Tag Archives: Richard Lovell Edgeworth

wedgwood: let it be with the lunarticks

In the 1790′s however, this great group was fast breaking up. The turn of the century saw the death of many. Thomas Day was killed from a fall from his horse in 1789- with characteristic perversity he had refused to … Continue reading

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eureka moments

The core of Josiah Wedgwood’s circle was completed by the two who had, perhaps, the greatest worldly success- Matthew Boulton and James Watt- and by the one who has been credited with the least, Wedgwood’s partner, Thomas Bentley. The contrast … Continue reading

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to baffle human woes

The fruits of Richard Lovell Edgeworth’s erratic career were four marriages, twenty-two children, many ingenious but useless inventions, and an important book on education. Josiah Wedgwood and his friends. They were the most brilliant group in England, and quite possibly … Continue reading

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it’s backfirin’ now

Josiah Wedgwood and his friends. A diverse lot, both batty, brilliant and eccentric, they are mostly relegated minor figures of eighteenth century English life today, but some of them changed the world… When in 1785, Pitt’s abortive scheme for parliamentary … Continue reading

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the idiocy and incompetence of it all

It was a diverse set of characters that made up the hard-core of Josiah Wedgwood’s circle of friends, including even the fascinating figures on the fringes. They were collectively, the most brilliant group in England and also the most eccentric. … Continue reading

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chains and chimes of freedom

John Howard, friend of the Josiah Wedgwood circle, worked for prison reform, striding through the foul smelling jails of eighteenth-century England, in Erasmus Darwin’s words, “if not to sever, to relax the chains.” They themselves pressed for the abolition of … Continue reading

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decided and optimistic views

Josiah Wedgwood and his friends were the most brilliant group in England in the eighteenth-century- brilliant if highly eccentric. Most are forgotten today, but collectively they changed the world… Devotion to science and a respect for the arts were not … Continue reading

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day: nature and nurture at dawn

Eighteenth-century England and the circle of brilliant men around Josiah Wedgwood. Some were more eccentric than others. Even peculiar… Thomas Day made no great mark in the world beyond establishing an undisputed reputation for almost perfect eccentricity. His friends loved … Continue reading

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Darwin: going rogue in the Midlands

Josiah Wedgwood’s friends were the most brilliant group in England, and clearly the most eccentric. Most are forgotten today, but some of them changed the world… Thomas Bentley preferred to exercise his charm rather than to regiment his gifts; Anna … Continue reading

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wedgewood : sunshine on the village green

Wedgewood and his friends. The were the most brilliant group in England, and quite possibly the most eccentric. Some are forgotten today- but some of them changed the world. Josiah Wedgewood was born in the Staffordshire village called Burslem in … Continue reading

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