Category: Uncategorized
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Temple of Muses
In 1794, James Lackington (1746-1815) revolutionized bookselling by opening one of the largest, most famous and successful bookstores in London called The Temple of Muses. In 1809, Ackermann published the following description of the mammoth enterprise: “This magnificent structure is situated at the S.W. corner of Finsbury-square, and was fitted up for the reception of…
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Circulating Libraries
An Introduction: These images are stills taken from the film adaptation of Northanger Abbey (2007)
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Mourning Charlotte
The December 1817 issue of Ackermann’s Repository of Arts was published shortly after one of the most significant events in early nineteenth-century British history and print culture: the death of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales. Charlotte’s death on November 6, 1817 marks the first death of either a monarch or direct heir to the British…
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Open for Business
In 1796 the first ever department store opened in London: Harding, Howell & Co.’s Grand Fashionable Magazine. Measuring at about 22,500 sqft., this place was considered enormous for the 18th/19th-century. It contained five departments: Furs and fans Haberdashery (silks, muslins, lace, gloves, etc.) Jewelry, ornamental articles in ormolu, French clocks and perfumery Fabric for dresses…
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Jane’s Wedding Ring
The first of the four images we see here was sketched by Jane’s sister Cassandra in 1810. When Jane’s nephew James Edward Austen Leigh was writing her biography, he commissioned James Andrews of Maidenhead to create a “prettier” version of Cassandra’s sketch. This watercolor was then turned into an engraving and used as the frontispiece…
Jane's Repository 