Currently on the BBC iPlayer: Ian Rankin investigates Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde”. Rankin traces the roots of this story, which stretch back to Stevenson's childhood. Grave-robbers, drugs & prostitution all play their part, as Rankin's journey takes him into the dark streets of the city that inspired the tale: Edinburgh.
“THE DYNAMITER is a hugely inventive & brilliant book, at once a political thriller, a blackly comic satire, & a female adventure”
Robert Louis Stevenson & Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne married #OTD, 19 May, 1880. In this article, Prof Penny Fielding explores the dangerous #collaboration between RLS & his wife: granting female agency on the page & in life
Her posthumous books featured her "wild and fearless life," but she was also a trailblazing famous #Victorian#lepidopterist, published in The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variations, expert on tropical butterflies, discovering, documenting, breeding & gathering specimen in 60 countries, talented scientific illustrator, 🧵 #printmaking#womenInSTEM#histstm
Call for papers – international conference of the Société Française d’Études Victoriennes et Edouardiennes
A Scottish Air: Inspirations & models from Scotland
30–31 Jan 2025, Université Grenoble Alpes
Looking at #Scotland as a source of inspiration & example in the #Victorian & #Edwardian eras, but also as a counter-model – within & beyond the borders of the UK
Found this way deep in my YouTube "Watch Later" collection. It's a really nice guide to getting started with Charles Dickens including a recommended order for select books from Robert Douglas-Fairhurst. It is inspiring to see someone so passionate about their subject.
There are several more updates to the upcoming virtual talks and programs on #JaneAusten and the #Brontes! The page includes, the name of the program, cost (if any), time, and date. If you know of any online events I've missed, let me know! Check back often!
My latest post explores the ghosts of Benthall Edge and the influence of the Industrial Revolution on their stories. These tragic hauntings make for difficult but necessary reading.
Random photo from the archive. A pseudo-HDR stacked image from inside the Eastney Beam Engine House here in Portsmouth. This Victorian engineering marvel was constructed in the late 1800s to help deal with sewage drainage issues on the low-lying land of Portsea Island, on which Portsmouth is located. This museum is open the last Sunday of most months.
Literary nerds rejoice! This week, we have another history/literature episode, looking at sex work in Victorian poetry with Emily Calleja.
We’re talking about how sex workers were portrayed, what that can tell us about women’s real-life frustrations, and how it impacted the suffrage movement.
Emily just finished her Master’s in Nineteenth Century Studies—Congratulations, Emily! 🎉🎉🎉
A symptom of a society that is failing to care for it's future has the predictable results. And I remember when younger, Rickets and Scabies being scare words from the old days with measles on their way out.
But a combination of disinterest from the neo-Victorians (yes Rees-Mogg, we see you) and hysteria over vaccinations will get many in the coming years.