Puzzles with no Solutions

Did you ever struggle to complete a crossword puzzle without the solution at hand? Ever hear a riddle to which no one has the answer?

That has been my fate recently. The Ladies Fashionable Repository, which I discussed in a past post, was very fond of publishing puzzles and conundrums, riddles, anagrams and charades. But, as is the way with very old journals, not all issues are available, and so I have found enigmas without resolution.

In celebration of the holiday season, however, I thought I would share these charming puzzles with you. This is the season, after all, for parlour games and jigsaw puzzles, those fiendish metal contraptions that must be separated and put back together, and a myriad of other intriguing and frustrating brain-teasers.

Our Regency counterparts enjoyed them as much as we do, and The Ladies' Fashionable Repository supplied their desire for diversion and amusement.  The puzzles I present here date from between 1809 and 1814.

Obvious questions spring to mind in considering the puzzles. How much do Regency mores and manners inform the questions? How much knowledge of the period is required for solution? In many cases I think the answer would be--a great deal.

The conundrums are quick and confusing.

 

The terminology of puzzling has changes somewhat in the two hundred years since these were published. Riddles appear to be much the same then as now, but rebuses seem to have a more pictorial emphasis today than in the Regency.

Regency Charades seem to be completely different from their modern counterpart unless--do you think these are meant for performance?

I found this Prize Enigma utterly mystifying and quite delightful. And, I was thrilled to find the answer in another issue of the journal, with the winner's name included!

The wonderful language above in the prize award is redolent of Jane Austen's world, and of Washington Irving's Old Christmas.

I have run on rather long, but I had to include this last item. I have not discovered the link between the Repository and Ipswich, but you will note that one of the winners of the Prize Enigma above was from that town. I wonder if the beauties of Ipswich were offended or thrilled about the puzzle below:

 And I wonder what their parents and chaperons thought of their inclusion in a widely sold publication!

I hope you enjoy pondering these puzzles. If you would like to leave a solution to any (or all) of the puzzles, I will draw from among the comments for a prize on New Year's Day. The prize will be one of Shakoriel's charming Victorian poetry prints to brighten your wall in the new year.

I will be taking a couple of weeks' holiday now, and I will return on Friday, January 4 with more Regency research and inquiry. Until then ~~

Happy Holidays!

Lesley-Anne

A Conversation with Regency artist Shakoriel

I had the opportunity recently to sit down and have a good visit with my favourite artist Shakoriel AKA Kat Aubrey, who is a writer, cover designer and an experienced editor, as well as an artist. I thought you might be interested in our conversation.

 Q to Shakoriel: You've been making Regency drawings, including the Fashions of Regency England Colouring Book, for a while now. What appeals to you most about the Regency period?

A: I've always been interested in costume history, so it's definitely the style of the era that attracts me most. I actually love both 18th-century and 19th-century fashion and how the two contrast--the former so decoratively ornate and the latter so classically simple. I'm also interested in the history and literature of the period--my favourite poets are the Romantics. So envisioning that world and how its people looked is very appealing to me.

Q: I have always enjoyed the artwork you did for my book covers, particularly Carolina's Walking Tour and Lost in Almack's. Do you have a favourite?

A: I'm fond of them all, but the early ones drive me a bit crazy because I see so many things that could be improved! I was very pleased with Lost in Almack's cover as well as the Three Wise Monkeys cover. I also like the cameo portrait of Emilina for Emilina's Conquest.

Q: With my 2010 release, The Harmless Deception, my covers took a different turn. That cover was prepared by my publisher, Uncial Press, but for my recent release, The Earl's Peculiar Burden, you once again did the cover. How did you feel about this change in direction?

A: I actually prefer designing covers with stock photography (love it, actually) to illustrating them from scratch. It's very difficult to create artwork that matches the author's vision of her characters--not that you were difficult! ;) But in my illustration I prefer to have very free rein and this doesn't mesh so well with the demands of a book cover, where you must take into account the publisher's needs, the author's vision, and the practical things like typography. I also designed the cover for the anthology Love, Loss and Other Oddities (which of course features two of your stories and one of mine!) and I'd love to do more like this.

Q: Can you tell us a little about the process involved in making The Earl's Peculiar Burden cover?

A: First was talking with you to determine what kind of imagery and mood you wanted for the cover, and of course making sure that it will follow the publisher's guidelines. Next I mocked up several drafts using sample images from stock photo sites and other design resources. Once we'd decided, I purchased the necessary photo rights and then spent a lot of time in Photoshop! It's all about layers--and a little bit of magic, naturally. ;) And when designing a cover, it's not just about the image--the choice of font matters very much. I treat the title and author name as design elements in themselves and try to integrate them into the imagery. For TEPB, I wanted the intriguing title to be the focal point, with the mysterious tower looming up in the distance, so I probably spent more time on the fonts, placement, positioning, etc than I did on anything else.

Bat Goddess

Q: I know that your art site features a mix of fantasy art and costume illustration, and I understand that soon you'll be adding some fairytale illustrations. Do you have a favourite genre to work in?

A: Not really--they are all kind of the same genre in my mind… times and places that are other than where we are right now. There's always an element of imagination even when you're trying to be historically accurate, and there's always a lot of historical influences whenever you make something fantastical. My favourite genre would really just be "costume illustration", whether it takes the form of a 19th-century ballgown or a gothic fantasy ballgown.

Q: How did you develop your art skills?

A: I've taken art classes on and off since I was a kid, from ones held in the back of art supply stores to university-level courses. I don't have a degree in art, though (my BA is in History and I've also studied English at the master's level). My various art teachers over the years were wonderful and taught me lots of fundamentals, but in those classes I didn't really have the chance to do the kind of illustrative work I prefer. I've learned that through research and observation of my own. The late Victorian artists are really my best teachers--Arthur Rackham, Alphonse Mucha, John William Waterhouse. A long way to go to live up to their standard!

Thanks very much, Kat, it's been a pleasure talking with you. I'm looking forward to working with you on our new project. I'll just give my readers this hint: the title is "The Regency Storybook".

You can see Kat's art in her dA gallery, and purchase prints of her Regency fashion illustrations and more in her etsy shop. She's also on twitter (twitter.com/carnivalerian). She's available to commission for book cover design and for fiction/non-fiction editing.

'Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

I wish I could do a drum roll because...

The Fashions of Regency England Colouring Book is now available!

It feels so great to be able to announce that. I'm delighted and thrilled and proud. If you would like to view further details and purchase a copy, please visit my CafePress store--Regency Fancies.

The colouring book has a long history. As some of you may know, artist Shakoriel has been doing my covers from the earliest days. When I wanted some extra Regency pictures for promotion, I went to her. Then I realized that people might enjoy colouring her black and white illustrations of Regency people. I, even as an adult, love colouring--Dover colouring books are one of my favourite things.

I asked Shakoriel what she thought, and she was enthusiastic. So we started putting colouring pictures on my website one at a time. Her skill progressed, her style evolved, and we realized--at some point--that we could do a bunch of illustrations and publish a colouring book.

We took five of the illustrations from the on line colouring book, but the other seven drawings in the printed colouring book are brand-new, never before seen. She drew, and I wrote costume descriptions and then, because her illustrations have so much personality, we decided to name each character. There was a lot of laughter over that. Below is Miss Phoebe Churcham.

Then Shakoriel learned how to format the pages for CafePress publication, and I designed the back cover and wrote the text, together we structured the copyright page and we sent the file off. We were scared to open the package that contained the proof, but it was fine--better than fine--it was awesome. And it was real; we were holding our Regency colouring book in our hands.

And now we're presenting it to the Regency world. You're the first to know. It will be announced on my webpage on June 30--next Tuesday.

All the work was worth it. My Regency World has shape and form and some fascinating people. I wonder if they know the characters that populate my books?

I can hardly wait to start colouring my copy!

Til next time,

Lesley-Anne

Picturing the Regency

I have a new contest up on my website. If you'd like to enter it, please visit the home page http://www.lesleyannemcleod.com/ and go to the guestbook to sign up and be entered in the draw. The prize this time--for March and April--is a blank, lined journal with Shakoriel's Regency art on the cover. The journal is from our CafePress store, Regency Fancies www.cafepress.com/regencyfancies


When we started the CafePress store, I just wanted Shakoriel's Regency art to find a bigger market. It is so good, so evocative of the Regency period, that it seemed to me it deserved a larger audience than it could find if it remained only on my website.


I am so fortunate to have a resident artist. And I am so lucky she doesn't charge me an arm and a leg for every illustration. She's just starting out, glad for the commissions, and I'm happy to give her the work. Because you see, there just isn't a lot of Regency art available for use, for reasonable prices.

I need art for website information, for book trailers, for promotional materials and for covers. I comb out of copyright books (thank goodness for Google Books and Project Gutenberg), free clip art sites and Dover's invaluable clip art series for appropriate illustrations. There is a Regency romance writer who does a great deal of promotion, and she uses literally dozens of the grand Regency artworks to illustrate her essays, blogs and newsletters. I don't know how she affords it. I certainly can't. Most of the Regency art that you will see on book covers, websites and various publications is all copyrighted at stock art agencies. It costs a fortune to use original Regency art--at least $300-$500 for a single time use. Places like Mary Evans Picture Library, and Corbis.com, and Clipart.com, are invaluable, but they cost, big-time.


If the picture is from a book, you can't use it without permission or licensing. If it's on a website, you need to make sure it hasn't come from somewhere else without permission. I tried to get permission from the publisher to use Barbosa's art from Theresa Chris' out of print book. They didn't even answer my letter. So I am using it but with full attribution, and even then, it's a risk. The Internet is a huge problem for artists--as much as it makes their work available to the world, it also makes it available for pirating. As I work in the creative field, I am concerned about pirating. And I want my illustrations to be legal and above-board. But I do want to have lots of Regency art.

As I've said before I'm a visually oriented person. I want to see what the Regency looked like and I want to show my readers what it looked like. Shakoriel helps me do that.

Thanks, Shakoriel!

Till next time,
Lesley-Anne

Announcing 'Regency Fancies'

I have to use today's blog for advertising because I am very excited about a totally new venture that I have undertaken with my artist Shakoriel. We have developed a CafePress store offering Shakoriel's wonderful Regency costume art on a variety of products.

We have three different designs of Regency ladies on products at present--they are all from the Regency Colouring Book and lend themselves very well to product decoration. We have T-shirts, totebags, notecards and journals available as well as one or two novelties. Eventually the Regency Colouring Book will be available through CafePress also.

As we have worked on the Regency Colouring Book, Shakoriel has produced some beautiful artwork. I realized that it was a shame to own this fabulous art and not make it more widely available. We decided that CafePress would give us a venue for product design and hopefully we have chosen products you will enjoy. If you would like to see Shakoriel's art on some specific item, please let us know, and we will see if we can accommodate you.

Please visit our store at http://www.cafepress.com/regencyfancies and let us know what you think!

Til next time,
Lesley-Anne