Curiosity Corner – We Have a Winner!

Diane Gaston is the winner. Oh, Lord, Diane. I know just how you found out and I could kick myself. Sigh. You’re the winner, no matter your methods. Your loyalty to our blog excuses all and you’re certainly a clever puss. A wine cork retriever it is. And you can bet I won’t make THAT mistake again! Email me your snail mail and I’ll get the dvd out to you pronto. . . good guesses, Kat!  Thanks for playing everyone! Look for a brand new type of contest coming soon. Hint: Sharpen your pencils. 
The first person to correctly identify this item will win a DVD of the Amanda Root/Ciaran Hinds version of Persuasion. Please place your guess by using the “comments” link below this post.  

Please Note: Only registered followers of this blog shall be eligible to win. You may register now by using the link in the right sidebar under “Those Who Call Number One London Home.”

Good Luck!

London A – Z

The London A-Z, that indispensable guide to the streets and landmarks of the City, has been used by countless numbers of people seeking to navigate London’s streets. Everyone has heard of the London A-Z, though most have no clue as to it’s origins.

Meet Phyllis Pearsall – the eccentric British artist who single-handedly mapped London’s A-Z and created a publishing phenomenon. Born Phyllis Isobella Gross, her lifelong nickname was PIG. The artist daughter of a flamboyant Hungarian Jewish immigrant, and an Irish Italian mother, her bizarre and often traumatic childhood did not keep her from becoming one of Britain’s most intriguing entrepreneurs and self-made millionaires. Pearsall was left to her own devices as a teenager, especially after her father had gone bankrupt and fled to the U.S. Pearsall herself told an interviewer that one day soonafter, she returned home to find the door was answered by the fully decked-out Maharajah of Patiala, who was in the midst of having his portrait painted by Alfred Orr, Phyllis’s mother’s lover. ”Then mother said: ‘Alfred has an artistic temperament and couldn’t possibly have a little girl in the house. Get a live-in job,’ ” Mrs. Pearsall related.
Displaying much pluck, at the age of 14 Pearsall went to France to teach English at a girls school at Fecamp. With French as her second language she went on to study at the Sorbonne in Paris, always living on the edge of poverty, sleeping on the street under a newspaper blanket and drying her laundry on library radiators.
Eventually earning a meagre living by painting portraits and writing articles for various magazines and newspapers, Pearsall returned to England and in 1926 met and married Richard Pearsall. The marriage lasted for about eight years, during which time she had established a reputation for her writing and for her etchings and painting and the couple moved to Spain. Eight years later, the 30-year-old Pearsall became a divorcee, returned to London and turned to full-time portrait painting in order to support herself.  
Some accounts say that it was the difficulty Pearsall had in finding the homes of her portrait sitters in London that prompted her to create the A-Z. Others that she couldn’t find the address of a party she wanted to attend in Belgravia. Still other accounts relate that Pearsall’s father, Alexander Gross, wrote to ask her to publish in England a map of the world produced by the map company he’d built in the United States – after losing the map company he had originally established in Fleet Street. Reluctantly she agreed, and had to learn all the technical jargon involved in reproduction and printing before setting about selling direct to the customer. It was on one of these selling expeditions that she got lost because of the out-of-date London street map she was using. This was the beginning of her idea of how useful an up-to-date map would be – a map that all could use for business and pleasure.
Without hesitation she covered London’s 23,000 streets on foot during the course of one year, often leaving her Horseferry Road bedsit at dawn. Pearsall collected street names, house numbers along main roads, bus and tram routes, stations, buildings, museums, palaces etc, in addition compiling the street index in alphabetical order.To publish the map, and in light of its enormous success, she set up her own company, The Geographer’s Trust, which still publishes the London A-Z and that of every major British city. The first A-Z was published in 1936. She abandoned the traditional design of the large fold out map in favour of a book format where each page was a small section of a large-scale map. All of the streets were coded to enable them to be referenced, indexed and searched for. Pearsall printed 10,000 copies of her maps, selling them as indefatigably as she had compiled them. She persuaded a reluctant buyer at W. H. Smith, the British bookseller, to place an order for 250 copies, promising a refund if they went unsold. The maps were an instant success, and have sold countless millions of copies since.
Pearsall ran her publishing company successfully for many years and reported to work well into her 80’s, arriving in a red Mercedes that she bought at the age of 59, when she passed her driving test after taking more than 200 lessons.
 
Mrs. Pearsall wrote several books, including an account of her trips through Spain, a collection of short stories, a company history and a volume describing her business philosophy, in which she advocated generosity (”bonuses to everyone”), courtesy (”no aggressive selling”) and frugality (”Micawber housekeeping”). In 1986 she was made a Member of the British Empire.
 
Phyllis Pearsall died at Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex on 28 August 1996 at age 89.
 
What a dame.

Blue Plaque at Pearsall’s former home in Court Gardens Lane, London 

To read further on the subject, we suggest Mrs.P’s Journey: The Remarkable Story of the Woman Who Created the A-Z Map by Sarah Hartley.

Victoria here, chiming in to remind readers of the historical A to Z series, of special value to researchers and writers.  You can acquire them from several sources – just Google it.  I bought my copy of The A to Z of Regency London at the Guildhall in the City of London.  Good research library there too! The six versions of the A to Z’s of historic London are: Elizabethan, Restoration, Georgian, Regency, Victorian and Edwardian.  Make your choice(s) according to the focus of your interests.
Here is the London Topgraphical Society description: “Our A to Z series consists of six books, which provide fully-indexed maps of London at roughly 100 year intervals. Each reproduces a key map of the period. The indexes allow users to identify the position of streets and buildings, in some cases right down to small courts and alleys. They appeal to anyone interested in the development of London and are invaluable for those researching family history. The A to Z volumes are published in association with Harry Margary and the Guildhall Library.”

Section of the Map from

The A to Z of Regency London

Will They or Won't They?

Amazing, is it not, how the Star already knows what Kate will be wearing when she marries Prince William when the rest of the world hasn’t yet heard that they’d become engaged? William and Kate: A Royal Love Story premiers tonight at 10 p.m. on TLC and seeks to answer that burning question – when is Prince William going to get engaged to Kate Middleton? TLC’s press release reads:

“Showcasing the definitive love story between a Prince who will be King and the woman who may one day be his Queen, this brand new documentary unveils Prince William and Kate Middleton’s intriguing royal courtship that began in college eight years ago. Theirs is an unlikely story – Kate is an attractive young woman, but grew up well outside the realm of royalty. William is the embodiment of centuries of royal breeding and tradition. As he is being groomed for kingship with Kate at his side, this special reveals the added pressures William will face as he is expected to restore the reputation of the tarnished House of Windsor, a royal house severely damaged by his parents’ broken marriage and his mother Princess Diana’s untimely and tragic death.”

One would think that TLC, and the press at large, would have learned their lesson by now and, in order to avoid a repeat of the mad dog-like press attention given to Diana, they’d lighten up on William. But as he’s the future king, that’s doubtful. And to be honest, if they put the show on t.v., we’ll watch it.

In my opinion, William’s got an even tougher road to hoe than his father, Prince Charles. For the most part, the world has given up on Charles being an effective king. He’s dismissed as being a tree hugging, adultering whacko or it’s assumed that he’ll be too old to be of any real use once he assumes the throne and that his reign will just have to be got through until the reins are passed to William. In addition, Charles is too closely associated with all the scandals and drama of the past few royal decades. William, poor devil, is seen by some as the last hope for restoring the cache of the monarchy. Personally, I think Charles will make a fine king. One has only to recall the words of the Duke of Wellington, who said that the sons of King George III were “the greatest millstone ever hung round the neck of government” to see that as Prince of Wales, Charles is a vast improvement over Prinny. I’d much rather have a Prince who is too green than one who is too purple.

Like they did with his father and mother, the press are touting William and Kate’s courtship as a fairy-tale romance. One can only hope that this pair will live happily ever after. In addition to the press, Ladbrokes is also getting in on the proposal action, speculating that Prince William is most likely to propose in December and offering 7/4 odds that that’s when Clarence House will officially announce his engagement to Kate Middleton.  Meanwhile, rival bookmakers Paddy Power make the first two Saturdays in August the likeliest for a Royal Wedding with 13th August 2011 as the date likeliest for the couple to be spliced, with odds of 3/1 about the wedding taking place that day.

Alas, while abhoring the possibility that the young lovers will be beset by the media, and the bookies, the moment they announce their engagement, I’ll also be watching TLC tonight at 10 p.m. Well, okay, I’ll be flipping back and forth between that and Sherlock Holmes on PBS . . . does the fact that I have absolutely no intention of betting on the Royal nuptials mitigate things at all?

The Death of Princess Charlotte, 6 November 1817

Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales lived a short and largely unhappy life.  But she was always popular with the people and the outpouring of public grief following her sad demise was immense.  Some have compared it to an early 19th century version of the widespread mourning over the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, in 1997.

Above, Princess Charlotte by artist George Davis, c. 1817, in the royal collection.

Last year on this date, we posted an extensive story about Princess Charlotte — click here to read the whole story.


While researching my recent talk “The Sensible Regency Wedding” for the 2011 JASNA AGM in Ft. Worth, I found the account Princess Charlotte wrote to her friend Margaret Mercer Elphinstone about reading Sense & Sensibility, Jane Austen’s first published novel, which came out on October 31, 1811.

In her letter of January 22, 1812, the Princess wrote: ” ‘Sence and Sencibility’ I have just finished reading; it certainly is interesting, & you feel quite one of the company. I think Maryanne & me are very like in disposition, that certainly I am not so good, the same imprudence, &c, however remain very like. I must say it interested me much.”

Engraving of Charlotte and Leopold at their 1816 wedding
As can be deduced from the quotation above, the Princess, who had just turned age 16, was not yet completely at ease with grammar or spelling! Her life was difficult, a pawn between her waring parents, George, Prince of Wales, the Prince Regent (later George IV) and Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales.
my photo of an engraving of Margaret Mercer Elphinstone at Bowood, after a portrait by Hoppner

Mercer, as Charlotte called her, was herself an heiress and well-connected in London society. Her father was Admiral Lord Keith of the British Navy. The correspondence between Princess Charlotte and Meg Mercer lasted from 1811 until just before Charlotte’s death in 1817.  Although requested to return the letters to the Prince Regent, Mercer kept them in her possession.  Through her daughter, who became the Marchioness of Lansdowne, the letters were held at Bowood House in Wiltshire. They were published in 1949, in a volume edited by Professor Arthur Aspinall (1901-72).

Princess Charlotte’s wedding gown, 1816

The letters reveal a lively mind, if somewhat flighty, and a great interest in affairs of government on Charlotte’s part.  The last 18 months of her life, after her marriage to Leopold of Saxe Coburg in 1816, were generally happy, we are pleased to say.  RIP, Charlotte.

The Burney Society in Portland, Oregon


Victoria here, just back from the meetings of The Burney Society and the Jane Austen Society in Portland, OR.  We went out a day early in order to take in the Columbia River Gorge.  Sadly, it was raining, but not very hard. In fact, it reminded me of most English rain, not quite a mist but not a downpour either.  At right is Multnomah Falls, most spectacular of the many waterfalls along the gorge.
                                                                                                                                                .
Fanny Burney (1752-1840) was the daughter of a celebrated musician and composer Dr. Charles Burney.  Her half sister, Sarah Harriet Burney, was also a successful author of seven novels.  Fanny Burney grew up in a household that often hosted brilliant circle of artistic and literary leaders. She kept a famous journal throughout most of her life and wrote four novels, many plays and other works.
Our friend Hester Davenport, (see our posts about visiting her in Windsor last June) is a leading member of the UK’s Burney society and the author of Faithful Handmaid, which relates the story of Burney’s position as a Keeper of the Robes for Queen Charlotte from 1786 to 1791.  The position, while prestigious, gave Burney little time to pursue her writing career. We reported on our days with Hester Davenport on July 16 and 18, 2010 posts.

At left is my picture of a plaque on the castle wall in Windsor commemorating the lives of Mrs. Delaney (see our posts of  9/30 and 10/6/10) and Fanny Burney and their roles in the royal court.
The Burney Society was proud to dedicate a window in Westminster Abbey to Frances Burney a few years ago.  Our president for sixteen years has been Paula Stepankowsky (see photo below), whose leadership has been outstanding. This year the society has grown large enough to separate the UK and North American branches. Click here for more information on the McGill University  Burney Center.
For information on the North American Burney Society and the upcoming meetings of the group, click here.   Fanny Burney’s first novel might be her most famous, the coming of age story of Evelina, a delightful tale with incredibly detailed accounts of late 18th century life in Britain. My favorite is Camilla, perhaps because I read it first and loved every page. All this is a long way of introducing the conference in Portland. The subject was “Burney and the Gothic.”  Many speakers adressed aspects of this fascinating subject in Burney’s novels, finding many gothic references where I had entirely missed them! But viewed in the context of the popular genre of gothic novels in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, of course all of these arguments made obvious sense (not to mention sensibility!).
Our intrepid leader, Paula LaBeck Stepankowsky, president of The Burney society for 16 years, has been a true inspiration to all of those who love Burney, from reader/writers like me, to fond fans, to academic specialists in 18th century fiction. Paula is leaving her office and everyone was both disappointed that she will no longer be our active leader, but happy that she completed so many years of service and is moving on to a new role, which she promised would definitely include her love of Frances Burney.

                                                                         In 

Portland Public Library
addition to her role in guiding the Burney Society, Paula has amassed a stellar collection of first editions and memorabilia of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, many displayed at a special exhibition at Portland’s beautiful public library, a short walk from the conference hotel.




Works of Mary Robinson, 1st edition

Letters of Frances Burney,  Madame D’Arbly
First editions of Emma and Mansfield Park beside a shawl,
of linen, according to family tradition, embroidered by Jane Austen



Emma, a first edition, in the collection of Paula LaBeck Stepankowsky

Above, copies of three of Paula’s fascinating collection of Regency-era prints and charicatures by James Gillray and Thomas Rowlandson.

What a marvelous two days. Soon, I will tell you about the following days at the Jane Austen Society of North America’s Annual General Meeting: Jane Austen and the Abbey: Maystery, Mayhem, and Muslin in Portland.  Stay tuned.