The Dark Lantern (A Chronicle of Ancient Sunlight)

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The little family are invited to go for a holiday, together with John and Jenny, by Theodora, to Lynmouth on the north Devon coast, where she had taken a cottage for a month’s holiday before leaving for an extended stay in Italy and Greece, ostensibly to escape from her disastrous love for a married man within the Turney family. Mary Leopoldina certainly spent time in Greece at this point in her life, seeing for herself all those ancient places so beloved of the great Romantic poets. So this first volume ends with a lyrical description of an idyllic holiday, the two brothers happily fishing together in the river Lyn. Entirely serendipitously, this sets the scene for the appalling contrast of the storm and flood at Lynmouth that forms the climax at the end of the very last volume of the Chronicle.However, HW wrote this first scene in 1949/50 – some time before that devastating flood of August 1952. That is extraordinary, and almost uncanny. In 1886 a design was patented for operating the shutter with the thumb of the hand that held the lantern. The implications for one-handed operation meant that the other hand could open doors or hold a weapon. Dietz, an American maker of high quality lanterns, began selling this design in 1888 and marked them “Police Flashlight.” 1886 Dark Lantern patent drawing, the design which was sold from 1888 as the Dietz Police Flashlight. https://darklanterntales.wordpress.com/ offered as a magazine premium in 1894. Very large, 9 inches tall, brass Dark Lantern. It is unmarked, but the latch and the position of the door resemble the Adams & Westlake lantern. https://darklanterntales.wordpress.com/ However, other than Robert Bentley, there wasn’t a single character about who I really cared. I could sympathize with Jane, considering her beginnings, but didn’t particularly like her. These were unpleasant people behaving unpleasantly and almost no one is as they seem and everyone is spying on everyone else. A fascinating portrayal of a vanished England as well as an unconventional mystery, The Dark Lantern exposes the grand “upstairs” of a Victorian home and the darker underbelly of its servants’ quarters. The clash between the classes makes for a suspenseful novel of mistaken identities, intriguing women, and dangerous deceptions.

In real life Adela died aged just 52 in March 1892 from complications associated with diabetes, while her husband Henry William Williamson died two years later when he accidentally fell through a trapdoor while surveying a building in Newcastle – someone had opened it when he was in another room and he fell through on returning. Adela is buried in Sutton Cemetery (as is HW's sister Doris). Henry William was probably not the bounder that William Leaver considered him to be, as his daughter Maude wrote in one letter about how happy they had all been at home. The flame within the Lantern contains the soul of the Beast. As long as the flame is lit the Beast can take on a form outside the lantern, his own body. If the flame goes out, however, the Beast dies. The Lantern can only be lit through Edelwood oil.

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Lanterns were usually made from a metal frame with several sides (usually four, but up to eight) or round, commonly with a hook or a hoop of metal on top. Windows of some translucent material may be fitted in the sides; these are now usually glass or plastic but formerly were thin sheets of animal horn, or tinplate punched with holes or decorative patterns.

Jovinelly, Joann; Netelkos, Jason (2007). The Crafts and Culture of a Medieval Town. New York, New York: The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4042-0761-5. E per quanto le ambientazioni sono ben descritte e vivide non ho sentito l'era vittoriana in quanto libro, potrebbe benissimo essere ambientato nella maggioranza di epoche passate. The Dark Lantern” is a period piece, the period being the last decade of the nineteenth century. Mr. Henry Williamson has been almost uncannily successful in his evocation. London, where Richard Maddison works, and the suburb in Surrey where he lives, are presented to the mind and senses in another idiom of time, and even the country, where his home was, wears a different aspect. . . . As to the story, it is almost as slow-moving as the transport. . . . This very individual story, in which Nature, as might be expected, is lovingly observed, will appeal to readers who would rather travel hopefully than arrive.

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Theodora is based upon William Leopold’s real sister, Henry’s aunt, Mary Leopoldina Williamson. This lady was very intelligent and wrote two quite extraordinarily visionary short books published in 1910 (reprinted in HWSJ 31, September 1995, and HWSJ 37, September 2001). She was a great influence on Henry Williamson, and encouraged him in every way. As Theodora Maddison she is a major character throughout the Chronicle. In this opening volume she is seen as a very kind and sensitive clever young lady, sympathetic and intuitive, attractive and gay – yet shy and serious. It is a masterly portrait in words, and the development of her character as the Chronicleprogresses is somewhat tragic. Boesveld, Sarah (23 July 2013). "While their popularity soars, illuminated paper lanterns increasingly banned across Canada as 'serious fire hazards' ". National Post. Postmedia Network Inc. Several other members of both families are also established, who are to weave in and out of the tale as it progresses. Hetty’s parents, Thomas and Sarah Turney, are very firmly based on HW’s mother’s parents, Thomas Leaver and his wife Henrietta (née Turney). The well-to-do Turney family live in Cross Aulton (Carshalton, a stone’s throw from the real family home at Sutton in real life). One of the great lyrical passages in the novel is the description of the herb fields, particularly of lavender, that used to grow in the Sutton/Carshalton area. Mentioned too are the series of ponds that characterise the village, which form one of the sources of the River Wandle (thinly disguised as the River Vandle). The characters were well drawn enough to hold my attention, though I liked some characters better than others.

Pepper, Terry. "Great Lakes Lighthouse Illumination". Seeing the Light. Archived from the original on 23 January 2009 . Retrieved 21 September 2008. Richard Maddison is based upon Henry Williamson’s own father, William Leopold Williamson, and as far as can be ascertained is, with a few elaborations and diversions, a fairly true and accurate portrait.Mr. Williamson reveals the perplexities and intimacies of their domestic life with candour, tenderness, and a deep insight into the complex emotions that sway the human heart. Infused throughout by a passionate sincerity this novel has all the quality of greatness in it, and as an interpretation of life rings true in every line.

The dark lantern design still had a viable place on boats into the 1950s. Made by Perkins (Perko), boat lanterns evolved to have Fresnel lenses and many can be found marked as “Boat Signal,” or “Boat Lantern.” These operate with the familiar knob near the bottom and could be a used as a slightly awkward signal light. Some rechargeable fluorescent lanterns may be plugged in at all times and may be set up to illuminate upon a power failure, a useful feature in some applications. During extensive power failures (or for remote use), supplemental recharging may be provided from an automobile's 12-volt electrical system or from a modest solar-powered charger.Nevertheless it is a novel which is not in the ordinary run. One looks forward with mixed feelings of hope and apprehension to the remainder of the saga. a b "lantern". Oxford English Dictionary (Onlineed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) The Dark Lantern is an important object throughout Over the Garden Wall. It is carried around by the Woodsman, who keeps it burning with oil from the Edelwood trees. It is revealed that the Woodsman believes it contains his daughter's soul, which is why he is so devoted to keeping it lit. When Greg is turning into the Edelwood tree, the Woodsman admits that he didn't know that the Edelwood trees were made of the souls of the children lost in the woods. The Beast offers to have Greg's soul put into The Dark Lantern to be kept lit, but Wirt refuses, pointing out that the Beast's obsession makes it seem like his own soul is inside it. When Wirt's suspicions are found to be true, he leaves the Lantern with the Woodsman, who blows it out and ends The Beast's existence.