Ceremonies of Bravery: Oscar Wilde, Carlos Blacker, and the Dreyfus Affair PDF
Preview Ceremonies of Bravery: Oscar Wilde, Carlos Blacker, and the Dreyfus Affair
CEREMONIES OF BRAVERY This page intentionally left blank CEREMONIES OF BRAVERY OSCAR WILDE, CARLOS BLACKER, AND THE DREYFUS AFFAIR J. ROBERT MAGUIRE 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries #J.RobertMaguire2013 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted FirstEditionpublishedin2013 Impression:1 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData Dataavailable ISBN 978–0–19–966082–7 PrintedinGreatBritainby ClaysLtd,StIvesplc Contents ListofPlates vii ListofAbbreviations xi Introduction 1 1. ‘TheGreatestFriendshipofMyLife’ 11 2. ‘Sadness,Disappointment,Upset,&Weariness’ 23 3. ‘TheGirlwiththeFoghornVoice’ 41 4. ‘HeHasBeenMadtheLast3Years’ 51 5. ‘LettersfromTwoIdiotstoaLunatic’ 64 6. ‘TheMostBitterExperienceofaBitterLife’ 85 7. ‘TheDreyfus-caseParisCannotBeFigured bytheParisofToday’ 99 8. ‘ParadoxesAreAlwaysDangerousThings’ 122 9. ‘NoOneShouldKnowSuchanInfamousPersonasBosie’ 139 10. ‘HeWasaGreatGenius.HisFamiliarTalkWasGolden’ 156 Epilogue 166 Appendix:CarlosBlacker’s‘PrivateandConfidential’ MemorandumontheDreyfusAffair 169 Endnotes 179 Bibliography 201 Index 207 This page intentionally left blank List of Plates 1. CarlosBlacker,c.1882,‘thebestdressedmaninLondon’, accordingtoOscarWilde,whileConstanceWilde thoughtthathepossessed‘perhapsthegreatestdistinction ofmannerofallwhomshehadevermet’.BP. 2. OscarWildeattheheightofhissuccess,1892. PhotographpresentedtoCarlosBlacker(‘always thetruestoffriendsandthemostsympatheticof companions’).BP. 3. CarlosBlackerandLordFrancisHope,aboardtheMajestic inNewYorkHarbor,20April1892.Photographby thedukeofNewcastle.BP. 4. ‘Linny’,7thdukeofNewcastle,wastwenty-fouratthe timeofhismarriageon20February1889toseventeen- year-oldKathleenFlorenceMayCandy,daughterof MajorH.A.‘Sugar’Candy.CourtesyofBassetlaw Museum,Retford. 5. CarlosandCarrieBlacker,Cabourg1902.BP. 6. CarlosBlacker(1859–1928), portraitbyJohnstonForbes-Robertsonc.1882.BP. 7. CarlosBlackerandhistwosons,‘Pip’(CarlosPatonBlacker), thenseven,andRobin,five,Cabourg1902.Bothboys laterservedasofficersintheColdstreamGuardsin WorldWarI.BP. 8. Caroline(‘Carrie’)Frost,daughterofConfederate GeneralDanielFrostofStLouis,andCarlosBlacker weremarriedinLondonon7February1895.‘Fromthis timetotheend’,CarriewrotefollowingCarlos’sdeath thirty-threeyearslater,‘wewereneverpartedforaday.’BP. viii LIST OF PLATES 9. PrincessAliceofMonacoandVyvyanHolland,younger sonofOscarWilde,intheuniformoftheCollegiodella Visitazione,Monaco,whichheattendedfromJanuary1897 untilthedeathofhismotherinApril1898.BP. 10. CyrilHolland,oldersonofOscarWilde,killedby asniperatNeuveChapellewhenservingasacaptainin theRoyalFieldArtillery,9May1915.BP. 11. OscarWildeatatimewhen,asCarlosBlackerinformed hisfuturewifeCarrie,hewas‘beamingwiththeinebriation ofsuccess,&...producingexcellentplayswith remarkablerapidity’.Photograph(London,1892) presentedtoBlacker.BP. 12. OscarWilde’splayAnIdealHusband‘containsagreat dealoftherealOscar’,asheinformedCharlesRicketts. Havingbecome‘engrossedinwritingit’,whileatthe sametimeperforming‘signalservices’forCarlosBlacker inhistroubles,‘therealOscar’isrecognizableinthe playinthecharacterandroleofthephilosopher-dandy LordGoring.BP. 13. OscarWildeinscriptionincopyofSalome´,published 22February1893,presentedtoCarlosBlacker.BP. 14. MaryAugustaYohe,knownontheLondonstageas ‘thegirlwiththefoghornvoice’andas‘MadcapMay’ forherinvolvementinanumberofhighlypublicized escapades,marriedLordFrancisHopeinNovember 1894.Mander&MitchensonTheatreCollection. 15. LordFrancisHopedivorcedMayYohein1902forher ‘misconduct’inelopingtoJapanwiththesonofaformer mayorofNewYork.Describedas‘alonelyunconventional man’,hesucceededtothetitleof8thdukeofNewcastle onthedeathofhisbrother.#NationalPortrait Gallery,London. 16. RobinBlacker,2ndLt,ColdstreamGuards,youngerson ofCarlosBlacker,killedshortlyafterhiseighteenthbirthday inthebattleofLoos,28September1915.BP. 17. CarlosBlackerandAnatoleFrance,HotelMajestic, AvenueKle´ber,Paris,December1915–January1916.BP. LIST OF PLATES ix 18. AnatoleFrance:tohis‘tre`scherCarlosBlacker’ (24April1918).BP. 19. CarlosBlackerdiaryinPitmanshorthand:Boulogne 24June1898—(includinglinesfromtheOdysseyandAjax, writteninGreek);25June1898—Undertheheading, ‘LetterfromOscarsayingGoodbye’,theentrycontinues: ‘AfterlunchjustbeforedinnerletterfromOscarwhich putanendtoourfriendshipforever.’BP. 20. CeremonyofDegradationofCaptainDreyfus,Ecole Militaire,Paris,5January1895.AdjutantBouxinof theGardeRepublicaineisseentearingtheinsigniaofrank fromDreyfus’suniform,whilethepolicevanwaitsinthe backgroundtotakethecondemnedmantoprisontoawait deportationtoDevil’sIslandforlife.BP. 21. MajorFerdinandWalsin-Esterhazy.Thetraitorwas thoughtbyhisemployer,theGermanmilitaryattache´, tobe‘themostmarvellous,audacious&wonderfulcanaille thatitwaspossibletoimagine,eitherinfictionorhistory, &capableofany&everyvillainy,includingmurder’.BP. 22. SalomonReinach,inasecretreporttotheChambre criminelleofhisconfidentialtalkswithCarlosBlacker abouttheDreyfuscase(‘heknowseverything’)wrote that‘Blackerconfidedinfourpersons:1–Conybeareof Oxford;2–Paton,anOxfordHellenistresidenton Samos;3–myself;and4–OscarWilde.’BP. 23. JosephReinach,sworntosecrecybyhisbrotherSalomon astotheidentityofCarlosBlacker,nameshimonly onceinhisexhaustiveseven-volumeHistoryoftheDreyfus AffairinafootnoteunrelatedtoBlacker’splan.BP. 24. MajorAlessandroPanizzardi,Italianmilitaryattache´ inParis,standing,secondfromleft,andColonelMaximilian vonSchwartzkoppen,Germanmilitaryatache´ inParis, standing,secondfromright.BP. 25. ColonelAlessandroPanizzardi,Rome,8December1899. Atatimewhen‘threebeingsaloneknewthewhole&entire truth[aboutDreyfus],namelyGod&thetwoMilitary Attache´s’,inthewordsofCarlosBlacker,hebecame
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