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Boswell Got Around – See the Full List of Maps in Yale’s Boswell Trade Editions
Ohhhh, I love a map, me! Maps bring stories to life. If you’re going to read James Boswell’s personal journals then follow along on the maps provided by the editors. I’ve included a list of maps in each of the 14 volumes in the Yale Trade series. Click and read.
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Duke of Portland – 18th Century British Prime Minister (1783) | PMs on the Pan
May have been called Prime Minister, but think of him as PM in name only. Behind him were two big beasts and formerly bitter rivals: Radical Whig and Foreign Secretary Charles James Fox, and Tory Home Secretary Lord Frederick North. The figurehead premiership, explained.
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Boswell’s Romantic Heart Beats as he Leaves Scotland in 1762
James Boswell loved his native Scotland throughout his life – even while the lure of London and the conviviality and entertainment it promised occupied most of his waking moments. We get a clear glimpse of just how he feels before he set off from Edinburgh on his parent-approved trip to…
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Who’s Who in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery Processional Frieze Part 2
Look up! When you step off the street and into the foyer of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh you’ll see above you a wonderful parade of figures from Scotland’s history. There are 155 full length portraits on the face of the first floor balcony. Above the entrance this…
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Earl of Shelburne – 18th Century British Prime Minister (1782–1783) | PMs on the Pan
Intelligent, able, wise, and with great political knowledge — but so detached from both the Whigs and Tories that he’d earned the incurable dislike and distrust of everyone important. His nickname was ‘Malagrida’, after a notorious Portuguese Jesuit conspirator. Not exactly a promising start.
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Repeat, Repeat, Repeat Visits to Scotland’s National Portrait Gallery
Most people have LIVING friends, with skin and bones and blood in their veins. (Pffff, weird!) I’ve got historical friends, people who’ve lived and died, and with whom I spend time…in my head. Their portraits are in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh, and I chat with them. Click. Read.
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The Moment Claude Colleer Abbott Discovered Boswell’s London Journal
Look on this face. I’ve tried to capture the hope, the fear of disappointment, the tension that hangs in the split second it takes realisation to reach the brain. This is how I imagine Claude Colleer Abbott looked in the just-before-moment while reading the handwriting on the first page of…
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Marquess of Rockingham (Second Term) – 18th Century British Prime Minister (1782) | PMs on the Pan
A second-time PM, and his was the thirteenth prime ministerial administration of eighteenth century Britain. Unlucky for some — and for him, since he died in office. He was horse-mad, and had the cash to indulge it.
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Speech Bubbles and Talking Pictures in the Eighteenth Century
In modern cartoons we’re used to seeing clear text in a uniform speech bubble, but not in the Eighteenth century when satirical prints based around political, social and cultural issues, gave us the early speech bubble. Learn how they were used by Thomas Rowlandson, James Gillray and William Hogarth.
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A Lost Boswell Treasure, Rediscovered in my Underpants Drawer
This morning I rediscovered a treasure I bought back in 2023: A 1973 collection of the Picturesque Beauties of Boswell. It’s a squarish pack of twenty prints, copies of etchings made by Eighteenth century artist, illustrator and portraitist Thomas Rowlandson. If you’re a Boswell fan…indeed, a Boswellian, then read this.
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Lord North – 18th Century British Prime Minister (1770–1782) | PMs on the Pan
Britain’s twelfth Prime Minister was a nice guy, but weak in the face of opposition — especially the King and stronger personalities. His tactic? Pretend to sleep. He’s blamed for losing the American colonies, but could anyone else have avoided it?
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Boswell Freaks Only. Yale’s Trade and Research Editions Compared
You a Boswell Freak? Here’s a test: how much detail can you read and keep your eyes open. I’m comparing Yale’s Trade and Research editions of James Boswell’s journals. To the ordinary reader this may sound deathly boring, but Boswell nuts dig this kind of stuff. It’s long. Click. Read.
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Who’s Who in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery Processional Frieze Part 1
Look out for the head and shoulders portrait of James Boswell in the Great Frieze (Hole in 1897-1898) above the foyer of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. When I visit I always go straight there…I see him, and then I relax. Do it and remember how awesome he was.
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Duke of Grafton – 18th Century British Prime Minister (1768–1770) | PMs on the Pan
Took over as Prime Minister in 1768 from William Pitt the Elder, for whom he’d been First Lord of the Treasury. A year and a bit later, after a poor showing on the American colonies, he was finished off by a relentless campaign from the mysterious Letters of Junius.
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Discovering a Robert Adam Fireplace and maybe David Hume
The one about the Eighteenth century fireplace designed by Scotsman Robert Adam, sitting quietly in a north-facing drawing room of the oldest house in Queens Street in Edinburgh’s New Town. Philosopher and all round good egg David Hume may have stood ‘right there’ in the 1770s. Makes me giddy. Read.
