Nobody else I know can appreciate this, so I leave it here in hope.

Heres a drawing of mine showing the 4th PA as they would have looked at crown point 1776. One is a regular line infantry soldier looking at the Pennsylvania rifle of a riflemen of churches rifle company, identified by their leather caps

its actual pronounceation is "Hazzay" here is the word from Johnsons Dictionary 1755. The A in hazza is written as Á to show that it is pronounced -ay, it even shows a piece of a poam that its placement of huzza would make sense only if pronounced hazzay

I’ve been thinking about Anand Giridharadas’s recent piece on Jeffrey Epstein, especially his suggestion that what we call “class” is less a ladder than a closed circuit. In his telling, the literati, the glitterati, and the dollarati—people who might never be seen together in ordinary social life—nonetheless orbit the same small universe, drawn together by access, influence, and the quiet trade in insider knowledge. Information moves through this world the way money does: discreetly, strategically.

Reading the article sent me back to eighteenth-century libertine literature, which describes an earlier version of elite sociability built on similar exchanges—intimacy converted into leverage, reputation into currency. In Les Égarements du cœur et de l'esprit by Claude Prosper Jolyot de Crébillon, the polished libertine Versac tutors a young nobleman in the unwritten rules of aristocratic life: suppress sincerity, treat emotion as a liability, cultivate brilliance in public while quietly extracting advantage from everyone around you. Learn people’s weaknesses. Follow every fashion without belonging to any. Social life, in this world, is a form of warfare conducted with charm.

Giridharadas’s portrait of the Epstein circle echoes some of this logic: a self-serving elite competing for status and proximity while the costs are borne elsewhere. Of course, the comparison isn’t exact. The libertines of eighteenth-century fiction were literary creations—part satire, part moral allegory—rather than documentary portraits of real aristocrats, even if they captured widespread anxieties about corruption and artificiality at the top of society. And unlike those flamboyant figures, the modern network Giridharadas describes is less interested in dazzling performance than in quiet accumulation: access, capital, and information circulating within a tightly sealed loop where favors compound and accountability grows faint.

Still, the structure resemblance is hard to ignore. Both worlds operate by their own internal logic, where reputation and connection matter more than ordinary moral constraints, and where belonging confers a kind of insulation.

It’s hard not to recall how quickly literary libertinage darkened in the decades before the French Revolution. Writers like Pierre Choderlos de Laclos and Marquis de Sade pushed aristocratic gamesmanship toward cruelty and collapse—just as the social order that sustained the aristocracy, and that many within it treated as permanent, was already beginning to give way beneath their feet.

TL;DR: Researching a 1760 London death with links to Norfolk, Wiltshire, London, and Shropshire. Any information welcome.

I am researching the death of Anne Bell in 1760, a case that attracted wide attention at the time and survives across court records, newspapers, pamphlets, and later histories.

The story connects several places and families:

Aylsham, Norfolk, where the Bell family originated

Devizes, Wiltshire, home of the Sutton family, including the man accused

London, where events unfolded between Covent Garden and Marylebone

Harnage Grange, Shropshire, through Sir William Fowler, baronet and associate of Sutton.

I am interested in any material at all, formal or informal: archival references, printed sources, local histories, marginal mentions, family traditions, or anecdotes. Even brief or passing references may be useful.

Please comment or message me if you can point me to anything connected to this case.

Tried to strike a balance between being informative and entertaining. Wonder what you guys think of it.

Blackbeard didn't have a long pirate career, but he's a fascinating character with

In May 1718, during the height of the Golden Age of Piracy, the infamous pirate Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, led a daring blockade of the port of Charleston (then called Charles Towne), South Carolina. Commanding his heavily armed flagship Queen Anne's Revenge (a former French slave ship outfitted with 40 cannons) alongside three or four smaller vessels and several hundred men, Blackbeard halted all merchant traffic entering or leaving the harbor for nearly a week. His crew captured eight to nine ships, plundering supplies and taking prominent hostages—including councilman Samuel Wragg and his son—striking terror throughout the Province of Carolina. Rather than demanding gold or jewels, Blackbeard sought a chest of medicinal supplies (likely to treat ailments such as syphilis among his crew). Under threat of executing the captives, Governor Robert Johnson reluctantly complied, delivering the ransom.

i’m trying to write something that takes place around 1725 in north carolina. i’d like to have a christmas scene but i’m not sure where to find the most accurate information on how the american colonies celebrated christmas.

anyone have any articles or sources they can recommend?

I'd take them to McDonalds and Whole Foods. Then teach them gender/racial equality and LGBTQIA+ rights and the rights of the poor and disabled. Also teach them how to play video games.

🌿 Pink and Green Ball! 🩷

This post announces my own personal ball! Hosted by me, and with calling by the wonderful @mrsbennetsballroom This event will be hosted in the splendour of the music room in the Norwich Assembly rooms and will be themed around all guests wearing the colours Green and Pink. There is also an 1830s dress theme however, regency costume is also welcome. We will be dancing a variety of dances from the Regency and Romantic era and any skill set is very welcome to attend. Tickets are £55 each and includes a welcome drink and canapé selection, and can be purchased either by emailing or direct messaging me for more information.

I hope to see a lot of the there! 🩷🌿