The Origins of the Picnic
What better than the pleasure of a simple picnic? Where did this tradition begin–perhaps not the way you imagined.
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What to Do at a House Party
The House Party: An Expensive Affair
The Pinnacle of Country Entertaining
Invited to Pemberley? Here’s what you might expect. Summer vacation season is rapidly descending upon us. As we are trying to plan a bit of a vacation later in the summer, I naturally began thinking about the sort of summer vacations that might have been planned during the Regency era—because of course that is what everyone things about while contemplating summer travel, right? Yes, that is my husband shaking his head in the background. … Continue reading →
The Pianoforte of Jane Austen’s day
What was the pianoforte and how did it feature in Austen’s works? The pianoforte so often featured in Jane Austen’s works was essentially the same instrument we know today as the piano. The instrument first came into being about 1700, by Bartolomeo Cristofori of Padua who cared for the harpsichords of the Florentine court. He developed an instrument similar to a harpsichord that allowed the instrument to be played both soft and loud (the meaning … Continue reading →