Monthly Archives: January 2013

Parlour game

Posted on January 25, 2013 by mercedes-c

Bonnets are everywhere due to the bicentenary of Pride and Prejudice*. This blog could not resist the temptation to join in, especially when the said article of apparel features so prominently in Douce’s folders of costumes, where the fashion plate … Continue reading →

Posted in Colour, Costumes, Everyday life, Fashion, Games, Literature, Prints, Wood-engravings | Comments Off on Parlour game

The cook’s oracle

Posted on January 18, 2013 by mercedes-c

In December 1826, Douce wrote to his friend George Cumberland:  If you will write a book of cockery for your Bristoldians & other gormandizers, you will get as rich as Dr Kitchener, who told me that he has sold 20,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Cookery, Everyday life, Feast, Literature, Networks, Physicians, Wood-engravings | Comments Off on The cook’s oracle

A medley print

Posted on January 10, 2013 by mercedes-c

Medley prints like the one below really capture the sense of mixture, the hotchpotch quality, and the endless referencing that characterize Douce’s folders: Unlike the impression in the BM, Douce’s print bears the inscription ‘Designed, and Engraven, and Sold, by S: … Continue reading →

Posted in Ballads, Books, Colour, History of printmaking, Medley print, Prints, Woodcuts | Comments Off on A medley print

The Star of the Kings

Posted on January 3, 2013 by mercedes-c

A few months ago, I came across the image below while cataloguing a series of prints of the months from a late seventeenth-century almanac in Douce’s collection: The man pouring water from a vase next to a fountain in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Almanacs, Carols, Engravings, Everyday life, Feast, Festivals, Prints, Seasons, Stipple, Zodiac | Comments Off on The Star of the Kings