Dear Subscriber, 
Possibly, just possibly, spring is on its way! At least, we're being told of high pollen counts and lots of hay fever, so I suppose, in its own way, that's sort of a good thing...
But seriously... Last week a tiny yellow crocus appeared in my garden. It has since vanished, but there are more crocus greens poking their heads above the soil, so I'm confident that my favorite flower will soon be in bloom. Daffodil shoots are sprouting in the side yard. The maple trees are covered with blossoms - yes, that means hay fever, but if you look closely, they're absolutely marvelous little blooms! And birds are singing everywhere, looking for mates and thinking about building their nests. My sister reports that in Arkansas her forsythia has even started to bloom!
So we welcome spring with the latest issue of Victorian Times, packed as ever with a delightful array of Victoriana. This issue features an article by Mark Twain and a short story by E. Nesbit! Here's what we have this month:
Visit http://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/issues/VT-1803.shtml to download this issue!
Or download it directly from DropBox:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/ka4qkh1vwb1aw6z/VT-1803.pdf?dl=0
NEED A CHUCKLE? CHECK THIS OUT!
We're delighted to announce our latest book: the hilarious English as She Is Taught. Written by a Victorian teacher, this is a side-splitting collection of student bloopers - with an equally side-splitting review/introduction by Mark Twain (which you can read in our March issue).
Did you know, for example, that “aborigines” were a system of mountains, or that “ammonia” is the food of the gods? Quite logically, it seems, an “equestrian” is someone who asks questions, while an “idolator” is a very idol person. A “capillary” is a little caterpillar – and speaking of caterpillars, were you aware that every sentence should begin with one? Gorilla warfare, obviously, is war in which men ride on gorilla. This volume will further enlighten you on such facts as... a verb is something to eat, Greece had only 7 wise men, Abraham Lincoln was born in Wales, and William the Conqueror was the first of the Mormons.
When I read Mark Twain's review of this book in Century Magazine, I was laughing so hard I knew I had to find the book itself. Once I found it, I knew I had to have my own copy. Our edition has been reformatted from the original so that it fits nicely onto the modern bookshelf. (The original was a "little" book - about four inches tall - with only about ten lines of text per page!) And we've included Mark Twain's review and biting commentary on the state of education in Victorian America - commentary that could apply just as well to education today!
Available from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.ca; also available on Kindle.
VICTORIAN TIMES QUARTERLY #15
Victorian Times Quarterly #15 is now available from Amazon. Our 15th volume includes the contents of our January, February and March 2018 issues - including the first three installments of Aunt Mehitabel's visit to Washington, Grant Allen's Moorland Idylls, and much more!
Find out more at http://www.victorianvoices.net/VT/VTQ/VTQ15.shtml
Available from: Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, and Amazon.ca.
Happy Spring!
Your Intrepid Editor,
Moira Allen