I always love it very much when I have a reaction. Roses and Vellum tells me:
ABOUT QUEEN VICTORIA’S BOOK OF SPELLS: “Gaslamp Fantasy,” or historical fantasy set in a magical
version of the nineteenth century, has long been popular with readers and
writers alike. A number of wonderful fantasy novels, including
Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Prestige by Christopher Priest, owe their inspiration
to works by nineteenth-century writers ranging from Jane Austen, the Brontës,
and George Meredith to Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and William Morris.
And, of course, the entire steampunk genre and subculture owes more than a
little to literature inspired by this period….Queen Victoria’s Book of
Spells is an anthology for everyone
who loves these works of neo-Victorian fiction, and wishes to explore the wide
variety of ways that modern fantasists are using nineteenth-century settings,
characters, and themes. These approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the
Austen-and-Trollope inspired works that some critics call Fantasy of Manners,
all of which fit under the larger umbrella of Gaslamp Fantasy. The result is
eighteen stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, mainstream, and young
adult fields, including both bestselling writers and exciting new talents such
as Elizabeth Bear, James Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee,
Gregory Maguire, Delia Sherman, and Catherynne M. Valente, who present a
bewitching vision of a nineteenth century invested (or cursed!) with
magic.
At the start of the Victorian period most houses were lit by candles and oil lamps. Interior fittings included chandeliers (suspended from the ceiling) and sconces (fixed to the wall). However these were mainly used on special occasions, and most ordinary events after sunset took place using portable light sources such as candlesticks, candelabra (bracketed candlesticks) and oil lamps, and by the light of the fire. By the end of the period gas lighting was common in urban homes and electricity was being introduced in many. Gas lighting of buildings and streets began early in the 19th century, with most streets in London lit by gas as early as 1816. But for the first 50 years it was generally distrusted and few homes were lit. After gas fittings were introduced in the new Houses of Parliament in 1859 the tide turned. Fasionable town houses constructed in the 1860s often had a central pendant gas light (that is to say a gas light attached to the ceiling) in each of the principal rooms with a ventilation grille above, cunningly disguised in the deep recesses of the ceiling rose. Gas 'wall brackets' were used in place of the sconce, and some staircases were lit by newel lights attached to the newel post. The largest pendant fittings had several burners and were known as gasoliers.
Simple gas lights incorporated a plain brass, copper or iron gas supply tube with a tap for switching the gas on and off, terminating in a burner shielded from direct view by a shade or globe to diffuse the light. Some burners such as the Argand also incorporated a glass tube or chimney, and around which could be placed a larger shade of glass or silk. Pendant lights could consist of little more than a vertical rod turned at right angles at the end to support the up-turned burner, but they were rarely that simple in the Victorian period. Every element of the gas light offered an opportunity for embellishment. Early pendant fittings often incorporated two or more arms forming a loop, gracefully curving down around the glass lamp shade, with the lamp cradled below. In another design scrolling arms radiated from a central baluster, a design echoed by the scrolling arms of the wall brackets.
The shades provided another opportunity for embellishment. Most glass shades were translucent, either frosted or coloured and were often extremely ornate, with cut glass decoration or etched patterns. The most elaborate shapes appeared at the end of the 19th century when designs reached their most opulent in the Louis XV revival. As well as ornate silk shades on lamps with chimneys, a variety of other more delicate devices were introduced at different times, such as shades of glass beads.
By 1890 main stream taste had begun to change dramatically. Although William Morris, the father of the Arts and Crafts Movement, had established Morris and Co almost 40 years earlier, it was the second generation of craftsmen who started to manufacture products on a larger scale, often adopting the industrial processes reviled by Morris. One of the greatest and most prolific designers of the new style was W A S Benson who, with the encouragement of William Morris, had set up his own workshop making light fittings and other metalwork. His fittings, like those of many of his contemporaries, were mass-produced, selling through Liberty's in London in particular.
The Arts and Crafts style swept out the clutter from the Victorian interior, leaving them lighter and brighter in every sense. Richly decorated surfaces were replaced by plain ones relying on the warmth of natural materials and simple craftsmanship for their interest. Those elements like the fireplaces and light fittings which remained as richly ornamented as ever before took on a new importance, focussing attention. Often the decoration of fittings can be described as 'Art Nouveau' for their graceful, flowing lines and lack of any clear historical influence, but revivalism remained common, and most homes at the turn of the 19th century borrowed heavily from the Tudor and Elizabethan periods in particular.
Gaslamps are so beautiful. It is funny to think something so beautiful and nostalgic to us now was strange and futuristic back then. I have been reading recently, and there was a story (Smithfield by James P Blaylock) about the lighting of the gaslamps for the first time, it was quite fascinating to think about.
Thank you for your reaction. Yes, It is fascinating to think about the days that gaslight was new. Your reaction also made me curious. I never heard about Queen Victoria's Book of Spells. So I was searching for it. I found this nice weblog: suzanne-johnson/drive-by-review-and-cntest-queen
Thank you for your reaction. Yes, It is fascinating to think about the days that gaslight was new. Your reaction also made me curious. I never heard about Queen Victoria's Book of Spells. So I was searching for it. I found this nice weblog: suzanne-johnson/drive-by-review-and-cntest-queen
ABOUT QUEEN VICTORIA’S BOOK OF SPELLS: “Gaslamp Fantasy,” or historical fantasy set in a magical
version of the nineteenth century, has long been popular with readers and
writers alike. A number of wonderful fantasy novels, including
Stardust by Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, and The Prestige by Christopher Priest, owe their inspiration
to works by nineteenth-century writers ranging from Jane Austen, the Brontës,
and George Meredith to Charles Dickens, Anthony Trollope, and William Morris.
And, of course, the entire steampunk genre and subculture owes more than a
little to literature inspired by this period….Queen Victoria’s Book of
Spells is an anthology for everyone
who loves these works of neo-Victorian fiction, and wishes to explore the wide
variety of ways that modern fantasists are using nineteenth-century settings,
characters, and themes. These approaches stretch from steampunk fiction to the
Austen-and-Trollope inspired works that some critics call Fantasy of Manners,
all of which fit under the larger umbrella of Gaslamp Fantasy. The result is
eighteen stories by experts from the fantasy, horror, mainstream, and young
adult fields, including both bestselling writers and exciting new talents such
as Elizabeth Bear, James Blaylock, Jeffrey Ford, Ellen Kushner, Tanith Lee,
Gregory Maguire, Delia Sherman, and Catherynne M. Valente, who present a
bewitching vision of a nineteenth century invested (or cursed!) with
magic.
Wow, there really is a lot to read, I never heard from before.
On another website I found more about gaslight buildingconservation/lighting
| Late 19th century paraffin lamp and gas wall brackets in the entrance hall of the Linley Sambourne House, London. (Victorian Society, Linley Sambourne House, London/Bridgeman Art Library) Before the advent of the incandescent mantle, gas lighting relied on a simple open flame. By the mid 19th century the most common burners produced fan-shaped flames like the Batswing and Fish Tail burners. The Argand burner, which was successfully adapted for gas, was the principal exception with its circular flame. All these gas light fittings and the early incandescent mantles had to point upwards directing the light towards the ceiling and away from where the light was needed most, and it was not until 1897 that the gas mantle was adapted to burn downwards - a useful event to remember when dating gas fittings. |
The shades provided another opportunity for embellishment. Most glass shades were translucent, either frosted or coloured and were often extremely ornate, with cut glass decoration or etched patterns. The most elaborate shapes appeared at the end of the 19th century when designs reached their most opulent in the Louis XV revival. As well as ornate silk shades on lamps with chimneys, a variety of other more delicate devices were introduced at different times, such as shades of glass beads.
By 1890 main stream taste had begun to change dramatically. Although William Morris, the father of the Arts and Crafts Movement, had established Morris and Co almost 40 years earlier, it was the second generation of craftsmen who started to manufacture products on a larger scale, often adopting the industrial processes reviled by Morris. One of the greatest and most prolific designers of the new style was W A S Benson who, with the encouragement of William Morris, had set up his own workshop making light fittings and other metalwork. His fittings, like those of many of his contemporaries, were mass-produced, selling through Liberty's in London in particular.
The Arts and Crafts style swept out the clutter from the Victorian interior, leaving them lighter and brighter in every sense. Richly decorated surfaces were replaced by plain ones relying on the warmth of natural materials and simple craftsmanship for their interest. Those elements like the fireplaces and light fittings which remained as richly ornamented as ever before took on a new importance, focussing attention. Often the decoration of fittings can be described as 'Art Nouveau' for their graceful, flowing lines and lack of any clear historical influence, but revivalism remained common, and most homes at the turn of the 19th century borrowed heavily from the Tudor and Elizabethan periods in particular.
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