Explore Orlando

Here, you’ll find randomized material from across the textbase’s author profiles and timelines. To jump to the content of your choice, click on its image card.

1854: A British patent was granted to Paul Pretsch...

Writer or writing item

1854

A British patent was granted to Paul Pretsch of Vienna for printing plates used in half-tone printing.
Clair, Colin. A Chronology of Printing. Cassell, 1969.
150

13 September 1742: Frances Williams wrote a letter of pure anger...

Building and people item

13 September 1742

Frances Williams wrote a letter of pure anger to her husband , who had hinted that she must have infected him with venereal disease when it was actually the other way round.
Stewart, Mary Margaret. “’And Blights with Plagues the Marriage Hearse’: Syphilis and Wives”. The Secret Malady: Venereal Disease in Eighteenth-Century Britain and France, edited by Linda E. Merians, University Press of Kentucky, 1996, pp. 103-13.
106-10

January 1783: The publishing house of John Murray launched...

Writer or writing item

January 1783

The publishing house of John Murray launched The English Review of Literature, Science, Discoveries, Inventions, and Practical Controversies and Contests; with varying subtitles it ran until 1796.
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.
Abbott, John L. “Review of William Zachs, The First John Murray and the Late Eighteenth-Century Book Trade, 1998”. The Age of Johnson, edited by Paul J. Korshin, Vol.
12
, 2001, pp. 495-03.
501-2

1801: Sarah Shade dictated and published her autobiography,...

Building and people item

1801

Sarah Shade dictated and published her autobiography, A Narrative of the Life of Sarah Shade, which relates her life, marriages, and other experience in colonial India.
Pagden, Anthony. “Oak in a Flowerpot”. London Review of Books, 14 Nov. 2002, pp. 9-10.
9
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.

February 1916: The Suffragette News Sheet began monthly...

Building and people item

February 1916

The Suffragette News Sheet began monthly publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
39

1919: Siegfried Sassoon published War Poems, and...

Writer or writing item

1919

Siegfried Sassoon published War Poems, and became literary editor of the Daily Herald.
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.

Elizabeth, Smith

Elizabeth Smith , a young woman of unusual intellectual gifts, aroused public interest by her early death, and by the abilities and especially the piety revealed in her posthumously published works. She was a scholar...
Elizabeth, Smith Stipple engraving of Elizabeth Smith, 1776-1806, by R. M. Meadows from a drawing by John George Wood, published 1809. This head-and-shoulders, oval picture shows her wearing a simple, loose, high-waisted dress with a tall frilled collar. Her dark curly hair is pulled up and tied on top of her head. Below is printed in italic script: "This is a Drawing of the Author during her last Illness by J. G. Wood." National Portrait Gallery.

By December 1774: William Hunter published The Anatomy of the...

Building and people item

By December 1774

William Hunter published The Anatomy of the Human Gravid Uterus exhibited in Figures: in his work he used casts taken directly from the dead body.
Critical Review. W. Simpkin and R. Marshall, 5 series.
38 (1774): 408-12
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.
Elliott, Nathan. “"Unball’d Sockets" and ‘The Mockery of Speech’: Diagnostic Anxiety and the Theater of Joanna Baillie”. European Romantic Review, Vol.
18
, No. 1, Jan. 2007, pp. 83-103.
89-91

3 September 1792: Marie-Antoinette's friend the princesse de...

Building and people item

3 September 1792

Marie-Antoinette 's friend the princesse de Lamballe was guillotined, and her death manipulated to torture the queen as well as herself.
Roulston, Christine. “Separating the Inseparables: Female Friendship and its Discontents in Eighteenth-Century France”. Eighteenth-Century Studies, Vol.
32
, No. 2, 1998–1989, pp. 215-31.
226 and n49

Probably September 1680: Nathaniel Lee's tragedy The Princess of Cleve...

Writer or writing item

Probably September 1680

Nathaniel Lee 's tragedy The Princess of Cleve was first performed.
Watson, George, and Ian Roy Wilson, editors. The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. Cambridge University Press, 1969, 5 vols., http://U of A, HSS Ruth N Flr 1 Ref.

1937: The new Irish constitution included Article...

National or international item

1937

The new Irish constitution included Article 41.2 which stated that In particular, the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot...

March 1694: The French poet Boileau published his misogynist...

Writer or writing item

March 1694

The French poet Boileau published his misogynist Satire X, which targets the poet Antoinette Deshoulières (who had died in February) as a précieuse, and Scudéry 's Clélie as advocating adultery.
Schroder, Volker. “Women Writers Response to Boileaus SATIRE XAmerican Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) Conference, Boston, MA, 26 Mar. 2004.

8 June 1831: Sarah Siddons, great tragic actress, died...

Building and people item

8 June 1831

Sarah Siddons , great tragic actress, died in London.
Drabble, Margaret, editor. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. 5th ed., Oxford University Press, 1985.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Manvell, Roger. Sarah Siddons: Portrait of an Actress. Heinemann, 1970.
312, 341

10 July 1792: Captain Frederick Marryat, novelist and father...

Writer or writing item

10 July 1792

Captain Frederick Marryat , novelist and father of Florence Marryat , was born in Great George Street, Westminster.
“Dictionary of Literary Biography online”. Gale Databases: Literature Resource Center-LRC.
21

By 20 June 2000: Jane Nissen, a former editor at Penguin,...

Writer or writing item

By 20 June 2000

Jane Nissen , a former editor at Penguin , published the first four titles by Jane Nissen Books , reprints of much-loved children's books of the twentieth century.
Carey, Joanna. “Classic Revival”. Guardian Unlimited Books, 20 June 2000.

By 17 December 1744: Charles Fleetwood sold out at Drury Lane...

Building and people item

By 17 December 1744

Charles Fleetwood sold out at Drury Lane Theatre and James Lacy was installed as manager.
The London Stage 1660-1800. Southern Illinois University Press, 1960–1968, 5 vols.
3: 1115, 1130-2

18 May 1906: The Women's Tribune, a suffragette magazine,...

Building and people item

18 May 1906

The Women's Tribune, a suffragette magazine, subtitled Women's Franchise Declaration Committee Weekly,
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
24
began weekly publication in London.
Doughan, David, and Denise Sanchez. Feminist Periodicals, 1855-1984. Harvester Press, 1987.
24

1602: A pond was in use at Rochester in Kent for...

Building and people item

1602

A pond was in use at Rochester in Kent for the punishment of ducking wayward wives.
Gillis, John R. For Better, For Worse: British Marriages, 1600 to the Present. Oxford University Press, 1985.
76

1717: The worthy authors chosen for a miscellany...

Women writers item

1717

The worthy authors chosen for a miscellany entitled The Agreeable Variety by its female editor included Behn , Philips , Chudleigh , and Finch .
Lavoie, Chantel Michelle. Poems by Eminent Ladies: A Study of an Eighteenth-Century Anthology. University of Toronto, 1999.
120
British Library Catalogue. http://explore.bl.uk/primo_library/libweb/action/search.do?dscnt=0&tab=local_tab&dstmp=1489778087340&vid=BLVU1&mode=Basic&fromLo.

1754: The Rev. William Dodd published his novel...

Writer or writing item

1754

The Rev. William Dodd published his novel The Sisters; or, The History of Lucy and Caroline Sanson, Entrusted to a False Friend, a morally oversimplified example of the bad-sister-damned/good-sister-saved plot.
Campbell, Ann M. “Sister Plots: The Double in English Courtship Novels”. American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ASECS) Conference, Milwaukee, WI, 27 Mar. 1999.

1844: The first telegraph line in the US was built,...

National or international item

1844

The first telegraph line in the US was built, connecting Washington and Baltimore.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. http://www.britannica.com/.
“Timeline: Biography of Samuel Morse 1791 - 1872”. About Inventors: Find A-Z Inventors.

14 August 1893: Motorists in France were required to obtain...

Building and people item

14 August 1893

Motorists in France were required to obtain a licence to drive, after first passing a driving test. Britain was one of the last countries to require such a test.
Bruno, Leonard. On the Move: A Chronology of Advances in Transportation. Gale Research, 1993.
139

18 November 1477: Having set up a printing shop in Westminster...

Writer or writing item

18 November 1477

Having set up a printing shop in Westminster the previous year, William Caxton published The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers; the earliest dated book printed in England.
Stephen, Sir Leslie, and Sidney Lee, editors. The Dictionary of National Biography. Smith, Elder, 1908–2026, 22 vols. plus supplements.
Clair, Colin. A Chronology of Printing. Cassell, 1969.
21
Borne Back Daily. 2001, http://borneback.com/ .
18 November 2013

30 September 1791: Mozart's last opera, Die Zauberflöte or The...

Building and people item

30 September 1791

Mozart 's last opera, Die Zauberflöte or The Magic Flute (strictly not an opera but a singspiel because of its spoken passages) opened in Vienna.
Brockway, Wallace, and Herbert Weinstock. The World of Opera. Methuen, 1963.