Lady Caroline Lamb: A Biography

361 Pages·2004·2.526 MB·English

by  Paul Douglass (auth.)

Lady
Caroline Lamb
A Biography
By Paul Douglass
Broken lines indicate
extramarital affairs.
For Charlene
LADY CAROLINE LAMB: A BIOGRAPHY
Copyright © Paul Douglass, 2004.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2004 978-1-4039-6605-6
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any
manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
First published 2004 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN™
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PALGRAVE MACMILLAN IS THE GLOBAL ACADEMIC IMPRINT OF THE
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Mac-
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and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-52931-5 ISBN 978-1-4039-7334-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781403973344
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Douglass, Paul, 1951-
Lady Caroline Lamb / Paul Douglass.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Lamb, Caroline, Lady, 1785-1828. 2. Novelists, English--19th century-
-Biography. 3. Politicians’ spouses--Great Britain--Biography. 4. Women
and literature--England--History--19th century. 5. Byron, George Gordon
Byron, baron, 1788-1824--Relations with women. 6. Melbourne, William
Lamb, Viscount, 1779-1848--Marriage. I. Title.
PR4859.L9D68 2004
823’.7--dc22
[B]
2004045620
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Design by planettheo.com
First edition: October 2004
9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
One
A Child of the Mist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Two
Growing Pains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Three
Coming Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Four
Marriage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Five
Parenthood. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Six
Indiscretions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Seven
Byron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
Eight
Ireland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Nine
Medea and her Dragons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Ten
Playing Byron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
Eleven
The Music of Glenarvon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
Twleve
Politics and Satire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
Thirteen
A Book to Offend No One: Graham Hamilton . . . . . . . . . . 227
Fourteen
Another Farrago: Ada Reis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Fifteen
Byron’s Death . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 255
Sixteen
Exile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
Seventeen
Rational and Quiet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Appendix
Lady Caroline Lamb and Her Circle
Who’s Who . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293
Chronology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 303
References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 341
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
List of Illustrations
1. Vignette of Childe Harold at sea, a scene from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage,
by Lady Caroline Lamb (1812). By kind permission of Mr. Gerald Burdon.
2. Vignette of funeral scene from Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, by Lady Caroline
Lamb (1812). By kind permission of Mr. Gerald Burdon.
3. Lady Caroline Lamb, dressed in page costume holding fruit tray and with
spaniel, painted in 1813 by Thomas Phillips. Courtesy of The Devonshire
Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission of the Chatsworth Settle-
ment Trustees.
4. Brocket Hall. Contemporary photograph. By kind permission of Brocket Hall
International.
5. Lord Byron in Albanian Dress, painted by Thomas Phillips. National Portrait
Gallery, London.
6. William Spencer Cavendish, Marquis of Hartington, later 6th Duke of
Devonshire, painted in 1811 (the year he inherited the Devonshire title) by
Sir Thomas Lawrence. Courtesy of The Devonshire House Collection, Chat-
sworth. Reproduced by permission of the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.
7. Georgiana Poyntz, Countess Spencer, Lady Caroline Lamb’s Grandmother,
painted most probably in the period 1798-1810 by Henry Howard. Courtesy
of The Devonshire House Collection, Chatsworth. Reproduced by permission
of the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees.
8. Isaac Nathan. Artist unknown. Portrait circa 1810-1820. Courtesy of Charles
Venour Nathan.
9. William Lamb, by Sir Thomas Lawrence. 1805. National Portrait Gallery,
London.
10. Lady Caroline Tired and Dispirited. From a painting by Eliza H. Trotter.
Exhibited 1811. National Portrait Gallery, London.
11. Sketch by Lady Caroline in the Hertfordshire Archives showing her dog Rover
with a fairy on his back, and with the caption “To a lanky Cur I lov’d at that
time-.” By permission of Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies.
12. Lady Caroline Lamb on horseback. E. Parocell (?). Private Collection.
Photograph: Photographic Survey, Courtauld Institute of Art.
13. Lady Melbourne by John Hoppner. National Portrait Gallery, London.
14. Sketch by Lady Caroline showing winged cherub attacked by snakes and
demons, with the caption “un soupçon cruel le dechire.” By permission of
Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies.
15. Lord Granville Leveson Gower after Sir Thomas Lawrence. By kind permis-
sion of the Courtauld Institute of Art.
16. Sketch by Lady Caroline in her Commonplace book at John Murray Archive
showing her husband William, herself, and their son Augustus.
Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense the starkest madness.
’Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur,—you’re straightway dangerous
And handled with a chain.
—Emily Dickinson
Acknowledgements
T
he life of Lady Caroline Lamb has been documented by so many biographers,
memoirists, and critics that simply reading and evaluating partial accounts and
sifting through letters and documents relating to her marriage and extended
family has been an immense task. I could never have done it alone.
Margot Strickland generously gave me access to her research, including
microfilms she had gathered; she corresponded with me over a period of several
years, and I am deeply grateful. John Clubbe also encouraged me and shared his
research. Frederick Burwick’s Poetic Madness and the Romantic Imagination
influenced my approach to my subject, and more important, his brilliant mind and
generous heart have challenged and sustained me throughout our long friendship.
Peter Cochran corresponded with me and corrected errors in the manuscript with
a wit that rivals those of Lady Caroline’s extremely witty contemporaries. Eve
Culver, a graduate assistant at San Jose State University, spent many hours
combing libraries and transcribing letters for me. Her sharp eye and quick
understanding were invaluable. Those who have read Peter Graham’s Don Juan
and Regency England will recognize that the fourth chapter of that book eloquently
states main themes of my own work. I am indebted to him and to Graham Pont,
who pointed out to me that Isaac Nathan was a major character in the drama of
Lady Caroline’s life. Similarly, I am grateful to Frances Wilson, who edited the
Everyman reissue of Lady Caroline’s Glenarvon and defended Lady Caroline
against moralizers and melodramatists in her Byromania, and to Jonathan Gross
for his fine edition of Lady Melbourne’s letters.
Without doubt the turning point in this project came on a hot August night in
2001 in Battery Park when Marilyn Gaull of NYU told me she believed in my book
and would bring it to Palgrave and see it through the press. Thank you Marilyn,
for all your advice and hard work to make this book as good as it could be.
My colleagues at San Jose State University, Marianina Olcott and Dominique
Van Hoof, read Greek and French for me and saved me from many mistakes. As
I struggled to finish this book while chairing the English Department of a large
state university, my friend, coworker, and fellow writer Mark Bussmann, helped
me find time to write and gave me invaluable feedback.