The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3, June, 1851
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
Lady Craven had in the mean time produced her first play, "The
Sleepwalker," a translation from the French, printed in 1778, at her
friend Walpole's press at Strawberry Hill. In 1779 she published
"Modern Anecdotes of the Family of Kinvervankotsprakengatchdern, a
Tale for Christmas." This was a caricature of the ceremonious
pomposity of the petty German courts; it was dramatized by Mr. M. P.
Andrews. Soon after the separation, she passed some time in France,
where she met with the Margrave of Anspach. They formed a sudden
friendship for each other, and agreed to consider each other (we are
told) as brother and sister. In June, 1785, Lady Craven commenced a
tour, in which, starting from Paris, she passed by the Rhine to Italy,
went thence by the Tyrol to Vienna, passed on to Warsaw, Petersburg,
and Moscow, proceeded by the Don to Turkey, and returned by Vienna,
which she reached in August, 1786. On this occasion she ran, by her
own account, a serious risk of being made Empress of Austria. In 1789
she published an account of her tour (1 vol. 4to), in letters
addressed to the margrave, saying in the dedication, "Beside
curiosity, my friends will in these letters see, at least for some
time, where the real Lady Craven has been, and where she is to be
found--it having been the practice for some years past for a
Birmingham coin of myself to pass in most of the inns in France,
Switzerland, and England, for the wife of my husband. My arms and
coronet sometimes supporting in some measure this insolent deception;
by which, probably, I may have been seen to behave very improperly."
This work is interesting from the many sketches it contains of eminent
people--such as the Empress Catharine, the Princess Dashcoff, Prince
Potemkin, Count Romanzoff, Admiral Mordvinoff, the Duc de Choiseul,
and others. It is full of accurate observation and lively description,
expressed in clear and simple English--a style from which in later
life she considerably diverged. She descended into the grotto of
Antiparos, being the first female to undertake the adventure. The
French biographers maintain that the tameness of her description of
the scene shows a deficiency of appreciation of the wonderful and
sublime. She does not indeed ornament her description with hyperboles
and exclamations, but it is clear and expressive, and by the
distinctness of the impression which it conveys to the reader, shows
that the scene was fully noticed and comprehended by the writer. After
her return from her journey, she visited England to see her children,
and then proceeded to France, where she joined the margrave and
accompanied him to Anspach. Here, during a residence of a few years,
she established a theatre, which was chiefly supplied with dramatic
entertainments of her own composition. They were collected into two
volumes 8vo, under the title of "Nouveau Théâtre d'Anspach et de
Triesdorf," the latter being the name of a country seat nine miles
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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