The World of "The Charming Devil"

My latest book "The Charming Devil" was published on February 15, and it has been a busy month since then.

The book is set in 1807, and at the beginning of each chapter I have included a newspaper clipping giving the flavour of the time. Most of the clips are from Wiltshire or Bath newspapers or journals.

I thought in this blog to give you a wider view of 1807 in England from books of the period as well as newspapers.

I hope you enjoy this look into the past.



Fashions, below, from Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London during the Eighteenth Century...with a Review of the State of Society in 1807 by James Peller Malcolm 

Off to the races, below, from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post July 2 1807

Frontispiece, below, from Trivia: or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London: a Descriptive Poem, by Gay

Royals in the news, below, from Kentish Weekly Post or Canterbury Journal Friday 5 June 1807

The news then, as now, was often bad:

below, from The Lady's Magazine February 1807

and below, from Oxford University and City Herald Saturday 5 December 1807

 

But business went on. Below from Trewman's Exeter Flying Post July 2 1807

Below, more finery, from La Belle Assemblee January 1807

And below, an advertisement later in the year from La Belle Assemblee May 1807

Charities were universal. Below a leaflet Members of a friendly society compensating one of its members for ill-health. Pen and ink and watercolour, c. 1807

from Wellcome Images

The theatres were ubiquitous. Below, from La Belle Assemblee January 1807

It was a busy world in 1807. The hero of "The Charming Devil" living in the isolated countryside of Wiltshire appreciated his newspapers. We appreciate his newspapers also, looking at them two hundred years later.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Images, except where noted, from Google Books and British Newspaper Archive