On November 5, 1622, the Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral, John Donne (the main subject of my novel, Conceit), preached a sermon in St Paul’s yard for Gunpowder Day. A brilliant digital re-creation of this sermon, which includes elaborate models, diagrams, videos, and acoustic files, gives us the amazing opportunity to be part of the large crowd listening to John Donne on this day. “Evidence from contemporary accounts suggest that their early modern counterparts were more like theatrical performances, interactive conversations between preacher and congregation, events staged for their entertainment value . . . in which both preacher and congregation had active roles to play.” Of all the riches on this amazing website, this video fly-past of the churchyard, crowd, and buildings is perhaps the most impressive.
- Backstory for Muse
- Backstory for Conceit
- Long View of London from Bankside by Wenceslaus Hollar
- John Donne’s Island and the Brexit Perplex
- London Before the Great Fire of 1666
- Re-enactment of John Donne’s Gunpowder Sermon, 1622
- Shakespeare Without the Beard?
- Telling Time by Flowers
- Sources for my novel Conceit
- Read a Poem by John Donne
- Izaak Walton – Fisherman and Biographer
- Shakespeare Portrait Found–or Not?
- The Tudors Plunders History–and Art!
- Pegge’s Breasts: From the Louvre to YouTube
- Jeune fille en buste
- 17th-century Diarists
- The City of London Destroyed by Fire a Second Time
- Literary Fathers and Sons
- Were Shakespeare and Donne Friends?
- John Donne in the News
- A 17th-century Blog
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Beware, dear Countess, of sailors bearing tales from Toulon
To the Vicomtesse de Turenne, palais des Papes, Avignon, as Epiphany approaches, in the year of Our Lord, 1348. My dear Countess, I write to you …