This site is aimed at anyone who has an interest in history as revealed through contemporary documents, images, and objects.
In the spirit of the 19th century “miscellany” it will have no specific focus, nor will it try to present a comprehensive picture of any topic or period. Rather, it is a space in which I will share items which, coming my way by chance, have caught my imagination by offering telling glimpses of earlier worlds.
Topics will range from the truly serious to the frivolous, and the material from substantial texts to individual images. Most will be from the 18th and 19th centuries. I hope that, as the site expands, visitors will draw on it according to their particular interests, but also be tempted explore further.
Items will be added with the aim of engaging the reader and viewer, but this is not an exercise in historical nostalgia. The voices and images of the past sometimes reveal worlds in which we would not want to live. When this is the case, there will be no attempt at disguise. Engagement with past worlds, whether they seem appealing or appalling, encourages us to think about how these were formed, and about what shapes our attitudes to them.
The brief introductions and footnotes, inevitably, reflect my interests and limitations. But I invite visitors to the site to bring their own knowledge and imagination to the material.
Contact and Comment: clerk@historymix.info