Hold your applause to the end of the post, please.
We reached another milestone today and it’s a big one. When my sister told me to start a blog because I wasn’t doing anything else three years ago, I didn’t think I could. I tested the waters slowly, every month I posted a one-thousand word article to the recently deceased Cubicle7 forums about Victoriana. After a few months I realized I wasn’t running out of words to write, and better yet some people were reading what I had to say. That lead to this blog, and yes, I know “Skullduggery” is misspelled. However, I did not know that when I named it.
So thanks to my wonderful sister’s encouragement, I am in the middle of the largest undertaking I have ever undertaken. Last year about this time, I started a short (I thought) series of posts describing Constantinople as a setting for Victoriana. I discovered a rich incredible city built on layer after layer of religion, full of ethnic tensions, in a period of incredible transition. I dug deep into period memoirs, travelogues, and city guides, assembled maps, and illustrations, and found far too many names for absolutely every location. This became “City of a Thousand Names” (which can be found here).
Now with the introduction to Constantinople finished (for now), I am nearing the completion of part two. The plan is to polish, rewrite, and expand these blog posts into another complete and illustrated PDF called “North of the Golden Horn”. This is the second section of City of Countless Names detailing Pera-Galata for Victoriana campaigns. After that is released, I’m going to go back over the City of Countless Names PDF and fix some errors and add more historical background I’ve found since its release.
After all that, it’s time for something completely different. I’ve been writing about Constantinople for about a year now. I am as interested in the city’s history and bringing it to you as ever, but I’m going to stop for a while. As a monolingual American, I found plenty of sources for the sections of Constantinople commonly traveled by Europeans, but there are tons of pertinent stories and perspectives I need to access before I can confidently wade into Stambul and start writing. Until resources from the Turkish, Greek, Armenian, and Jewish residents of 1850’s Constantinople come into view, I can’t continue this project.
There is a lot more to say about Constantinople, and we will get there eventually, but it’s a natural time to take a break and return to the British Empire. The world of Victoriana is endlessly rich and fascinating and I plan to write 200 posts more.
So thanks to my wonderful sister’s encouragement, I am in the middle of the largest undertaking I have ever undertaken. Last year about this time, I started a short (I thought) series of posts describing Constantinople as a setting for Victoriana. I discovered a rich incredible city built on layer after layer of religion, full of ethnic tensions, in a period of incredible transition. I dug deep into period memoirs, travelogues, and city guides, assembled maps, and illustrations, and found far too many names for absolutely every location. This became “City of a Thousand Names” (which can be found here).
Now with the introduction to Constantinople finished (for now), I am nearing the completion of part two. The plan is to polish, rewrite, and expand these blog posts into another complete and illustrated PDF called “North of the Golden Horn”. This is the second section of City of Countless Names detailing Pera-Galata for Victoriana campaigns. After that is released, I’m going to go back over the City of Countless Names PDF and fix some errors and add more historical background I’ve found since its release.
After all that, it’s time for something completely different. I’ve been writing about Constantinople for about a year now. I am as interested in the city’s history and bringing it to you as ever, but I’m going to stop for a while. As a monolingual American, I found plenty of sources for the sections of Constantinople commonly traveled by Europeans, but there are tons of pertinent stories and perspectives I need to access before I can confidently wade into Stambul and start writing. Until resources from the Turkish, Greek, Armenian, and Jewish residents of 1850’s Constantinople come into view, I can’t continue this project.
There is a lot more to say about Constantinople, and we will get there eventually, but it’s a natural time to take a break and return to the British Empire. The world of Victoriana is endlessly rich and fascinating and I plan to write 200 posts more.
Okay, applaud now.
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