Jack Metcalfe examines the contents of Thomas Chippendale’s ground-breaking Director, first published in 1754, that established the ‘Chippendale brand’. This eventually led him to uncovering links with a fellow neighbouring…

Blinded by smallpox at the age of six, John Metcalf (1717-1810), popularly known as ‘Blind Jack of Knaresborough’, nevertheless became one of the eighteenth century’s great road builders. Published in…

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the…