First published in 1983, Farm Buildings gives a fascinating account of what has been happening in and around farm buildings since medieval times, and describes their structure, their function and their style. This is followed by a long section in which sixty-eight representative types of Welsh and English farm buildings are commented on by the author and illustrated by John Penoyre. John Woodforde emphasizes that just as people increasingly enjoy looking at old farm buildings, so too some farmers are coming to appreciate them with a new eye, noting that they possess in their yards assets whose value is greater in several ways than they used to think. This book will be of interest to students of architecture, history and agriculture.
First published in 1978, Georgian Houses for All describes how little Gregorian houses came into being and how the original inhabitants used them. Gregorian houses at their smallest and simplest can be seen everywhere in the British Isles – detached, semi-detached and joined together in terraces. There are probably still over a million of them, built during a period of 130 years without the direct aid of architects. John Woodforde points out that an instinctive wish for a symmetrical front seems to be shown by young children’s drawings of houses, these being generally balanced and orderly. The Georgians’ love of symmetry, marked in their way of hanging pictures, was part of a desire for private order amongst public disorder, a desire to have one small sphere in which nature was fully controlled. John Woodforde reminds us that, in the present-day return to terrace-house building, the Georgian version remains a valuable guide. The book will be of interest to students of architecture, urban planning, and history.
The old cottages of Britain are amongst the country's best-loved treasures. Threatened on all sides - whether by the dilapidation of woodworm and dry-rot or the schemes of planners and developers - they are fiercely protected by all those who live in (or simply dream of living in) a country cottage. Yet few have any idea about what life in a cottage was really like both within and outside our living memory."The Truth About Cottages" is a small classic - in the words of the "Sunday Times", 'required reading for cottage addicts; true scholarship, engrossing history and a real eye-opener for romantics.' It tells the remarkable story of cottage life since the seventeenth century, often using the words of the people who built the cottages or lived in them. For example, there is the instance of the horse that shared a nineteenth-century, single-room cottage with its twelve human inhabitants, as well as the documented tribulations of rural labourers and barefoot urban dwellers alike, whose homes were as unsanitary and cold as they were picturesque. The book goes further, to provide an informative illustrated guide to the fifty main types of cottage, dating from the fifteenth century. It remains the ideal companion for explorers of these gems.
Vanity was the beginning and end of Sir Walter Elliot's character... he considered the blessing of beauty as inferior only to the blessing of a baronetcy,' wrote Jane Austen in Persuasion. Yet, as John Woodforde so amply demonstrates, it is not only the fictional who throughout history have been concerned with the trappings of vanity and who have sought to make themselves more pleasing to others." "This book looks at the history of vanity and the ways in which people have endeavoured to retain youthfulness and virility from Roman times to the present day. Lightly written and the result of much research, The History of Vanity is both entertaining and informative. The various aspects of vanity are considered, from dress and disguise of the body, and the use of false calves, cod-pieces and stays, to cosmetics, including the practice of using white lead and belladonna juice to enhance facial features during the Middle Ages, and attitudes towards speech and conduct, such as that of Lord Chesterfield who in 1853 felt it necessary to warn his son against 'illiberal and so ill-bred' laughter." "Other chapters discuss the dandy; cosmetic surgery; false teeth and teeth transplants; wigs, wig-making and hair-fashions; heels and boots, and the wearing of hats. The book also looks at the trades and services which grew up to serve the needs of the vain, such as those of wig- and wig-box makers." "The book is illustrated with over fifty photographs, paintings and line drawings showing the uses and abuses of vanity through the centuries. In an age in which every third advertisement in America is for plastic surgery, The History of Vanity has never been more pertinent and, packed with anecdote and little-known historical detail, it will intrigue the social historian and the general reader alike."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
A history and analysis of the development of domestic design in early modern Britain and America. How did our modern ideas of physical well-being originate? As John Crowley demonstrates in The Invention of Comfort, changes in sensible technology owed a great deal to fashion-conscious elites discovering discomfort in surroundings they earlier had felt to be satisfactory. Written in an engaging style that will appeal to historians and material culture specialists as well as to general readers, this pathbreaking work brings together such disparate topics of analysis as climate, fire, food, clothing, the senses, and anxiety—especially about the night. “Riveting. . . . A solid contribution to the literature on the cultural impact of gentility, refinement, and the “baubles of Britain” in England and its colonial possessions.” —Journal of American History “Crowley provides a masterly search and survey that no historian of material culture should miss, and every curious reader should consider.” —Eugen Weber, Phi Beta Kappa Key Reporter “A comprehensive and tight study . . . a valuable contribution to the field, [and] one that is enjoyable to read.” —Emma Hart, English Historical Review “The sheer range of evidence, the interweaving of themes, and the overall strength of the argument mean [this] is an ideal book for specialists and students alike.” —Helen Clifford, Journal of Design History “The Invention of Comfort is an important and thought-provoking book that challenges our understanding of why people live that way they do.” —Marie Morgan, New England Quarterly
Aaron Burr--Revolutionary War hero, third vice president of the United States and a controversial figure of the early republic--was tried and acquitted of treason charges in 1807, and thereafter departed for self-imposed exile in Europe, his political career in ruins. Adrift in Paris for 15 months, he led a marginal existence on the run from creditors and the courts, getting by on handouts. While other Americans in Paris enjoyed official status that insulated them from life in the capital, Burr dreamed up fruitless schemes and pawned his possessions, yet remained in high spirits, enjoying Parisian theater and cafes. He shopped, flirted, paid for sex and associated with friends old and new while gathering the resolve to return to America. Burr's Paris journal is a rare item, with only 250 unexpurgated copies printed in 1903. In it he relates his fascinating stories and describes Parisian life at the height of Napoleon's power. Drawing on Burr's journal and other sources, this book provides a self-portrait of the down-and-out Founding Father abroad.
A hilarious comedy of errors and a delightful love story by England's most improbable sex symbol. Little did retired professor John Bayley realize when he lost Iris Murdoch, his beloved wife of forty-four years, that life would never be the same again. First came thousands of sympathy notes from lovers of Murdoch's novels and fans of Bayley's own poignant memoir, Elegy for Iris. But more alarming were the hundreds of calls from seemingly well-meaning women, many of whom rang Bayley's doorbell in Oxford, bearing cakes, casserole dishes, and delivering pep talks designed to cheer up the widower of their dreams. Here, in Widower's House: A Study in Bereavement or How Margot and Mella Forced Me to Flee My Home, Bayley tells the painful, inspirational, and ultimately uplifting story of how he had to grapple with his fate as a man by beginning life anew in his mid-seventies. Like millions of other widows and widowers, Bayley, as he relates it, found himself emotionally unprepared for the responsibilities and burdens that confront people who suddenly find themselves alone. He hadn't realized how differently you are treated when you are not part of a couple, and how you must learn to respond to friends, family members, and total strangers in completely different ways. With the reassuring, compassionate voice of Iris still a mournful obbligato in the background, Bayley describes the pitfalls a widower must face as he ventures out into the newly virgin world beyond his front door. Finding comfort in recording the day-to-day calamities that marked his reentry into the real world, Bayley uses surprising humor—reflected here in the vivid depictions of his new suitors, Margot and Mella—to get him through his darkest days. Melodic, irrepressible, and comically comforting, Widower's House, with its heartwarming and surprisingly romantic ending, will reveal yet a new side of the man who has become England's most unlikely symbol of masculine virility.
Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.
Reprint of the original, first published in 1864. The Journals of John McDouall Stuart during the year 1858, 1859, 1860, 1861, and 1862, when he fixed the centre of the continent and successfully crossed it from sea to sea.
Australia has a proud history on the world tennis stage. From pioneers like Jack Crawford, Nancye Wynne (Bolton) and Frank Sedgman, through the golden era of champions like Ken Rosewall, Roy Emerson, Rod Laver, Margaret Smith (Court) and John Newcombe, and on to more recent success stories like those of Ash Barty and Dylan Alcott. This book highlights the achievements of every Australian champion in singles and doubles at the 4 Grand Slam events in world tennis – Wimbledon and the Australian, French and US Opens – along with all the near misses by Aussie players who have finished as runners-up at those prestigious events. It’s a must-read for any Aussie tennis fan.
This book explores ideas of enthusiasm, or divine inspiration, in the works of the poet, dramatist, and literary critic John Dryden. It offers a new view of a major seventeenth-century writer and also examines the complex political and religious tensions implicit in Dryden's interest in enthusiasm.
The new edition of this bestseller in hardcover features never-before-published, all-new inside info on the money, personalities and politics of pro-tennis: Jimmy, Monica, Boris, Martina, et al. Now in paper.
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