Resources for readers & writers of Regency fiction
Need an appropriate exclamation for your hero? Check out my list of Expressions. There you'll find the ones most commonly used during the Regency period, and when each first showed up in the language. Scroll down the page for a list of contractions and when they came into usage.
If you're searching for slang spoken by criminals, waterfront rogues and similar low life, check out Cant, my abridged version of the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. I've organized select words by topic, then alphabetically.
Under Articles can be found several nonfiction pieces I've written on topics that may be of interest. They include one on women assuming male roles during the 18th & 19th centuries; a history of Minerva Press; burial practices and religious attitudes about suicides; information about Gretna Green. In addition, you'll find a list of body language cues to emotion, and color terms under Craft.
Here are some websites I've found very useful:
British History Online -- The definitive source for information about everything from the architecture of Almacks to specific political figures.
Hearth & Home Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton -
Late 19th century, but chock full of advice on how to deal with
servants and other household issues. Wonderful period recipes, as well
as priceless info on what to do with rancid butter, etc... Decoration of Houses by Edith Wharton--
Written in the late 19th century. Wonderful descriptions of walls and
window treatments, floors and ceilings, halls, ballrooms and saloons.
Trying to figure out what furniture is in your heroine's bedchamber?
This is the place. Old & Interesting -- a history of domestic paraphernalia with photos of antiques. Particular emphasis on laundry but there is info on cooking and beds as well.
Medicine/Science Calendar--
Need to know what day Christmas fell on in 1814? The phase of the moon
for a specific date in history? Check out this site. It can generate
calendars for any year and any country. Climate History -- Meteorology at West Moor's excellent index of weather for England by decade Even More Climate History-- rainfall in England and Wales from 1914 to present. Figures are in millimeters. Monthly minimum and maximums are calculated. Domestic Medicine in 1785 by W. Buchan Making Fire with Flint & Steel -- the procedure for lighting fires in the days before Lucifer sticks. Nature Online
-- from the Natural History Museum in London. English and Scottish
flora and Fauna types by postal code. Plant, animal, and insects.
Peerage British Titles List -- Wikipedia list of extant and extinct titles dating from 1066-present. Includes the family name. Peerage
-- everything a writer needs to know about the peerage system in
Britain. Note: this is a modern point-of-view so some policies have
changed.
Places Country House Database-- a list of country houses in the British Isles from the late Middles Ages to ca. 1850. with an index of families. Leigh's 1819 New Picture of London --
everything the Regency writer needs to know about life in London. From
how provisions were supplied, to street indexes, places of worship and
public buildings. London Panoramas -- 360 degree views of select bridges, squares, parks, etc... Squares of London -- Georgian Index's outstanding site for descriptions of and tenants living in London's residential squares during the Regency. Vauxhall Gardens -- singers, musicians, performers, proprietors and staff from 1661-1859 Views of London -- views of buildings and squares.
Chambers' 1869 Book of Days-- detailed description of historic events, biographies of famous people, and customs and culture. Fashion Era -- Pauline Weston's wonderful website of clothing for all time periods. Gaskell's Compendium of Forms--
Late 19th century but sure to be applicable earlier. Written form of
address for letters of condolence and apology, dinner invitations,
weddings and balls. Letters from the Past --
provided by the Victorian Web. Information about postage costs during
the Regency period, franking and who paid what. Many fine examples of
period letters. Regency Fashion Page -- fabulous resource of Regency clothing from Cathy Decker who has a Ph.D. in 18th C. British Literature.
Popularized in Vienna in the early 19th century, dance cards -- known as ballspenden (which means "ball donates") -- were given as favors at a ball. They were made of paper, wood or silver, as well as ivory and mother of pearl. The covers were engraved with information about the event. Inside was a list of the dances. From the "card" hung a pencil. Sometimes fabric loops were provided into which a pencil could be slipped.
For less significant balls, ladies carried their own dance cards (see above). Shaped like a calling card case, they held sheets of paper upon which the ladies kept track of their dance partners.
1812 is generally considered the
year the waltz was introduced into England, although many were already familiar with its
music. In 1797, Preston’s
Country Dances referred to it as the German Waltz or the Princess of Wales Waltz. During
the autumn of 1812, Byron wrote an anti-waltz poemthat was published anonymously in the spring of
1813.
But it wasn't until July of 1816, that the waltz was introduced for the first time to the English court at a ball hosted by the Prince Regent in London. Said The Times of London about it on the 16th:
“We remarked with pain that the indecent foreign dance called the Waltz was
introduced (we believe for the first time) at the English court on Friday last
… it is quite sufficient to cast one's eyes on the voluptuous intertwining of
the limbs and close compressor on the bodies in their dance, to see that it is
indeed far removed from the modest reserve which has hitherto been considered
distinctive of English females. So long as this obscene display was confined to
prostitutes and adulteresses, we did not think it deserving of notice; but now
that it is attempted to be forced on the respectable classes of society by the
civil examples of their superiors, we feel it a duty to warn every parent
against exposing his daughter to so fatal a contagion.”
