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Amelia Edwards: Traveller, Novelist and Egyptologist
The subject of this book is a woman who exercised a decisive influence on the history of Egyptology; who was also a gifted writer of both fiction and non-fiction; and whose career marks her out as extraordinary even in the ranks of those other determined and courageous 19th-century women who impressed themselves on society in spite of the prejudice and social forces ranged against them.
- GenresEgyptEgyptology
128 pages, Paperback
Published December 1, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 16, 2012
In spite of the recent fascination with the Victorian travel to Africa, women travelers in Egypt have seldom been highlighted. The only biographer of Amelia Edwards, Joan Rees, published on the novelist, journalist, and later Egyptologist, revealing not only her role as a founder of the new field of Egyptology, but also her contributions to Victorian cosmopolitanism and aesthetics. Reese paints an image of an Amelia Edwards, with her keen artistic perception, as maintaining her early aspirations towards art throughout her career as a writer and historian.
In her earlier chapters, Rees delves into the Edwards’ middle-class lifestyle, exposing a home in qhich no subject was off-limits and where the young Amelia was praised for a foreseen talent. That talent Edwards strived for was art, and it is not surprising that both her flattering mother and her more distant father discouraged this passion.
Rees depicts a rebellious young artist that, upon a trip to Paris, involved herself with a Bohemian crowd—it was an opportunity for Amelia to explore an alternative and must desired lifestyle. Rees diverges from concrete accounts by Edwards, instead suggesting that Edwards not only lived vicariously through her Bohemian friends. Instead, Rees insinuates, she may have dressed in drag in order to frequent the gentlemen’s clubs and bath houses often referred to so vividly in her novels. While these observations are limited to photographs of her travel companion L in drag and poignant descriptions of male homosocial locals in her novels, it is not unlikely that Edwards would have crossed gender boundaries, as she later would cross sexual and cultural borders.
Rees speculates that her attachment with her mother, who died shortly after her father, influenced Edwards to seek out female companionship that marked her adult life. Edwards moved in with her lifetime female companion, who in later years appears overbearing; she traveled with a female companion, “L”, and later with a younger woman who accompanied her on her successful American tour. In earlier years, a woman who was both flattered and confused by Edwards’ love letters and the offering of a ring jilted her. Rees observes that it is very likely Edwards was a lesbian, but refrains from going into length about the details of her several companions, nor her involvement with prominent homosexual figures of the time. Depicted as having inherited the unattachedness of her father, it is likely that these transgressions are ones that will remain part of the mystery of the personal life of Amelia Edwards, who famously describes her study rather than her personality in an autobiographic article.
Although Rees only briefly mentions Edwards’ journalistic and ghost story writing careers, she highlights Edwards’s autobiographical innuendos in her novels, her attention to style, and her ability to blend history and narrative with her unique voice. Rees describes Edwards’ aesthetic depictions in her travel narratives as more than ekphrastic: like a camcorder, she captures not only the image, but the sounds, smells, and movements that surround her.
Rees succeeded in depicting Edwards as more than just the founder of Egyptology. Edwards is shown as an artist and illustrator, as a feminist and educator, and an author of many overlooked works. Although this last point has been emphasized, Rees gave too little attention to Edwards’ shorter works, her work as a musician, and her work abroad.
In her earlier chapters, Rees delves into the Edwards’ middle-class lifestyle, exposing a home in qhich no subject was off-limits and where the young Amelia was praised for a foreseen talent. That talent Edwards strived for was art, and it is not surprising that both her flattering mother and her more distant father discouraged this passion.
Rees depicts a rebellious young artist that, upon a trip to Paris, involved herself with a Bohemian crowd—it was an opportunity for Amelia to explore an alternative and must desired lifestyle. Rees diverges from concrete accounts by Edwards, instead suggesting that Edwards not only lived vicariously through her Bohemian friends. Instead, Rees insinuates, she may have dressed in drag in order to frequent the gentlemen’s clubs and bath houses often referred to so vividly in her novels. While these observations are limited to photographs of her travel companion L in drag and poignant descriptions of male homosocial locals in her novels, it is not unlikely that Edwards would have crossed gender boundaries, as she later would cross sexual and cultural borders.
Rees speculates that her attachment with her mother, who died shortly after her father, influenced Edwards to seek out female companionship that marked her adult life. Edwards moved in with her lifetime female companion, who in later years appears overbearing; she traveled with a female companion, “L”, and later with a younger woman who accompanied her on her successful American tour. In earlier years, a woman who was both flattered and confused by Edwards’ love letters and the offering of a ring jilted her. Rees observes that it is very likely Edwards was a lesbian, but refrains from going into length about the details of her several companions, nor her involvement with prominent homosexual figures of the time. Depicted as having inherited the unattachedness of her father, it is likely that these transgressions are ones that will remain part of the mystery of the personal life of Amelia Edwards, who famously describes her study rather than her personality in an autobiographic article.
Although Rees only briefly mentions Edwards’ journalistic and ghost story writing careers, she highlights Edwards’s autobiographical innuendos in her novels, her attention to style, and her ability to blend history and narrative with her unique voice. Rees describes Edwards’ aesthetic depictions in her travel narratives as more than ekphrastic: like a camcorder, she captures not only the image, but the sounds, smells, and movements that surround her.
Rees succeeded in depicting Edwards as more than just the founder of Egyptology. Edwards is shown as an artist and illustrator, as a feminist and educator, and an author of many overlooked works. Although this last point has been emphasized, Rees gave too little attention to Edwards’ shorter works, her work as a musician, and her work abroad.
August 15, 2014
Great description from a victorian writer who takes the long trip up the Nile to see all of the sights. Impressive what they managed in those days :-)
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June 9, 2017What an amazing Victorian woman. Her trip on the Nile is clearly told and many of her wonderful pen drawings are included.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews