Zola in England
Joanna Richardson describes the two visits of Zola to England. The writer first arrived in 1893 and again, five years later, during the Dreyfus Case.
Literature
William Bartram in America’s Eden
Bartram, like his father, was an eminent naturalist from Philadelphia. J.I. Merritt III describes how his extensive travels in the American South inspired, among others, both Coleridge and Wordsworth.
The Historical Novel and the French Romantics
Once the Romantic Movement had reached France, writes J.H.M. Salmon, many writers, inspired by the Waverley novels, began to look for exciting subjects in the scenes of French history.
The British and Irish in Paris
Impressions of the social and literary scene in the French capital, as recorded by nineteenth-century visitors.
Nathaniel Hawthorne: Consul at Liverpool
The novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, wrote Charlotte Lindgren, found much to criticize both in Great Britain and in his own country.
Goethe and Weimar: The Intellectual Capital of Germany
Robert Hermstorff describes how Goethe moved to Weimar in 1775 and during the rest of his long life made the small Saxon town the centre of German letters and learning.
Cyrano de Bergerac: Poet, Philosopher and Swordsman
Mildred Allen Butler offers a profile of a renowned swordsman, student of philosophy, literary critic, social satirist and story-teller; Cyrano de Bergerac expressed his views of life in his ingenious account of expeditions to the Empires of the Sun and Moon.
Castiglione and ‘The Courtier’
William Amelia describes how Baldassare Castiglione's popular book on courtly manners invoked the elegance and charm of Renaissance life, and went on to influence Europe for centuries.
Boswell, Rousseau and Voltaire
In 1764, writes Stuart Andrews, during his successful Grand Tour, James Boswell, then aged twenty-four, visited two great European thinkers, who were, he wrote, far more interesting to him ‘than most statues or pictures’.
The Salisbury Book of Hours
J.P. Harthan describes The Salisbury Book of Hours; compiled in Rouen about 1425, the prayer-book owes its name to one of the best English commanders in France.