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I thought I'd get the New Year of 2012 off to an Ackermann's start and post the wonderful Furniture plates they published for the years 1809-1828. Back in the Regency your home fashions were just as important as your personal wardrobe so Ackermann's included nearly as many furniture plates as it did fashions in every monthly issue. I have found these images to be a wonderful treasure trove of digital inspiration and I hope you do too. My favorite of all the Furniture plates have to be the curtains - I love them so much that I devoted an entire blog post to them in November 2011 that can be seen HERE. I even digitally altered many of my favorites for easy use in digital artwork and posted those new creations to my deviantART account so other artists could use them too - I hope you take a look at them both. My top pick for the 1809-1815 furniture plates is this Library Couch from 1811 done in a Regency "Greek Revival" Style Frame for the above image was created by me and can be found on my deviantART account - HERE A bit about Ackermann's for those who are new to my Ackermann blog posts. Ackermann's Repository was a popular periodical, published in England from 1809-1828. It's full name was "The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashion, and Politics" published by R. Ackermann. but it was referred to as simply Ackermann's Repository to keep it simple. These monthly issues were produced with the intention of binding each collection into book form (2 volumes per year) and so the plates in each issue were were numbered accordingly into 3 series; Series 1 ran from 1809-1815 Series 2 ran from 1816 - 1822 Series 3 ran from 1823 - 1828 The repository included a wide variety of entertaining articles including the latest in furnishing trends. Today I'm posting the hand colored furniture plates that were published for series 1 (1809-1815) *** See my previous blog posts from June 29, 2011 - Dec 31, 2011 for other Ackermann images.*** Ackermann Repository Furniture Plates from 1809 - 1815 These hand-colored furniture plates from AR series 1 (1809 - 1815) show the popular and cutting edge in home decor for this time period in England. Those with large disposable incomes would regularly update their home to stay current with the trends just as they regularly changed their wardrobes. However those of lesser means would have use this information as inspiration for adding accents or key pieces to their homes so as to stay in the" mode" as it were. Several styles such as Grecian (neo-classical) and Gothic were considered acceptable styles throughout 1809-1828 so redecorating to stay in fashion could be as simple as recovering existing furniture in a new fabric, hanging new drapes and painting a room an "in fashion" color. These are all things that need to be done anyway from time to time to avoid having a "shabby" home; so when you really think about it, it resembles how many of us may update our home too from time to time. This reminds me it's time to paint my kitchen - giggles. 1809 This was the first year for Ackermann's Repository so the furniture plates they printed were fairly normal home items such as tables, chairs, sofas and ladies toilet sets. There was lots of beautiful gilded wood and some amazing trims. I just love all the trims on the Regency items, be they furniture or fashion. 1809 - Sofa Bed from Ackermann's Repository 1809 - Drawing Room Chair Table and Accessories from Ackermann's Repository 1809 - Chaise Lounge and Window Seat from Ackermann's Repository 1809 - Ladies Secretary and Parlor Chair from Ackermann's Repository 1809 - Library Sofa and Candelabra from Ackermann's Repository 1809 - Ladies Toilet, Fauteuil, Footstool and Chamber Bath from Ackermann's Repository Fauteuil - an 18th century, open-arm, carved relief, wooden chair with upholstered seat. Chamber Bath - A wash basin type of personal bath you would sit in to clean yourself. (not the full immersion type of bathtubs we have today). Here is the full Ackermann's description for the above 1809 Ladies Toilet Ackermann's Description of the Ladies Toilet and Accessories 1809 - Drawing Room Chairs from Ackermann's Repository Ackermann's Repository showed many furniture items in the Grecian style for 1809. Beautiful wood with gilding, rich upholstered fabrics and lovely fringes and tassels. Curtains were also considered part of the furniture plates they published. These are two Ackermann's published in 1809. To see all the Regency curtains from Ackermann's click HERE To me this looks like a leopard spotted curtain and is one of my favorites 1809 - French curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1810 With the first year of publication behind them Ackermann's Repository chose to show some innovative furnishings and contraptions in their second year of publication. A circular movable bookcase, convertible globe writing tables, and even a Regency era invalid chair "wheelchair" was included in the furniture plates for 1810. 1810 - A new innovation - Circular Movable Bookcase from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Gothic Library Furniture (Sofa, Table, Chair and Footstool) from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Patent Sideboard and Dining Tables from Ackermann's Repository The above image if for the a Patented Sideboard with Dining Tables. This could be commissioned in any size needed and was made in such a way that the dining tables can be shut up within the sideboard when not in use and the extra table leaves are stored as shown in the middle top drawer of the sideboard. 1810 - Convertible Globe / Writing Table from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Comfortable Salon and Library Chairs from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Sideboard and Dining Room Chair from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Banquette suite of sofa and chair - furniture for summer or foreign climates from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Invalid Chair "Wheelchair" from Ackermann's Repository Below is the Ackermann's description for this innovative chair. Ackermann's Repository Description of the Invalid Chair from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Innovative Library or Bedroom Chairs with Attached Accessories from Ackermann's Repository 1810 - Curtain Designs from Ackermann's Repository 1811 Ackermann's continued to show us more interesting furniture innovations in the 1811 issues. Among them were; a ladies convertible work/game table, a library chair that would flip and become a set of steps and the most interesting Merlin's Chair for invalids. 1811 - Swan embellished Circular Sofa from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - Two Drawing Room Chairs from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - Library Couch from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - Military Couch Bed from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - Ladies Work/Game Table from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - Bookcase from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - Merlin's Mechanical Chair and other ideas of modern transportation. The above chair as it stands was intended as another version of an invalid chair or "wheelchair" as we might call it; however the article that accompanied it also references may possibilities for a design such as this and I found it to be a most interesting read, so I have included it below. The author speculates that it could be powered by a small steam-engine (a Regency motorized wheelchair if you can image that) or that with an alteration in the design the steam powered contraption could be mounted with a small cannon (a Regency personal tank?) or even a new mode of self-moving engine for public conveyance. I just found this fascinating and I hope you do too. Ackermann's Description for the Merlin Chair Above 1811 - Convertible Library Chair/Steps from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - Card/Writing/Sofa Table and Trafalgar Chair from Ackermann's Repository This innovative "gadget" table is a small, square, card table that can be converted into a double reading/writing table so that two persons can sit opposite each other to read or write without being able to overlook what the other - for privacy. And finally by drawing out the ornamental brackets on either end, the writing/reading surfaces flip down so the item becomes a sofa table. Two Window Curtain designs were published by Ackermann's in 1811 as part of the Furniture Plates. 1811 - French Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - French Drapery Design from Ackermann's Repository 1812 Ackermann's Repository showed more traditional items of furniture in their 1812 issues; however some of these items still contained a few fun "extras" to keep them interesting. 1812 - Bed created for the Marquis of Winchester less the family crest and other ornaments. 1812 - Cabinet Piano-Forte from Messrs. Wilkinson & Wornum of Oxford St. 1811 - Library Bookcase and retractable Writing Table 1812 - Ladies Toilette/Dressing Case This was a most intriguing piece of ladies furniture that just could not be explained in a few words so I have opted to include the full Ackermann's description below for your entertainment. Description of the above shown Ladies Dressing Case 1812 - Library Table and Chair by Ackermann's Repository 1812 - French Sofa and Drawing Room Chair by Ackermann's Repository 1812 - French Scroll Sofa and Table by Ackermann's Repository 1812 - Furnishings of Candelabrum, Footstool and Table 1812 - Bookcase by Ackermann's Repository 1812 - French curtain for the Library or Morning Room 1812 - Window Curtain for the Drawing Room 1813 Ackermann's published some fairly ordinary furnishings for 1813; however the Pocock patented reclining chair was a bit out of the norm and though they called it a tastefully classic design I believe I would have skipped the gargoyles had I ordered one in 1813. 1813 - State Bed by Ackermann's Repository 1813 - Patent Fireplace - I used the blue part of the surround to create a frame HERE - see full post HERE 1813 - Cabinet and Dwarf Table (table for library, sitting room or boudoir) Patented Reclining Chair - re-positionable back with double reclining foot-rest and attached table in a classical style. 1813 - A variety of fashionable Footstools 1813 - Antique style Sofa and Table 1813 - 2 chairs 1813 - French Window Treatments and various room accessories There were also about a half dozen "Gothic" architectural plates published in various 1813 issues. (Conservatory, Hall, Library, Staircase, and Bedchamber). Click HERE to see the previous post where those items 1813 Gothic items can be seen. 1814 Chairs seemed to be the theme in 1814, most of the furniture plates for that year included at least one. I'm not sure if it were a new trend to replace one's chairs or if it was simply one of the more economical items in furnishings that could be purchased to update the look of a room. 1814 - Library Desk and Chair 1814 - Convertible Writing/Game Table 1814 - Bookcase with Fold-Away Writing Table 1814 - Table and Chair from Carlton House 1814 - Ottoman Couch 1814 - Bedroom Chairs ( I would not want to sit in one of these too long) 1814 - Hall Chairs (an uncomfortable seat for anyone requested to "wait here" by a servant of the house) 1814 - Parlor Chairs (come and sit for a while but don't stay too long) 1814 - Drawing Room Chairs (oh look at my pretty chairs, sit a while but don't dare lean back) 1814 - Window Treatments 1815 Three window treatments and a decorated room were included as Furniture plates in Ackermann's Repository 1815 issues. 1815 - French Cottage Bed and Chair 1815 - French Sofa, tables and lamp with globe for argand gas light 1815 - Table, Rack and Chair for an Artist or Collector 1815 - Furniture for a Music Room 1815 - Dining and Drawing Room Chairs 1815 - Sofa, Worktable and Candelabrum with argand lamp globe for gas light 1815 - Items that could display artwork such as embroidery or ladies drawings according to the full description in AR 1815 - Furnished French style Bed Chamber including draperies 1815 - Curtain for the Library 1815 - Drawing Room Window Curtain - similar to that in the French Bed Chamber 1815 - Draperies I hope you have enjoyed my start to the New Year with the first of 3 posts showing the Regency era furniture plates from Ackermann's Repository. If you are like me there will be items here you love and others that make you wonder "what were they thinking" but all in all I have to say most of the items are quite beautiful even though many of them did not look very comfortable. I guess that factor alone would have made you want to get up and move around rather than to become a couch potato. Join me again next time for the furnishings in Ackermann's Series 2 (1816 - 1822) Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

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Well here it finally is - the third and final installment of Regency Furniture from Ackermann's Repository. This post will cover the furniture items from Series 3 which were published from 1823-1828. One of my favorites from AR Series III - Ser3 v11 1828 furniture plate 35 - Sofa Sadly, 1828 was the last year Ackermann's Repository was published; but what a bounty of images they provided in their 20 years of publication. It's been a true pleasure posting about them and I hope you've enjoyed seeing them too! Series 3 of Ackermann's Repository ran from 1823-1828 and with it came a lovely array of home furnishings that included: sofas, beds, chairs, accessories and Gothic styled furnishings. 1823 There were only five furniture plates published in this year however among them was a beautiful faineante and an amazing state bed that were not to be missed. Ser3 v1 1823 - furniture plate 09 - Lady's Work Table Description for the above Lady's Work Table Ser3 v1 1823 Furniture plate 27 - Cabinet Bookcase Ser3 v1 1823 Furniture plate 33 - Faineante Description for the above Faineante Ser3 v2 1823 Furniture plate 03 - chairs Ser3 v2 1823 Furniture plate 15 - State Bed 1824 A larger assortment of furnishes appeared in the monthly issues for 1824; including some very unusual items for the collector and those lovers of timepieces. Ser3 v3 1824 Furniture Plate 3 - Bookcase Ser3 v3 1824 Furniture plate 9 - Dressing Case Ser3 v3 1824 Furniture Plate 15 - French Bed Chamber Ser3 v3 1824 Furniture plate 21 - Cabinet Glass (Collectors Display Cabinet) This is the description for the above "Collectors" display cabinet Ser3 v3 1824 Furniture plate 27 - Astronomical Clock I created a fun piece of artwork called "Waiting for Midnight" using this item in the background. Ackermann's Repository description of the above Astronomical Clock Ser3 v3 1824 Furniture plate 35 - Table and Chairs Ser3 v4 1824 - Furniture Plate 3 - Alcove Window Curtains 1825 As we move through 1825; we go from more classical styles including an impressive "camp bed" to heavier Gothic pieces that will continue through 1827. Ser3 v5 1825 Furniture plate 11 - sofa Ser3 v5 1825 furniture plate 17 - Chairs Ser3 v5 1825 Furniture plate 23 - Sideboard Ser3 v5 1825 Furniture plate 29 - Table, Chair and a Settee/Window Seat in the new French Fashion Ser3 v5 1825 Furniture plate 34 - Gothic Fire Place Ser3 v6 1825 Furniture plate 5 - Camp Bedstead Description for the military rigged Camp Bedstead shown above Ser3 v6 1825 Furniture plate 11 - Gothic Lamp Ser3 v6 1825 Furniture plate 17 - Fire Place Ser3 v6 1825 Furniture plate 23 - Gothic Bookcase Ser3 v6 1825 Furniture plate 29 - Gothic Chairs Ser3 v6 1825 Furniture plate 35 - Gothic Sofa 1826 All the furnishings in the 1826 issues are of the Gothic style - even the window treatments. Ser3 v7 1826 - Furniture plate 11 Curtains Ackermann's Gothic Ser3 v7 1826 - Furniture plate 35 Curtains Ackermann's Gothic Ser3 v7 1826 Furniture plate 5 - Side Board Ser3 v7 1826 Furniture plate 17 - Gothic Table Ser3 v7 1826 Furniture plate 23 - Gothic Bed Ser3 v7 1826 Furniture plate 29 - Gothic Chairs Ser3 v8 1826 Furniture plate 5 - Grand Piano Forte Ser3 v8 1826 Furniture plate 11 - Flower Stands Ser3 v8 1826 Furniture Plate 17 - Candelabras Ser3 v8 1826 Furniture plate 23 - Gothic Piano Forte Ser3 v8 1826 Furniture plate 29 - Gothic Sofa Ser3 v8 1826 Furniture plate 35 - Gothic Chairs 1827 Gothic, Gothic and more Gothic that was the trend for 1827. There are all kinds of Gothic goodies from looking glasses to keys. Ser3 v9 1827 Furniture plate 5 - Gothic Looking Glass Ser3 v9 1827 Furniture plate 9 - Gothic Bed Ser3 v9 1827 Furniture plate 17 - Gothic Bookcase Ser3 v9 1827 Furniture plate 23 - Gothic Cabinet Ser3 v9 1827 Furniture plate 29 - Gothic Bureau Ser3 v9 1827 Furniture plate 35 - Gothic Desk & chair Ser3 v10 1827 Furniture plate 11 - Gothic Toilette Ser3 v10 1827 Furniture plate 5 - Gothic Whist Table Ser3 v10 1827 Furniture plate 17 - Gothic Utensils 1828 So with this being the last year for Ackermann's Repository the furniture plates returned to items of a more classical fashion. Beautiful and elegant just as I like to think of regarding the Regency era. Ser3 v11 1828 Furniture plate 11 - Drawing Room Chairs Ser3 v11 1828 Furniture plate 17 - Drawing Room Seats Ser3 v11 1828 Furniture plate 23 - Toilette Ser3 v11 1828 Furniture plate 29 - Side Board Ser3 v11 1828 furniture plate 35 - Sofa Ser3 v12 1828 Furniture plate 5 - Fireplace Ser3 v12 1828 Furniture plate 11 - Drawing Room Table Ser3 v12 1828 furniture plate 17 - Pier Table Ser3 v12 1828 Furniture plate 23 - Bed Ser3 v12 1828 Furniture plate 29 - Flower Stand Ser3 v12 1828 Furniture plate 35 - Cabinet And this concludes the furniture plates for Ackermann's Repository. I hope you have enjoyed it as much as I have! *************** I started posting images from Ackermann's Repository on my blog back at the end of June 2011 and have been blogging about them for over 6 months. It's kind of sad for me to wrap up the series after putting so much time and effort into it but alas my muse is calling me in other directions. I'm sure I'll revisit items from Ackermann's every once and a while just for the grins and giggles of it; but I hope you keep checking back just to see what other fun things has caught my fancy. I was able to do this series thanks to the archive of Ackermann's Repository volumes from the Library of Philadelphia Museum of Art that are available online at www.archive.org (a wonderful resource of amazing vintage images and books). If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy! Till Next time...

I'm a big fan of Regency Romances; so naturally I have a thing for the fashions of this time period and was thrill to discover these 200 year old prints from the English publication Ackermann's Repository. I love the fact that I now have these great images as reference when I'm reading one of my novels. Now if I wonder what a half dress, morning dress or carriage costume looked like; I have these wonderful prints to give me a visual reference. I'm so thrilled with these images that I even changed my blog background here and on my other "My Fanciful Muse" blog using some of the fashion figures from Ackermann's pages. I'm already starting to create fun digital art using some of my favorites, so take a peek over on my "Muse" blog - for the grins and giggles of it. This is my favorite fashion plate from the 1813 Ackermann's Repository issue Description of plate 46 is for the Ball Dress shown above This is my 5th installment of fashion plates from Ackermann's Repository - Regency era magazine. Ackermann's Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufacturers, Fashion and Politics. was a popular publications in England from 1809-1829. (The 1829 issues were printed as "Ackermann's Repository of Fashion".) I have found the articles and illustrations to be a fascinating glimpse into that time period. One of my favorite ongoing series in the magazine are the fashion plates. Each monthly issue usually included 2 Fashion plates, giving on average a total of 24 Fashion plates for the year. Though the magazine was published monthly; specially bound volumes were available from Ackermann's. These "bound" book versions, consisted of a 2 volume set for each year it was in publication. Ackermann's Repository "Bound" Series 1 ran from 1809 - 1815 with a total of 14 Volumes for Series 1 Series 1 Vol 1 was Jan - June 1809 Series 1 Vol 2 was July - Dec 1809 Series 1 Vol 3 was Jan - June 1810 Series 1 Vol 4 was July - Dec 1810 Series 1 Vol 5 was Jan - June 1811 Series 1 Vol 6 was July - Dec 1811 Series 1 Vol 7 was Jan - June 1812 Series 1 Vol 8 was July - Dec 1812 Series 1 Vol 9 was Jan - June 1813 Series 1 Vol 10 was July - Dec 1813 Series 1 Vol 11 was Jan - June 1814 Series 1 Vol 12 was July - Dec 1814 Series 1 Vol 13 was Jan - June 1815 Series 1 Vol 14 was July - Dec 1815 Today I will be posting the fashion plates for the year 1813. Series 1 Vol 9 was Jan - June 1813 Series 1 Vol 10 was July - Dec 1813 I hope you enjoy! Ackermann's Repository 1813 Fashion Plates 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - January Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - January Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - February Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - February Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - March Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - March Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - April Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - April Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - May Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - May Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - June Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 9 - June Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - July Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - July Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - August Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - August Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - September Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - September Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - October Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - October Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - November Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - November Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - December Issue 1813 - Ackermann's Repository Series1 Vol 10 - December Issue I hope you have enjoyed seeing another 24 ladies in high Regency fashion. I find it mind boggling that women dressed this way every day of their lives and how very different life was 200 years ago. In our hustle-bustle lives we make due with "off the rack" this and that and if we are luck it fits us and looks good. Back in the Regency time clothing was custom made to fit a person. You picked a style, color, fabric and trims to suit you and if you wanted this or that changed on the main style, that would be done too. Everything you would wear would be custom made to fit you perfectly; underwear, clothing, shoes, hats, reticules, hair accessories and even jewelry. This is the original 1813 Ball Dress So, if I were a lady of means in 1813 England and choosing a new garment at my favorite dressmakers establishment - I would choose this amazing ball gown. I know white was a popular dress color in this time period; however, I'm a girl who likes color - so I would request a color change. Here is the dress in a tranquil aqua Here is the dress in a nice soft blue Here is the dress in a pretty lilac I do enjoy playing with colors in Photoshop. It's fun to see how the look of a dress changes based on a different color or shade. Join me again next time when I post the Regency fashions of 1814. Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

Ackerman's repository was an English fashion publication that included fabric swatches! This is very helpfull to us all these years later when we are looking into what fabrics would be good for making our costumes out of. Be sure to check that they are for garments, not home decorations! Ackermans Repository January to June 1809 on Archive.org January 1809 From Archive.org No. 1 is a plush (similar to velvet) No. 2 is a velvet (likely silk) No. 3 is a brocade or tissue used for pelisses No. 4 is a floral satin for evening dresses February 1812 From Archive No. 1 is a figgured satin as worn by the Duchess of Chandos at Her Magesty's Birthday No. 2 is a gold coloured figured satin as worn by Countess Rothsay at Her Magesty's Birthday No. 3 is a Bishops blue bombazeen, usefull for morning dresses No. 4 is a silk stripe shawl used for man's waistcoats (vests) and is made of wool and silk. March 1809 From Archive No. 1 is Anglo-Merino (wool) cloth, as fine as muslin (the period kind, not what you buy in the stores) No. 2 is a new article called "queen's silk" and is used for dresses and pelisses, comes in all colors. No. 3 is a satin twilled silk for dresses and pelisses No. 4 is a Persian double silk All three silks are a half ward wide. April 1809 From LACMA From Archive No. 1&2 is a furnishing calico No. 3 is Scotia silk, manufactured in Scotland. Mixture of cotton and silk, for pelisse and dresses, half yard wide. No. 4 is a spotted muslin. May 1809 From Archive No. 1 is an Adairian dot for morning dresses, yard and a half wide (54") No. 2 is a white and lilac figured sarsanet for pelisses. half yard wide No. 3 is a turkish figgured gauze for dresses in a variety of colors, but mainly the one shown, half yard wide No. 4 is called printed India rib, similar to marcella, used for men's waistcoats. June 1809 From Arcive No. 1&2 is a cotton for furnishing called Oriental Pink No. 3 is a lilac spotted gossimer (silk) for full dresses No. 4 is a white and green coral figgured silk Ackerman's Repository July to December 1809 on Archive.org July 1809 From Archive No. 1 is a yellow printed book muslin for evening dress, an ell wide No. 2 is a striped mulsin or nainsook, for morning dresses No. 3 is a printed cambric muslin No. 4 is a chintz or shawl pattern marcella for men's waistcoats August 1809 From Archive No. 1 is Irish net, for dinner and evening dresses, also tippets and scarves No. 2 is Merico Crape for ladies dresses is a blend of silk and wool, three quarters of a yard wide No. 3 is Andalusian washing silk used for robes and pelisses No. 4 is a printed daimond Marcella quilting for men's waistcoats 3/4 yard wide September 1809 From Archive No. 1& 2 is a pattern for furniture No. 3 is an imperial jonquil gause or Spanish net intended for the best robes, worn over white satin or sarsanet No. 4 is silt striped quilting for waistcoats, best worn with the summer brown or blue coats now in fashion. October 1809 From Archive No. 1 is a corded muslin for morning and afternoon dresses, also morning wrap or simple evening frock, as well as children's trowsers No. 2 is a Brasilian corded sarsanet for robes, pelisses, and spencers, half yard wide No. 3 is a Pomona green shawl print in imitation of Indian silk, for morning wraps or pelisses. an ell wide No. 4 is a rose coloured print book muslin for the ball room or evening party. made up as round dresses or French frocks, must be worn over wtite satin, sarsanet, or glazed cambric. an ell wide. November 1809 From Archive No. 1 is a fretwork striped muslin for gowns, robes and pelisses, suitable for almost all styles of dress No. 2 is an arabian jubille silk No. 3 is an imperial green shawl print, for home costume, morning wraps and high gowns No. 4 is a chintz kerseymere for mens waistcoats, best suited for the darker winter coats. December 1809 From Archive No. 1 is a gold jubilee muslin, good for dinner or evening No. 2 is a jubilee shawl cambric for the wrap pelisse, round domestic jacket. could be trimmed with black velvet No. 3 is called gossamere cloth, blended of silk and wool, for robes, mantles, pelisses. The last two should be lined with sarsanet of contrasting colors. No. 4 is for men's waistcoats

Hans Namuth, Joseph Cornell’s Cellar Workshop at 3708 Utopia Parkway, New York, 1969, photograph. a diary journal repository laboratory, picture gallery, museum, sanctuary, observatory, key…

Hello all and welcome back! Today I'm continuing with the 2nd of 3 posts regarding Regency Furniture plates that were published in Ackermann's Repository in the early 1800's. These plates from Ackermann's 2nd series were from 1816 to 1822. 1822 Fashionable Furniture Plate 9 from Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Volume 13 Ackermann's Description for the above Furniture Plate Ackermann's Repository was a popular British publication during the Regency era and was in production from 1809-1828. It was published on a monthly basis and included a variety of beautiful hand-colored plates such as Fashions and Furnishings in each issue. Ackermann's created this magazine with the intention of "binding" the issues into volumed sets; so all the issues and plates were numbered with this in mind (just in case you are wondering what all those odd Series and Volume numbers are on some of the plates). There were a total of three series that ran from 1809-1828 Series 1 ran from 1809-1815 and can be seen on my previous post HERE Series 2 ran from 1816-1822 Series 3 ran from 1823-1828 Series 2, which I will be presenting in this post ran from 1816-1822 A large number of the furniture plates during this time were for Curtains; which I posted about HERE on a separate "Regency Curtain Post". I hope you will take a look at that post too. 1816 Curtains and draped fabric played a strong role in the furniture plates for 1816 as evident in all the images except for the two depicting fireplace surrounds. Obviously you would not have wanted curtains or any draped fabrics close to an open flame so these two are the only plates not showing yards of beautiful flowing fabric. Ser2 v1 1816 Furniture plate 2 Chimney Piece Ser2 v1 1816 Furniture plate 8 - Drawing Room Curtains - Ackermann's Repository Ser2 v1 1816 Furniture plate 14 - French Sofa Bed Ser2 v1 1816 Furniture plate 20 - French Bed Ser2 v1 1816 Furniture plate 26 - Grecian Furniture Ser2 v1 1816 Furniture plate 32 - Dining Room I took the above image and created variations of a full room with it. See HERE on my sister blog My Fanciful Muse I created this digital art piece "Waiting for Midnight" using that full room in the background. The curtain is from 1820 and can be seen further down in this post. Ser2 v2 1816 - Furniture Plate 8 Curtains for Dining Room - Ackermann's Repository Ser2 v2 1816 - Furniture Plate 32 - Curtains for Drawing Room - Ackermann's Repository Ser2 v2 1816 Furniture plate 2 - Saloon Ser2 v2 1816 Furniture plate 14 - Small Bed Ser2 v2 1816 Furniture plate 20 - Chimney Piece Ser2 v2 1816 Furniture plate 26 - English Bed 1817 Usually there was at least one furniture plate shown in every monthly issue of Ackermann's Repository; however in 1817 there were only about half as many. I believe this may be due to an ongoing series that began in 1816 and continued throughout 1817 called Architectural Hints. Once this series concluded in 1817 these items were published and sold in their own separate book in 1818 titled "Rural Residences Consisting of a Series of Designs for Cottages, Small Villas and Other Ornamental Buildings". So it is reasonable to think there was a rush to get that series in Ackermann's completed, allowing for fewer Furniture plates to be shown - but that is just a guess on my part. Ive shown those images on a different post and they can be seen by clicking HERE for those interested. Though there were only the 5 furniture plats published in 1817, they are lovely examples of home fashions. And there is a little bit for every room in the house. Ser2 v3 1817 - Furniture Plate 21 - Drawing Room Curtains Ser2 v3 1817 Furniture plate 34 - Chimney Piece Ser2 v4 1817 Furniture plate 14 - A Collection of Fashionable Chairs Ser2 v4 1817 Furniture plate 20 - French Bed Ser2 v4 1817 Furniture plate 26 - Ottoman 1818 Only three Furniture plates were published by Ackermann's Repository in 1818 and those all appeared in the last half of the year. Here again I'm not sure why the lack of furniture plates in this year. It may be that the publisher did not think they had much popularity with the public or it could be as simple as another series taking precedent. There was a unique series in 1818 showing a full set of playing cards; there were a total of 12 plates showing 4 playing cards each with the final plate in the January 1819 issue for a total of a 52 card deck. My first Ackermann's Post was about that card series and can be seen HERE. All three furniture plates for 1818 were in the Greek style and seem to work well with one and other. Ser2 v6 1818 Furniture plate 8 - Grecian Table and Pedestal Ser2 v6 1818 Furniture plate 26 - Commode, Pier Glass & Tabourets Commode - A low cabinet or chest of drawers usually surmounted by a mirror Pier Glass - A mirror placed on a wall between two windows Tabouret - A low stool without arms or back Ackermann's Description for the above furnishings Ser2 v6 1818 Furniture plate 32 - Drawing Room Curtain 1819 The furniture plates are back in larger quantities for the year 1819, with a total of 7; of which 6 are curtains. I'm curious to know if letters were sent to Ackermann's Personally the curtains are my favorite items of all the furniture plates; so I for one am happy to see so many of them in 1819 and then again in 1820. Ser2 v7 1819 Furniture plate 15 - Drawing Room Curtains Ser2 v7 1819 Furniture plate 21 - Gothic Furniture Ser2 v7 1819 furniture plate 29 - Dining Room Suit I altered this swagged curtain into a png image so that I could use it in various art projects. Several digital versions of it and others can be found on my deviantART account - HERE One of my digital art pieces using the above curtain My post for "Regency Ladies with a Curtain View" the above scene can be found HERE Ser2 v8 1819 Furniture plate 9 - Drawing Room Curtain & Table Ser2 v8 1819 furniture plate 15 - Drawing Room Curtains Ser2 v8 1819 Furniture plate 22 - Library Window Curtain Ser2 v8 1819 Furniture plate 35 - Three Designs for Window Draperies Here is the Ackermann's description for the last furniture plate of 1819 I think these are so fun to read and hope you do too. 1820 Ser2 v9 1820 Furniture plate 9 - Circular Window Draperies Ser2 v9 1820 Furniture plate 15 - Drawing Room Curtains I altered this swagged curtain into a png image so that I could use it in various art projects. Several digital versions of it and others can be found on my deviantART account - HERE One of my EKDuncan creations using the above 1820 window swag The post for above artwork "Beautiful Day" can be seen HERE Ser2 v9 1820 Furniture plate 27 - Drawing Room Window Curtain I altered this swagged curtain into a png image so that I could use it in various art projects. Several digital versions of it and others can be found on my deviantART account - HERE Another of my EKDuncan digital art pieces using the above 1820 Curtain and wall The post for the above piece "Gothic View" can be found HERE Ser2 v9 1820 Furniture plate 33 - Three Drapery Design Ideas for Small Apartments Ser2 v10 1820 Furniture plate 3 - Draperies for Half Sexagon Bow Window Ser2 v10 1820 Furniture plate 15 - Window Drapery with Cornice 1821 Only 5 furniture plates appeared in the 1821 issues of Ackermann's and no curtains at all. This time we get to see a Regency Dress Sofa, Marble Chimney Piece, Gothic Furniture, Tables and a beautiful accent piece. Ser2 v11 1821 Furniture plate 9 - Dress Sofa Ser2 v12 1821 Furniture plate 27 - Marble Chimney Piece Ser2 v12 1821 Furniture plate 6 - Gothic Table and Cellaret The Ackermann's Description calls the smaller item a Cellaret (Cellaret - a cabinet-work case for holding wine bottles) "...The Cellaret , which has been made in the form of a sarcophagus, is an imitation of one represented on a tomb in Luton church;..." Ser2 v12 1821 Furniture plate 21 - Library Side Table and a Library Pier Table Ser2 v12 1821 Furniture plate 33 - Girandole Girandole - an ornamental branched candelabrum often composed of several lights and often used in pairs. Ackermann's Description for the beautiful Girandole 1822 Ackermann's Repository closes out it's 2nd series in 1822 with some interesting furnishings. This time we are treated to Regency a chandelier, coat stand, flower stand and even an Egyptian look for a fireplace. Personally I found these items most intriguing. Ser2 v13 1822 Furniture plate 3 - Dining Room chandelier Ser2 v13 1822 Furniture plate 9 - Sofa, Sofa-Table, Candelabra & Footstool Ser2 v13 1822 Furniture plate 21 - Secretary Bookcase Ser2 v14 1822 Furniture Plate 3 - Coat Stand & Flower Stand I really got a kick out of the description for Furniture plate 3. There really was a bit of whimsy in objects like this plant stand. Just image it containing goldfish in a globe up top - what fun! This is the Ackermann's description for the Coat Stand and Flower Stand above. Ser2 v14 1822 Furniture plate 9 - Flower Stand Ser2 v14 1822 Furniture plate 15 - Secretary Bookcase Ser2 v14 1822 Furniture plate 21 - Sideboard & Cellaret Ser2 v14 1822 Furniture plate 27 - French Sofa Bed Ser2 v14 1822 Furniture plate 33 - Egyptian Chimney Front The Egyptian style would float in and out of popularity during the early 1800's; here is a case where it is shown to be fashionable again. Ackermann's description of the above Egyptian style for 1822 Well this closes out the second part of my three part series on Ackermann's Repository furniture plates for the Regency period. I hope you are enjoying seeing these items and look forward to the last and final segment in this series. Join me next time and till then... ************** Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

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I love to create digital projects that use a vintage looking curtain to create a "staged" effect; and wasn't I especially thrilled to discover that Ackermann's Repository had a variety of Curtain and Draped Windows for me to play with. One of the Regular features in the 1809-1828 publications of Ackermann's Repository were the Furniture Plates. These colorful images appeared in nearly every issue and several included some sort of Window Dressing. This lets me know that window treatments played a significant role in room decor during the regency for The Repository to include them as part of the furniture plate articles. 1816 Ackermann's Repository Furniture Plate showing Curtained Windows - Frame by sparklingwater.deviantart.com Many of the Curtain images from Ackermann's can be used to create fun backdrops to a digital scene or with a bit of time, effort and a good program like Photoshop the curtain can be extracted to become a digital element on its own. My previous post Curtains Set the Stage is one example of this. ***************** For this post I wanted to show the actual Ackermann Repository Furniture Plates for Curtains that were considered en Mode for the period. It appears that Curtains played a more significant role in home decor some years more than others. From 1809 - 1818, one to three furniture plate a year was devoted to the curtain but then in 1819 & 1820 there were six furniture plates devoted to curtains in each of those years. Unfortunately, they practically disappeared after that with only one appearing in 1824 and two Gothic ones in 1826. Ah - the fickleness of fashion. So here they are for you viewing pleasure Ackermann's Repository "Curtain" - Furniture Plates 1809 Ackermann's Repository "Curtain" Furniture Plate 19 I've already had a bit of fun creating digital art using this image. I loved the leopard spots on these swagging draperies. I used an EKDuncan adapted version of this swag to frame my Regency Garden Party with a Roaring Rogue post I also showed how this could be used as a background for creating digital art by adding in one of the 1812 fashion ladies. Click HERE or scroll to the bottom of the post to see the example. This is the accompanying Ackermann's Article for the above 1809 curtain. I love the way they wrote in the Regency time and just wanted to share a bit of what the articles were like that accompanied the pretty artwork. 1809 - French Curtain Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository I used this image to create a whole collection of "Stage Curtains" and shared it in my previous post "Curtains Set the Stage" (Larger versions of my EKDuncan adaptations of this curtain can be downloaded from my eveyd.deviantart.com account) 1810 - Double Curtain - Furniture Plate in Ackermann's Repository 1811 - French Window Curtain Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1811 - French Drapery Window Curtains Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1812 - French Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1812 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1813 - French Window Curtains from Ackermann's Repository 1814 Window Curtains - Furniture Plate from Ackermann's Repository 1815 - Library Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1815 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1815 - Boudoir Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1816 - Drawing Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1816 - Dining Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1816 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1817 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1818 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1819 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1819 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1819 - Dining Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository I used this lovely swag in one of my EKDuncan digital creations HERE 1819 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1819 - Library Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1819 - Three Drapery Designs by Mr Stafford of Bath - Ackermann's Repository 1820 - Draperies of Circular Windows - Ackermann's Repository 1820 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1820 - Drawing Room Window Curtain from Ackermann's Repository 1820 - Three Drapery Design Ideas for Small Apartments - Ackermann's Repository 1820 - Draperies for Half - Sexagon Bow Window - Ackermann's Repository 1820 - Window Drapery with Cornice - Ackermann's Repository 1824 - Alcove Window Curtains - Ackermann's Repository 1826 - Gothic Window and Curtain - Ackermann's Repository 1826 - Gothic Window Curtains with Cornice - Ackermann's Repository Here are a few Furniture Plates that are Full Room Decor with Curtains 1816 - Grecian Style Furniture and Curtains - Ackermann's Repository 1816 - Dining Room with Window Treatment - Ackermann's Repository I used this to create and expanded room setting on my other blog Create a Room - Regency Era Image - Ackermann's Repository 1816 - Saloon - Ackermann's Repository 1822 - Furniture Plate that has Drapes in it - Ackermann's Repository 1827 - Gothic Furniture plate with Curtains in the background I just love all these images! They are beautiful to look at and so much fun to play with if you like to create digitally like I do. I've altered several of my favorites and they can be downloaded from my deviantART account by going HERE In the next few posts I'll be sharing some more of my EKDuncan versions of some of these curtains, just because I love to play and create with them. Then I'll move on to more Ackermann Repository images of Furniture of the Regency. Till next time... Thanks for visiting with me at EKDuncan.blogspot.com Here are some links to my Regency Digital Art Creations using some of the curtains from above. Waiting for Midnight Beautiful Day Gothic View Curtain View Regency Beauties Regency Ghost Scene Garden Party with a Roaring Rogue Regency Ladies of Fashion ************* If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

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Ackermann's Repository usually had several short stories in each issue and with it being the month of October I thought this story about a Masquerade Ball would be a fun one to share with all of you who have been following along with my Ackermann's Repository series. Ackermann's Repository is such a wonderful reference into what the real Regency world was like. I just love all the little tidbits that can be found in it's pages, so I hope you are enjoying them too. Regency Masquerade by EKDuncan I enjoy creating digital art; so I've created this fun piece using some images from Ackermann's Repository and a fun mask I have in my digital collection to keep in theme of the story I wish to share with you today. These are the Items I used to create "Regency Masquerade" I removed the background from the original fashion plate and created a png image I could use as I wished. A mask was added to my lady in the finished artwork; so I saved her both ways for a fun bit of variety. Click HERE to see the original image and the other fashion plates from 1827 1812 Grand Staircase at Carlton House - from Ackermann's Repository This is one of those huge fold out, hand colored prints that would appear on occasion an Ackermann's Repository issue. Many of the Regency romances I read talk about the sweeping staircases that the guests encounter at balls so I thought this would make a great backdrop for my Masquerade Lady. The frame used to finish off the piece came from Madam M over at deivantArt.com Antique Frame Pack 1 - Square ************************************* This short story appeared in the November 1828 issue of Ackermann's Repository. (Series 3 - Volume XII) I hope you enjoyed this fun little look into the reading entertainment of those who lived in the late Regency period. Please join me again later for some more fun bits and pieces from Ackermann's Repository.

Regency fashions for 1820 began in the normal mode of what was new and some lovely color; however by late January the royal family saw two more deaths to continue the mourning period they had already been experiencing for the previous two years. On January 23, 1820 Prince Edward the Duke of Kent (the 4th son of King George III) and then a few days later on January 29, 1820 King George III also passed away. These additional royal deaths once again impacted fashions as the Royal family was placed back into full-mourning, subsequently causing members of court and most of England to follow in one form or another out of respect. Having the nation follow a state of mourning again after spending part of 1818 and 1819 in it, was having an adverse effect on the trade economy. The new king - King George IV (previously the Prince Regent) had decreed that a shortened period of mourning would be observed, putting and end to the nations state of mourning on April 30, 1820. Even with this stipulation you will notice that many of the fashions for the first half of 1820 are mourning or half-mourning colors and then fashions seem to resume a more normal trend as the year progressed. (For those of you who love historical bits and pieces; I will post the Ackermann's death notices for both the Duke of Kent and King George III at the end of all the pretty fashions.) One of my all time favorite Ackermann's Repository fashion plates July 1820 is also the first time a Court Dress is shown as a fashion plate in Ackermann's Repository and I have to say this is one of my all time favorite Ackermann's plates. Evening and Ball dresses of this time period are exquisite; but the court dresses were just amazingly over the top with plumes,trains and heavy trims. King George IV did not have his coronation till the following year in July of 1821; however I believe Ackermann's wanted to uplift the public a bit by showing such an elaborate and colorful costume. There was also increased activity at court during this time and for those who had need to appear before his royal highness, the appropriate clothing was a necessity. png version of the above 1820 Court Dress fashion plate Being one of my top fashion plates by Ackermann's Repository; I removed the background and created this lovely lady to be a png image so I could use her when creating fun pieces of digital art. One example were she was used can be seen HERE along with several other Regency ladies. See if you can spot her. - giggles Now on to the Lovely Ladies of Ackermann's Ackermann's Repository 1820 Fashion Plates 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - January Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository fashion description - January Issue In my previous post for 1819, I gave a few examples of fashion plate errors that can be found in Ackermann's Repository. The January 1820 issue I had access to shows a colorization error in the first fashion plate for a Half Dress. The color is to be an odd shade between dark fawn and sage green - leaning more to the sage green color. The colorist who worked on this particular plate made the dress a fawn color leaning toward a peachy coral not the sage green as suggested in the description. Just one of those fun quirks that makes the pages of Ackermann's even more interesting. 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - January Issue The British nation was back in mourning due to the deaths of Prince Edward the Duke of Kent and King George III in January and for the next few months this will be apparent in the fashions at large. February 1820 - Ackermann's Mourning Fashions Ackermann's Repository placed a black band around death announcements. This is the only time I saw where they also placed a black band around the fashion descriptions. These descriptions are for the next two fashion plates and I found it interesting that prior to this point when a fashion plate depicted a mourning dress it was obvious on the plate itself - in that the dress title said Mourning Dress or Half-Mourning Dress as the case may be. For the next few months the mourning costumes do not contain the word mourning on the fashion plates themselves but it is evident from the colors and descriptions of each that they are mourning dresses. 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - February Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - February Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - March Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - March Issue Example of Fashion Descriptions and Fashion based articles from Ackermann's Repository April 1820 issue this particular issue is most informative since it states: - how mourning fashions are adversely effecting the trade economy, - the monarchy reducing the mourning period - the changes in mourning fashion for members of court vs the general public - how the death of a French royal duke is effecting french fashions there and the differences in French and English mourning fashions. (even if this kind of historical information is not your cup of tea, it does cause the fashions seen here to take on a new dimension and it really gives you a feel for the time period.) Half- Mourning fashions - April 1820 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - April Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - April Issue This last month of mourning shows fashion of half-mourning with the first of grey and the evening dress of white with black decorations. As we continue into June of 1820 The British Public is no longer in a state of national mourning and colors have started to re-surface in the fashion plates. This first plate for June is a "transitional" garment. It is in a color Ackermann's describes as "a peculiar shade of lavender"; of a fabric Ackermann's has listed as "a new silk called zephyreene". 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - May Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - May Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - June Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - June Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - July Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - July Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - August Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - August Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - September Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - September Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - October Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - October Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - November Issue This garment is described as being of "a singular but beautiful colour between lilac and purple." (I love the way things were phrased in this time period) 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - November Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - December Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - December Issue It is so nice to see the Regency fashions back with pretty colors. I know in our current culture we view black as an ordinary color to wear and in evening wear an elegant color; but in Regency times when a woman wore black it was tied to sadness and loss, so even though it may appear attractive it was not a color worn unless necessary. (Morning fashions and restrictions were not as harsh for the men of the time; they were more loosely impacted where as the women carried the heavier burden socially.) Mourning fashions will appear in Ackermann's over the next 10 years; however not with the intensity we have seen in the 1818 - 1820 issues. ******************* Now for you history lovers (like me) Here are the Death notices Ackermann's published for the Royal Duke of Kent and His Royal Majesty King George III Prince Edward - The Duke of Kent Nov 2 1767 - January 23, 1820 King George III June 4, 1738 - January 29, 1820 (nicknamed Mad King George) King George III was no longer ruling the British empire as of 1811. Due to the Regency Act of 1811 the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) became regent and he started ruling in his fathers place with the title of Prince Regent (giving this time period in British history the name "Regency") King George the III was permanently insane by the end of 1811 and spent the remainder of his life in seclusion at Windsor castle till his death in 1820. (It's quite interesting to see how politely his "infirmity" was referred to; when in today's terms we would just say he was plain "batty".) I hope you have enjoyed seeing the latest installment of Regency fashions for Ackermann's repository. For those just finding my blog you can see the previous Regency fashion posts by clicking the links below. Ackermann's ran series 1 from 1809 - 1815 Series 1 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1809 Series 1 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1810 Series 1 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1811 Series 1 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1812 Series 1 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1813 Series 1 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1814 Series 1 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1815 Ackermann's ran series 2 from 1816 - 1822 Series 2 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1816 Series 2 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1817 Series 2 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1818 Series 2 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1819 Series 2 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1820 (1821 - 1822 - are yet to be posted) Series 2 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1821 Series 2 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1822 Ackermann's ran series 3 from 1823 - 1828 (series 3 coming soon) I hope you join me again for more Regency fashions from Ackermann's Repository Till next time... Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

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Ackermann's Repository was a popular monthly magazine in England from 1809 - 1829 that listed a wide variety of current subject matters to entertain the masses of Regency England. There were political commentaries, poetry, short stories, current events, special exhibit information, stock and commerce reports and other interesting tidbits in its pages. Each issue also contained wonderful color illustrations showing fashions, home decor, public places of interest, architecture and a variety of items that would be of interest to their readers. I've been spending this summer posting the Fashion plates from Ackermann's here on my blog so I could share all the pretty ladies that have been hiding in the dust of it's pages for 200 years. You can see the ladies of Ackermann's Series 1 (1809 - 1815) in my July postings and I continue now with Ackermann's Series 2 (1816 - 1822) here in my August postings. Ackermann's Series 2 Series 2 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1816 Series 2 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1817 Series 2 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1818 Series 2 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1819 Series 2 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1820 Series 2 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1821 Series 2 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1822 This would be my tip pick of the 1817 Fashions Today I'm posting the fashions from 1817 Series 2 Vol 3 was Jan - June 1817 Series 2 Vol 4 was July - Dec 1817 Please note that the two fashions for December 1817 are Mourning costumes. This is because all of England was in mourning due to the death of Princess Charlotte; who was the only child of the Prince of Whales, later to be King George IV. I will post her death notice below all the fashions for those you are interested in seeing how her life, death and funeral were reported in the pages of Ackermann's. Enjoy! The Ackermann's Repository 1817 Fashion Plates 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - January Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - January Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - February Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - February Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - March Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - March Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - April Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - April Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - May Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - May Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - June Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 3 - June Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - July Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - July Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - August Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - August Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - September Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - September Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - October Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - October Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - November Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - November Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - December Issue 1817- Ackermann's Repository Series2 Vol 4 - December Issue The last two fashion plates for December 1817 are Mourning Fashions due to the death of Princess Charlotte the previous month. She died on November 6th 1817 at the age 21 - in childbirth, the child was a stillborn male. Had she outlived her grandfather and father she would have been Queen of Great Britain; however this was not to be. It appears the death of Princess Charlotte has a similar effect to the Regency people as Diana's tragic death effect their descendants close to 200 years later. I found Ackermann's account of Princess Charlotte's death fascinating in comparison to the historical records I have read. The historical references show that her husband Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld had been with her through the trying ordeal but after the child proved to be stillborn and he was informed his wife was in stable condition; he took an opiate and collapsed into bed. When it was later discovered that Charlotte was in distress and dying, he could not be roused due to the drugs in his system, yet Ackermann's reported that he was there holding her hand and telling her that he loved her as she died. Here is a case of telling the public what they wanted to hear over, reporting the actual facts. It is still interesting to see how it was portrayed in publications of the day so I hope you enjoy seeing it too. I hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into Regency England and that you join me again for more Ackermann's Fashions and interesting tidbits of that era. Till next time... Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

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Ackermann's Repository was a popular British publication of the Regency period and its monthly issues were in distribution from January 1809 till its final issue on December 1828. Fortunately for us, Ackermann's Repository was published by a printing house that specialized in producing bound volumes intended for reference and private libraries. Had this just been a fashion magazine, I believe many of the amazing plates would have vanished over time; however since this publication was a literary, economic, political, architectural,as well as a fashion publication; the pages of Ackermann's was treated as a reference item and several full collections of these bound volumes still exist today. (In 1829 Ackermann's had a fashion only publication - "Ackermann's Repository of Fashion".) Ackermann's was know in its day as one of the premier print shops and produced many illustrated book series and lithographs during it's time. From the beginning "The Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions, and Politics" as it was formally called was intended to be bound into books even though it was available as a monthly magazine as well. This is why you see the odd numbering system on the illustrated plates. At the end of each year, that years issues were available as a 2 volume set and could be purchased in a variety of binding options directly from Ackermann's or from several of the other binding houses or book sellers in London. A subscriber also had the option of having their individual issues custom bound to order. It's just so interesting how things were done 200 years ago. 1823 was the start of Series 3 When these were later bound into their 2 volume sets. Jan - Jun 1823 were part of Series 3 Volume 1 July - Dec 1823 were part of Series 3 Volume 2 1823 would have volumes 3&4 1824 would have volumes 5&6 and so on and so forth till the series was completed At the end of the 20 years of Ackermann's Repository there were 40 bound book volumes. According to the information I've found up to 1,000 bound volumes of Ackermann's Repository were sold per year. I've yet to find a number of how many issues of each magazine were sold per month; however it must have been a lucrative venture for it to have been published in both formats for a twenty year period of time. My pick of the 1823 Ackermann's Repository Fashions I have been posting all the lovely fashion plates from the pages of Ackermann's and continue now with Series 3 which ran from January 1823 - December 1828. These fashion would be considered late Regency and can be most easily identified by the more form fitting bodices, dropping waistlines and fuller skirt bottoms. Today I will be posting the fashions for 1823 and I hope you enjoy seeing them. This is what the cover page for Series 3 Vol 1 (Jan - June) 1823 looked like in the bound book form Ackermann's Repository 1823 Fashion Plates 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - January Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - January Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - February Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - February Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - March Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - March Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - April Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - April Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - May Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - May Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - June Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 1 - June Issue This is what the cover page for Series 3 Vol 2 (July - Dec) 1823 looked like in the bound book form 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - July Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - July Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - August Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - August Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - September Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - September Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - October Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - October Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - November Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - November Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - December Issue 1823 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 2 - December Issue ************* For those of you who want a bit more than to see the pretty fashions; here are the fashion descriptions from the November 1823 issue. I though I'd show this one since it included descriptions of the fashion plate showing hats. You will notice I left the pages intact and did not crop out the extra bits from the previous article that precedes the fashion articles; nor did I remove the beginning of the article that followed the fashions. This is so you can see how the articles ran one into the other and how they can jump from one topic to the next without the two being related. Here we have on page 305 the ending of a technology article followed by fashion then one about a new illustrated literary book soon to be available for sale by Ackermann's. Here at the bottom of the November fashions article we see an subtle advertisement for the new release of Ackermann's annual "The Forget Me Not". "The Forget Me Not" was another well known publication by Ackermann's. This "Literary Annual" was published around November of every year (just in time for the Christmas gift giving season) from 1822-1847 and targeted mainly the female marked. This new style of "annual" contained 12 engravings to represent each of the months and stories or poems to accompany each. It also contained a review of the previous year, the recent census, a family tree of the monarchy of Britain and a list of sovereign families and ambassadors for other kingdoms. This would have been a very safe gift for a gentleman to present a lady and in some years it sold up to 20,000 copies. It is believed that the bound version of Ackermann's only sold upwards to 1,000 copies per year; so this shows how popular "The Forget Me Not" was. ************* I hope you have enjoyed another trip through the Regency Fashions of Ackermann's Repository and that you join me again when I post the fashions for 1824. For your convenience here are some quick links to the earlier Regency fashions I've posted on my blog. Ackermann's ran series 1 from 1809 - 1815 Series 1 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1809 Series 1 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1810 Series 1 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1811 Series 1 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1812 Series 1 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1813 Series 1 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1814 Series 1 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1815 The Ladies of Ackermann's Regency Fashion (this is a fun digital art piece I did using many of the above ladies) Ackermann's ran series 2 from 1816 - 1822 Series 2 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1816 Series 2 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1817 Series 2 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1818 Series 2 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1819 Series 2 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1820 Series 2 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1821 Series 2 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1822 Regency Garden Party with a Roaring Rogue (this is a fun digital art piece I did using several Ackermann's Repository images from series 2 and one fun lion man from J.J. Grandville, who was another Regency period illustrator.) Ackermann's ran series 3 from 1823 - 1828 Series 3 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1823 Series 3 (1824-1828) still to be posted Till our next Regency adventure Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

For all of you who have been following my Regency Fashion plate series of beauties from the pages of Ackermann's Repository, 1827 is the next to last year for them. Here is my pick of the 1827 Ackermann's Repository Fashion Plates Ackermann's Repository ran from January 1809 - December 1828 and had a very successful 20 year history. Every monthly issue included 2 fashion plates for a total of 24 in each year. Today I've posted the 24 fashion plates from 1827; of which the February issue shows two Mourning dresses as we encounter another death in the British Royal Family. Those two fashions are due to the death of King George IV's brother Prince Frederick - The Royal Duke of York. The Duke of York was King George III's and Queen Charlotte's second son. Since by this time King George IV had no living legitimate children; Frederick was his heir and next in line for the crown. With Fredrick's passing; the third brother(William) now becomes the heir to the British throne and will later become King William IV in June of 1830 with the death of King George IV. King William had no living legitimate children by his death in 1837 and it is here where we finally leave the Regency behind and step into the Victorian age as his niece Queen Victoria becomes the new ruler of Great Britain. I will post the Ackermann's Death notice for the Duke of York at the end of the fashion plates for those of you who like that extra glimpse into the real Regency world. Now for more fun fashions from the Regency - Enjoy! Ackermann's Repository 1827 Fashion Plates 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - January Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - January Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - February Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - February Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - March Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - March Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - April Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - April Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - May Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - May Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - June Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 9 - June Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - July Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - July Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - August Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - August Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - September Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - September Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - October Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - October Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - November Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - November Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - December Issue 1827 - Ackermann's Repository Series 3 Vol 10 - December Issue The Regency Era was a time unto itself. We may have a ton more technological advances, many of which I'd not want to live without; however this period of time just seems so much more refined and romantic - at least on paper. So I hope you have enjoyed seeing the 1827 fashions and will join me again for the last and final installment in this Fashion series. ********************************** Now as promised for those who like me can't get enough of Ackermann's Repository; here is the death notice they published for the Duke of York who died on January 5, 1827. till next time... Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

Regency fashions for 1820 began in the normal mode of what was new and some lovely color; however by late January the royal family saw two more deaths to continue the mourning period they had already been experiencing for the previous two years. On January 23, 1820 Prince Edward the Duke of Kent (the 4th son of King George III) and then a few days later on January 29, 1820 King George III also passed away. These additional royal deaths once again impacted fashions as the Royal family was placed back into full-mourning, subsequently causing members of court and most of England to follow in one form or another out of respect. Having the nation follow a state of mourning again after spending part of 1818 and 1819 in it, was having an adverse effect on the trade economy. The new king - King George IV (previously the Prince Regent) had decreed that a shortened period of mourning would be observed, putting and end to the nations state of mourning on April 30, 1820. Even with this stipulation you will notice that many of the fashions for the first half of 1820 are mourning or half-mourning colors and then fashions seem to resume a more normal trend as the year progressed. (For those of you who love historical bits and pieces; I will post the Ackermann's death notices for both the Duke of Kent and King George III at the end of all the pretty fashions.) One of my all time favorite Ackermann's Repository fashion plates July 1820 is also the first time a Court Dress is shown as a fashion plate in Ackermann's Repository and I have to say this is one of my all time favorite Ackermann's plates. Evening and Ball dresses of this time period are exquisite; but the court dresses were just amazingly over the top with plumes,trains and heavy trims. King George IV did not have his coronation till the following year in July of 1821; however I believe Ackermann's wanted to uplift the public a bit by showing such an elaborate and colorful costume. There was also increased activity at court during this time and for those who had need to appear before his royal highness, the appropriate clothing was a necessity. png version of the above 1820 Court Dress fashion plate Being one of my top fashion plates by Ackermann's Repository; I removed the background and created this lovely lady to be a png image so I could use her when creating fun pieces of digital art. One example were she was used can be seen HERE along with several other Regency ladies. See if you can spot her. - giggles Now on to the Lovely Ladies of Ackermann's Ackermann's Repository 1820 Fashion Plates 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - January Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository fashion description - January Issue In my previous post for 1819, I gave a few examples of fashion plate errors that can be found in Ackermann's Repository. The January 1820 issue I had access to shows a colorization error in the first fashion plate for a Half Dress. The color is to be an odd shade between dark fawn and sage green - leaning more to the sage green color. The colorist who worked on this particular plate made the dress a fawn color leaning toward a peachy coral not the sage green as suggested in the description. Just one of those fun quirks that makes the pages of Ackermann's even more interesting. 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - January Issue The British nation was back in mourning due to the deaths of Prince Edward the Duke of Kent and King George III in January and for the next few months this will be apparent in the fashions at large. February 1820 - Ackermann's Mourning Fashions Ackermann's Repository placed a black band around death announcements. This is the only time I saw where they also placed a black band around the fashion descriptions. These descriptions are for the next two fashion plates and I found it interesting that prior to this point when a fashion plate depicted a mourning dress it was obvious on the plate itself - in that the dress title said Mourning Dress or Half-Mourning Dress as the case may be. For the next few months the mourning costumes do not contain the word mourning on the fashion plates themselves but it is evident from the colors and descriptions of each that they are mourning dresses. 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - February Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - February Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - March Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - March Issue Example of Fashion Descriptions and Fashion based articles from Ackermann's Repository April 1820 issue this particular issue is most informative since it states: - how mourning fashions are adversely effecting the trade economy, - the monarchy reducing the mourning period - the changes in mourning fashion for members of court vs the general public - how the death of a French royal duke is effecting french fashions there and the differences in French and English mourning fashions. (even if this kind of historical information is not your cup of tea, it does cause the fashions seen here to take on a new dimension and it really gives you a feel for the time period.) Half- Mourning fashions - April 1820 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - April Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - April Issue This last month of mourning shows fashion of half-mourning with the first of grey and the evening dress of white with black decorations. As we continue into June of 1820 The British Public is no longer in a state of national mourning and colors have started to re-surface in the fashion plates. This first plate for June is a "transitional" garment. It is in a color Ackermann's describes as "a peculiar shade of lavender"; of a fabric Ackermann's has listed as "a new silk called zephyreene". 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - May Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - May Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - June Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 9 - June Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - July Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - July Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - August Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - August Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - September Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - September Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - October Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - October Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - November Issue This garment is described as being of "a singular but beautiful colour between lilac and purple." (I love the way things were phrased in this time period) 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - November Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - December Issue 1820 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 10 - December Issue It is so nice to see the Regency fashions back with pretty colors. I know in our current culture we view black as an ordinary color to wear and in evening wear an elegant color; but in Regency times when a woman wore black it was tied to sadness and loss, so even though it may appear attractive it was not a color worn unless necessary. (Morning fashions and restrictions were not as harsh for the men of the time; they were more loosely impacted where as the women carried the heavier burden socially.) Mourning fashions will appear in Ackermann's over the next 10 years; however not with the intensity we have seen in the 1818 - 1820 issues. ******************* Now for you history lovers (like me) Here are the Death notices Ackermann's published for the Royal Duke of Kent and His Royal Majesty King George III Prince Edward - The Duke of Kent Nov 2 1767 - January 23, 1820 King George III June 4, 1738 - January 29, 1820 (nicknamed Mad King George) King George III was no longer ruling the British empire as of 1811. Due to the Regency Act of 1811 the Prince of Wales (later King George IV) became regent and he started ruling in his fathers place with the title of Prince Regent (giving this time period in British history the name "Regency") King George the III was permanently insane by the end of 1811 and spent the remainder of his life in seclusion at Windsor castle till his death in 1820. (It's quite interesting to see how politely his "infirmity" was referred to; when in today's terms we would just say he was plain "batty".) I hope you have enjoyed seeing the latest installment of Regency fashions for Ackermann's repository. For those just finding my blog you can see the previous Regency fashion posts by clicking the links below. Ackermann's ran series 1 from 1809 - 1815 Series 1 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1809 Series 1 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1810 Series 1 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1811 Series 1 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1812 Series 1 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1813 Series 1 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1814 Series 1 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1815 Ackermann's ran series 2 from 1816 - 1822 Series 2 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1816 Series 2 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1817 Series 2 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1818 Series 2 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1819 Series 2 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1820 (1821 - 1822 - are yet to be posted) Series 2 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1821 Series 2 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1822 Ackermann's ran series 3 from 1823 - 1828 (series 3 coming soon) I hope you join me again for more Regency fashions from Ackermann's Repository Till next time... Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

Today I bring you another installment of Regency fashions from the pages of Ackermann's Repository. In my previous posts from the last part of 1817 - 1820, Ackermann's included a large amount of fashion plates dedicated to mourning fashions due to several deaths within the royal family. It's a nice change of pace to see that most of the fashion plates for 1821 are gaily colored; however the two fashion plates for September 1821 again show mourning clothing due to the death of yet another royal - Queen Caroline wife of the newly crowned King George IV. Her death did not overly impact fashions as you can tell by the remainder of the fashion plates for late fall and winter; since the October fashion plates are a deep rose colored costume and a formal court dress. The Queen passed away in August of 1821 and court mourning was officially ended in late September. For those of you who like to see the interesting written tidbits from Ackermann's; I will be posting Queen Caroline's Death notice and the Ackermann's article about the Royal Coronation of King George the IV at the bottom of this post. Enjoy! My top pick of the 1821 fashion plates The coronation of King George IV (previously the Prince Regent also known as Prinny to his close friends) took place in July 1821 and inspired another fashion plate depicting a fancy court dress. Ackermann's Repository 1821 Fashion Plates 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - January Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - January Issue February 1821 fashion plates are MISSING from the volume I had access to; but I've been lucky enough to locate images of what they did look like. (Update 2/20/2012 - I located an image of the first missing plate for Feb) 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - Feb Issue (Update 1/02/2012 - I located an image of the second missing plate for Feb) 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - Feb Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - March Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - March Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - April Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - April Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - May Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - May Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - June Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 11 - June Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - July Issue The color of this pelisse is listed as Evening Primrose 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - July Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - August Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - August Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - September Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - September Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - October Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - October Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - November Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - November Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - December Issue 1821 - Ackermann's Repository Series 2 Vol 12 - December Issue I'm always amazed at the elaborate trims on vintage clothing like these Regency costumes. They are just so much fun to look at. Thanks for taking a look at 1821 Regency Fashions from the pages of Ackermann's Repository and join me again in the near future for a look at 1822. ***************** Now for those who want to see the Ackermann's account of: Queen Caroline's death and the Coronation of King George IV The Death of Queen Caroline The Coronation of King George IV I thought it was interesting that he wanted a grand ceremony that would outshine Napoleon's and that he choose to do it in the style of the Tudor's. I'm sure the whole affair felt like a fancy dress ball for those in attendance. I enjoy seeing how events like these were recorded in it's day so I hope you found it interesting as well. ************** For your convenience I have included some quick links for my previous postings of Ackermann's Repository Fashions below Ackermann's ran series 1 from 1809 - 1815 Series 1 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1809 Series 1 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1810 Series 1 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1811 Series 1 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1812 Series 1 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1813 Series 1 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1814 Series 1 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1815 The Ladies of Ackermann's Regency Fashion (this is a fun digital art piece I did using many of the above ladies) Ackermann's ran series 2 from 1816 - 1822 Series 2 - Vol 1 & 2 - 1816 Series 2 - Vol 3 & 4 - 1817 Series 2 - Vol 5 & 6 - 1818 Series 2 - Vol 7 & 8 - 1819 Series 2 - Vol 9 & 10 - 1820 Series 2 - Vol 11 & 12 - 1821 Series 2 - Vol 13 & 14 - 1822 - coming soon Ackermann's ran series 3 from 1823 - 1828 (series 3 coming soon) I hope you join me again for more Regency fashions from Ackermann's Repository Till next time... Thanks for visiting me here at EKDuncan.blogspot.com If you have enjoyed seeing these images from Ackermann's Repository and would like the opportunity to see and read an original for yourself they are are available on line at www.archive.org Click HERE then choose the volume you are interested in. You can then see and read them online or download them to your computer for future reference. Enjoy!

The Anthropic Principle is one of the most controversial conjectures of modern cosmology. And it's not just controversial among philosophers and scientists, but among Forteans as well... as evidenced by the less than warm reception given to the talk by Lynn Picknett and Clive Prince at last weekend's Fortean Times Unconvention. I've always been a big admirer of Lynn and Clive's historical researches, but I have to admit that when they strayed onto scientific subjects they rapidly got out of their depth (I'm sure I get equally out of my depth when I stray onto historical subjects... which I will do, further down this post!). The attraction of the Anthropic Principle for Picknett and Prince is its supposed link to esoteric Hermeticism -- in particular, the idea that the Universe (macrocosm) mirrors the individual (microcosm), as depicted on the left (from Utriusque Cosmi by Robert Fludd, 1617). The very word Anthropic, with its suggestion of "anthropocentric" or "anthropomorphic", seems to support this. But really the Anthropic Principle has a lot more to do with the difference between a priori and a posteriori probabilities than with human beings per se. Current cosmological models involve a number of parameters that are observed to have certain values, but the theory doesn't explain why they have these values and not other ones. Yet if any of the parameters differed by just a small fraction from their actual value, human beings would never have existed to ask the question. Therefore even if the a priori probability of the universe is very small, the fact that human beings exist makes it an absolute certainty in an a posteriori sense. As Sherlock Holmes famously said: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth". It occurred to me that the Anthropic Principle extends to other "low probability" events besides the small matter of the creation of the Universe. Another example is the emergence of intelligent life on Earth. Many people (including hardened UFO skeptics) believe that intelligent life is an extremely rare phenomenon in the universe, and that the a priori probability of it emerging on any given planet is extremely low. And they may be right. All we know, from the fact that we exist, is that the probability is non-zero! As I alluded to earlier, you can even extend the Anthropic Principle to historical speculation. Throughout recorded history there have been branch points at which humanity might have been wiped out, or at the very least civilized society might have crumbled... but it didn't. And of course it didn't, or I wouldn't be talking to you now via the World Wide Web. But that doesn't mean that in 999 out of a thousand alternate time-lines human history didn't come to an abrupt end. A good example is the Third World War. Throughout the 1950s and 60s, there was a widespread belief in the inevitability of a nuclear confrontation between the Soviet Union and the West that would have resulted in the decimation of the world's population and the destruction of civilization as we know it. Countless science fiction novels and short stories of that period either portrayed such a war, or the devastated world that would be all that remained after it. Most of those stories were set in what is now the past -- and yet here we are, still blissfully unobliterated. Maybe there was a 99.99% chance of a world-ending nuclear conflict in the 1960s, but in retrospect 0.01% is as good as 100%. And maybe other low probability events can be explained the same way. What about the physics-defying trajectory of the bullet that killed JFK? Highly improbable, certainly -- but maybe he was the one who started World War Three in those 99.99% of alternative time-lines!

As the British Library puts personal archives from writers including Jane Austen and Charles Dickens online, novelist Lawrence Norfolk looks at the significance of the notebook to a writer.

Artist Henry Asencio Los Angeles, 1971