1885-1889

• Mehrtlg. Werk: Selected letters of Vernon Lee 1856-1935
• Abtlg. des mehrtlg. Werks: Volume 2
• Band: Volume 2
• Verfasst von: Lee, Vernon [VerfasserIn]
• Titel: 1885-1889
• Verlagsort: London ; New York
• Verlag: Routledge
• Jahr: 2021
• Umfang: cvii, 654 Seiten
• Illustrationen: Illustrationen
• ISBN: 978-1-84893-496-2
• Schlagwörter: (p)Lee, Vernon / (z)Geschichte 1885-1889
• Dokumenttyp: Briefsammlung
• Sprache: eng
• K10plus-PPN: 1733672893

Abstract

In this second volume, covering the years 1885-1889, the 421 assembled letters follow Violet Paget-Vernon Lee in her early thirties. Recovering from the stinging reception of her first novel and from Annie Meyer’s death, she turns to essay writing on aesthetics and ethics and ghost stories. After Mary Robinson’s engagement to marry French orientalist Prof. Darmesteter, she travels to Spain, Gibraltar and Tangiers and briefly falls under the spell of the Orient. She also takes a liking to Scotland, and many of her close friends are Scottish --Alice Callander, Lady "Archie" (Janey Sevilla Archibald Campbell)-and so is her future partner Clementina Anstruther-Thomson. The letters reflect the expansion of her subject matter from cultural studies, art history and aesthetic philosophy. Her charity work in hospitals in Florence and her readings in Political Economy lead her thinking towards social reform and political issues. Her brother’s mental illness and her own breakdown bring about an awareness of body and mind balance and a taste for outdoor pursuits (mountaineering; bicycling; horse riding; swimming) and for experimental psychology (rotating mirrors; hypnosis) and therapies (hydrotherapy). The Pagets move away from the city center of Florence into the Villa Il Palmerino, then in the countryside, where both Eugene and Vernon recover.