Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson, Paula Bryne, HarperCollins, 2004. (Thanks Anne, lovely present)

In 1772 the 14-year-old Mary, who was to have successive careers as actress, courtesan and writer, wrote that she loved the “buzz” of London (p. 25). Curious, since it is one of those words that sounds as though it should be a recent invention. More later – she’s a great character.

‘Almost a Man of Genius,: Clemence Royer, Feminism and Nineteenth-Century Science, Joy Harvey, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 1997.

The Diary of A Young Lady of Fashion in the Year 1764-65, by Cleonie Knox, Thornton Butterworth, Second impression 1925 – a further excursion into old historical fiction.

Goya, Robert Hughes, Vintage, 2004, only £9 from Amazon – a bargain for a beautifully produced large paperback.

Lovers, Rakes and Rogues: A New Garner of Love-songs and Merry Verses, 1580-1830, John Wardroper, Shelfmark, 1995.

(Plus the paperbacks in the post below, and the lovely Sevenoaks history.)

Perdita: The Life of Mary Robinson, Paula Bryne, HarperCollins, 2004. (Thanks Anne, lovely present)

In 1772 the 14-year-old Mary, who was to have successive careers as actress, courtesan and writer, wrote that she loved the “buzz” of London (p. 25). Curious, since it is one of those words that sounds as though it should be a recent invention. More later – she’s a great character.

‘Almost a Man of Genius,: Clemence Royer, Feminism and Nineteenth-Century Science, Joy Harvey, Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick, 1997.

The Diary of A Young Lady of Fashion in the Year 1764-65, by Cleonie Knox, Thornton Butterworth, Second impression 1925 – a further excursion into old historical fiction.

Goya, Robert Hughes, Vintage, 2004, only £9 from Amazon – a bargain for a beautifully produced large paperback.

Lovers, Rakes and Rogues: A New Garner of Love-songs and Merry Verses, 1580-1830, John Wardroper, Shelfmark, 1995.

(Plus the paperbacks in the post below, and the lovely Sevenoaks history.)

For those who assume academic life is genteel, a couple of quotes:

“A man who has never looked on Niagara has but a faint idea of a cataract; and he who has not read Barere’s Memoirs may be said not to know what it is to lie.” – Thomas Macauley, who died on this day in 1859.
(From the Today in Literature email.)

A footnote from the Mary Robinson biography (see post above)
* Robert Bass, The Green Dragon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton and Mary Robinson (New York, 1957) … though Bass undertook valuable archival research, his transcriptions were riddled with errors, he misdated key incidents, and he failed to notice many fascinating newspaper reports, references in memoirs, and other sources. It is no exaggeration to say that his inaccuracies outnumber his accuracies; if Bass says that an article appeared on November in the Morning Post, one may be assured that it is to be found in December in the Morning Herald. (p. 3)

For those who assume academic life is genteel, a couple of quotes:

“A man who has never looked on Niagara has but a faint idea of a cataract; and he who has not read Barere’s Memoirs may be said not to know what it is to lie.” – Thomas Macauley, who died on this day in 1859.
(From the Today in Literature email.)

A footnote from the Mary Robinson biography (see post above)
* Robert Bass, The Green Dragon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton and Mary Robinson (New York, 1957) … though Bass undertook valuable archival research, his transcriptions were riddled with errors, he misdated key incidents, and he failed to notice many fascinating newspaper reports, references in memoirs, and other sources. It is no exaggeration to say that his inaccuracies outnumber his accuracies; if Bass says that an article appeared on November in the Morning Post, one may be assured that it is to be found in December in the Morning Herald. (p. 3)

… suitable for the season.

Best: Dissolution, by C.J. Sansom: A well-done account of an 16th-century honest hunchbacked detective, in the service of the dastardly Thomas Cromwell, who is given the job of finding out who killed the vicar-general’s last agent in a Sussex monastery whose days are clearly numbered. The fact that he and his servant get undressed for bed all the time is vital to the plot, if I suspect historically inaccurate. The ending – answers on an e-mail if you want to know – is surprising, if improbable. (I’ll be buying the sequel.)

Not bad: Rough Trade, Dominique Manotti, a translated-from-the-French detective story/thriller hybrid set in the seemy side of Paris, with distinctly left-ish credentials, being built around the Turkish illegal workers (successful) push for residency rights in 1980.

Don’t bother: The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde: has had rave reviews and been compared to the work of Douglas Adams. It has some of the wit and none of the intelligence, reminding me of those endless Radio 4 comedy shows in which Oxbridge-type males try to demonstrate how clever they are with word games.

… suitable for the season.

Best: Dissolution, by C.J. Sansom: A well-done account of an 16th-century honest hunchbacked detective, in the service of the dastardly Thomas Cromwell, who is given the job of finding out who killed the vicar-general’s last agent in a Sussex monastery whose days are clearly numbered. The fact that he and his servant get undressed for bed all the time is vital to the plot, if I suspect historically inaccurate. The ending – answers on an e-mail if you want to know – is surprising, if improbable. (I’ll be buying the sequel.)

Not bad: Rough Trade, Dominique Manotti, a translated-from-the-French detective story/thriller hybrid set in the seemy side of Paris, with distinctly left-ish credentials, being built around the Turkish illegal workers (successful) push for residency rights in 1980.

Don’t bother: The Well of Lost Plots, Jasper Fforde: has had rave reviews and been compared to the work of Douglas Adams. It has some of the wit and none of the intelligence, reminding me of those endless Radio 4 comedy shows in which Oxbridge-type males try to demonstrate how clever they are with word games.