Exactly one year ago, on 25th May 2013, I posted my first article, writing about my inspiration and aspirations for this blog. 18,888 page views later, “Dance’s Historical Miscellany” has been more successful than I could have ever hoped. When I started, I imagined that it would remain very small scale, perhaps read mainly by friends and family. Yet since then, my blog has attracted readers from all over the world, and I have been thrilled by all the positive feedback I have received through social media and word of mouth.
To celebrate this anniversary, I have created two new sections, to be found at the top of the page: “Archive” and “Resources”. In the “Archive” page I have gathered all my posts under specific themes, which I hope will be easier to navigate than the traditional chronologically ordered archive. The “Resources” page is an extensive list of useful online historical resources, featuring links and short descriptions. It will be updated and expanded periodically and will, I hope, be helpful to anyone with an interest in history who wants to learn more and gain access to quality primary sources.
Over the last 12 months, my blog has undergone considerable changes in design and layout. However, my aim has remained the same: to share my enthusiasm for history with a wider public, by writing about interesting stories, people and things from all eras of history. I have gained enormous enjoyment from writing this blog and hope that you too have enjoyed reading it. Many thanks to all my readers – keep coming back for more articles on a diverse range of historical topics!
Hello! I’m very excited about finding this blog and look forward to reading all the articles in their entirety. Congrats on your Graduation and your new job. I don’t know much about the British university system- did you get a BA or an MA?
Perhaps you would be interested in covering the Unknown Woman of the Seine.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L'Inconnue_de_la_Seine I find it a particularly telling historical tidbit as it brings to life the lingering Gothic/Romantic obsession with suicide, especially the suicide of a beautiful woman, and the fascination it brought to many artists, who placed what was a deathmask as decor in their homes. It was also a strange way of glamorizing the death and suffering of beautiful young women, which I still think is rampant in the fashion industry (if you look, there are countless photoshoots with corpse-like models). In high school, I knew certain girls who suffered from eating disorders who took actual inspiration from these kinds of photos- as though the combination of frailty, tragedy, and beauty, was a thing to aspire to.
Congratulations Caecilia! This is a wonderful accomplishment. I very much enjoy reading and sharing your articles. Keep up the good work.