Resources for the 18th Century

Costume and Clothing

• The Costumer's Manifesto, newly revised, which contains links to 18th Century Theatre materials. An excellent site, maintained by Tara Maginnis, PhD.

• The Costume Society of America

• The costume collection of the Rhode Island School of Design. The Home Page has links to various other excellent collections in the Museum.

The following is a contribution from costumer Jami Borek, which I include here with links and Ms. Borek's commentary.
It is focused on 18th century clothing and costuming.

• The Colonial Williamsburg site has some good information, but it can be hard to find. .

• The Costume Gallery's Research Library, a comprehensive site, requires a subscription payment for use. [I haven't payed yet, so can't attest to the value of the site. JRW]

• La Couturiere Parisiènne covers clothing from several periods. Excellent pictorial resource, with commentary. The site is in English and German.

• The 18th Century Notebook and

• links to real clothing in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. The structure of this data base makes searches trying, but some will find the effort worthwhile.

• All things Regency: An excellent resource maintained by Nancy Mayer, Regency Researcher ; The Regency Fashion Page, maintained by Nancy Decker; and Jessamyn's Regency Costume Companion , perhaps not as authoritative or academic as the others but still worth a visit.

• 18th Century New England Life, a How-to for basic women's clothing common to middling class. Pretty lightweight, but with some good pictures.

• The best costume book I've seen for theater purposes. It covers everything in a reliable way based on real clothing, but without overloading the details - is Costume in Detail 1730-1930 by Nancy Bradfield.

• And finally, in my opinion the best pattern books available today are to be found at Amazon.com: The Cut of Womens Clothes -- 1600-1930 by Norah Waugh (she has "cut of mens' clothes" also); and Patterns of Fashion 1: Englishwomens Dresses and their Construction c. 1660-1860.

Theatres

• Drottningholm Court Theatre, with it marvelously preserved scenic machinery.

• Palais Royal, Paris. Théâtre du Palais-Royal, history and current events. In French.

  Theatre Royal, Covent Garden Superficial but fun links to the Covent Garden Ballet, and some good pictures.

  Chateau de Cirey -Voltaire's Residence: The Little Theatre. A "pop" account of Voltaire and Emilie de Chatalet, with several useful pictures, including photos of the theatre and some restored scenic pieces.

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Art and Artists

• 18th Century Art History Resources on the Web. This site, maintained by Professor Chris Witcombe at Sweet Briar College, has links to materials in all major historical periods. An excellent pictorial resource.

Architecture and Sculpture

• The National Gallery of Art. Good for a basic introduction to the 18th century art of France. The Gallery's home page has excellent links to the entire collection.

• A Digital Archive of American Architecture. © Professor Jeffery Howe, Boston College. An excellent pictorial resource of 18th century building, in a collection of 17th through 19th century pictures.

Furnishings and Miscellany

• The Association of Art and Antique Dealers: Specializes in 17th through 19th century furniture, furnishings and art. The site contains excellent, full color pictures of their holding. Since it is updated regularly, the collection of images changes.

• Hubbard Harpsichords. Use the links at the bottom of this page to explore the entire site for illustrations of period harpsichords.

• Mytton Antiques, Antique Furniture UK - Decorative Antique Items - Collectors Pieces - 18th and 19th Century Antique Furniture. 18th century antique furniture and 19th century antique furniture.

Scholarly Journals and Research Sites

• Yahoo Index to 18th Century scholarly journals on the Web [Not much here, but worth a look.]

• Eighteenth Century Resources (on the Web). Edited by Professor Jack Lynch, Rutgers University. Dr. Lynch is a specialist in the 18th century, and maintains a series of extremely useful resource sites. Take a look at his home page as well.

  Carleton Renaissance Plays in Translation

• Search The Templeman Library University of Kent at Canterbury for "Theatre History Collection." Excellent links to 17th, 18th and 19th century resources, with a special section on the Savoy Operas. This site has changed over time so it may take some digging to locate specific information, but well worth the effort.

• 18th Century Theatre: Theatre Database Resources. Links to numerous documents and articles.

Music of the 18th Century

• Part of the Music History On-Line series.