What Regency Women Did for Us


Book Description

Profiles of twelve trailblazing Regency Era women—from Jane Austen to Madame Tussaud—who took charge of their destinies and changed the world. In the nineteenth century, women faced challenges and constraints that many of us would find shocking by today’s standards. What Regency Women Did for Us tells the inspirational stories of twelve women who overcame entrenched institutional obstacles to achieve trailblazing success—women such as the German astronomer Caroline Herschel, who discovered a comet that bears her name; the French artist Marie Tussaud whose wax sculptures made her world famous; the great author Jane Austen whose novels continue to delight generations of readers. These women were pioneers, philanthropists, entrepreneurs, authors, scientists, and actresses—women who made an impact on their world and ours. Popular history blogger Rachel Knowles tells how each of these women challenged the limitations of their time and left an enduring legacy for future generations to follow. Two hundred years later, their stories remain powerful inspirations for us all. “Rachel’s fine book looks at how the women of Britain emerged from the shadows of their husbands during the Regency period, inspiring female writers, scientists, etc. to take hold of their own destinies and start to have an influence on the world. Brilliant.” —Books Monthly




Regency Women's Dress


Book Description

The distinctive style of the Regency period is a source of endless fascination for fashion academics and historians, living historians, re-enactors and costume designers for stage and screen. Author and fashion historian Cassidy Percoco has delved into little-known museum hoards to create a stunning collection of 26 garments, many with clear provenance tied to a specific location, which have never before been published and never – or very rarely – displayed. Most of the garments have an aspect in their construction that has not been previously documented, from a style of skirt trim to the method of gown closure. This practical guide begins with a general history of the early 19th-century women's dress. This is followed by 26 patterns of gowns, spencers, chemises, and corsets, each with an illustration of the finished piece and description of its construction. This must-have guide is an essential reference for anyone interested in the fashions or the history of the period, or for anyone wishing to recreate their own beautiful Regency clothing.




The Wearing of Costume


Book Description




Mad and Bad


Book Description

Discover a feminist pop history that looks beyond the Ton and Jane Austen to highlight the Regency women who succeeded on their own terms and were largely lost to history -- until now. Regency England is a world immortalized by Jane Austen and Lord Byron in their beloved novels and poems. The popular image of the Regency continues to be mythologized by the hundreds of romance novels set in the period, which focus almost exclusively on wealthy, white, Christian members of the upper classes. But there are hundreds of fascinating women who don't fit history books limited perception of what was historically accurate for early 19th century England. Women like Dido Elizabeth Belle, whose mother was a slave but was raised by her white father's family in England, Caroline Herschel, who acted as her brother's assistant as he hunted the heavens for comets, and ended up discovering eight on her own, Anne Lister, who lived on her own terms with her common-law wife at Shibden Hall, and Judith Montefiore, a Jewish woman who wrote the first English language Kosher cookbook. As one of the owners of the successful romance-only bookstore The Ripped Bodice, Bea Koch has had a front row seat to controversies surrounding what is accepted as "historically accurate" for the wildly popular Regency period. Following in the popular footsteps of books like Ann Shen's Bad Girls Throughout History, Koch takes the Regency, one of the most loved and idealized historical time periods and a huge inspiration for American pop culture, and reveals the independent-minded, standard-breaking real historical women who lived life on their terms. She also examines broader questions of culture in chapters that focus on the LGBTQ and Jewish communities, the lives of women of color in the Regency, and women who broke barriers in fields like astronomy and paleontology. In Mad and Bad, we look beyond popular perception of the Regency into the even more vibrant, diverse, and fascinating historical truth.




Regency Women


Book Description




The Game of Hearts


Book Description

'The real world of Jane Austen is brought vividly to life in this beautifully written, endlessly captivating and often surprising account of Regency women. Not to be missed' Tracy Borman 'If Georgette Heyer had written non-fiction it might have looked like this' Helena Kelly, author of Jane Austen, The Secret Radical The stories of the real women of Regency high society, revealing the facts behind the fiction of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. From glossy costume dramas to gripping reads, the glamorous world of Regency London's Bon Ton is synonymous with romance - a place where dashing heroes and independently minded heroines flirt, fight and side-step scandal, all while in pursuit of the perfect match. But who were the real women who went looking for love in the age of elegance, and what were their lives really like? Taking us behind drawing room doors and into high society ballrooms, The Game of Hearts follows six leading ladies and their family, friends, and contemporaries as they move from matchmaking to matrimony and beyond. Candid insights into the competitive world of the marriage mart; real stories of rakish husbands and rich heiresses; and true tales of lost and long-lasting love, reveal not just Regency courtship customs, but truly captivating lives. Using diaries, letters and stories of scandal from the newspapers, author Felicity Day pieces together a rich and intimate view of this most beloved period of British history, showcasing the voices and opinions, hopes and desires of the real women who lived and loved in the Regency era.




Regency Ladies


Book Description

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.




Early Modern Habsburg Women


Book Description

As the first comprehensive volume devoted entirely to women of both the Spanish and Austrian Habsburg royal dynasties spanning the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries, this interdisciplinary collection illuminates their complex and often contradictory political functions and their interrelations across early modern national borders. The essays in this volume investigate the lives of six Habsburg women who, as queens consort and queen regent, duchesses, a vicereine, and a nun, left an indelible mark on the diplomatic and cultural map of early modern Europe. Contributors examine the national and transnational impact of these notable women through their biographies, and explore how they transferred their cultural, religious, and political traditions as the women moved from one court to another. Early Modern Habsburg Women investigates the complex lives of Philip II’s daughter, the Infanta Catalina Micaela (1567-1597); her daughter, Margherita of Savoy, Vicereine of Portugal (1589-1655); and Maria Maddalena of Austria, Grand Duchess of Florence (1589-1631). The second generation of Habsburg women that the volume addresses includes Philip IV’s first wife, Isabel of Borbón (1602-1644), who became a Habsburg by marriage; Rudolph II’s daughter, Sor Ana Dorotea (1611-1694), the only Habsburg nun in the collection; and Philip IV’s second wife, Mariana of Austria (1634-1696), queen regent and mother to the last Spanish Habsburg. Through archival documents, pictorial and historical accounts, literature, and correspondence, as well as cultural artifacts such as paintings, jewelry, and garments, this volume brings to light the impact of Habsburg women in the broader historical, political, and cultural contexts. The essays fill a scholarly need by covering various phases of the lives of early modern royal women, who often struggled to sustain their family loyalty while at the service of a foreign court, even when protecting and preparing their heirs for rule a




The Game of Hearts


Book Description

From glossy costume dramas to gripping reads, the glamorous world of Regency London's Bon Ton is synonymous with romance - a place where dashing heroes and independently minded heroines flirt, fight and side-step scandal, all while in pursuit of the perfect match. But who were the real women who went looking for love in the age of elegance, and what were their lives really like? Taking us behind drawing room doors and into high society ballrooms, 'The Game of Hearts' follows six leading ladies and their family, friends, and contemporaries as they move from matchmaking to matrimony and beyond.




Adapting Bridgerton


Book Description

The beloved television show Bridgerton breaks racial barriers as it explores an alternate history in which biracial Queen Charlotte elevated people of color to dukes and earls, welcoming new perspectives in Regency London. Essays in this work examine in detail the hit Netflix series. Topics covered include Bridgerton's unique, racially conscious casting and its effect on common tropes and roles; the overt sexuality in the context of prim Jane Austen films and historical shows like Downton Abbey, Outlander, and recent nineteenth-century adaptations; dueling; art; manners; dress; social conventions; feminism; privilege; power; dreamcasting; colorism; and yes, the sex scenes.