Philately - The Fiction Connection
The Mystery Box book is the proud winner of a Silver Medal awarded by the Chicago Philatelic Society CHICAGOPEX Literature Exhibit
Read the Book Review by Barbara Kinne of the APS American Philatelist
TOP LEFT: Wife of ladies' magazine mogul, Samuel Beeton, Mrs. Isabelle Beeton wrote and compiled an indispensable guide for Victorian homemakers, Beeton's Book of Household Management (1861). Though the title may seem quaint today, the object of the book was to provide women with useful skills that would help to make them productive managers of the home. By boosting women's sense of self-worth and value, she contributed to the cause of political emancipation that would follow.
TOP RIGHT: The man peering over the shoulder of the confident young queen is the Prince Consort, Albert of Saxe-Coburg, father of the queen's eight children, and the idol of her life. Despised as a foreigner by the average Englishman, Albert was a vigorous man of many talents who became the queen's chief confidante and "king without a crown" after their marriage in 1840. Victoria never recovered from his death of typhoid fever in 1861. She retreated from public life and dressed in mourning for many years.
CENTRE: The advent of the age of steam is celebrated in this engraving of the Great Eastern. The vessel was one of three famous steamships built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859). also renouned for the many beautiful arched railway bridges throughout Britain. The Great Eastern boasted two side-wheels as well as screw propulsion. One of the first steamers to provide transatlantic service, she gained her fame by laying the first successful transatlantic cable.
Next: The Widowed Queen
