Works of Shakespeare by Charles Theodosius Heath (1820s)

Charles Theodosius Heath (1785 – 1848) was an English engraver, currency and stamp printer, book publisher and illustrator. Heath received training in engraving from his father James, and his first known etching dates from when he was six years old.

It was from his father that he learnt how to produce small plates suitable for book illustration. He was a noted if self-regarding illustrator of the Waverley Novels, and engraved Christ healing the Sick in the Temple, one of Benjamin West’s big scriptural paintings. After Richard Westall, he engraved illustrations to Lord Byron’s poems, published in 1819.

As an engraver, Heath exhibited at the Royal Academy and Suffolk Street Gallery from 1801 to 1825. After 1828 he produced little work of his own, but his studio was productive through his pupils Doo and Watt, and his sons.

Ophelia (Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 7) by Charles Heath MET via

Beatrice and Benedick (Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2, Scene 3) MET via

Queen Margaret and Suffolk (Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part II, Act 3, Scene 2) MET via

Aaron and Tamora (Shakespeare, Titus Andronicus, Act 2, Scene 3) MET via

Anne Page, Slender and Simple (Shakespeare, Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1, Scene 1) MET via

Greta Garbo in “Gösta Berling’s saga” (1933)

A young Greta Garbo in the film “Gösta Berling’s saga”, 1933 via

Sketch of a Woman by Richard Parkes Bonington (1828)

Richard Parkes Bonington, Sketch of a Woman, 1828, pen and brown ink on wove paper, 14 x 9,5 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington via

Julie Andrews in 1820s Period Drama Hawaii (1966)

1820s Yale University divinity student Abner Hale (Max von Sydow), a rigid and humorless New England Calvinist missionary, marries the beautiful Jerusha Bromley (Julie Andrews) and takes her to the exotic island kingdom of Hawaii, intent on converting the natives. But the clash between the two cultures is too great and instead of understanding there comes tragedy.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by James A. Michener, on the third chapter, From the Farm of Bitterness, which covers the settlement of the island kingdom by its first American missionaries

Julie Andrews in Hawaii directed by George Roy Hill, 1966 via

Julie Andrews in Hawaii directed by George Roy Hill, photo by David Hurn 1966 via

Julie Andrews in Hawaii directed by George Roy Hill, photo by David Hurn 1966 via

Portraits of the Legendary Ballerina Marie Taglioni (1804-1884)

Marie Taglioni (1804 – 1884) was an Italian/Swedish ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era, a central figure in the history of European dance. Her fragile, delicate dancing typified the early 19th-century Romantic style. She became one of the first women to dance on the extreme tips, or points, of the toes; she created a new style marked by floating leaps, such balanced poses as the arabesque, and a delicate, restrained use of the points.

Trained chiefly by her father, Filippo Taglioni, she made her debut in Vienna in 1822. In her father’s ballet La Sylphide, introduced at the Paris Opéra, March 12, 1832.

In the performance of La Sylphide Taglioni was also known for shortening her skirt, which was considered highly scandalous at the time. The diaphanous dress she wore, with its fitted bodice and airy, bell-like skirt, was the prototype of the tutu. She shortened all of her skirts to show off her excellent pointe work, which the long skirts hid. Her father was approving of the shortening of the skirt because he also wanted everyone to see how good his daughter was en pointe.

In London Taglioni commanded £100 a performance and she filled the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theatre to capacity when she played in La Sylphide. The Russians loved her so much that they named cakes and caramels after her. A group of her fans even ate a pair of her ballet shoes after her last performance in 1842. These were cooked, garnished, and served with a special sauce so one hopes that they tasted good! – See more at: http://www.lifeinitaly.com/heroes-villains/marie-taglioni.asp#sthash.zwYUhCJE.dpuf

Not only did she have Paris at her feet but audiences in London, Milan, Vienna, Berlin, and St. Petersburg hailed her as one of the greatest dancers ballet had ever produced.

In London Taglioni commanded £100 a performance and she filled the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theatre to capacity when she played in La Sylphide. The Russians loved her so much that they named cakes and caramels after her. A group of her fans even ate a pair of her ballet shoes after her last performance in 1842. These were cooked, garnished, and served with a special sauce (Source).

Maria Taglioni in “La Sylphide”, © Bettmann/CORBIS via

Marie Taglioni by Richard James Lane, printed by Graf & Soret, published by Rudolph Ackermann Jr lithograph, circa 1825-1850 25 1/8 in. x 18 3/4 in. (638 mm x 475 mm) paper size Given by Austin Lane Poole, 1956 © National Portrait Gallery, London via

Marie Taglioni by Richard James Lane, printed by M & N Hanhart, after Alfred Edward Chalon lithograph, 1845 21 1/2 in. x 15 in. (545 mm x 382 mm) paper size Given by Austin Lane Poole, © National Portrait Gallery, London, 1956 via

Marie Taglioni by Richard James Lane, printed by M & N Hanhart, after Alfred Edward Chalon lithograph, 1845 21 1/2 in. x 15 in. (545 mm x 382 mm) paper size Given by Austin Lane Poole, © National Portrait Gallery, London, 1956 via

Hamlet and Ophelia by Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1858)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Hamlet and Ophelia, 1858, pen and ink drawing via

Drawing of Jane Morris (1863)

Jane Morris by Lewis Carroll, after Dante Gabriel Rossetti photograph of drawing, albumen print, 8 October 1863 via

May by Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

I cannot tell you how it was,

But this I know: it came to pass

Upon a bright and sunny day

When May was young; ah, pleasant May!

As yet the poppies were not born

Between the blades of tender corn;

The last egg had not hatched as yet,

Nor any bird foregone its mate.

I cannot tell you what it was,

But this I know: it did but pass.

It passed away with sunny May,

Like all sweet things it passed away,

And left me old, and cold, and gray.

Egyptian Home (1865)

Cairo. Egyptian Home (Interior). 1865. A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell University Library via

Cairo. Egyptian Home (Interior). 1865. A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell University Library via

Cairo. Egyptian Home (Interior). 1865. A. D. White Architectural Photographs, Cornell University Library via

Egypt (1860s)

The Sphinx in Egypt. Photograph taken in the 1860s – via reddit.com