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Mrs D : the Life of Anne Damer (1748 - 1828).
Hardcover
First published September 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 7, 2020
There is a comment by a reader that the only problem with this meticulously researched and beautifully written biography is that it seems to be about everybody in Georgian London high society except for the subject of this biography, namely, the sculptor and aristocrat Anne Seymour Damer! Well, that is exactly the way Mrs. Damer wanted it to be. She didn't want her private business known to the masses; she only wanted to leave her art.
Anne Damer burned a lot of her correspondence over the course of her life and the rest of it--thousands of notes and letters--were burned after her death. (I know, an arrow through the historian's heart.) She had seen what personal correspondence had done to the reputations of many of her friends (most famously, the Duchess of Devonshire, whose large collection of letters has rivoted the public since the day she died. btw do not miss Amanda Foreman's GEORGIANA.)
Of all the thousands of letters between Mrs. Damer and leading figures of art, fashion, politics and literature, she deigned only to leave her sculptures, a few of her travel journals and a novel to posterity. Fortunately, her intimate friend, Mary Berry, refused to burn her letters (well, at least some of them), which are the most significant surviving sources to know what was going on in her head and heart--which at the time was being obsessed with her love for Mary Berry, who was keeping a distrance because of scandalous rumors and innuendo. (You see, the Honourable Mrs. Damer had a blueblood pedigree that made her social standing impervious to everything, but poor Mary was only a gifted scholar who longed to be elevated into high society.)
Anyway, Richard Webb is a charming and capable companion to narrate the life story of Mrs. Damer and the art in the book is just wonderful. (The interior production values of the book are sheer pleasure.)
FYI, much of the academic (LGBY, Art, Literature, Theatre) community has taken up the study of Mrs. Damer and wonderful Emma Donaghue wrote a bestselling historic novel about her, LIFE MASK. So while it is frustrating not to know more about her love affairs, at least Mrs. Damer is being appreciate now in a way she was not when she was alive.
Anne Damer burned a lot of her correspondence over the course of her life and the rest of it--thousands of notes and letters--were burned after her death. (I know, an arrow through the historian's heart.) She had seen what personal correspondence had done to the reputations of many of her friends (most famously, the Duchess of Devonshire, whose large collection of letters has rivoted the public since the day she died. btw do not miss Amanda Foreman's GEORGIANA.)
Of all the thousands of letters between Mrs. Damer and leading figures of art, fashion, politics and literature, she deigned only to leave her sculptures, a few of her travel journals and a novel to posterity. Fortunately, her intimate friend, Mary Berry, refused to burn her letters (well, at least some of them), which are the most significant surviving sources to know what was going on in her head and heart--which at the time was being obsessed with her love for Mary Berry, who was keeping a distrance because of scandalous rumors and innuendo. (You see, the Honourable Mrs. Damer had a blueblood pedigree that made her social standing impervious to everything, but poor Mary was only a gifted scholar who longed to be elevated into high society.)
Anyway, Richard Webb is a charming and capable companion to narrate the life story of Mrs. Damer and the art in the book is just wonderful. (The interior production values of the book are sheer pleasure.)
FYI, much of the academic (LGBY, Art, Literature, Theatre) community has taken up the study of Mrs. Damer and wonderful Emma Donaghue wrote a bestselling historic novel about her, LIFE MASK. So while it is frustrating not to know more about her love affairs, at least Mrs. Damer is being appreciate now in a way she was not when she was alive.
February 2, 2024
Although thoroughly researched and enjoyable if you like to read about Georgian society, this book has a tendency to talk about everyone else except Anne.
Chapters that are set out to talk for instance about Anne's marriage wander off to talk about other members of society.
If you want to focus on Anne herself, this makes it a more difficult read.
Chapters that are set out to talk for instance about Anne's marriage wander off to talk about other members of society.
If you want to focus on Anne herself, this makes it a more difficult read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews