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"Aristotle at Afternoon Tea" by Oscar Wilde
Aristotle Pop ArtOscar Wilde was an excellent conversationalist, but, like anyone who is brilliant at something, he was also ridiculed for it. The memorable quotes, we know to this day, became...
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Flirting Made Easy
"All girls flirt with soldiers: they can't help it, no more can the soldiers, or they would.Cornets or Ensigns, Lieutenants, and Captains are flirted with the most. Only very bold girls indeed would...
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Constance Wilde's Celebrity Crush
Much is made of Oscar Wilde's affairs of the heart, but his wife also had a bit of a crush. This was by no means an extramarital affair, and was nothing compared to the way that Oscar carried on, but...
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LGBT Writers in London in the 1890s
This short descriptive list should serve as a catalogue of LGBT writers, who were active in fin-de-siècle London - that is the London of the 1890s. The term "fin de siècle" here refers to the cultural...
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Images of London in 1896
1896 is the first year that I've been able to find a video of. It just depicts London traffic, but it's still interesting to get a sense of what that was like. This other video from the same year shows...
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Mark Twain Loved Belly Dancers
I am a distractible writer. I go on tangents while writing and carrying out my research, but I also get drawn back into my research and writing, while engaging in every other aspect of my life. Looking...
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What happened to Oscar's stuff?
Scholarly article pay little attention to the role my protagonists played in history, one example being Kevin O'Brien's essay: "Lilly Wilde and Oscar's Fur Coat." If you click on that last link, you...
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Images of London in 1897
In May, Oscar Wilde was released from Reading Gaol. In June, Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamond Jubilee. In July, the Tate Gallery opened. In August, London got its first horseless taxicabs, and...
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Music Halls and the Star with a Top Hat and Cane
Walter Lambert's ‘Popularity’ - A vast painting depicting the Music Hall Stars of the early 1900sWhen a Mail representative found a respectable looking, rather portly gentleman with an eyeglass, a...
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How to Dress Like a Gentleman: Coat, Jacket, or Blazer
The 1890s gentleman in London was different than his predecessors. He was tired of being repressed, and ready to look a little dangerous. He cut his hair short, and pointed the beard beneath his full...
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Thornley Stoker: Creepy and Caring
Bram Stoker's mother told him horror stories, when he was a little boy and too sick to get out of bed. His oldest brother, Sir Thornley Stoker, 1st Baronet, became the Inspector of Vivesection for all...
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Where did your favourite 1890s writer go to school?
What did it take to be a successful writer in 1890s London? Did Education have anything to do with it? While managing the Lyceum, Bram Stoker used to receive manuscripts from aspiring playwrights of...
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The Dictionary of Victorian Insults & Niceties
The Dictionary of Victorian Insults & Niceties is a resource for historical fiction author, and lovers of Victorian culture.This dictionary will differ from other resources that are available by...
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H.G. Wells and the OED
In honor of my side project, the Dictionary of Victorian Insults & Niceties, this post explores H.G. Wells contributions to the English language.According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Wells is...
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Jack the Ripper Found At Last!
The signature on a letter dated 29 October 1888 written by a person claiming to be Jack the Ripper that was sent to Doctor Thomas Openshaw of the London Hospital Whitechapel.Don't clap all at once...As...
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Images of London in 1898
William Ewart Gladstone died in May 1898. As one of the icons of the Victorian Era, his passing brought the period nearer to its end. He had only been out of office for three years. Yet, the city moved...
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Riches to Rags: the Wilde Stories
Oscar Wilde, Constance Wilde, and one of their sons.If you've ever been broke, you are probably familiar with the way that it makes you feel, like there's something wrong with you, and the world...
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Bram Stoker's Rules for Cursing
I must tell you beforehand that Mr. Morris doesn’t always speak slang—that is to say, he never does so to strangers or before them, for he is really well educated and has exquisite manners—but he found...
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The Murder of Mrs and Baby Hogg
Arthur Conan Doyle once speculated that Jack the Ripper may have been a woman, who could have posed as a midwife and get away with wearing bloody clothes out of doors. It was then suggested that Jill...
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The Lambeth Poisoner
Not every Canadian, who moved to London, was as wonderful as Robbie Ross. One was the Lambeth Poisoner. Dr. Thomas Neill Cream was born in Glasgow, raised in rural Quebec, and attended to McGill...
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