Dear Subscriber,
The October issue is here at last. I apologize for the lengthy delay - issues with CreateSpace over the first installment of
Victorian Times Quarterly and the forthcoming
Time for Tea book have put everything a bit behind schedule.
Victorian Times Quarterly is available at last (see below).
Time for Tea, by the way, should be available within the next two weeks. This amazing collection offers nearly 650 Victorian recipes for tea-time treats, including puddings, cakes, tea-cakes, scones, ices, custards, creams, fruit dishes, and more (as well as a selection of yummy savory appetizers and sandwiches). You can find out more about this volume at
http://www.victorianvoices.net/books/tea.shtml.
And don't forget that Christmas is just around the corner -- and our
Victorian Christmas Treasury is a great way to plan your own Victorian-themed holiday, or just discover more about how the Victorians honored this beloved season. Find out more at
http://www.victorianvoices.net/books/Christmas.shtml!
And now, without further ado, here's what you'll find in the October issue of
Victorian Times:
- Some Curious Fancy Dresses - This elaborate outfits designed for the famous British costume ball might be just the thing for your Victorian Halloween party!
- A Nutting Party and Halloween Frolic - The focus of a good old Victorian Halloween party was fortune-telling - with chestnuts, hot lead, and more!
- Prize Bills of Fare - Some delicious recipes that, in 1887, would feed a family for a week for less than $10!
- The Guest and Guest-Chamber, and Etiquette Between Guests - In Victorian days, houseguests often expected to stay awhile; here are some tips on making the visit comfortable for everyone.
- Some Objectionable Wedding Customs - "An Old Lady" objects to such newfangled bridal customs as throwing rice, throwing the slipper, and boy-pages.
- The Brunswick Ghost - Was an 18th-century German schoolmaster walking the halls of the Carolinium College of Brunswick?
- Imitation Stained Glass - The beautiful Fred Miller designs in this article could be applied to many craft projects besides glass!
- Country Customs: Nutting in the Woods - This article informs us that wood-nuts gathered before October are "worthless" -- this is the month to seek hazelnuts, and enjoy the changes that autumn brings to the woods.
- Merops the Rook - The tale of Merops, a partially tame, solitary rook -- solitary until, at last, he finds his feathered soul-mate!
- The Ghosts of Nether Talkington - It's Halloween, and who can resist a good ghost story? This one's a charmer!
- High Tea - Tips on hosting this quintessential Victorian meal.
- The First Fire of the Season - Visitors to England know that no matter how cold it is, nothing is likely to persuade your hosts from "turning on the heat" before October. Apparently this custom goes way back...
- My School Days, Part 10 - Get up close and personal with famous children's author E. Nesbit as she recalls her own childhood in this charming 12-part serial!
- Chronicles of an Anglo-Californian Ranch, Part 11 - A British family sallies forth into the New World to seek its fortune in southern California, not far from the "busy and enterprising town of Los Angeles."
Visit http://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/issues/VT-1510.shtml to download this issue!
Victorian Times Quarterly Is Here At Last... The Subscription, Alas, Is Not.
My deepest apologies to all of you who have been waiting patiently for the arrival of the first installment of Victorian Times Quarterly. It is, at last, ready and available on Amazon.
It is not, unfortunately, available by subscription, as I had originally intended. An unusually high number of quality control issues with CreateSpace have made it too dodgy to try to "guarantee" a particular subscription schedule. So for now I am only able to offer this volume for individual purchase.
That being said, it's a gorgeous issue. This first volume includes the July, August and September issues of Victorian Times. I'm already working on the next volume, as this experience has shown that I'll need a lot of lead time to get it out by the end of November! (On the bright side, that means I'm getting the November and December issues of Victorian Times done a bit ahead of schedule!)
Victorian Times Quarterly replaces the six-month collections and the monthly print issues. Please visit http://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/VTQ/index.shtml to find out what's coming up in the next two quarters and access the issue on Amazon. (BTW, to add to the confusion, there are two editions of this first "quarterly" listed on Amazon; the earlier version does not actually exist, though someone is trying to sell it for $40! The correct edition is the October edition.)
Changes Coming...
This month I have switched to a new newsletter host. I hope that everything goes smoothly, but if you have any problems with your newsletter, please do let me know! (Apologies if the text version of this doesn't look quite right - this particular messaging program seems to insert backslashes wherever there are italics in the HTML version.)
Enjoy the lovely fall weather while it lasts!