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Perdita

Page 52

by Paula Byrne


  King, John 53

  correspondence with Mary 37–42

  Letters from Perdita to a Certain Israelite 37–8, 55, 56, 68–9, 150–1, 271

  as man of culture 40–1

  King Lear 87

  Klopstock, Friedrich Messiah 395

  Lade, Sir John 96–7, 115, 119, 120, 122

  Lade, Lady Letty 97

  Lady’s Magazine 155, 206, 207–8

  Lady’s Monthly Museum 388

  Lambert, Sir John 171–2

  ‘Lascar, The’ 385

  ‘Laurel of Liberty’ (Merry) 271–2

  Lauzun, Duke of 175–7, 253

  Lawrence, Thomas 186

  Lebrun, Madame Vigée 204

  Lee, Nathaniel 81

  Leeds, Duke of 339–40

  Leigh, Mrs 19

  ‘Letter to a Friend on leaving Town’ 67–8

  Letter to the Women of England, A 16, 84, 212, 351, 369–71, 378

  Letters from Perdita to a Certain Israelite (King) 37–8, 55, 56, 68–9, 150–1, 271

  Lewis, ‘Monk’ 423

  Licensing Act (1737) 75

  Linley, Elizabeth 74

  Linley, Mary 88

  Linley, Thomas 86

  Lister 244–5

  London 22–3, 82–3

  Catholic uprisings (1780) 127

  London Chronicle 333

  ‘London’s Summer Morning’ 23

  Lorrington Academy 16–17

  Lorrington, Meribah 16, 17, 285

  Louis XVI, King

  execution of 309

  Lucky Escape, The 85

  Lyrical Ballads 65, 383–4

  Lyrical Tales 65, 358, 383, 384–6, 393, 398, 399, 414–15

  Lyttelton, Lord 50, 51, 52, 53–4, 55–6, 63

  Mad Jemmy 285, 286, 288

  Mahomet 86–7

  Malden, Lord (George Capel) 109–10

  affair with Mary 37, 119, 120, 122, 134, 138, 142, 144, 145, 192, 193–4

  death 424

  ending of affair with Mary and annuity arrangement 194–5

  as go-between between Prince of Wales and Mary 113–14, 119, 124

  and negotiations over Prince’s love letters 162–6

  ‘Maniac, The’ 285–6, 287, 288–9, 414

  Manners, Charles (Duke of Rutland) 96

  Manners, Frances (Countess of Tyrconnel) 49

  Marie Antoinette 173–5, 204, 291–2, 309, 312

  Marshall, James 409

  Mathias, T.J. 354–5

  Mattocks, Isabella 95

  Memoirs of Antonina 291

  Memoirs of the Late Mrs Robinson, Written by Herself 8, 13, 25, 30, 96, 382, 406, 421–2

  Memoirs of Perdita 18, 55, 96, 122, 159, 179, 193–4, 244, 382

  Merry, Robert 263, 264, 265, 266, 343, 355–6

  ‘Laurel of Liberty’ 271–2

  Meyer, Jeremiah 186

  Middleton, Lady 281

  Miniature Picture, The 99, 125–6

  Modern Manners 312–13

  Moira, Earl of 227, 322, 386

  Monody to the Memory of the late Queen of France 312

  Montagu, Elizabeth 266

  Montgomery, Anne (Marchioness Townshend) 49

  Monthly Magazine 382, 399

  Monthly Mirror 337

  Monthly Review 280, 298

  More, Hannah 11, 12, 17, 25, 257

  Morning Chronicle 80, 117–18, 126, 206

  Morning Herald 18, 138, 146, 148, 153, 154, 159, 164, 165, 169–70, 178, 202

  Morning Post 80, 128, 134–5, 138, 160–1, 164, 239, 245–6, 334, 352, 357, 378, 419–20

  Murphy, Arthur 389

  Napier, Lady Sarah 200

  Napoleon Bonaparte 362

  Natural Daughter, The 372–6

  Nobody 325, 328, 330–4

  North, Lord 166–7, 196, 216, 218, 219, 221, 236

  Northcote, James 21, 187, 388

  Northington, Lord (Robert Henley) 20, 49, 51, 63, 188

  O’Byrne, Captain 51, 63

  ‘Ode, Inscribed to the Infant Son of S.T. Coleridge’ 412

  ‘Ode to Apathy’ 289

  ‘Ode to Health’ 289

  ‘Ode to the Nightingale’ 281

  ‘Ode to Rapture’ 235

  ‘Ode to Valour’ 281–2, 364

  Old Bachelor, The 84

  Opera House 213

  Opie, Amelia 350

  Oracle 266–7, 274, 277–8, 297, 302–3, 309, 311–12, 357

  Owen, William 186

  Paine, Thomas

  The Rights of Man 291

  Pantheon (Oxford Street) 48–9

  Parry, Catherine 51, 67

  Parsons, William 263

  ‘Perdita chemise’ 203–6

  Phillips, Sir Richard 382, 390, 421

  Philosophism 355

  Pigott, Charles 323–4

  Pindar, Peter see Wolcot, John

  Pitt the Younger, William 197, 237, 238

  Plaidy, Jean

  Perdita’s Prince 425

  Plain Dealer, The 87–8, 98

  Poems by Mrs Robinson (1775) 66–8

  Poems by Mrs Robinson (1791) 275–9, 280–2

  Poems by Mrs Robinson (1793) 289, 305–7, 314–16

  Poetical Epistle from Florizel to Perdita, The 146–7, 150, 151

  Poetical Works 282, 361–2, 422

  ‘Poet’s Garret, The’ 289–90

  Polwhele, Richard 355

  Poole, Tom 414

  ‘Poor, Singing Dame, The’ 385–6

  Porter, Jane 174, 260, 390, 395, 397, 398, 403, 404, 420, 429

  Porter, Robert Ker 390–1

  Portland, Duke of 216

  Powell, William 11–12, 333

  Pratt, Samuel Jackson 274–5, 348, 356, 398, 425–6

  ‘Progress of Liberty, The’ 342–3, 371

  Promenade: or, Theatre of Beauty, The 260

  Public Advertiser 192

  Public Characters of (1800–1801) 391

  Quarterly Review 273

  Radcliffe, Ann 293, 296

  Rambler’s Magazine 154, 206, 216–17, 232, 244, 246, 259

  Randall, Ann 212, 369

  Ranelagh pleasure gardens 47–8

  Regency crisis (1789) 260–1

  Regency crisis (1808) 420–1

  Relapse, The 81

  Reynolds, Sir Joshua 1–2, 182–3

  death 300

  Mary’s poem on 182–4

  popularity of paintings 187

  portrait of Tarleton 184, 185–6, 192

  portraits of Mary 21, 184, 186–7, 192, 232–3, 346, 392

  Richard III 84

  Richardson, Samuel

  Sir Charles Grandison 54

  ‘Robinson Hat’ 208

  Robinson, Henry Crabb 357

  Robinson, Maria Elizabeth (daughter)

  61, 65, 253, 254, 300, 304–5, 320, 348

  birth 59–60

  continuation of Prince’s annuity to after mother’s death 420

  later years and death 424

  literary career 321

  and mother’s Memoirs 260, 268, 269, 415

  nursing of mother during final months 396

  publishing of mother’s poems 422

  The Shrine of Bertha 321–2, 323

  suspected consumption 262–3

  Robinson, Mary

  ACTING CAREER 1, 20–1

  benefits 82, 84–5, 87

  breeches roles 87–8

  debut role as Juliet at Drury Lane 75, 76–81

  decision to marry and relinquish early hopes of 30, 33

  family disapproval 90

  flourishing of 117

  last performance and retirement 126

  meeting with Garrick and tutoring of by 24, 25–6, 75

  patronage of by Duchess of Devonshire 75, 89

  Perdita role and royal command performance 89, 100–1, 105–9

  reactivating of 73–4

  reviews 80–1, 82, 84, 87, 98, 100, 117–18, 126

  roles played at Drury Lane 81
, 83, 84–5, 86–8, 98–101, 117–18, 125–6

  and Sheridan 95–6

  LITERARY CAREER 2, 16, 232, 254–5, 260

  ‘Anecdotes of Distinguished Personages’ 382

  Angelina 90–1, 290, 335–9

  autobiographical details in works 356, 364–5

  bad press and feelings of failure at 326

  criticism of by anti-Jacobin critics 354–5

  earnings from 300, 320, 358

  essays on ‘Society and Manners in the Metropolis of England’ 396, 399–401

  The False Friend 330, 364–8, 371

  favourite themes in works 353

  Hubert de Sevrac 347–8

  influence of opium in novels 290

  influence of Wollstonecraft 351

  interest in conflict between reason and passion 367

  international success 341, 352

  Jasper 270, 401–2

  joint work with Tarleton (History of the Campaigns) 253, 254, 257

  A Letter to the Women of England 16, 84, 212, 351, 369–71, 378

  literary acquaintances 348–50

  Memoirs see Memoirs of the Late Mrs Robinson, Written by Herself

  The Natural Daughter 372–6

  Nobody 325, 328, 330–4

  and opera Kate of Aberdeen 309–10

  patronage of by Duchess of Devonshire 17, 69–70

  political commentary in novels 296

  pseudonyms written under 2, 267, 358, 369, 378

  radicalism of 344, 355

  regarded as key literary figure 371–2

  remaking of herself as ‘philosophical’ author 356–7

  reviews 298–300, 337, 347–8

  revival of interest in works of in 1990s 424–5

  The Sicilian Lover 335, 339–41, 362

  Sylphid essays 381–2

  Vancenza; or, the Dangers of Credulity 293–7, 298–300, 320

  Walsingham 221–2, 274, 290, 321, 347, 352–6, 358–9, 360, 369, 426 The Widow, or a Picture of Modern Times 188, 316–20

  writing of Memoirs 3, 382–3

  POETRY 2, 16, 50, 174

  admiration of Wordsworth 383

  Ainsi va le Monde 182–4, 272, 280

  ‘All Alone’ 384

  Captivity, a Poem; And Celadon and Lydia, a Tale 69, 84

  as a celebrity poet 312–13

  contributions to monthly magazines 388–9

  contributions to Morning Post 334, 352, 378, 410

  and Della Cruscans 267–8, 273–4, 344

  and emotional state whilst in Brighton 268–9

  engaged with Coleridge as ‘poetical correspondent’ for Morning Post 357–8

  as ‘English Sappho’ 280, 344, 345, 360–1

  on fashion 209–10

  ‘Harvest Home’ 410

  ‘The Haunted Beach’ 270, 380, 411, 412

  influence of opium 285–6, 288, 289–90

  ‘Jasper’ 379–80

  ‘The Lascar’ 385

  ‘Letter to a Friend on leaving Town’ 67–8

  ‘London’s Summer Morning’ 23

  Lyrical Tales 65, 358, 383, 384–6, 393, 398, 399, 414–15

  ‘The Maniac’ 285–6, 287, 288–9, 414

  on Marie Antoinette 309, 312

  Modern Manners 312–13

  ‘Ode to Apathy’ 289

  ‘Ode to Health’ 289

  ‘Ode to the Nightingale’ 281

  ‘Ode to Rapture’ 235

  ‘Ode to Valour’ 281–2, 364

  and Oracle 267, 274, 311–12

  Poems by Mrs Robinson (1775) 66–8

  Poems by Mrs Robinson (1791) 275–9, 280–2

  Poems by Mrs Robinson (1793) 289, 305–7, 314–16

  poems for Oracle 300, 302–3

  poems written for Coleridge 412–14

  Poetical Works 282, 361–2, 422

  poetry editor of Morning Post 278, 396

  ‘The Poet’s Garret’ 289–90

  ‘The Poor, Singing Dame’ 385–6

  ‘The Progress of Liberty’ 342–3, 371

  publishing of lyrics in The World under name of ‘Laura’ 264–5, 266

  publishing of poems by daughter after death 422

  reviews 272, 280–1, 313, 315–16

  Sappho and Phaon 344–6

  Sight, The Cavern of Woe, and Solitude 311

  ‘The Snow Drop’ 359–60

  ‘Sonnet to the Evening’ 258

  sonnet to the Prince of Wales 308

  ‘Stanzas in Season’ 240

  ‘Stanzas to a Friend, who desired to have my Portrait’ 305–7

  ‘Stanzas Written between Dover and Calais’ 302–3

  ‘Tabitha Bramble’ poetic persona 358

  Valentine’s Day poem 297–8

  written in final months 410

  PERSONAL LIFE

  and abandoned corpse incident 269–70, 285

  admirers and suitors 26, 49–50, 52, 54, 92–5, 96–7, 172

  affair with Fox 2, 196–7, 199–200

  affair with Lauzun 175–6

  affair with Malden 37, 119, 120, 122, 134, 138, 142, 144, 145, 192, 193–4

  affair and relationship with Prince of Wales 1, 3, 110–13, 114–15, 117, 119, 122–3, 124–5, 131–2, 134, 136, 326, 392

  affair and relationship with Tarleton 190, 193, 211, 212, 214, 222–3, 235, 251–2, 253–4, 270, 293, 297, 300, 305, 313, 324, 344, 350

  ambivalence felt towards father 15

  appearance 10, 17, 21, 133

  arrest and held in custody due to debts 389–90

  attacks on by caricaturists and pamphleteers 108, 136–7, 140, 156, 188, 197, 198, 217–18, 218, 219, 220–1, 224–5, 231–2, 234, 238, 242–5, 246, 261

  attempt to seduce by Lyttelton 50, 51, 52, 54, 55–6

  attempted abduction of by Fitzgerald 54

  bankruptcy and auctioning of belongings 169, 247

  in Bath 283–4, 285, 335

  beauty and attributes 24, 34, 44, 187, 212, 215

  birth 8–9, 429–30

  birth of daughter 34, 59–60

  birth and death of second daughter 83

  caring for daughter when ill with suspected consumption 262–3

  carriages 195, 210–11, 223–4

  celebrity of 1–2, 129–30, 133, 179, 215

  character 29, 199, 392

  childhood and upbringing 10, 13, 20, 36

  connection with Dr James Graham 219

  correspondence with Godwin in final months 405–8

  correspondence with King and publication of 37–42, 55, 56, 68–9, 150–1, 271

  courtship with and engagement to Robinson 26–9

  death and burial 229, 416–17

  and death of father 255

  and death of mother 312

  in debtors’ prison with husband 64–5, 68

  devotion to daughter and upbringing of 62, 64, 65

  dress and fashion innovator and icon 27–8, 48, 155, 170, 178–9, 190–1, 203–9, 214, 378–9, 401

  education 11, 12–13, 16–17, 19, 20, 257

  and education of women 339, 353, 371, 425

  and election campaign (1784) 239–43, 245, 370

  encounter with Brereton 92–5

  ending of affair with Malden and annuity arrangement 194–5

  ending of affair with Prince of Wales 139–42, 144–5

  ending of relationship with Tarleton 350–1, 368

  feminist sentiments 368–71

  financial problems and debts 144, 158, 161, 169, 232, 245, 247, 300, 325, 326, 351, 389, 409

  forged letters published between Prince and 151–2

  in France 170, 171–8

  and French Revolution 272, 291–2, 292–3

  friendship with Godwin 342–3, 372, 405

  grave 425–7

  and husband’s family 42–5, 58–9, 60

  and husband’s financial affairs and debts 37, 56–7

  ill-health 351, 377, 387, 404, 411

  influence on taste 209

 
lameness and immobility after ‘accident’ 232, 235, 247, 253–4, 257, 283, 326, 381

  and Marie Antoinette 173–5, 291–2

  marriage and relationship with Robinson 30–1, 32–3, 34–5, 41, 52–3, 83, 92, 136, 155–6, 211

  negotiations over Prince’s love letters and eventual payoff 161–7

  negotiations with Prince over bond and payment of annuity 216, 230–1, 235, 326, 387, 390

  obituary of in Morning Post 419–20

  Opera House box 213–14, 215, 234

  and opium 284, 285, 328

  parental background 9, 257

  pen-portrait of in Public Characters by Godwin 391–2

  politics and political campaigner 2, 218, 219, 239–42, 259

  portrait of by Hoppner 188–9, 208, 214–15, 346, 425

  portraits of by Gainsborough 2, 168–9, 186, 192

  portraits of by Reynolds 21, 184, 186–7, 192, 232–3, 346, 392

  portraits of by Romney 167–8, 186, 192

  press hostility towards 37, 134–5, 136–8, 154, 160–1

  press interest and publicity surrounding affair with Prince of Wales 128–30

  relationship with her servants 121–2

  residences in London 46–7, 82, 131–2, 194, 313–14, 379

  resides at Aix-la-Chapelle 253–4, 256

  resides at St Amand les Eaux 257–8

  retirement to Englefield Cottage and final months 395–7

  return to Bristol and homecoming 35–6

  rheumatic fever 228–9, 234, 246, 247, 254, 392

  ride to Dover in pursuit of Tarleton and ‘accident’ 1, 227–30

  rivalry with Armistead 147–8, 149

  self-promotion 23, 192, 222

  social life and circle in London 47–51, 62–3, 95

  social philosophy 342–3

  supporters of 135–6, 138–9

  travels on Continent 251–9, 260, 302, 303–4

  treatment of in Rambler’s Magazine 217, 244

  wit 179, 212

  Robinson, Sophia (daughter) 83

  Robinson, Thomas (husband) 36, 155–6, 304

  arrest of and imprisonment 61–2, 63–4

  courtship with Mary and engagement 26–9

  in debtors prison and discharge 71, 72

  financial affairs and debts 47, 52, 53, 56, 56–7, 60, 63, 73, 158

  infidelities 52–3, 56, 71,, 87, 93–4, 123, 136

  lies over origins and inheritance 33

  living in London 47, 51

  marriage to and relationship with Mary 30–1, 32, 33, 34–5, 35, 41

  opposition to Mary’s acting career 29–30

  visits to father 42–5, 92

  ‘Robinson Vest’ 208

  Robinson, William (brother of Thomas) 304–5

  Romney, George 2, 155, 167–8, 186

  Rousseau, Jean-Jacques 318

  Rowlandson, Thomas 253

 

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