One of my favorite sewing bloggers, Debi of My Happy Sewing Place, dug these up from The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) and posted a few pictures on her blog. I decided to share some of my favorites on my blog, and you can see more photographs of Edwardian Scotland on the RCAHMS website.

General view of people outside cottages at Troon, South Ayrshire, with thatched cottage in foreground, 1910

View of a hunting party on The Glen estate, 1907

Photograph of female pupils in the Gymnasium of unidentified school run by the Edinburgh Merchant Company, 1900-1920

View of tea party, 1906

View of two women in a car, 1910

As early as 1869 the Sunday parade of fashion on Fifth Avenue had become a feature of New York life. The Easter Parade still continues, but the fine equipages, with spirited horses and uniformed footmen, have given way to the automobile. Another notable feature of former days was the driving in Central Park. Here might be seen old Commodore Vanderbilt, driving his famous trotter, “Dexter”; Robert Bonner, speeding “Maud S.”; Thomas Kilpatrick, Frank Work, Russell Sage, and other horsemen driving to their private quarter- or half- mile courses in Harlem; leaders of society and dowagers in their gilded coaches; and even maidens of the “Four Hundred” driving their phaetons.

~ Fifth Avenue: Glances at the Vicissitudes and Romance of a World-Renowned Thoroughfare (1915)

NEWS: Site updates will be at least once a week, if not twice a week, from now on. Bear with me as I and the site go through a transition, but I definitely will not abandon you all. I usually post interesting links on the Facebook page even if I’m not writing blog posts, so that’s an option if you’d like to receive history news, videos, et al.

One hundred years after the tragedy, many feel there is nothing left to be said about the Titanic, that every aspect of the ship, its passengers, and its sinking has been exhausted. While this may be true, the spate of books released this year hope to test that opinion, and I’d say that Richard Davenport-Hines’ Voyagers of the Titanic does its best to convince readers otherwise.

Voyagers of the Titanic tells the tale from a myriad of angles, beginning with the ship’s origins, and ending with the fate of the iceberg which sealed the RMS Titanic’s fate. Sandwiched between is a richly-detailed portrait of an age where wealth seemed endless and power forever in the hands of aristocratic Anglo-Saxons. If you’re a Titanic buff, or have read the multitude of books released in the mid-90s in the wake of James Cameron’s Titanic, Davenport-Hines does not uncover anything new or untapped; however, his elegant prose does make the narrative sprightly and engaging.

I consider the section about the second class passengers the most interesting, for this class–essentially made up of gradations of the typical Anglo-American middle class–is often neglected in the rush to frame the sinking as a matter of rich vs poor (or bourgeoisie vs proletariat). The issues I had with this book is that after a while, Davenport-Hines seemed to gorge on the lavish details of the Edwardian and Gilded Age, and the description became overwhelming and overdone. Also, in stuffing the book with snapshots of nearly every person on the boat, humanity and emotions were nearly erased from the text, and the recitation of their lives and deaths were just as hurriedly impersonal as the slightly distasteful (to me at least) inclusion of the photograph of a victim’s body being embalmed on the decks of the Minia.

For those newly interested in the ship, its passengers, and its sinking, this is a solid place to begin reading, though I feel longtime Titanic aficionados may be frustrated by its redundancy to their libraries.

FTC Disclosure: The book was provided by the publisher

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Some months ago a young man who represented himself to be an unpublished English author in sore straits submitted a manuscript to G.P. Putnam’s Sons. After the usual formalities the work was accepted. The author desired that his name should appear upon the title page as “George L. Myers.” The book was recently brought out bearing the title of “Aboard the American Duchess.” Before many days had elapsed after issue the publishers were informed that “Aboard the American Duchess” was in reality identical with “The Queen of Night,” a novel written by Mr. Headon Hill and published in London, save that “Mr. Myers” had changed the scene of action to New York. Thereupon the publishers sent an honorarium with explanations to Mr. Hill, who is well known in England and Australia as the author of “Guilty Gold,” “Zambra, the Detection,” and “The Rajah’s Second Wife.” “The Queen of the Night” is not copyrighted in this country, so Mr. Hill will probably feel gratified when he receives the unexpected message. The publishers have also issued the following notices that the American version of the novel may not be purchased under a misapprehension:

“G. P. Putnam’s Sons regret to have occasion to announce to the reading public that the story recently published by them under the title of ‘Aboard the American Duchess,’ a story purporting to be the work of an American author who writes under the name of George L. Myers, is a plagiarism of a story published some years back by Headon Hill, of London, entitled, ‘The Queen of Night.’ Mr. Hill’s material has been appropriated by the American writer, such appropriation constituting a wrong against the English author and his publishers, and also, of course, the American publishers, who accepted as an original work the story ‘The American Duchess.’ The publishers are making this announcement in order to caution American readers against the purchase under a wrong impression, of the story issued under the title of ‘Aboard the American Duchess.’”

~ The New York Times, February 10, 1900

I was able to find a copy of Aboard the American Duchess (complete with note from the publisher), and though I have not been able to find a copy of The Queen of the Night, there are scans of a few pages here.

So do you feel the claims of plagiarism bear true? Who do you think ratted “Mr. Myers” out? And more importantly, what do you think happened to Myers?