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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I think of Emma now, with the completion of this book, and I wonder if I’ll ever find such a gripping subject for a biography again. No other woman in history, it seems to me, could cram as much into her short life as she did. Living at the high watermark of celebrity for most of her life, Emma traveled all over Europe, met and impressed nearly every significant politician, writer, artist, and actor of the time, and she was personally significant to dozens of people. Most eighteenth-century Englishwomen—and men— stayed in the same place, socialized with the same people, and mattered to the same small group.
Emma began at the bottom of society and clawed her way to the top, determined, from the very beginning, to find fame. When she achieved it, she revelled in it—planting stories about herself, always making sure she caught the limelight and that every journalist saw her in her fabulous new outfits. Emma lived intensely, seizing every opportunity, driven forward by sheer energy and a refusal to be daunted. Neglected as a child, she was hungry for love and recognition. Her search for passion led her into the arms of Lord Nelson, and to what would become one of the greatest love stories in history.
When I first stumbled upon a letter by Emma in the British Library, it quite literally changed my life. I was a graduate student, looking in the archive for something else entirely. I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Unlike the usual decorous letters by eighteenth-century aristocratic ladies, Emma’s was striking in its honesty. A torrent of emotion streamed off the page. I felt none of the distance that I had often sensed while reading other letters by women of that time. Emma, it seemed, really was writing from the heart. I had to read on.
As I did so, I was surprised by how much the woman in the letters differed from the one usually portrayed. The edition of letters that was published by Alfred Morrison in 1893-94 has been crucial to scholarship on both Nelson and Emma. But Morrison, I found, had altered and cut many of the letters to please the prurient, conservative values of the period. Reading the letters in the original suggested a very different Emma to the one we thought we knew. She was far more than some sexual siren or silly woman caught up in politics that she did not understand, or a softhearted girl who somehow found herself at the top of the tree. Emma was a shrewd, determined woman who let nothing prevent her from attaining her dreams. But she was also driven by a desire for passion— for which she was willing to sacrifice anything.
Little did I know then how far the journey would lead me. I have visited every place that Emma lived in England. I have followed the route of her 1800 journey to Naples and back through Vienna and Eastern Europe, as well as the cruise to Malta. I have been lucky enough to spend much time in the truly inspiring city of Naples. In England, I followed her 1777 journey to London, her visits around England in 1791 and her tour in 1802. When I wasn’t in an archive library, I was on a train or in a car hunting for Emma.
I have been fortunate enough during my four years of research to find hundreds of new documents in archives across the world, so many that at times I wondered if I could cope with finding any more. So much of this research would not have been possible without the assistance of archivists across the country and around the world, who have pointed me in the right directions and photocopied documents for me. I’m grateful to the librarians and archivists who have allowed me permis
sion to reproduce quotations from manuscripts in their possession.
I’m very grateful to collectors of Nelson documents, many of whom prefer to remain anonymous. Clive Richards has been very generous indeed, with both time and hospitality. Anna Tribe, Nelson’s great-great-great granddaughter for kindly accommodating me at her home and showing me her Nelson documents. Many others have helped me in terms of advice and introductions, including David Constantine, Flora Fraser, Claire Harman, Alex Kidson, Tom Pocock, Michael Nash, Nick Slope, Peter Warwick, and Colin White, and for other assistance, I’m grateful to Janet Norton and Emma Hayward. Martyn Downer has helped me in so many ways, reading my drafts, passing on references to documents and always being full of supportive comments. Jennie Batchelor, Sam Gilpin, Emma Jay, and Matt Kelly have generously read my drafts. Most stalwart of all has been James Miller, who has read this biography over and over, been dragged all over significant Emma sites, listened to my talks on Emma interminable times, listened to discussions about Nelson, Emma, and Sir William, and can now spot a Romney at five hundred paces.
I would not have been able to approach this project with the same rigor had it not been for my undergraduate tutors, Kathryn Duncan Jones and Fiona Stafford, and my thesis supervisor, Thomas Keymer.
I’m also grateful to all those who asked questions at the talks I have given, as well as for the opportunity of giving them, particularly Chawton House, where I spoke first, and for those TV and radio interviewers who have asked me about my work over the years.
My agent, John Saddler, has worked tirelessly on my behalf since I first began to work on the book and I’m deeply grateful to him for his kindness and attention. I’m very grateful to the team at Ballantine: Ben Dreyer, Kim Hovey Thomas Perry, and Robin Schiff Johanna Bowman and Julian Quint have patiently and helpfully guided me through the publishing process. I can’t put into words my gratitude to my editor, Susanna Porter, from whom I’ve learned so much. Her wisdom, patience, and sharp eye, as well as her ideas, her supportive comments, and her boundless enthusiasm for the book have been invaluable, and the book would not be the same without her.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kate Williams fell in love with the eighteenth century while studying for her B.A. at Oxford University. She has an M.A. from the University of London and a D.Phil. in eighteenth-century culture from Oxford. Her articles and essays have been published in a wide range of books and journals, and she is a lecturer and TV consultant, appearing regularly on BBC and Channel 4 to discuss her work. She was born in 1974 and lives in London.