Patrick Leary
@patrickleary.bsky.social
Historian, esp. 19c press, talk, book history. Author “Googling the Victorians,” “Punch Brotherhood,” etc. Co-founder SHARP, mgr VICTORIA. Fond of Old Time Radio, 60s Top 40, tennis, London. Liberal Texan in self-imposed Midwest exile. FRHistS
I saw this sign today at a mall in Skokie, Illinois, listing prohibited behaviors. All seemed more or less OK til I got to #9: “Free speech activity not authorized in advance.” Shove it, Westfield Old Orchard. We won’t be asking your permission for “free speech activity.”
October 26, 2025 at 1:01 AM
I saw this sign today at a mall in Skokie, Illinois, listing prohibited behaviors. All seemed more or less OK til I got to #9: “Free speech activity not authorized in advance.” Shove it, Westfield Old Orchard. We won’t be asking your permission for “free speech activity.”
A fave from today, with grandchild in tow.
October 19, 2025 at 2:50 AM
A fave from today, with grandchild in tow.
Favorite sign at Wilmette, Illinois No Kings rally today: “If Kamala had won we’d all be at brunch right now.”
October 19, 2025 at 2:29 AM
Favorite sign at Wilmette, Illinois No Kings rally today: “If Kamala had won we’d all be at brunch right now.”
Wilmette, Illinois on No Kings day — a righteously angry but joyful crowd of America-lovers.
October 19, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Wilmette, Illinois on No Kings day — a righteously angry but joyful crowd of America-lovers.
So sorry to hear that Jane Goodall has died. She was just here in Chicago for the “Becoming Jane” exhibit at the Field. I treasure the memory of meeting her in 1971, after a lecture she gave; she was kindly, I was in awe. Lately I learned that she’s the heroine of several kids’ books, & rightly so.
October 1, 2025 at 6:38 PM
So sorry to hear that Jane Goodall has died. She was just here in Chicago for the “Becoming Jane” exhibit at the Field. I treasure the memory of meeting her in 1971, after a lecture she gave; she was kindly, I was in awe. Lately I learned that she’s the heroine of several kids’ books, & rightly so.
Lord Houghton's reminiscence (ca. 1879) about the Courvoisier execution in 1840. Interesting, but not surprising, that Thackeray omitted this rhyming song from his magnificent essay in Fraser's Mag. about what he called "the sickening, ghastly wicked scene": "Going to See a Man Hanged." #victorian
August 27, 2025 at 3:18 PM
Lord Houghton's reminiscence (ca. 1879) about the Courvoisier execution in 1840. Interesting, but not surprising, that Thackeray omitted this rhyming song from his magnificent essay in Fraser's Mag. about what he called "the sickening, ghastly wicked scene": "Going to See a Man Hanged." #victorian
How about the second stanza of Clive James's imperishable "The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered," with its happy phrase "the Edsels of the world of moveable type"? The whole poem would be great fun, of course, but a stanza would fit nicely on one smallish card.
August 19, 2025 at 2:19 AM
How about the second stanza of Clive James's imperishable "The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered," with its happy phrase "the Edsels of the world of moveable type"? The whole poem would be great fun, of course, but a stanza would fit nicely on one smallish card.
A pleasant Victorianist pastime: zooming in on the faces in Frith's "A Private View of the Royal Academy 1881" to see how many look familiar, then looking up the rest on the key to the painting:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
July 28, 2025 at 12:20 PM
A pleasant Victorianist pastime: zooming in on the faces in Frith's "A Private View of the Royal Academy 1881" to see how many look familiar, then looking up the rest on the key to the painting:
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/co...
Finally, the bringing together of the greatest history *brains* with a boatload of *cash*. Result: The Historians’ History of the World. This news just came my way (via a local bookshop) from Appleton’s Booklovers Magazine, November 1905. I sure hope it’s not too late to place my order.
July 25, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Finally, the bringing together of the greatest history *brains* with a boatload of *cash*. Result: The Historians’ History of the World. This news just came my way (via a local bookshop) from Appleton’s Booklovers Magazine, November 1905. I sure hope it’s not too late to place my order.
Admiring the pollinator garden outside the local library yesterday I spotted this little guy among the yellow blossoms. Made my day.
July 22, 2025 at 9:56 PM
Admiring the pollinator garden outside the local library yesterday I spotted this little guy among the yellow blossoms. Made my day.
Jason Camlot’s fascinating plenary lecture at #rsvp2025 on the figure of voice in C19 periodicals of speech and elocution #victorian #19th-c
July 12, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Jason Camlot’s fascinating plenary lecture at #rsvp2025 on the figure of voice in C19 periodicals of speech and elocution #victorian #19th-c
Terrific panel on C19 periodical advertising at #rsvp2025. Here’s one of @vjctorianist.bsky.social ‘s slides, showing adverts vs sales in the Northern Star. #19th-c #victorian
July 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Terrific panel on C19 periodical advertising at #rsvp2025. Here’s one of @vjctorianist.bsky.social ‘s slides, showing adverts vs sales in the Northern Star. #19th-c #victorian
A friend of mine is puzzling over this 1855 New York State census listing and I'm at a loss. The listed occupation appears to be "Phintion," which makes no sense to either of us, but we can't think of an alternative reading. Any ideas?
May 30, 2025 at 10:17 PM
A friend of mine is puzzling over this 1855 New York State census listing and I'm at a loss. The listed occupation appears to be "Phintion," which makes no sense to either of us, but we can't think of an alternative reading. Any ideas?
One of the fundraising emails in my inbox today nicely illustrates, on its subject line, how typos can matter. Do better, Democratic Party of Illinois.
May 30, 2025 at 4:34 PM
One of the fundraising emails in my inbox today nicely illustrates, on its subject line, how typos can matter. Do better, Democratic Party of Illinois.
With dear friend Rushmore DeNooyer at our 50th Brown University reunion this weekend. Such a moving experience.
May 26, 2025 at 9:15 AM
With dear friend Rushmore DeNooyer at our 50th Brown University reunion this weekend. Such a moving experience.
I too have been honored by just such a friendship. This is Mr. Bun.
May 4, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I too have been honored by just such a friendship. This is Mr. Bun.
Love looking at this one every time I'm in the Wilmette PO: "In the Soil Is Our Wealth" 1938. It's behind glass, but still wonderful.
April 12, 2025 at 1:45 AM
Love looking at this one every time I'm in the Wilmette PO: "In the Soil Is Our Wealth" 1938. It's behind glass, but still wonderful.
Here’s another one. That Boys Own Paper, by the way, is a rare monthly issue, with the weekly issues simply sewn together, each with its own title-page.
April 10, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Here’s another one. That Boys Own Paper, by the way, is a rare monthly issue, with the weekly issues simply sewn together, each with its own title-page.
I was in nerd heaven last weekend after prevailing upon an old friend and fellow Victorianist to let me rummage through his collection of original unbound issues (“numbers”) of 19th-c periodicals that look like they were just handed across a shop counter. Here’s a handful of sample covers. #C19th
April 10, 2025 at 2:22 PM
I was in nerd heaven last weekend after prevailing upon an old friend and fellow Victorianist to let me rummage through his collection of original unbound issues (“numbers”) of 19th-c periodicals that look like they were just handed across a shop counter. Here’s a handful of sample covers. #C19th
Hotel bar in Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving its customers state-sponsored TV.
April 4, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Hotel bar in Fort Wayne, Indiana, serving its customers state-sponsored TV.
Celebrating Portia Kellogg Gage, who led 172 women to the Vineland, NJ polling place in November 1868 to protest the denial of their right to vote. They set up a ballot box of their own. Her unpublished diaries and letters are fascinating. #19C #womenshistorymonth #internationalwomensday
March 8, 2025 at 4:20 PM
Celebrating Portia Kellogg Gage, who led 172 women to the Vineland, NJ polling place in November 1868 to protest the denial of their right to vote. They set up a ballot box of their own. Her unpublished diaries and letters are fascinating. #19C #womenshistorymonth #internationalwomensday
Thank you, Lord Tweedmouth, for Iga.
March 4, 2025 at 12:49 PM
Thank you, Lord Tweedmouth, for Iga.
Can we talk "remediation"? Two 1880s fashion plates from the "same" periodical, The Queen. One from the British Newspaper Archive, scanned from microfilm; the other from a bound original. No criticism of the BNA implied, but jeepers. What we mean by "same" in this context is worth pondering. #19th-c
January 4, 2025 at 6:35 PM
Can we talk "remediation"? Two 1880s fashion plates from the "same" periodical, The Queen. One from the British Newspaper Archive, scanned from microfilm; the other from a bound original. No criticism of the BNA implied, but jeepers. What we mean by "same" in this context is worth pondering. #19th-c
Revisiting a Victorian Christmas in the pages of Molly Hughes’s A London Child of the Seventies (1934). A delightful memoir, the first in a series. #19th-c
December 25, 2024 at 6:08 PM
Revisiting a Victorian Christmas in the pages of Molly Hughes’s A London Child of the Seventies (1934). A delightful memoir, the first in a series. #19th-c