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Sir Walter Scott

A photograph of a portrait of Sir Walter Scott by Henry Raeburn. Lyon sees Scott on the street during one of his visits to Edinburgh in the 1826-1839 diary.

Sketch of Falmouth Harbour

Lyon took a Steamer to Foulmouth on September 16th, 1835. He stayed at the royal Hotel. [transcribed diary p 37]

South East View of St. Paul's Cathedral

This 1818 painting illustrates the grand scale of St. Paul's Cathedral in London's East End.

Stage Coach and Mail in Days of Yore: A Picturesque History of the Coaching Age

This illustration is one of many in a book called, "Stage Coach and Mail in Days of Yore: A Picturesque History of the Coaching Age," by author Charles George Harper from 1903. This illustration depicts what Lyon may have traveled in, or how he traveled (sitting outside on top of the carriage).

Table of whist leads [recto]

Whist is a classic English game played in the 18th and 19th centuries. The game has several variations, and is usually played by four players.

Test Diary

The "Arcades." Horticurtural Gardens South Kensington

This is a photograph of The "Arcades" in the Horticulture Gardens of South Kensington from the 19th Century.

The Agony in the Garden

This painting by William Blake portrays a story from the Bible, as an angel comes down to assist Jesus during a moment of "agony."

The Anniversary Meeting of the Charity Children in the Cathedral of St. Paul

This 1826 painting illustrates the large annual meeting of the Charity Children in London, congregated within the vastness of the Cathedral of St. Paul.

The Barbadoes Mulatto Girl

This 18th-century illustration depicts a biracial "mulatto" woman conversing with two women in Barbados.

The Bathing Place at Ramsgate

A digital image of a painting, most likely of people vacationing at Ramsgate, a place Lyon visited frequently.

The Betrothed

On February 4, 1826 Lyon begins reading Sir Walter Scott’s _The Betrothed_ (published in 1825), a novel set during Henry II reign over England. The publishers were not enthusiastic about the novel and insisted on major revisions to the text. Ballantyne apparently found the novel “tiresome” which led Scott to continue revising with hopes of a more successful end result (Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library). Ballantyne and Constable finally suggested that the novel should be published with Scott's next and, in their opinion, superior novel, _The Talisman_ (Walter Scott Digital Archive, Edinburgh University Library). Both novels were published together under the title, _Tales of the Crusaders_, in 1825. ( http://www.walterscott.lib.ed.ac.uk/works/novels/betrothed.html) As Lyon’s diary attests, _The Betrothed_ was a success. On several occasions Lyon remains up late at night reading this novel. While he neglects to comment on its content, continues to give it his close attention. Once rescued from a Welsh siege, the sixteen-year-old Eveline is rescued by Damian Lacy nephew of her betrothed. The novel’s action is focused around a love plot, kidnappings, romance, and chivalry and energizes the culture’s fascination with Crusade narratives which Scott helped to popularize in several of his novels. One wonders if Lyon would have read Scott's wildly successful _Ivanhoe_ (1820), another Crusade romance featuring a love triangle between two Anglo-Saxons and a Jewess. These types of medieval romances continued to be popular by writers like Benjamin Disraeli and Charlotte Tonna.

The Blue Devils

This illustration depicts a man consulting his doctor on his ailment, caused by the "blue devils," a term commonly used during the nineteenth century to describe feelings of depression.

The Blue Devils _!!

This illustration depicts a man experiencing the "blue devils," a term commonly used to signify depression or melancholy. This man's blue devils are personified, tormenting him with imagery of death and suicide.

The blue devils. A poor depressed man.

The blue devils was a term given to melancholy and sadness. It refers to "intense visual hallucinations that can accompany severe alcohol withdrawal," and as time went on, it came to mean a state of agitation or depression.

The Bride or My Ewens Bride

Cameron set up a private studio at her Isle of Wight home at the age of 48, after her daughter gave her a camera, and she became an expert at using the collodion wet-plate process. She employed friends, servants and neighbours as subjects, including scientists Charles Darwin and John Herschel, as well as poet Alfred Lord Tennyson. Much of her work reflects the Pre-Raphaelite painting style which was popular at the time.

The Careenage, Bridgetown, Barbados

This image depicts a river town in Barbados close to the sea. Lyon lived in Barbados and sailed into its port many times.

The Chess Game

The photograph depicts three people playing chess between 1860-1865. Lyon mentions his interest in chess in several places throughout the Diaries.

The chess players

This item is a digital reproduction of a nineteenth-century painting by Thomas Eakins. A. S. Lyon describes mentions his interest in chess on several occasions when he either plays or teaches others how to play chess.

The Counting House

The painting depicts a counting house in business, perhaps displaying the work that James and Abraham Lyon conducted in their own lives.

The Counting-House Assistant, or, A Brief Digest of American Mercantile Law

A digital .pdf of The Counting-House Assistant, or, A Brief Digest of American Mercantile Law, published in Pittsburgh in 1818. It describes the rules of American mercantile law in the nineteenth century. A.S. Lyon would have worked in similar conditions and legal frameworks.

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Shakespeare's Globe Theatre