Sometimes my reading life is haphazard and I dip into whatever strikes me fancy. (The right book, more often than not, seems to find me…
I’ve been re-reading Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s Family Letters, edited by his brother William Michael Rossetti. I was struck by this passage about DGR’s reading habits.…
In 1891, William Morris founded the Kelmscott Press in an effort to realize his vision of creating exquisitely crafted books. Joining him in this endeavor…
The Pre-Raphaelite Society is bringing their book club to Twitter! This is exciting news and I’m honored to be a part of it. I hope…
In 1857, a twenty-two-year-old woman stood trial in Glasgow for murdering her former lover. It was the cause célèbre of the day and artist Dante…
If you’re interested in studying the Victorian era seriously, then diaries and letters are important. At times I feel like a 21st-century snoop, devouring personal…
Professor Richard D. Altick is a man I never met but respect a great deal. Here in the United States, he is regarded as a pioneer…
Before writing her famous bestseller Chocolat, Joanne Harris penned Sleep, Pale Sister, a provocative 19th-century story of madness, lies, and laudanum. Written in 1994, it…
Above is a detail from Arthur Rackham’s illustration of Pan from The Wind in the Willows. I first became enchanted by Pan when, as a little…
When the Prince Consort died, Queen Victoria mourned for the rest of her life. She would not allow the room where he passed to ever…
