E-Book Overview
Henry James called Fanny Kemble's autobiography "one of the most animated autobiographies in the language." Born into the first family of the British stage, Fanny Kemble was one of the most famous woman writers of the English-speaking world, a best-selling author on both sides of the Atlantic. In addition to her essays, poetry, plays, and a novel, Kemble published six works of memoir, eleven volumes in all, covering her life, which began in the first decade of the nineteenth century and ended in the last. Her autobiographical writings are compelling evidence of Kemble's wit and talent, and they also offer a dazzling overview of her transatlantic world. Kemble kept up a running commentary in letters and diaries on the great issues of her day. The selections here provide a narrative thread tracing her intellectual development?€”especially her views on women and slavery. She is famous for her identification with abolitionism, and many excerpts reveal her passionate views on the subject. The selections show a life full of personal tragedy as well as professional achievements. An elegant introduction provides a context for appreciating Kemble's remarkable life and achievements, and the excerpts from her journals allow her, once again, to speak for herself. (20001217)
E-Book Content
The John Harvard Library
[To view this image, refer to the print version of this title.]
FannKemble’s Journals edited and with an introduction by
C AT H E R I N E
C L I N TO N
Harvard University Press Cambridge, Massachusetts London, England
2000
Copyright © 2000 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kemble, Fanny, 1809–1893. [Journals. Selections] Fanny Kemble’s journals / edited and with an introduction by Catherine Clinton. p. cm. — (The John Harvard Library) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-674-00305-5 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-674-00440-X (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Kemble, Fanny, 1809–1893—Diaries. 2. Kemble, Fanny, 1809–1893—Correspondence. 3. Actors—Great Britain—Diaries. 4. Actors—Great Britain—Correspondence. 5. Plantation owners’ spouses—Georgia—Diaries. 6. Plantation owners’ spouses—Georgia— Correspondence. I. Clinton, Catherine, 1952– II. Title. III. Series. PN2598.K4 A25 2000 792′.028′092—dc21 [B] 00-035039
For
Susanna Delfino Noi non potemo aver perfetta vita senza amici
Contents chronology
ix
Introduction 1 Life on the Stage, 1828–1832 22 America, 1832–1833 41 Marriage and Motherhood, 1834–1838 On the Plantation, 1838–1839 98 Troubled Times, 1840–1867 162 Later Life, 1868–1893 190 f a n ny ke m b l e’s p u b l i s h e d wo r k s
acknowledgments
index
205
207
i l l u s t r a t i o n s f o l l o w p a g e 106.
77
203
Chronology 1809
27 November: Frances Anne Kemble (FAK) born in London to Charles and Maria Therese (de Camp) Kemble
1814
Sent to school in Bath
1815
Returns home to London
1817
Sent to Madame Faudier’s school in Boulogne
1819
Returns home to Craven Hill, Bayswater, London
1821
Sent to Mrs. Rowden’s School in Paris
1825
Returns to family home in Weybridge; formal schooling ends
1827
At Heath Farm; meets Harriet St. Leger
1828
Meets Anna Jameson in London; spends year in Edinburgh with Mrs. Henry Siddons
1829
5 October: Debut at Covent Garden in Romeo and Juliet
1830
Tours Bath, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham
1831
Sells Frances the First (drama) Summer: Tours Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Weym