Some familiar c18th New Year’s Resolutions

Struggling to come up with some New Year's Resolutions? Here is some eighteenth-century inspiration (and some of them seem terribly familiar...) 1. To sort out your love life (whatever form that may take) Resolv'd to be Married!!                                    ...

A Romp Loving Miss Under the Mistletoe (1796)

Ah, Christmas. For centuries it has been the season of love, giving, and sentimental sickliness of all persuasions. But, let's face it, it has also provided the perfect opportunity for countless lusty young couples to indulge in a bit of festive fornication under the mistletoe. The print below gives a peep at four couples engaged in...

A turbulent year in the life of an c18th marriage

And so, as we draw towards the end of the year, it seems only fitting to mark the occasion with a peek at a year in the life of a decidedly unsuccessful Georgian marriage. After marrying on New Year's Day, our happy couple spend the next twelve months swinging wildly from love to loathing (probably...

Learning to love yourself… it is the greatest love of all (1775)

And I think this bloke has got it covered. - Print probably from The Matrimonial Magazine, c.1775. Courtesy of the Lewis Walpole Library

How to bag a handsome man – some c18th advice

As the season of love and festivity is upon us, I thought I might offer a little c18th advice on how to bag the man of your dreams – even if you can't impress him with your inexhaustible fortune. "Good News for Maidens: Or, now or never for handsome Husbands, and the surest methods they...

If Georgian England’s single ladies were in charge… (1800)

Knowing how consumed most single ladies were with the mission of securing a husband, just imagine what harassment England's bachelors might have been subjected to if the women were given charge of romantic proceedings. The Leap Year tradition of allowing women to make their own amorous advances clearly played on the mind of one print-maker...