Searching for the Regency...

I really enjoy the Internet. It opens up communities and worlds to me, places I'll never see and things I'll never be able to do.

I am a very visual and art-oriented person, so wherever I go on the Internet, I tend to look for, and at, pictures. That's why my own website is very graphic-oriented. The visual gives you a taste--a sample--a flavour of a place, an event, or a thing.

Wherever I go on the Internet the first thing I do, if I'm at a site with an internal search engine, is put 'Regency' into a search. I've done it at http://www.etsy.com/ and found some wonderful costume makers and some Jane Austen-themed trinkets. I've done it at http://www.cafepress.com/ and found some great Regency-themed totes and decorative items.

If I want to look at pictures just to absorb historical atmosphere, I go to http://pro.corbis.com/ and enter 'Regency' in the search. Adding a year to the search makes it even better. The same thing happens at http://www.maryevans.com/ a wonderful picture library. Images are copyrighted at both of these sites, and can only be used by purchasing rights, but for browsing they are wonderful. The great English auction house http://www.sothebys.com/ is a great place to look at actual Regency furnishings, jewelry and art.

When I go to museum websites, I put 'Regency' into the search box. At http://www.24hourmuseum.org.uk/ , http://www.vam.ac.uk/(Victoria and Albert Museum), and http://www.britishmuseum.org/research.aspx this brings me more pictures and information than I have time to view.

And then of course, if you tire of looking at pictures, and you want in-depth information you can go to http://www.abebooks.com/, enter 'English Regency' in a keyword search and find 5730 books that you can read about the Regency era--fiction and non-fiction.

So, do you have an overriding interest that you always enter in search boxes? Or am I alone in this singular pursuit? :)

Til next time,
Lesley-Anne