"The king of Portugal, coming along the road at midnight, which was in his own room at noon, his foot slipped, and three balls went through his body; which, however, had no other consequence than giving him a stroke of the palsy, of which he is quite recovered, except being dead."
- Letter to Lady Hervey, Oct. 17, 1758
Coming unexpectedly upon the word "bewolfenbutteled" for the second time in my life, sent me to where I saw it the first time,...
We‘re still buying & playing with letter cookies here. 😜 Never too old.
Spring 1756: Members of Parliament squabble amongst themselves about various taxes and legislative bills; the public worries about environmental disaster after a spate of earthquakes in Europe; much public panic, also, about a threatened French invasion, which the government uses to distract the nation from their political shenanigans. 👇🏼
Two more going out! @Stacypatrice one for you soon and @starlight97 one for you as soon as I can get my hands on some international stamps!
#LitsyLove #letters
Well I didn't want to say... 🤣🤣🤣
Thanks to everyone who‘s sent letters!! A little bright spot in my quickly darkening week. I‘ll be getting back to y‘all shortly!
Also, Spring Break starts next week so if you send me a letter then, I‘ll get back to you the week of the 15th.
#litsylove #letters #penpals #springbreak
Sorry I‘ve been a little MIA! School hit like a brick wall, but hopefully I‘ll get back to regular posting. Anyway, checked my mail yesterday and I had all these lovely letters from #LitsyLove!! Thanks guys and I‘ll be getting back to y‘all in the next few days! 😊❤️
Thank you Misty ❤️ they both arrived on the same day! I didn‘t realise one was a birthday card, so will now save and put up on my birthday.
I posted a card to you a couple of weeks ago- hoping it arrives soon 😁
Whilst Mr Johnson's "new dictionary" may not give the definition of 'bewolfenbuttled', fortunately the footnote elucidates that the future George III objected to being married off to the daughter of the duke of Brunswick Wolfenbüttel. So, to bewolfenbuttle may be taken as lumbering someone with an unwanted spouse!
This neologism of Walpole's didn't catch on nearly as well as his coinage of serendipity ?
I owe apologies to all my wonderful #litsylove and #jb friends, I've gotten way behind in my correspondence (again 😬). Luckily this is a letter writing weekend so Monday should see lots of post winging it's way to all of you! 📚❤️
#LitsyLove and #JB letters Part 1...going into the mailbox today!
@Lovesbooks87 @Nevermore88 @BookwormAHN @phatsallylee @Crazeedi @dariazeoli @tracey38 @BookNAround @IndoorDame @Canndor @OriginalCyn620 @Stacypatrice
#LitsyLove and #JB letters Part 1...going into the mailbox today!
@Lovesbooks87 @Nevermore88 @BookwormAHN @phatsallylee @Crazeedi @dariazeoli @tracey38 @BookNAround @IndoorDame @Canndor @OriginalCyn620 @Stacypatrice
"At present, my chief study is West Indian history. You would not think me very Ill-natured if you knew all I feel at the cruelty and villainy of European settlers - But this very morning I found that part of the purchase of Maryland from the savage proprietors (for 'we' do not massacre, 'we' are such good Christians as only to cheat) was a quantity of vermilion and a parcel of Jews-harps!"
- Letter to Richard Bentley, 4 August 1755
Post visit to Walpole's home, Strawberry Hill House, relaxing with his letters and a glass of wine in an Italian restaurant (Castle of Otranto is set in Italy, so this is allowed 😁). It's a wonderful place to visit, SHH, though Walpole's prediction that his collection would be broken up soon after his death proved accurate. As magnificent as it is, I think the house is probably a shadow of itself when Walpole lived there.
Let me set the scene: It's 1755, and England (let's not implicate Wales and Scotland) is at loggerheads with the great European power (France). A vote is to be held to decide England's relationship with the European power, a decision which will affect the nation's prosperity, about which Walpole writes to his friend...
December 1754: Georgian EBay...
Walpole freaks out when he sends an agent to bid on a rare pamphlet at a deceased toff's library sale, saying he's not bothered about price, but expecting it to cost shillings. The agent returns, asking if 49 guineas is too much! Fortunately, Walpole was 'sniped' by another buyer giving their agent similarly vague instructions, who bid 50 guineas. Walpole vows "never to give an unbounded commission again"!
"I came to Stratford-upon-Avon, the wretchedest old town I ever saw, which I intended for #Shakespeare 's sake to find snug and pretty, and antique, not old. His tomb and his wife's and John à Combes, are in an agreeable church with several other monuments ... but the bountiful corporation have exceedingly bepainted Shakespeare and the principal personages."
- To George Montagu, July 22,1751
Walpole loves to complain about the towns he visits...
"If you love good roads, conveniences, good inns, plenty of postilions and horses, be so kind as to never go into Sussex. We thought ourselves in the northest part of England; the whole country has a Saxon air, and the inhabitants are savage."
- To George Montagu, Esq., August 26, 1749
How rude! Simultaneously insulting the people of Northern and Southern England! ?
I'm up to August 1746 and unable to follow Walpole's correspondence to Montagu about "my Lord Kilmarnock", who is imprisoned in the Tower and due to be executed. So, to Wikipedia, to discover I'm reading about the aftermath of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745, which led to the Battle of Culloden (image) on 16th April 1746, and the destruction of the Jacobite army.
William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, led a troop of 200 footguards, ... ?
Walpole's letters begin late 1739, early 1740, as he sets out on the English aristocracy's traditional Grand Tour of Europe. His travelling companion is Thomas Gray, later to be a celebrated poet (Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard), his main correspondent at this point being Eton school chum, Richard West. So far, complaints about the boorish habits of English tourists (obviously not including himself!) and the phenomenon of ...
"The most remarkable thing I have observed since I came abroad, is, that there are no people so obviously mad as the English."
I wonder how old is the notion of the eccentricity of the English?
"The farther I travel, the less I wonder at anything: a few days reconcile one to a new spot, or an unseen custom; and men are so much the same everywhere, that one scare perceives a change in situation."
Mrs Bookwomble being a fan of the TV series, "Versailles", I was amused to come across Walpole's judgement of the palace when he visited it in 1739: "Pompous...a lumber of littlenesses...stuck full of bad old busts, and fringed with gold rails...The garden is littered with statues and fountains...who disport themselves much in squirting...In short, 'tis a garden for a great child. Such was Louis XIV...left to his own peurile ideas of glory." ??
This 1905 edition of the letters of Horace Walpole is printed on onion skin paper so, despite being rather slim, it has 849 pages.
Walpole was the originator of the Gothic literary genre with his book "The Castle of Otranto", a creative exercise of global significance, occupying just four pages of this volume. The bits I've skimmed seem interesting, so one I'll probably try to get to pretty soon.
Letters | 
This one I found amusing in its dry delivery of the news of the assassination of King Jose I of Portugal on Sep. 3, 1758. More amusing to find, upon internetting, that Walpole had his information wrong, news of the King's death being premature - he lived another 19 years - and he was shot twice rather than three times. Walpole's oblique reference to regal indiscretion was right, though, as the king was ambushed on his ... 2y
In the aftermath of the assassination attempt lots of disaffected aristocracy and priests were rounded up and publicly tortured to death with the intent of discouraging further discontent, whilst actually making the king even more unpopular - who'd have guessed? 🤷🏻♂️ 2y