Dr. Martin Kolby
banner
drmartinkolby.bsky.social
Dr. Martin Kolby
@drmartinkolby.bsky.social
Member of the Royal Explorers Society, past president (1836-1840) of the King's Geographical Institute, Order du Chevalerie. Currently studying madness among dispersed populations in Appalachia.

(Steampunk Fantasy Page)
Pinned
1/
"The undefeatable Mrs. K, a rich divorcee who shed scandal as efficiently as a Canvasback sheds water, was never lacking in charm, wit, or a salacious bit of gossip. She was a staunch friend and a formidable adversary."

#steampunk #victorian #cosplay #fantasy #gildedage #fiction #lady #palace
"I enjoyed a brief stop in Munchen at the end of their month-long beer festival. Wonderful country with raucous, happy people."

#beer #octoberfest #Germany
November 10, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by Dr. Martin Kolby
when you're a Victorian editor, who's commissioned some travel writing about Covent Garden, but left the image selection to the guy in the office with the laudanum habit
November 8, 2025 at 2:11 PM
This article and photograph were found by Kolby biographer Eliza Grant. The article is from the Mirror Lake Informer, Sunday, October 14, 1849.

#fiction #fantasy #victorian #1800s #19thCentury #yeti #bigfoot #sasquatch
November 5, 2025 at 6:33 PM
November 5, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Reposted by Dr. Martin Kolby
153 years ago, on the 5th of November 1872, Susan B. Anthony and fourteen other women voted in the American presidential election. Anthony was later fined 100 dollars and responded :"I shall never pay a dollar of your unjust penalty." She never did. #otd #history🗃️
November 5, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Refuse to Be Amused

Source: New York Herald, Aug 23, 1885, page 8.

1/
And then Narragansett had an individuality of its own, and was a jolly summer resort, where a great deal of fun was to be had for very little money.

#gossip #society #gildedage #newspaper #victorian #1800s #19thCentury
November 4, 2025 at 8:40 PM
"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time."
- Leo Tolstoy

#pocketwatch #cosplay #victorian #steampunk #costume #1800s #19thcentury #vintage #Halloween
November 1, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Alice: How long is forever?

White Rabbit: Sometimes, just one second.

-Lewis Carroll

#steampunk #cosplay #victorian #costume #Halloween #1800s #19thcentury #vintage #wonderland #pocketwatch
November 1, 2025 at 1:23 AM
October 31, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Happy Halloween! May your adventures bring shivers (or candy).

#steampunk #cosplay #victorian #ghost #Haunted #Halloween #1800s #19thcentury #seance #gildedage #costume #larp #fantasy
October 31, 2025 at 12:12 PM
Bare Naked Arms!

1/
There was more elaboration of costume at Mrs. Kernochan's ball than at any previous entertainment this season.

#gossip #society #ballgown #1800s #19thCentury #Victorian #newspaper #gildedage #cotillion #dance
October 30, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"My final night at the Haunted Village was quiet. The spirits and I found our balance."

#Haunted #Halloween #victorian #1800s #19thcentury #spooky
October 25, 2025 at 3:59 AM
"And the life of the ebony clock went out with that of the last of the gay. And the flames of the tripods expired. And the darkness and the red death held illimitable dominion over all." - Edgar Allan Poe, The Masque of the Red Death (1842)

Honoring my late grandfather tonight.

#poe #1800s #fire
October 23, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Social Climbers (and Fallers)

www.tumblr.com/drmartinkolb...

Image: The Gilded Age, HBO, written by Julian Fellowes and Sonja Warfield

#gildedage #1800s #19thCentury #gossip #newspaper #society
October 21, 2025 at 6:49 PM
1/
"My friend Will, a cinematic genius, is now experimenting with something he calls 'quick photography.' Instead of sitting perfectly still for minutes at a time, the subject can be much more candid and realistic."

#fiction #fantasy #steampunk #gildedage #1800s #19thCentury #victorian #cosplay
October 21, 2025 at 3:00 PM
1/
This reading is from the New York Herald, New York City, Sunday July 12, 1885, page 8.

The scarcity of men in London during the present season has been as keenly felt as it often is at Narragansett Pier and Mt. Desert before bank clerks and college undergraduates get their annual holiday.
October 21, 2025 at 12:48 PM
"If the world is cold, make it your business to build fires." Horace Traubel (1858 - 1919)

#victorian #history #19thcentury #1800s #gildedage
October 20, 2025 at 10:56 PM
"It may take a while to explain what happened. I'm not sure how to explain it. Give me a moment."

#steampunk #cosplay #Halloween #Haunted #ghost #victorian #1800s #19thcentury
October 19, 2025 at 2:24 AM