Georgian

Ludwig van Beethoven, by Josef Willibrord Mähler, c.1804. Wien Museum Inv.-Nr. 104650, CC BY 4.0, Foto: Birgit und Peter Kainz, Wien Museum.

Beethoven’s Heiligenstadt Testament

On 6 October 1802 Ludwig van Beethoven confessed his despair at the loss of his hearing in the Heiligenstadt Testament.

A grey-headed kingfisher, watercolour by George Forster made during James Cook’s second voyage, 1772. Natural History Museum, London/Bridgeman Images.

‘The Traveller’ by Andrea Wulf review

The Traveller: The Revolutionary Life of George Forster and His Search for Humanity by Andrea Wulf brings the most enlightened of Enlightenment radicals into the mainstream.

Portrait of Hipólito da Costa holding a copy of the Correio Braziliense, c.1810. Acervo do Ministério das Relações Exteriores - Coordenação-Geral de Patrimônio Histórico (CGPH/MRE). Public Domain.

The Free Brazilian Press

Brazil’s first newspaper was published from London by an exiled Freemason on first-name terms with British royalty. Who was Hipólito da Costa and what was his news?

Study for a satirical print against the Jewish Naturalisation Act, by Louis Philippe Boitard, 1753. Trustees of the British Museum.

Immoral Panic: Antisemitism in Georgian England

In 1753 the journey of a minor Jewish naturalisation Act through Parliament prompted an outsized furore.

Gin Lane by William Hogarth, 1751. Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. Public Domain.

End of the Gin Craze

The Gin Act of 25 June 1751 finally succeeded where previous legislation had failed and banished ‘Madam Genever’ from Georgian London.

First day of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, outside Parliament House, Canberra, 27 January 1972. State Library of New South Wales. Public Domain.

What Factor Has Most Shaped Australian History?

All national histories are contentious and partial. What are the defining themes in Australia’s story?

Slave Trade (Execrable Human Traffick, or The Affectionate Slaves), George Morland, c.1788. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Public Domain.

Why Did Britain Abolish the Slave Trade?

The Slavery Abolition Act was passed by Parliament in 1833. What was really behind Britain’s moment of moral enlightenment?

Bronze seal-matrix of the Royal African Company, after 1663. Trustees of the British Museum.

African Princes Between the Companies

In 1717 two African princes were sold into slavery. Navigating London society and the machinations of the East India and Royal African Companies, they negotiated a path home.

Piazza San Marco, Venice, by Canaletto, 1720s. Metropolitan Museum of Art. Public Domain.

Servants on the Grand Tour

An army of help accompanied wealthy British sightseers on their 18th-century sojourns across the Continent. What was it like to travel as a servant on the Grand Tour?

The Ride of General Marion's Men, Alonzo Chappel, c.1850. Minneapolis Institute of Art. Public Domain.

‘Republic and Empire’ by Trevor Burnard and Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy review

In Republic and Empire: Crisis, Revolution, and America’s Early Independence, Trevor Burnard and Andrew Jackson O’Shaughnessy place the revolution at the periphery of the British Empire’s world war.