Last week, Melissab. Wrote:
"In order to improve my own writing process in this respect, I am trying to build a library of key reference books for romance set in 19th c. Britain. Would you or some of the other Word Wenches be willing to share your "must have" reference tools?"
We Wenches decided that was such a good question, we've turned it into a blog. Though we've visited this topic before earlier this year as "Research Books I Have Loved" (http://wordwenches.typepad.com/word_wenches/2006/06/research_books_.html#comments), it's always worth another discussion.
From Mary Jo:
One of my best reference texts is THE LONDON ENCYCLOPEDIA edited by Ben Weinreb and Christopher Hibbert. It's a big expensive book, but full of the most incredibly useful information. You can get the history of buildings and park, lighting, the police, street peddlers, etc, etc, etc. Worth the investment.
Another book I reach for a lot, though it might be hard to get, is the Automobile Association's ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO BRITAIN. It's out of print now, but by going to Amazon UK I found some used copies for reasonable prices. Here's the url: http://tinyurl.com/zhyxb It was written as a road tour book, but it's full of pictures from towns and countryside all over the country. There will be brief descriptions of towns and mentions of old building, plus there are special articles on things like trees and British ponies and other cool stuff. Other AA publications are also very useful.
Lastly, I'd get a copy of Emily Hendrickson's REGENCY REFERENCE BOOK, which is now available in CD form. Dee Hendrickson was a mainstay of the Signet Regency line for years and a meticulous researcher, so she knows what Regency writers needs to know.
From Edith:
I'm on a deadline, and I'm done for the day but I can't stop typing! (help!)
So here's my three fave source books:
THE PRINCE OF PLEASURE, by J. B. Priestley - has some errors, but who cares? Beautifully written and illustrated, and gives the whole feeling of an era.
1815 AN END AND A BEGINNING by John Fisher: Again, not complete, but paints a Regency portrait.
THE REGENCY COMPANION, Laudermilk and Hamlin: earnest research.
From Pat:
I have so many more faves that I only chose those closest to me on my desk.
I second MJ on the AA BOOK OF THE COUNTRYSIDE and Dee's REGENCY REFERENCE BOOK. When I'm writing that era, they stay on my desk.
But I write in several centuries and tend toward more general books to get overall pictures. Aside from the usual costume books, I've found ROAD TO DIVORCE by Lawrence Stone to be exceedingly fascinating and informative, especially when I want to play around with the marriage laws. It covers 1587 until the 1980s I believe.
And because I usually write rural settings instead of London, I use the SHELL BOOK OF COTTAGES by Richard Reid for house descriptions. It's not limited to 19th century by any means.
And because I like going back to the origins of slang, I keep the CLASSICAL DICTIONARY OF THE VULGAR TONGUE, by Captain Francis Grose as edited by Eric Partridge at hand at all times. The insults alone are worth the price.
From Loretta:
Did we include info on how to get Dee's book (REGENCY REFERENCE BOOK)? She's got an update CD available. I've found her reference more useful, actually, than the Laudermilk/Hamlin. More detail about tricky stuff.
http://www.emilyhendrickson.com/referencebook.html
From Mary Jo:
Actually, the AA BOOK OF THE COUNTRYSIDE is a different book. I have that one, too. It's also extremely good and I keep it within grabbing distance. It's well worth browsing the AA books to find ones that might fit a particular story.
Plus, my favorite "thesaurous" is THE SYNONYM FINDER by J. I. Rodale. It's works just like a dictionary, which I find much easier than the standard thesaurous style.
From Susan/Sarah:
I had already drafted a blog on general sources and haven't used it yet.. So I'll polish that up for Thursday to follow up this multi-Wench discussion of research sources for the 19th century
From Loretta:
Hey, you guys are too quick. You're naming all my faves. No, that's OK, now I think about it, because it's hard picking only three. Here's my contribution:
LIFE IN THE ENGLISH COUNTRY HOUSE by Mark Girouard
THE ENGLISH by Christopher Hibbert
THE BIRTH OF THE MODERN; WORLD SOCIETY 1815-1830 by Paul Johnson. I think I've turned to this book at least once in the course of writing nearly all of my historicals.
From Susan/Miranda:
Argghh, you guys ARE fast. I would have suggested both Captain Grose's VULGAR TONGUE and the Girouard COUNTRY HOUSE.
I'm a visual person, so I'll make my books "picture books" (for writers, one picture truly can be worth a thousand words), full of illustrations. And since Melissab said she was interested in late Victorian as well as Regency, I'll add a couple of those.
VICTORIAN AND EDWARDIAN FASHION: A VISUAL SURVEY by Alison Gernsheim. Lots of historical photographs, mostly portraits, with good descriptive notes. One of those fantastic Dover bargains, too, with a cover price under $10.00!
VICTORIANS AT HOME, by Susan Lasdun (and an introduction by Mark Girouard, so you know it's a goodie). Paintings, drawings, and photographs of 19th century English interiors, both grand and humble.
JANE AUSTEN'S TOWN AND COUNTRY STYLE, by Susan Watkins. Again, lots of photographs, not only of the houses that likely morphed into the ones described in Austen's books, but also of useful things like a recreated dinner party table, complete with food.
From Jo:
I pretty well stop at 1820, so my stuff is pre that. I'll recommend primary sources.
A RESIDENCE AT THE COURT OF ST. JAMES by Richard Rush. Century Hutchinson. There are extracts here.
http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/encap/skilton/nonfic/rush01.html
ACKERMAN'S LONDON ILLUSTRATED, Wordsworth Press.
And any copy of the ANNUAL REGISTER you can get your hands on. There's one for every year and they're a great snapshot of Britain at that moment. Some pictures are on line here.
http://www.noelcollection.org/noel/ackermann/index.html
And any copy of the ANNUAL REGISTER you can get your hands on. There's one for every year and they're a great snapshot of Britain at that moment. There are some on line, but only from the 18th century. http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/cgibin/ilej/pbrowse.pl?item=title&id=ILEJ.5.&title=Annual+Register