Letters of Elizabeth Craven in the Beinecke Collection, Yale University
Two letters from Elizabeth Craven survive in the William Beckford Manuscript Collection in the Beinecke Library at Yale University.
The first is addressed to Sir William Hamilton, the British ambassador to Naples.
Craven had long been acquainted with Hamilton, who had connections with her family, and she met him again in Naples when she went there in 1790 with the Margrave of Anspach. She stayed there as his guest and met his wife, the celebrated artist's model Emma, Lady Hamilton.
The letter is dated 13th May from Triesdorf, and the year is evidently 1790 as Craven makes many references to her recent stay with the King and Queen of Naples, and the civility she met there. She also refers to the fact that the Margrave has just had to dismiss his secretary and one other court official in Anspach as they were involved in some machinations during his absence. This happened in April 1790.
The Margrave has employed a new councillor called Bernsprunger, and Elizabeth writes that she is conferring with him closely, particularly about what can be done to help "the Poor of the Country" adding that "on that subject, I shall have the satisfaction of not going out of this world comme une grande inutile" (like an utterly useless person).
She mentions that she has had a letter from William Beckford "expressing his horror of England - he means to quit it I believe for ever", then goes on to the tragic news that a chamberlain called Knoebel has shot himself. This event happened in May 1790.
The second letter is written to an unknown recipient, undated and written from Benham in Berkshire. The letter refers to her having two theatres, so it must have been written in the period 1793-1814, after the theatre at Brandenburgh House in Hammersmith was built. The person she is addressing is making a tour of England with the aim of viewing and describing theatres, so it could well be James Winston, who published The Theatric Tourist in 1805. Winston included descriptions of Craven's theatres in his book, and dedicated it to her, so it is very likely to be him. If so, the letter can be dated c.1802-4.
Craven promises him that she will write to the housekeeper at Benham and give permission for the addressee to view her Greek theatre there, which she says is "in the woods" and is "so particularly pretty that it will perhaps be the most interesting description in your Tour".
She concludes by requesting that he gets her approval in advance before printing anything about her, as she has been so deeply hurt in the past by "Printed falsehood". The old wounds from malicious defamation in the press still rankled.
Beinecke Library Beckford Correspondence, GEN MSS 102 Box 4 f. 72, 73
James Winston and Daniel Havell, The Theatric Tourist, 2 vols, water colours and prints. Houghton Library manuscript, Harvard Theatre Collection, call no. TS 1335.211.
The letter is dated 13th May from Triesdorf, and the year is evidently 1790 as Craven makes many references to her recent stay with the King and Queen of Naples, and the civility she met there. She also refers to the fact that the Margrave has just had to dismiss his secretary and one other court official in Anspach as they were involved in some machinations during his absence. This happened in April 1790.
The Margrave has employed a new councillor called Bernsprunger, and Elizabeth writes that she is conferring with him closely, particularly about what can be done to help "the Poor of the Country" adding that "on that subject, I shall have the satisfaction of not going out of this world comme une grande inutile" (like an utterly useless person).
She mentions that she has had a letter from William Beckford "expressing his horror of England - he means to quit it I believe for ever", then goes on to the tragic news that a chamberlain called Knoebel has shot himself. This event happened in May 1790.
The second letter is written to an unknown recipient, undated and written from Benham in Berkshire. The letter refers to her having two theatres, so it must have been written in the period 1793-1814, after the theatre at Brandenburgh House in Hammersmith was built. The person she is addressing is making a tour of England with the aim of viewing and describing theatres, so it could well be James Winston, who published The Theatric Tourist in 1805. Winston included descriptions of Craven's theatres in his book, and dedicated it to her, so it is very likely to be him. If so, the letter can be dated c.1802-4.
Craven promises him that she will write to the housekeeper at Benham and give permission for the addressee to view her Greek theatre there, which she says is "in the woods" and is "so particularly pretty that it will perhaps be the most interesting description in your Tour".
She concludes by requesting that he gets her approval in advance before printing anything about her, as she has been so deeply hurt in the past by "Printed falsehood". The old wounds from malicious defamation in the press still rankled.
The Theatric Tourist was reprinted in 2008 and attracted a lot of interest. Apparently the original MS is preserved in the Houghton Library at Harvard.
Beinecke Library Beckford Correspondence, GEN MSS 102 Box 4 f. 72, 73
James Winston and Daniel Havell, The Theatric Tourist, 2 vols, water colours and prints. Houghton Library manuscript, Harvard Theatre Collection, call no. TS 1335.211.
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