#OTD 1807 Southey writes to a friend

'What you have heard of Coleridge is true, he is about to separate from his wife. ...His habits are so murderous of all domestic comfort that I am only surprized Mrs C is not rejoiced at being rid of him...'

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The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens is available to purchase from many excellent purveyors of books, but there's a FREE copy up for grabs if you're a subscriber to the History Rage podcast!

We all have that one friend who mistakenly thought that his anonymous benefactor was the guardian of his crush whereas in fact his transformation into a gentleman was being funded by an escaped convict who made his fortune in Australia

Life imitating Natalie Jenner's forthcoming novel, Austen at Sea!

theguardian.com/books/2024/apr…

📣 Today we’re celebrating the 250th birthday of Jane Austen’s older brother Admiral Sir Francis Austen with a new exhibition, Travels with Frank Austen, displaying his handwritten Memoir and watercolour album for the first time!

👉 Find out more: buff.ly/3w5i7h3 Friends of the National Libraries (FNL)

🎈Happy Birthday 🎈 (probably) to William Shakespeare!
Dickens loved the Bard and was instrumental in saving his Stratford birthplace for the nation in 1847.
Gad’s Hill has several links to Shakespeare…come and visit us to find out more 😊

Happy Shakespeare’s birthday to all who celebrate, especially to Mr. Yates, but not to Willoughby. Never to Willoughby.

Save the date for ‘The Global Jane Austen’, 10-12 July 2025, Southampton. I can assure you that the welcome will be warm. All rumours of malodorous fish much exaggerated #Austen #JaneAusten !

Save the date for the Jane Austen Regency Picnic in the grounds of Chawton House! Zoe Wheddon will be giving a talk and the winner of the JAliteracyfoundation annual short story competition will be announced!

Sunday 23rd June
Tickets --->

chawtonhouse.org/whats-on/jane-…

Chatham: ‘the wickedest place in the world’. But also the first UK town to appoint a Jewish High Constable. kent-maps.online/19c/19c-jewish…

If you couldn't get tickets for my sold-out event Chipping Campden Literature Festival you can listen to me talking about my new book, The Life and Lies of Charles Dickens, here.

If Dickens wanted to keep his relationship with Ellen Ternan secret then he went a very strange way about it ...

I've always thought that Great Expectations was really Estella's story so was intrigued by the prospect of reading Estella's Revenge by Author Barbara Havelocke | Barbara Copperthwaite

I wasn't disappointed: it's a darkly atmospheric tale, Charles Dickens meets Kill Bill.

🚨 TOMORROW ON PATREON🚨
📚 Dr Helena Kelly challenges Dickensian gossip in our podcast, exploring the untold stories of Dickens's relationships. Were rumours mere speculation, or did they reveal hidden truths? 🎙️💬 #Dickens #Podcast #history #victorian

You have two weeks to enter the JAliteracyfoundation annual short story competition!

Details below:

janeaustenlf.org/writing-compet…

DOTD-14/04/1851-Dora Annie Dickens, 9th child of CD and Catherine, aged 9 months. 'Word was brought to me last night, as I rose out of the Chair at the Fund Dinner, that our poor little Dora had died in a moment-I had been nursing her before I went out.' To Henry Austin 15/04/51

🚨 NEXT WEEK ON PATREON🚨
🎙️ Dr Helena Kelly unravels Dickensian myths in our podcast, exposing the truth about Charles Dickens and Ellen Ternan's affair. Dive into the misunderstood complexities of Dickens's love life. 💔🕵️‍♂️ #Dickens #PodcastAlert #history #podcast #victorian

✨TODAY’S EPISODE ✨

The inimitable Emily Howes - award winning author of #ThePaintersDaughters - talks about her new book MRS DICKENS … which she is writing as we speak!

🎧here on all platforms: buzzsprout.com/1897197/148224…

🔥🎩🔥📚🔥✍🏻🔥

Come (virtually) listen to me rave about some bad-asses in bonnets — there will be sisterhood, and there will be scandal! 💃