This author has not written his bio yet.
But we are proud to say that Penelope J. Corfield contributed 196 entries already.
Well, here is an unusual Georgian celebration but a congenial one. As part of the professionalization of many industrial and service occupations, the ancient trade of clowning in the eighteenth century came into its own. With population and urban growth, the number of theatres and circuses across Britain also multiplied. They provided evening…
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2022) To celebrate the imminent publication of my book on The Georgians 1, my next set of BLOGs commemorates significant Georgian milestone dates: one for every month of the year.2 No problem for January. It must be Burns Night: Tuesday January 25th. The hero is […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Fig.1 Symbol for Infinity, referencing the infinite unknown … Image from Wikimedia Commons (2021) It’s the author and playwright Alan Bennett who says that teaching is sexy. And, before the massed ranks of educationalists protest instead that their work is exhausting and under-paid, let’s […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Adrian Corfield, on the South Coast seafront, not long before his death from lymphoma at the age of forty-four. Thinking about ‘Being Penelope’ (BLOG/130 October 2021) got me remembering – again – my next brother Adrian (1946-90). We were the oldest two of a […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Fig.1 A swatch of weaving, illustrating the metaphor for History as ‘Penelope’s Web’ being constantly woven and unwoven by Penelope in Greek myth. It’s a great name, Penelope. English. Greek. And very international. Recognised everywhere. Can be used in long majestic form. Or abbreviated […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Floating © Clipart 2021. Having been an enthusiastic swimmer all my life, it was a shock to be told casually by a friendly swimming-pool attendant that I was squandering my efforts by swimming wrongly. That is, I was using my arms for propulsion and […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Fig. 128.1 Silhouette Hedgehog © https://flyclipart.com (2021) A wonderful short trip to Northumberland yielded five great pleasures, headed by a night-sighting of a live hedgehog. Something that I personally have not witnessed for very many decades. Reassuringly, the hedgehog looked exactly as I expected […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Fig.1 Globe in Speech Bubble by Moilleadóir (2009): from WikiMedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WiktLogo-Bubble-WikiGlobe-red-1-.svg There is today a growing international sphere of public opinion. It stretches well outside and beyond the control of national governments. It is purely informal; often fragmented; and lacking direct power. Nonetheless […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Specimen HC1 © Michael Mapes (2013) It’s impossible to think without employing some elements of generalisation. (Is it? Yes: pure mental pointillisme, cogitating in fragmentary details, would not work. Thoughts have to be organised). And summary statements about fellow human beings always entail some […]
If citing, please kindly acknowledge copyright © Penelope J. Corfield (2021) Fig:1 Specimens © Michael Mapes 2021 Having declared my wish to be appreciated as a whole person,1 I got a mix of replies – some testy, some curious – asking what personal ‘wholeness’ actually means. It’s a fair question. Referring to a ‘whole person’ […]
Penelope J. Corfield is a historian, lecturer and education consultant. She recently served as the President of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS).
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