Miss Smith

How many Misses Smith have there been in this world? It is a common name, but this Miss Smith created a thing of great beauty--a book of botanical art.

From The Literary Gazette November 1817

We know almost nothing about Miss Smith. The very ordinariness of her name precludes us from tracing her. There was a Miss J. Smith who did botanical work in the 1790's--she might or might not be the same woman. Miss Smith's home, Adwick Hall, had been the residence of the Washington family in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was demolished in the early 19th century, presumably not too long after Miss Smith published her book.

From http://doncasterhistory.files.wordpress.com

We do know that Miss Smith had artistic talent. And in 1817, she decided to publish a book of flower studies. But it was not just a pretty book, it was also a useful book. It contained not only the finished plates of Miss Smith's flower illustrations, but outline plates as well, which the purchaser could colour. Smith included directions on preparing colours, and their best use, as well as general drawing instruction. It was, essentially, a teaching manual. The illustration of fuschia below shows an outline partly coloured.

From University of Wisconsin Special Collections

The flowers Miss Smith illustrated were, she states, from the 'botanic garden of Mr. W. Crowder of Doncaster'. (In 1834, Henry and Michael Crowder of Thorn road, Doncaster were listed in the Pigot's Directory as nursery and seedsmen.) Mr. Crowder was growing some very fine specimens, as evidenced by Miss Smith's art.

Smith's Peony Rosa Arborea

Miss Smith self-published her book. This was a common practice at the time. Publishers were few, and the monetary returns from publication by them were small. Many authors published a prospectus and collected subscriptions to pay for their own publication. It appears that about 100 people subscribed to Miss Smith's book. Mr. Ackermann (of Repository of Arts fame) ordered ten copies! A complete copy of Studies of Flowers from Nature could be had for five guineas. But it could also be purchased in parts, as the Literary Gazette above states--in 'ten monthly numbers'. Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine for May 1818 lists publication of the first part at a price of 10s.6d.

Smith's Rosa Mundi

Miss Smith's Studies of Flowers from Nature was dedicated to 'her Royal Highness the Princess Elizabeth', a sister of the Prince Regent. The princess was an amateur artist who assiduously applied herself to her craft. Royal sponsorship of such a publication was not uncommon.

Smith's Heart-leaved Geranium

Miss Smith's Studies was only one of a genre of floral copybooks which was fashionable and popular in the early 19th century. Very few of them have survived; they may have been discarded after their owners completed their own colouring. A copy of Studies sold at Christie's some ten years ago for over $2000.

Spring is very late coming here to western Canada. Miss Smith's beautiful drawings have brightened some very cold days for me. My own garden is still under snow, but Miss Smith has given me hope!

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Sources:
Information on Miss Smith's Studies of Flowers from Nature can be found at
http://www.cam.ac.uk/news/unique-acquisition-for-university-library
and
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/rarebooks/flowers.html
and the pictures above, unless otherwise noted, are from
http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/deptserv/rarebooks/flowers2.html

Etymological Novelties

The people of the Regency were people of words, much more than we of the current day are. I think that we, despite our literacy rates and our love of reading, are very much people of pictures.

A picture is worth a thousand words, the cliche goes. But in the Regency pictures were harder to come by than in our present day. Images, photos, graphics, paintings surround us all, every day, at school, work, and leisure. In the Regency one could, if wealthy, collect and admire paintings. One could stand before the print shop window and enjoy the prints displayed, and even purchase one, funds permitting. Magazines and journals at the beginning of the 19th century carried few pictures, almost none in 1800, and three or four per issue by 1815. Books of engravings became increasingly available throughout the Regency, but it was words that entertained for the most part.

Regency folk enjoyed their words. In July of 1812, the Repository of Arts, Mr. Ackermann's popular journal, published an item--part of an on-going series--titled Etymological Novelties. The words listed are purported to be defined, with their history and evolution delineated, but the explanations are jests, clever convolutions of meaning and message. Some approach logic, some are what we might call 'lame', and some are witty by the standards of any age. Here are some examples:

Extravagance, originally extra-vagrants, from its adding so much to the community of beggars.

Marvellous. Wonders were originally said to be marble-ous, because they made folks stare and roll their eyes about.

Ironical, from ire on I call, as persons using that figure of rhetoric which is termed irony, certainly incur the danger of exciting the ire of those who are the objects of it.

Gazette, a species of newspaper containing information which people are always extremely eager to gaze at.

Maid. This is a playful contradiction--maid before marriage, no longer maid when married, and yet made when well married.

Some of the 'etymological' comments are pointed commentaries on current conditions and politics:

Poor-laws. This appellation was given as a reproof to the legislature of an enlightened country, on account of the defectiveness of a certain part of its laws, in contradistinction to the justice and wisdom of the rest of the code of jurisprudence. The continuance of such a system is a reproach to those whom Providence has placed above wretchedness and poverty. Poor laws, indeed!

Justice, a quality eminently displayed by the Greeks, Romans, and others, where the virtues of the camp superseded all feeling, where fathers adjudged their children to death, owning no relations but those which bound them to their country, and banishing from their hearts every spark of mercy; when they were considered to be neither better nor worse than just ice.

The Regency fascination with words is displayed in many books that were published during the period.

The Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, first published in 1785, demonstrates the humour and facility with language that even the very poor revealed. Of course, a great deal of the wit of the book comes from its author, Captain Francis Grose, but the originators of the slang readily show their facility with words. Pierce Egan's edition of the Dictionary includes his own ready wit and scurrilous definitions. His other books affirm his skill with the written word.

The Miseries of Human Life written by James Beresford in 1805 is another example of the Regency delight in words. In describing the afflictions of the daily round upon sensitive souls, Beresford illustrated a dexterity with language that Regency readers highly approved. Walter Scott himself praised its "wit, ... humour and perfect originality."

In reading Regency periodicals, I am sometimes taken aback by the density of the text, the unrelieved torrent of words. I long for pictures, and indeed, I break up my own torrent of words--my blog--with illustrations. The people of the Regency looked for the words first, and enjoyed the pictures if and when they could be found.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions, and Politics

I have been aware of Rudolph Ackermann’s journal The Repository of the Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions, and Politics since I first began reading Regency romance novels a good many years ago. I have long wanted to hold one in my hands, read it as the folk of the Regency read the magazine, see for myself if it was interesting or charming or entertaining.

There are no major libraries near where I live holding such a periodical. To purchase an edition of the journal could cost anywhere from five hundred and five thousand dollars. For years, I was stymied—always hearing of The Repository, never able to see it.

But thanks to my friends at Google Books, I am now reading a copy of The Repository of Arts, Literature, etc. They have an entire year—1815—available and I downloaded the document immediately upon finding it.

The magazine is terrific. I can see why the ladies and gentlemen of the Regency enjoyed it from 1809 to 1829, and why it influenced public opinion. It has everything—just the sort of newsmagazine we enjoy nowadays. It compares very favourably I think to Time and Macleans. It has more meat to it than Us and People and enough variety to be enjoyed by every adult in the family.

For example, in the Intelligence (the word is used in the sense of 'news') column one can find book reviews, notices of publication, and advertisements for upcoming lectures.

“Mr. Singer will commence a course of Lectures on Electricity and
Electro-Chemistry, at the Russell Institution, on Monday, January 16, 1815 at eight o’clock in the evening. These lectures will include all the recent electro-chemical discoveries, and are to be illustrated by Mr. Singer’s powerful and exgtensive apparatus, which includes a series of electric columns, containing 50,000 zinc and silver plates.”

There is a Medical Report:

“As usual at this season, coughs and various affections of the lungs are prevalent. Some severe cases of small-pox have occurred, and the prejudice against inoculation with either vaccine or variolous matter, has proved fatal to many poor children.”

For those interested in fashion, there were both illustrations and descriptions, and in some issues of the magazine, swatches of the latest fabrics.
“Evening Dress (illustrated) – Light pink satin gown, trimmed round the bottom with a lace flounce, laid on richly, worked and beaded with tufts of the same; short full sleeve, trimmed with lace. A shell lace tippet. White kid gloves, drawn over the elbow. An Indian fan of carved ivory. Slippers of white kid, Full crop head-dress, ornamented with flowers.”

There are articles on the Congress of Vienna and the politics of each of the countries involved in it. Agricultural reports are followed by market reports, stock quotes, and meteorological (weather) reports.

The latest in fashionable furniture is discussed and illustrated –
as with this 'French cottage bed'.

And Musical Reviews are extensive. One article on the piano-forte discusses the great advances made in forty years of piano-forte development and suggests that more and more amateurs will become proficient with the instrument in the following years.

A short science article (I have read one on spiders and one on canines so far) is usually part of the contents, a biography might be included, an opinion piece (On the Marriages of Minors sprang to my notice) and letters to the editor were sometimes printed. A short story or historical article is often included in an issue. Occasionally notable buildings of London are pictured and their history recounted. This is St. Luke's Lunatic Hospital which replaced the Bethlehem Hospital (Bedlam). Each issue of The Repository was sixty-two pages packed full of information. It is a privilege to gain this insight into the world of the Regency which I love. Now if only I could visit Mr. Ackermann’s shop, also called Repository of Arts, and located at 101 Strand, I should be perfectly happy. According to the illustration I have seen, he handled a complete line of drawings, pictures, silhouettes, books, journals, and some sculpture and stationery. All the things I love best...

It is two hundred years since Mr. Ackermann’s journal first rolled off the presses. Have you seen a copy of The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions, and Politics? Or are you like me, only now able to experience what Regency folk knew two hundred years ago?

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne