Posts

Online edition of Sophie de Tott's Novel Pauline de Vergies

Image
    It is very good news that there is now a digital version of Sophie de Tott's novel Pauline de Vergies, which was first published in Paris in 1799. Since then, there have been no other editions so far as is known.    It has been digitized and placed on their website by the library of the University of Göttingen:- https://gdz.sub.uni- goettingen.de/id/PPN73354990X? tify=%7B%22pages%22%3A%5B7%5D% 2C%22pan%22%3A%7B%22x%22%3A0. 524%2C%22y%22%3A0.745%7D%2C% 22view%22%3A%22info%22%2C% 22zoom%22%3A0.38%7    All three volumes of this rare and undeservedly neglected novel are now available for the general reader. This is an honour this remarkable woman, who was a painter, writer, musician and secret agent, well deserves.    

Paintings by Sophie de Tott

Image
This stunning painting is currently for sale in a French gallery and is attributed to Sophie de Tott. It is described simply as a "female portrait" and according the sale description is identified as her work by a signature "Sophie C. Tesse de Tott" in the lower right.      Another website describes the painting as a portrait of Sophie herself but this could be a confusion. People are still so unused to female artists that someone may have jumped to the conclusion that the painter's name was that of the sitter. The costume suggests the period c.1800 when Sophie would have been aged about 42, somewhat older than the sitter appears to be. Another portrait by de Tott that is reproduced on the internet is that of Maria, Lady Crauford. This fine imposing painting was displayed at the Royal Academy in London in 1803. It depicts the sitter in the guise of a Sibyl, traditionally portrayed wearing a Turkish style turban and robes.  Maria Teresa Gage (1762-1832), wife of

Jane and the Final Mystery

Image
   Stephanie Barron has brought out what must sadly be the last in her series of mystery stories featuring Jane Austen.    Her readers will not be disappointed. It is a good story that is once again based on meticulous research into Austen's life, and that of her family, friends and their connections.    It centres on Winchester College, the public school attended by half a dozen of Austen's nephews, and the son of one of her close friends friends, Elizabeth Heathcote. Like most such establishments, it was very prestigious, steeped in tradition and in many respects utterly barbaric. Boys were frequently beaten with rods not only by the masters but by the prefects, senior boys who lorded it over new arrivals and treated younger boys like servants. Pranks were the norm and even severe bullying was regarded indulgently as rough-and-tumble that would teach the boys to stand on their own feet and make men of them.     The safety standards were about as strict as those at Hogwarts Ac

The Craven Cookery Book

Image
  Elizabeth née Skipwith, wife of 2nd Baron Craven. Painted by Godfrey Kneller.                  This attractive portrait of a lady from the reign of Queen Anne shows Elizabeth, wife of the 2nd Baron Craven, whose claim to fame is that she wrote a cookery book that survives in manuscript and is preserved in the library of Pennsylvania State U niversity in  America .     Elizabeth née Skipwith was born in 1677 or 1679. Her family lived at Newbold Hall in Warwickshire, not far from Coombe Abbey. She married the 2nd Baron Craven  on the 12th October 1697 and gave birth to two sons.    She belonged to a generation of women who were proud to preserve traditions of household management and herbal medicine from past centuries. Being a fine lady did not mean never going into the kitchen. She also liked to experiment with new ingredients such as chocolate. Her book of recipes, meticulously written, carefully attributes each recipe to the friend or relative who gave it to her. These friends incl

A poem by Anne-Marie Fauques de Vaucluse

Image
  STANCES. Je sommeille, & je touche au déclin de ma vie, Sans avoir réfléchi sur l'emploi de mes ans. Ah! Sortons à la fin de cette léthargie! Par de nobles travaux fixons l'aîle du tems. Laissons ces fleurs qu'en vain le zéphyre ca resse, & que l'air du midi fait à l'instant flétrir, Pourvoyons-nous plutôt des fruits de la sagesse, Le bonheur est promis à qui sait s'en nourrir. Si la nature avare a borné nos années, Suivons pour en user l'avis de la raison; Songeons qu'au bien public elles sont destinées, & qu'elles doivent rendre immortel notre nom. This short poem of only twelve lines is found in Nouvelles Fables, Fauques' collection of poetry published in 1772. It is introspective, and self-critical, as she chides herself for having achieved too little and resolves to endeavour to write something of lasting merit. How could these lines be translated into English? I  slumber, and I find my years fast vanishing Without du

Elizabeth Craven, Aphra Behn and the scandal of Lady Harriet Berkeley

Image
The Berkeley family was always notorious for scandal and wild escapades. Elizabeth Craven's elder sister eloped when very young, and one of her aunts had done the same. The most scandalous episode in the family history took place in 1682 during the Restoration period, when Lady Henrietta Berkeley, daughter of the first earl, ran away with her sister's husband, Lord Grey. He was prosecuted for abduction by Lord Berkeley, despite the fact that Henrietta had consented to the flight. Lady Henrietta (Harriett) Berkeley From an original picture by Sir Godfrey Kneller, at Strawberry Hill.    This scandal left its mark on the literature of the period, as Aphra Behn borrowed elements of the story for her sensational novel,  Love Letters from a Nobleman to his Sister.    Ford, Lord Grey of Warke, w as a bold, irepressible rake, mixed up in more than one risky enterprise. He took a leading part in the Monmouth Rebellion, and wherever there was trouble, he was likely to be found.    Grey

Coombe Abbey Nonpareil Apple

Image
    In past centuries, England had hundreds of different varieties of apple, all with slightly different shapes, colour and flavour. One of these was actually named after Coombe Abbey, the Craven ancestral home in Warwickshire, where it was first identified and grown.     Its name , the Coombe Abbey Nonpareil, means "incomparable" or "unrivalled". It was described in a book called The Botanic Garden; representations of hardy ornamental flowering plants cultivated in Great Britain; with their names, classes [&c.]. [With] The floral register [and] The fruitist, Volumes 10-11  Benjamin Maund 1824 .     We are told that this apple is not only delicious but will keep in the right conditions until March of the following year.    Credit for developing this variety from the earlier "Nonpareil" is given in the book to John Oliver, a gardener who was said in 1824 to have been working at Coombe Abbey for upwards of forty years. So he could be the gardener portray