of the Georgian Garden, a new edition of the fascinating book on the architect ... read more
Captures the spirit of the late C18th by looking at JJ’s dinner parties. He was a publisher, bookseller, and a friend of Blake, Wordsworth, Fuseli, Coleridge, Wollstonecraft etc...
Thomas Robins the Elder (1716-1770) recorded the country estates of the Georgian gentry - their orchards, Rococo gardens and potagers - like no other, with both topographical accuracy and de... read more
How the rise of antiquarian interests between the Fall of the Bastille and the Great Exhibition promoted the rediscovery of national history in Britain, France and Germany. From the author o... read more
Another scandalous woman? Well, when she went on trial at Westminster Hall for bigamy in April 1776, the story is said to have drawn more attention in society than the American War of Indepe... read more
A compelling portrait of the writer and her engagement with her own world. Constructed as a series of essays on art, memory, painting, rank, property, appearance, etc., this is immensely rea... read more
Published by Yale, this is a fascinating and original exploration of the influence of the newly popular guitar on the Romantics and on culture in the early C19th.