ALL IN ONE

Housekeeping books have always existed, but it was the Victorians which made them wildly popular. Housekeeping is a special skill and an art.

Though I am far from perfect, I am a manic housekeeper. Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook is my Bible, my Iliad and my Odyssey all in one! I also love Clare Coulson's House Rules, and The House Book published a few years ago by Marks and Spencer. There is housekeeping advice in many beauty manuals, including Camilla Morton's How to Walk in High Heels and Tania Kindersley and Sarah Vine's Backwards and in High Heels.

For the Victorians, the house-keeping bible was Mrs Beeton's Book of Housekeeping. Mrs Beeton's book is still in print, and you can get it from Oxford World's Classics.

Isabella Beeton was a famous journalist in the 19th century. She was married to a magazine editor, and sadly died young at child-birth.

My favorite beauty writer from the Victorian era is Mary Haweis, who also wrote on fashion and decoration. More about her and about housekeeping in a later post!