If you subscribe to The New Yorker, there is a wonderfully written profile in the July 25 issue (I’ve been playing catch-up this weekend) on Elisabeth Badinter.
Badinter and the writer Jane Kramer make multiple 18th century references that will surely excite your mind as much as they did mine. Although I don’t necessarily share all of the same views as Badinter, I thoroughly enjoyed the intellectual discourse of the article.
Two of my favorite quotes from the article:
“Badinter once told me that she lived in two centuries and commuted between them, a reluctant tenant in her own.”
”She talked wistfully about the ‘great intellectual revolution in the salons before the Revolution, when there was a gaiety, a charm, a grace and seduction’ to conversation…”
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As a side note: If you don’t subscribe to The New Yorker, I highly recommend doing so!
18th Century in the News: The British Library and Google form partnership
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I just read this lovely press release from the British Library. The library is partnering with Google to digitize 250,000 books that date from 1700-1870. It is always fantastic to see partnerships that make archives accessible:
This project will digitise a huge range of printed books, pamphlets and periodicals dated 1700 to 1870, the period that saw the French and Industrial Revolutions, The Battle of Trafalgar and the Crimean War, the invention of rail travel and of the telegraph, the beginning of UK income tax, and the end of slavery. It will include material in a variety of major European languages, and will focus on books that are not yet freely available in digital form online.
The first works to be digitised will range from feminist pamphlets about Queen Marie-Antoinette (1791), to the invention of the first combustion engine-driven submarine (1858), and an account of a stuffed Hippopotamus owned by the Prince of Orange (1775).
Once digitised, these unique items will be available for full text search, download and reading through Google Books, as well as being searchable through the Library’s website and stored in perpetuity within the Library’s digital archive.
Researchers, students and other users of the Library will be able to view historical items from anywhere in the world as well as copy, share and manipulate text for non-commercial purposes.Dame Lynne Brindley, Chief Executive of the British Library said: “In the nineteenth century it was an ambition of our predecessors to give everybody access to as much of the world’s information as possible, to ensure that knowledge was not restricted to those who could afford private libraries. The way of doing it then was to buy books from the entire world and to make them available in Reading Rooms.”
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What would you love to read from the 18th century?
I was excited to see this article featuring Blenheim Palace in the June issue of Vanity Fair. There is only a teaser online, so hopefully you have a subscription to the print edition. Always love when I see 18th Century related articles!
I saw a pair of Pier Glass Mirrors last year that are believed to have been from Blenheim Palace.
Also check out this promotional video and website.
18th Century in the News: Gulliver’s Travels Movie Review
An amusing review of the new movie starring Jack Black; over at the New York Times.
I obviously hope you would choose the book over this far stretch of a movie.
Watch this video - “18th Century flintlock pistol among artifacts found by CAT scan in objects rescued from St. Augustine shipwreck”
I’m a little late to the party, but thought you might like some resources how the election going on today relates to the 18th Century.
The Federalist Papers - The Senate
The Federalist Papers - The House of Representatives
There are also the rest of the Federalist Papers on this site.
Happy Election Day!
Versailles Series?
The lovely Lauren over at Marie Antoinette’s Gossip Guide posted some exciting news!
Let’s all hope it’s true!
18th Century in the News - Gold Tiger Found
Daily Mail -
“A gem-encrusted gold finial from the outrageously decorated throne of Tipu Sultan has emerged after more than 200 years in the home of a Scots family.
The incredible tiger-shaped figure was discovered by experts in the possession of the family which has owned it for the two centuries since it was captured.”
