The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Wintry weather, holiday gatherings, and cozy evenings by the fire with a good book... ah, how we love this time of year! And we love immersing ourselves in the history of celebrations and traditions of our ancestors. Here, we've gathered a collection of our winter-themed articles for your cozy reading enjoyment!

Come on it's Lovely Weather for Sleigh Bells and Skating Parties!
Winter sports have been popular in America for hundreds of years. But in the 1800s and early 20th century, winter pastimes not only provided fun and exercise, they also served as much-anticipated and enjoyed social gatherings. Keep reading >>>


Worth a Thousand Words:
The Christmas Coach
The Christmas Coach depicts a scene in Philadelphia in 1795 and features a wealthy woman departing the coach just before sunset on Christmas Eve to a snow-covered street filled with a representation of the great diversity of one of early America's largest cities. Keep reading >>>

Vintage Happy Hour with Jenny Q:
It's Champagne, Dahling
Today I'm toasting champagne, that most glamorous of beverages. That decadent, frivolous, sinful, delightful nectar of the gods, adored by royalty and nobility since its invention in 1531, and in later centuries by the masses as it became widely available. Champagne flows freely through many a novel. Keep reading >>>


Book to Reel: A Christmas Carol
for Scrooge
There are many film versions of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, some traditional, some modern, some with a twist. The truth is, I can watch any of them and enjoy it. It is such a powerful tale of redemption that it works regardless of casting, setting, or medium. Keep reading >>>

Sample Sunday: The Romance of a Christmas Card

“My door is on the latch tonight,
The hearth fire is aglow.
I seem to hear swift passing feet—
The Christ Child in the snow.
My heart is open wide tonight
For stranger, kith or kin.
I would not bar a single door
Where Love might enter in!”

Keep reading >>>

Happy Holidays from the Vintage Reader family to yours!

Worth a Thousand Words: The Christmas Coach

This is The Christmas Coach by American painter Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, and it's just one of seventy-eight scenes from American history in his series, The Pageant of a Nation. It is the largest series of American historical paintings by a single artist. Ferris began painting the series in 1895, and when the entire series was completed, it was exhibited in Ferris's hometown of Philadelphia, at Independence Hall from 1913 to 1930.

The Christmas Coach depicts a scene in Philadelphia in 1795 and features a wealthy woman departing the coach just before sunset on Christmas Eve to a snow-covered street filled with a representation of the great diversity of one of early America's largest cities. The street bustles with the spirit of the season as middle class families, soldiers, servants, Native Americans, and frontiersmen dodge covered wagons, horses, and dogs as they run their errands and make their way home for their Christmas celebrations.

Need some help getting into the holiday spirit? Our newest release is a vintage Christmas treat! Heartwarming, inspirational, and full of wit and charm!

The Romance of a Christmas Card by Kate Douglas Wiggin

Professionally edited and formatted for today's e-readers, and featuring chapter artwork, a glossary, and the touching Christmas poem "Das Krist Kindel." Download the Legacy Vintage Collection Enhanced eBook Edition today for 99₵! 

Worth a Thousand Words: The Supper at the Ball

I love paintings like this, so full of detail that each time I look at it I find something I'd missed before. For example, I just noticed that the officers on the left are holding their hats between their knees as they eat! This is The Supper at the Ball by Adolph von Menzel, a prominent nineteenth century German artist. It looks just like a scene from a Victorian romance novel come to life! In fact, it looks a lot like I imagine one of the climactic scenes looks like in our vintage Cinderella-style romance release, Dora Deane, when Dora makes her triumphant return to society with New York's most eligible bachelor on her arm, much to the astonishment and chagrin of the aunt and cousins who mistreated her for so long. Take a look at the painting and tell us if it brings to mind any scenes from your favorite books, or if you find a surprising little detail within the painting!

Dora Deane by Mary Jane Holmes

Professionally edited and formatted for today's e-readers!

Get the Legacy Vintage Collection Enhanced eBook Edition for 99₵!

Worth a Thousand Words: At the Recital

We've always been captivated by the pen-and-ink drawings of Charles Dana Gibson, and his body of work was our first choice for inspiration when we set about selecting the chapter art for our newest release, Ladies in Waiting. Gibson was a master of expression, and his works captured the feel of the Progressive Era perfectly. The image featured above is At the Recital, and though we did not include it in the book, it is one of our favorites and we wanted to highlight it here on the blog.

Worth a Thousand Words: Our Banner in the Sky

This is Our Banner in the Sky by American artist Frederic Edwin Church. A resident of New York, he painted this in 1861 in response to the Confederate attack on Fort Sumter, which officially launched the American Civil War. The beleaguered Union flag at Fort Sumter was rescued and brought to New York by the fort's commander, Major Robert Anderson. It was put on public display and became the focal point of a huge rally in Union Square, and is believed to be the flag that inspired this painting. Church, a popular landscape artist, used the medium of nature to create this beautiful and moving rendition of American symbolism and sentiment.

By May of 1861 this painting had caught the attention of and was being lauded by the press, and by June a gallery was producing lithographs of the painting to raise money for the Union Patriotic Fund. One hundred and fifty years later, this painting is still considered a fine example of artistic commentary and patriotism, and still has the power to move the heart and speak to the soul.

POSTED BY:  Jenny Q

Worth a Thousand Words: American Progress

This is American Progress by John Gast. Painted in 1872 for a publisher of popular western travel guides, the piece is an allegorical representation of "Manifest Destiny," and if ever a painting was worth a thousand words, this one is it! Here, an angelic Columbia leads American settlers from the enlightened East into the dark, uncivilized West, as bison and Indians flee before them and telegraph wire and trains follow behind them. Click on the pic to get a closer look at all of the detail in this painting. It depicts not only the progression of Manifest Destiny, but also the progression of the settlers themselves.

Worth A Thousand Words: Riding the Logs

He knew nothing of "tooling" a four-in-hand through narrow lanes or crowded thoroughfares, nothing of guiding a horse over the hedges and through the pitfalls of a stiff bit of hunting country; his steed was the rearing, plunging, kicking log, and he rode it like a river god.

Rose O' the River, Kate Douglas Wiggin's sweet romance novella, provides a fascinating and exciting glimpse into the life of a log driving village. Logging was a huge industry on the Saco River in Maine in 1905, when Rose O' the River was written, and the men who lived in each village along the river were called upon to do their part to help the massive log floes make their way down the river. Log driving continues to be one of the world's most dangerous occupations, and one can only imagine that it would have been even more dangerous a hundred years ago, before safety regulations and technological advances came along.

Worth A Thousand Words: The Avenue in the Rain

Fifth Avenue, New York, 1917

This is one of thirty flag-decorated streets painted by American artist

Childe Hassam during World War I.

This weekend, we remember those who gave all so that we may live free.

Worth A Thousand Words: Hush!

This is Hush! by French painter James Tissot. I came across it as I was looking for paintings of women with violins while choosing the artwork for Kilmeny of the Orchard. It doesn't fit the theme for that novel, but I'm in love with it because I've imagined this very scene so many times over the course of my ongoing love affair with romantic historical fiction. I've been trying to think of specific novels featuring scenes similar to this one.

I'm thinking of the scene in Silent in the Sanctuary by Deanna Raybourn where Brisbane accepts an invitation to play violin for the guests, and of the ladies in Tessa Dare's Spindle Cove series, who play instruments and often hold musical gatherings. This painting also brings to mind one of my favorite composers, Chopin, who believed his music was best enjoyed in intimate settings rather than concert halls, and who played many salon parties like these in Paris. I know there must be a dozen other novels swimming around in the back of my mind, but of course when I need to remember their titles they escape me.

How about you? Does this scene remind you of anything you've read lately? Please share it in a comment so I can add it to my list!

POSTED BY:  Jenny Q

Worth A Thousand Words: Cover Art by Rene Princeteau

When I was searching for cover inspiration for the Legacy Vintage Collection edition of The Brushwood Boy, I found and fell in love with the painting appearing on the final cover, Scene De Chasse a Cour, and when I did a little research on the artist I fell in love even more. I adore nineteenth-century French paintings and I'm pretty familiar with the major artists of the time period, but I had never heard of Rene Princeteau before. After learning more about his inspiring life and viewing more of his fantastic works, I knew I wanted his painting on the cover, and I knew I wanted to share his story.

Pierre Charles Marie Princeteau (called Rene) was born deaf and mute in 1843. But he was born into a wealthy French wine-making family who hired tutors to teach him how to read and communicate. At an early age he discovered that sculpting and painting helped him express his emotions, and his work showed promise. His family encouraged him to study in Bordeaux and later at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris. In 1874 he opened his own studio in the Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honore, the stomping ground of many French artists, and a few years later he was hired by another wealthy family to instruct their son, who also coped with physical disabilities: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. Rene Princeteau has been cited as a major influence on Toulouse-Lautrec's early career. Pictured left is Toulouse-Lautrec's 1881 painting of Rene in his studio, and below is Rene's 1883 painting of Toulouse-Lautrec.