Library Results | Royal Museums Greenwich

Art and celebrity in the age of Reynolds & Siddons / Heather McPherson. "In this volume, Heather McPherson examines the connections among portraiture, theater, the visual arts, and fame to shed light on the emergence of modern celebrity culture in eighteenth-century England. Popular actors in Georgian London, such as David Garrick, Sarah Siddons, and John Philip Kemble, gave larger-than-life performances at Drury Lane and Covent Garden; their offstage personalities garnered as much attention through portraits painted by leading artists, sensational stories in the press, and often-vicious caricatures. Likewise, artists such as Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Lawrence figured prominently outside their studios - in polite society and the emerging public sphere. McPherson considers this increasing interest in theatrical and artistic celebrities and explores the ways in which aesthetics, cultural politics, and consumption combined during this period to form a media-driven celebrity culture that is surprisingly similar to celebrity obsessions in the world today. This richly researched study draws on a wide variety of period sources, from newspaper reviews and satirical pamphlets to caricatures and paintings by Reynolds and Lawrence as well as Thomas Gainsborough, George Romney, and Angelica Kauffman. These transport the reader to eighteenth-century London and the dynamic venues where art and celebrity converged with culture and commerce. Interweaving art history, history of performance, and cultural studies, Art and Celebrity in the Age of Reynolds and Siddons offers important insights into the intersecting worlds of artist and actor, studio and stage, high art and popular visual culture."--Provided by the publisher. [2017] • BOOK • 1 copy available. 757.09421/09033

Voyages to the coast of Africa / by Mess. Saugnier and Brisson : containing an account of their shipwreck on board different vessels, and subsequent slavery, and interesting details of the manners of the Arabs of the desert, and of the slave trade, as carried on at Senegal and Galam. "A ... first-hand account of an ill-fated French expedition to explore west Africa in the late 18th century. The explorers, Messieurs Saugnier and Bresson were shipwrecked off the coast of Senegal, only to be sold into Arabic slavery, where they languished for a long time before being rescued. During their incarceration the two men learned Arabic and made many ... observations of the then rulers of Africa that are set down here. Despite their grim experiences, the two men were keen to return to Africa and the book is therefore a prospectus for other bold explorers to follow in their footsteps; and the area they traversed did indeed become France?s African empire."--Publishers website. 1792 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(6)

An account of experiments to determine the specific gravities of fluids : thereby to obtain the strength of spirituous liquors : together with some remarks on a paper entitled, the best method of proportioning the excise upon spirituous liquors, lately printed in the Philosophical Transactions /by J. Ramsden. Ramsden, J.-(Jesse), 1792. • RARE-BOOK • 1 copy available. 528.56:094

The quiet revolution of Caroline Herschel : the lost heroine of astronomy /Emily Winterburn. "Caroline Herschel was a prolific writer and recorder of her private and academic life, through diaries, autobiographies for family members, notebooks and observation notes. Yet for reasons unknown she destroyed all of her notebooks and diaries from 1788-1797. As a result, we have almost no record of the decade in which she made her most influential mark on science when she discovered eight comets and became the first woman to have a paper read at the Royal Society. ... By piecing together - from letters, reminiscences and museum objects - a detailed account of the time, we get to see a new side to history's 'most admirable lady astronomer' and one of the greatest pioneering female scientists of all time."--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92HERSCHEL

Bligh and the Bounty : his narrative of the voyage to Otaheite with an account of the mutiny and of his boat journey to Timor. Bligh, William, 1936. • BOOK • 2 copies available. 910.4(96)"1787/1789"

Migration, trade, and slavery in an expanding world : essays in honor of Pieter Emmer /edited by Wim Klooster. 2009. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 325+326.1

The art of a nation : three centuries of Irish painting /Jonathan Benington [and others] ; edited by William Laffan. An illustrated catalogue for an exhibition of Irish paintings from the eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries held at Pyms Gallery in London. The catalogue comprises 30 artists: Charles Collins (c. 1700-1744); Judith Lewis (1711-1781); Nathaniel Hone the Elder (1718-1784); Hugh Douglas Hamilton (1739-1806); George Mullins (active 1756-1775/6); Matthew William Peters (1741-1814); Joseph Wilson (active 1756-d. 1793); John Boyne (c. 1750-1810); George Chinnery (1774-1852); James Arthur O'Connor (1792-1841); William Henry Maguire (1806-1853), Irish School (1837); Nathaniel Hone (1831-1917); John Butler Yeats (1839-1922); Howard Helmick (1845-1907); Sarah Purser (1848-1943); Sir John Lavery (1856-1941); Mildred Anne Butler (1858-1914); William Henry Bartlett (1858-1914); Walter Frederick Osborne (1859-1903); Roderic O'Conor (1860-1940); Grace Henry (1868-1953); Jack B. Yeats (1871-1957); Paul Henry (1876-1958); Sir William Orpen (1878-1931); William John Leech (1881-1968); Mary Swanzy (1882-1978); Frederick Edward McWilliam (1909-1992); Colin Middleton (1910-1983); and William Scott (1913-1989). 2002. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 75(415)

Discoverers of the universe : William and Caroline Herschel /Michael Hoskin. This biography traces William and Caroline Herschel's many extraordinary contributions to astronomy, shedding new light on their productive but complicated relationship, and setting their scientific achievements in the context of their personal struggles, larger-than-life ambitions, bitter disappointments, and astonishing triumphs.--Book jacket. 2011. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92HERSCHEL

Port of the dragon : the lost harbor of Sir Francis Drake /Laird L. Nelson. "At times along our historical path important events get lost, witnesses die, fire consumes written accounts, or someone hides the truth. The 430-year-old mystery of where English privateer Francis Drake landed on the Northwest Coast of America involves a case of deceit: a cover-up took place from the start and was renewed again 200 years later. Preceded only by the fleet of Magellan, first to sail around the world, Drake covered more of the globe than Magellan when he turned his ships north in the Pacific and entered a hidden sea where no Chinese junks or Russian explorers had ever navigated before. In the late 16th century, Francis Drake made a daring and profitable three-year voyage around the world. He returned to England with a ship named the Golden Hind, loaded with stolen Spanish treasure. Elizabeth I knighted him for his rich accomplishment, but she seized all of his logs, and they were never seen again. All of his crew was sworn to secrecy under penalty of death, and she never allowed any publications of his voyage during her lifetime. But information did leak out."--Page [4] of cover. 2014. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.4(794)"1579"

Traitâe des montres áa longitudes : contenant la construction, la description & tous les dâetails de main-d'oeuvre de ces machines, leur dimensions, la maniáere de les âeprouver, &c. : suivi 1e. Du mâemoire instructif sur le travail des horloges & des montres áa longitudes : 2e. De la description de deux horloges astronomiques : 3e. De essai sur une mâethode simple de conserver le rapport des poids & des mesures, & d'âetablir une mesure universelle & perpetuelle /par M. Ferdinand Berthoud Berthoud, Ferdinand 1792. • RARE-BOOK • 1 copy available. 528.282:094

Murder on the middle passage : the trial of Captain Kimber /Nicholas Rogers. "On 2 April 1792, John Kimber, captain of the Bristol slave ship Recovery, was denounced in the House of Commons by William Wilberforce for flogging a fifteen-year-old African girl to death. The story, caricatured in a contemporary Isaac Cruikshank print, raced across newspapers in Britain and Ireland and was even reported in America. Soon after, Kimber was indicted for murder - but in a trial lasting just under five hours, he was found not guilty. This book is a micro-history of this important trial, reconstructing it from accounts of what was said in court and setting it in the context of pro- and anti-slavery movements. Rogers considers contemporary questions of culpability, the use and abuse of evidence, and why Kimber was criminally indicted for murder at a time when kidnapped Africans were generally regarded as 'cargo'. Importantly, the book also looks at the role of sailors in the abolition debate: both in bringing the horrors of the slave trade to public notice and as straw-men for slavery advocates, who excused the treatment of enslaved people by comparing it to punishments meted out to sailors and soldiers. The final chapter discusses the ways this incident has been used by African-American writers interested in recreating the trauma of the Middle Passage and addresses the question of whether the slave-trade archive can adequately recover the experience of being enslaved."--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. KD372.K56

A reply to the Answer of the Rev. Dr. Maskelyne, Astronomer Royal, to A narrative of facts, relating to some time-keepers, constructed by Mr. Thomas Mudge, for the discovery of the longitude at sea, &c. By Thomas Mudge, jun. Of Lincoln's Inn. To which is Added, A Short Explanation of the most Proper Methods of Calculating a Mean Daily Rate, With Remarks on some Passages in Dr. Maskelyne's Answer. By his Excellent The Count De Bruhl. Mudge, Thomas, MDCCXCII. [1792] • RARE-BOOK • 1 copy available. 681.113.92:094

Britain and the China trade 1635-1842 This multi-volume work covers Britain's commercial operations in India from 1695-1842, with particular focus on meetings between British diplomats and Chinese officials in 1793 and 1816. It is designed to combine early works on the subject and significant relevant primary sources for reference use. The first five volumes consist of Hosea Ballou Morse's Chronicles of the East India Company Trading to China, 1635-1834, included for its significant transcription work of records from the India Office. Volume VI is a reprint of The Crucial Years of Early Anglo-Chinese relations, 1750-1800 by E H Pritchard, a later study that used Morse's statistics. Volume IX is Michael Greenberg's British Trade and the Opening of China 1800-42. The remaining volumes are a collection of relevant primary sources. Volumes VII and VIII examine the Macartney embassy of 1792 from different angles; Volume VII contains instructions issued to Macartney by the East India Company; Volume VIII is Macartney's private journal of the embassy. Finally, Volume X is Notes of Proceedings and Occurences During the British embassy to Pekin in 1816 by Sir George Thomas Staunton. 2000 • BOOK • 10 copies available. 382(42:51)"1635/1842"

A narrative of facts relating to some time-keepers, constructed by Mr. Thomas Mudge, for the discovery of the longitude at sea: together with observations upon the conduct of the Astronomer Royal respecting them. By Thomas Mudge, jun. of Lincoln's Inn. Mudge, Thomas, M. DCC. XCII. [1792]. • RARE-BOOK • 2 copies available. 681.113.92:094

Admiralty despatches : the story of the war from the battlefront 1939-45 /G. H. Bennett. "From at least as early as the eighteenth century it became a tradition that, following operations involving the Royal Navy, the commanding admiral would report to the Admiralty in the form of an official despatch. Following the French wars of 1792-1815 the despatches were published and that set a precedent. After the Second World War the relevant despatches for 1939-45 were published (from 1947 onwards) as supplements to the London Gazette. The despatches reproduced here, introduced and annotated by Professor Bennett, cover events with a huge bearing on the outcome of the war, such as the convoys in the Mediterranean and to Russia, major amphibious operations and raids such as Dieppe, alongside some of the minor operations involving the Royal Navy and, of course, D-Day. These important documents are published here in an accessible form. We are fortunate that they were written in a way designed to be understood by the public at the time. What they reveal, not only about naval operations but about their authors, is fascinating.--Provided by the publisher. 2017. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 354.71

The slave trade debate : contemporary writings for and against /introduction by John Pinfold. At the height of the debate about the slave trade and its abolition in the 1780s and '90s, each side issued pamphlets in support of its position. This publication reproduces a selection of representative pamphlets encompassing the arguments put forward by each side. 2007. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 326.8(42)"17/18"

New interpretations in naval history : selected papers from the eighteenth McMullen Naval History Symposium held at the United States Naval Academy 19-20 September 2013 /edited by Lori Lyn Bogle and James C. Rentfrow. McMullen Naval History Symposium 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 355.49"17/19"

Children at sea : lives shaped by the waves /Vyvyen Brendon. "Children at sea faced even more drastic separations from loved ones than those sent 'home' from India or those packed off to English boarding schools at the age of seven, the subjects of Vyvyen Brendon's previous books. Captured slaves, child migrants and transported convicts faced an ocean passage leading nearly always to life-long exile in distant lands. Boys apprenticed as merchant seamen, or enlisted as powder monkeys, or signed on as midshipmen, usually progressed to a nautical career fraught with danger and broken only by fleeting periods of home leave. Solitary among numbers, as Admiral Collingwood described himself, they could be not just physically at risk but psychologically adrift - at sea in more ways than one. Rather than abandoning seaborne children as they approached adulthood, therefore, Vyvyen follows whole lives shaped by the waves. She focusses on eight central characters: a slave captured in Africa, a convict girl transported to Australia, a Barnardo's lass sent as a migrant to Canada, a foundling brought up in Coram's Hospital who ran away to sea, and four youths from contrasting backgrounds despatched to serve as midshipmen. Their social origins as well as their maritime ventures are revealed through a rich variety of original source material discovered in scattered archives. These brine-encrusted lives are resurrected both for their intrinsic interest and because they speak for thousands of children, cast off alone to face storms and calms, excitement and monotony, fellowship and loneliness, kindness and abuse, sea-sickness and ozone breezes, loss and hope. This book recounts stories never before told, stories that might otherwise have sunk without trace like so much juvenile flotsam. They are sometimes inspiring, sometimes heart-rending and always compelling."--Provided by the publisher. 2021. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 910.45

Extracts from the treaties between Great-Britain and other kingdoms and states, of such articles as relate to the duty and conduct of the commanders of His Majesty's ships of war Great Britain. Treaties, etc 1792. • RARE-FOLIO • 4 copies available. 094:341.24

Toussaint Louverture : a revolutionary life /Philippe Girard. "In Toussaint Louverture, Philippe Girard reveals the dramatic story of how Louverture transformed himself from lowly freedman to revolutionary hero. In 1791, the unassuming Louverture masterminded the only successful slave revolt in history. By 1801, he was general and governor of Saint-Domingue, and an international statesman who forged treaties with Britain, France, Spain, and the United States-empires that feared the effect his example would have on their slave regimes. Louveture's ascendency was short-lived, however. In 1802, he was exiled to France, dying soon after as one of the most famous men in the world, variously feared and celebrated as the "Black Napoleon." As Girard shows, in life Louverture was not an idealist, but an ambitious pragmatist. He strove not only for abolition and independence, but to build Saint-Domingue's economic might and elevate his own social standing. He helped free Saint-Domingue's slaves yet immediately restricted their rights in the interests of protecting the island's sugar production. He warded off French invasions but embraced the cultural model of the French gentility. In death, Louverture quickly passed into legend, his memory inspiring abolitionist, black nationalist, and anti-colonialist movements well into the 20th century. Deeply researched and bracingly original, Toussaint Louverture is the definitive biography of one of the most influential people of his era, or any other."--Provided by the publisher. 2016 • BOOK • 1 copy available. 92LOUVERTURE

Missionaries and idols in Polynesia / guest curator, David Shaw King. "The first Europeans to follow the explorers of the eighteenth century into the South Pacific were missionaries. They were sent by an Evangelical Christian organization called The London Missionary Society, whose aim was to bring the word of the Bible to all peoples - "to illume a dark and sinful world". Their first target was Tahiti, an island of extravagant beauty, inhabited by a people of astonishing sophistication. The missionaries settled down, learned the language and stayed for decades. Although their aim was to Christianize the islanders and eradicate the traditional religion along with its pagan idols, they ended up recording a good deal about Polynesian culture and even saving a large number of the very idols they came 12,000 miles to destroy. Accompanying an exhibition at the University of London's Brunei Gallery, this beautifully illustrated catalogue documents the London Missionary Society from its formation to its initial 'success' in Polynesia. The period covered spans roughly 1792 to 1825. Along with historical graphics and archive material - paintings, engravings, books, journals and correspondence of the missionaries - this publication shows some of the idols and artefacts that the missionaries brought back - feather gods and spirit images, necklaces, instruments and tools. In the words of missionary Rev. John Williams, it puts on view an historical "ocular demonstration" of The London Missionary Society. Most objects shown here have not been on public display since the nineteenth century. After the initial and very difficult spiritual conquest of Tahiti - the "night of toil" that took 15 years - the English missionaries turned the thorny job of Christianization over to Polynesian 'teachers', who, in the words of Rev. John Williams, knew how to clear away "the rubbish of idolatry & superstition far better than newly arrived or even Old Missionaries". The best teacher of all was Papeiha, who was energetic, purposeful and a native speaker of Tahitian. His account of events while Christianizing Rarotonga - published here for the first time - is probably the most personal, immediate and detailed description of a conversion in the South Sea. Missionaries are roundly criticized for their unrelenting determination to alter traditional Polynesian religion and customs. In what they referred to as the "bloodless victory", they largely succeeded. Yet in many ways Evangelicals were progressive. They were vehemently opposed to slavery, infanticide, human sacrifice and warfare. They brought writing, taught literacy, and printed books; in doing so they fixed the Polynesian languages. They urged the elevation of women in Polynesian society. Unlike the American missionaries in Hawai'i, for example, their aim was to establish spiritual rather than territorial or economic dominion. However questionable the missionary endeavour, the writings and collections presented here show that the missionaries were also agents of cultural preservation."--Provided by the publisher. 2015. • FOLIO • 1 copy available. 910.4:266

Reappraisals of British colonisation in Atlantic Canada, 1700-1930 / edited by S. Karly Kehoe and Michael E. Vance. "Investigates the contested legacies of British colonisation on Canada's Atlantic coast. Engages with the legacy of British colonisation in Atlantic Canada across three sections. Situates the Scottish experience within process of British colonisation, challenging the tendency to omit the Scots from critical explorations of the colonisation process in this region. Exposes the reader to a range of experiences from across the four Atlantic Provinces, which will encourage more exciting new research. Chapters are grouped in three main sections: Dispossession and Settlement; Religion and Identity; Reappraising Memory. This collection offers new perspectives on the legacy of British colonisation by concentrating on Atlantic Canada (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island), a region that was pivotal to safeguarding Britain's imperial ambitions, between 1750 and 1930. New and established researchers from Canada, Scotland and the United States engage with the core themes of migration, dispossession, religion, identity, and commemoration in a way that diverges markedly from existing scholarship. The research shines much-needed light on groups traditionally excluded from Britain's broader imperial narrative, highlighting the indigenous experience and the presence and agency of slaves, free people of colour and religious minorities"--Provided by the publisher. 2020. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 971.502

Staying power : the history of black people in Britain /Peter Fryer "'STAYING POWER is a panoramic history of black Britons. Stretching back to the Roman conquest, encompassing the court of Henry VIII, and following a host of characters from Mary Seacole to the abolitionist Olaudah Equiano, Peter Fryer paints a picture of two thousand years of Black presence in Britain. First published in the 1980s, amidst race riots and police brutality, Fryer's history performed a deeply political act; revealing how Africans, Asians and their descendants had long been erased from British history. By rewriting black Britons into the British story, showing where they influenced political traditions, social institutions and cultural life, was - and is - a deeply effective counter to a racist and nationalist agenda.This new edition includes the classic introduction by Paul Gilroy, author of 'There Ain't No Black in the Union Jack', in addition to a brand-new foreword by Guardian journalist Gary Younge, which examines the book's continued significance today as we face Brexit and a revival of right wing nationalism."--Provided by the publisher. 2018. • BOOK • 1 copy available. 305.896041

Astronomie De La Lande, Jerome le Francais 1792 • RARE-BOOK • 6 copies available. 52.092:094

Explore our Collection