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Reposted by Paul Stephens

Godwin_lives @pamelaclemit.bsky.social · 17d

Volume IV of the OUP edition of William Godwin’s letters, now at press, includes an extensive description of his 1816 visit to Abbotsford, together with four letters to Sir Walter Scott (d. OTD 1832), all written in 1824, the same year that Edwin Landseer painted this portrait of Scott at home.

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 30

Yes, refs to "the loan" during the early C19th usually relate to a £18 million loan from Walter Boyd (of mercantile firm Boyd, Benfield, & Co.) to the Pitt govt in 1795, ostensibly to support his war efforts. An early response was Coleridge's essay "The Loan" ('The Watchmen' II (9 Mar 1796), 37-44)

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 23

"Do not diet your mind with grief, it destroys the constitution; but let your chief care be of your health, and with that you will meet your share of Pleasure in the world—do not doubt it."

John Keats (letter to F. Keats, 23 Aug. 1820)

Text source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35698/35698-h/35698-h.htm#CLIX
Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/gustave-courbet/still-life-of-flowers-1863

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Reposted by Paul Stephens

Jake Rudh @jakerudh.bsky.social · Aug 22

On this day in 1994, Portishead released their debut studio album “Dummy” featuring singles “Numb" “Sour Times" and “Glory Box"

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 22

Such is the folly of the world, and so do things seem different from what they are; since [...] Sir Timothy writhes under the fame of his incomparable son, as if it were the most grievous injury done to him; and so, perhaps, after all it will prove.

Mary Shelley (letter to Leigh Hunt, 22 Aug. 1824)

Text source: https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/37956/pg37956.txt
Image source (detail): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Portrait_of_Percy_Bysshe_Shelley_by_Curran,_1819.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 20

"I have been miserably unwell for the last three days — but [...], finding myself convalescent this morning, I bathed, and now am still better, having had a glorious tumble in the waves, though the water is still not cold enough for my liking."

S. T. Coleridge (letter to J. Gillman, 20 Aug. 1819)

Text source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44554/44554-h/44554-h.htm
Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/gustave-courbet/seascape

Reposted by Paul Stephens

Albumism @albumism.com · Aug 19

Sneaker Pimps released their debut album ‘Becoming X’ 29 years ago on August 19, 1996 | Listen to the album here: album.ink/SneakerPimpsBX

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 19

[T]he snowy Alps [...] look like those accumulated clouds of dazzling white that arrange themselves on the horizon in summer. This immensity staggers the imagination, and [...] requires an effort of the understanding to believe that they are indeed mountains.

Mary Shelley (Journal, 19 Aug. 1814)

Text source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37955/37955-h/37955-h.htm
Image source (detail): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gustave_Courbet_-_Panoramic_View_of_the_Alps,_Les_Dents_du_Midi_-_1964.420_-_Cleveland_Museum_of_Art.jpg

Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 18

Our mossy seat in the deepest recesses of the wood was enclosed from the world by an impenetrable veil. On our return the postillion had departed without us; he left word that he expected to meet us on the road. We proceeded there upon foot to Maison Neuve

Mary Shelley (Journal, 18 Aug. 1814)

Text source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37955/37955-h/37955-h.htm
Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/gustave-courbet/the-stream

Reposted by Paul Stephens

Album A Day Calendar @albumadaycalendar.bsky.social · Aug 17

Released: August 17, 1959
Artist: Miles Davis
Album: Kind of Blue
Label: Columbia Records
www.albumadaycalendar.com

Miles Davis – Kind of Blue (1959) album cover.

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Reposted by Paul Stephens

Eric Alper @thatericalper.com · Aug 17

On this day in 1991, Nirvana shot the “Smells Like Teen Spirit” video for under $50K, with real fans as the crowd. It went on to win MTV VMAs and became MTV Europe’s most-played video ever.

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 17

"There is a paper of mine in the last Quarterly, upon the means of bettering the condition of the poor. You will be interested by a story which it contains of an old woman upon Exmoor. In Wordsworth’s blank-verse it would go to every heart"

Robert Southey (letter to C. H. Townshend, 17 Aug. 1816)

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=RoSouth.1849&select=Ch20.28
Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/john-martin/landscape-with-a-castle-1820

Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 16

"If the funds break, it is my intention to go upon the highway. All the other English professions are at present so ungentlemanly by the conduct of those who follow them, that open robbing is the only fair resource left to a man of any principles"

Lord Byron (letter to J. Murray, 16 Aug. 1821)

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=ThMoore.1830&select=AD1821.85
Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/francisco-goya/highwaymen-attacking-a-coach-1787

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Reposted by Paul Stephens

Eric Alper @thatericalper.com · Aug 15

30 years ago today, Blind Melon released their second album, ‘Soup.’ Darker and more experimental than their debut, it featured tracks like “Galaxie” and “Mouthful of Cavities,” and later became a cult favorite in alternative rock.

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Reposted by Paul Stephens

Eric Alper @thatericalper.com · Aug 15

On this day in 1991, Nirvana played The Roxy in LA and invited fans to their first video shoot for ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ two days later. Hundreds came, cheered, and became part of music history forever.

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 15

I am convinced more and more every day that (excepting the human friend philosopher), a fine writer is the most genuine being in the world. Shakspeare and the Paradise lost every day become greater wonders to me. I look upon fine phrases like a lover.

John Keats (letter to B. Bailey, 15 Aug. 1819)

Text source: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/35698/35698-h/35698-h.htm#CX
Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/henry-fuseli/the-shepherd-s-dream-from-paradise-lost-1793

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 14

Our house is a delightful residence, something less than half a mile from the lake of Keswick and something more than a furlong from the town. [...] Skiddaw is behind us; to the left, the right, and in front mountains of all shapes and sizes.

S. T. Coleridge (letter to T. Poole, 14 Aug. 1800)

https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Skiddaw_from_derwentwater_by_Richard_Corbould.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

Reposted by Paul Stephens

Eric Alper @thatericalper.com · Aug 13

62 years ago today, Bob Dylan asked the questions that still echo through generations with “Blowin’ in the Wind.” A timeless anthem for peace, freedom, and the search for answers.

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 13

I beg you will keep an account of money received and paid. Buy a little book ruled for the purpose, for pounds, shillings, and pence, and keep an account of cash received and expended. The balance ought to be cash in purse, if [...] regularly kept.

Walter Scott (letter to W. Scott Jn, 13 Aug. 1819)

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=JoLockh.Scott&select=IV.Ch9.9
Image source (detail): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jan_Lievens_-_Still_Life_with_Books.jpg

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 12

"It is strange that I look on the skulls which stand beside me (I have always had four in my study) without emotion, but I cannot strip the features of those I have known of their fleshy covering, even in idea, without a hideous sensation"

Lord Byron (letter to R. C. Dallas, 12 Aug. 1811)

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=ThMoore.1830&select=AD1811.13
Image source (detail): https://www.wikiart.org/en/paul-cezanne/three-skulls-on-a-patterned-carpet

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 11

There would, perhaps, be no means so effectual as that (which will never be listened to) of taxing the manufacturers according to the number of hands which they employ on an average, and applying the produce in maintaining the manufacturing poor.

Walter Scott (letter to J. Morritt, 11 Aug. 1817)

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=JoLockh.Scott&select=IV.Ch3.2
Image source (detail): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Philipp_Jakob_Loutherbourg_d._J._002.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

Reposted by Paul Stephens

Albumism @albumism.com · Aug 9

Remembering Jerry Garcia today on the 30th anniversary of his passing (August 9, 1995) | Explore the Grateful Dead frontman's musical legacy (including audio & video highlights) here: album.ink/JGarciaRIP

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Paul Stephens @paulstephens.bsky.social · Aug 9

[T]he fireworks were splendent [...] in trees and all shapes, spreading about like young stars in the making, floundering about in Space (like unbroke horses) till some of Newton’s calculations should fix them, but then they went out.

Charles Lamb (letter to W. Wordsworth, 9 Aug. 1814)

Text source: https://www.lordbyron.org/monograph.php?doc=ChLamb.1905&select=L1814.2
Image source (detail): https://commons.m.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Whistler-Nocturne_in_black_and_gold.jpg#mw-jump-to-license

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Reposted by Paul Stephens

Jake Rudh @jakerudh.bsky.social · Aug 5

On this day in 1969, The Stooges released their self-titled debut album featuring “I Wanna Be Your Dog” “1969” and “No Fun”

The record is widely considered integral in the development of punk rock.

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Reposted by Paul Stephens

Jake Rudh @jakerudh.bsky.social · Aug 5

On this day in 1966, The Beatles released their seventh studio album “Revolver” - one of the greatest and most innovative albums in the history of popular music.

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