Lady Dorothy Stanley Autograph Letters Signed to a Close Friend "Mary", from Various Places, Between 1879 and 1894 PDF Download

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Category : Explorers
Languages : en
Pages : 62

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Book Description
Discussing her work as an artist (the first two letters contain charming ink sketches), commenting on London society, her immediate friends and acquaintances, including the explorers' circle and her travels around Great Britain. A revealing archive commencing before she had met Henry M. Stanley and continuing until after their marriage. The first two letters are dated 17 July 1879, 8 pages and 30 July 1879, 10 pages. Both are addressed in very familiar terms to an unidentified addressee. They clearly illustrate Dolly's standing in society as both a hostess and a talented amateur painter. The third letter, 17 August 1886, is a report of the cruise she and her mother, together with fifty other guests including Stanley, undertook around the Isles of Scotland in July. This was on a ship owned by William Mckinnon. Although the biographies indicate that Stanley was courting Dolly at this stage and made his first proposal after the cruise, she makes no mention of him in this close-written four page letter to her intimate correspondent. Perhaps she was in the process of turning down the proposal and thus eliminated him from the report. The fourth letter, dated 29 July 1887, is another account of travels around the north country and Scotland. It includes the details of a ""Naval Review Cruise" in the company of several celebrities. "The most interesting were Sir John Kirk who was governor of Zanzibar, Mr. George Mackenzie, one of Mr. Mackinnon's best men ... Sir Francis de Winton the friend and co-worker of Stanley ... I may here mention, in parenthesis, that no credit is given to the report of Stanley's death, the source is absolutely untrustworthy ..." Dolly goes on to mention Horace Waller, David Livingstone and Gordon, in the course of describing the Review. Of the final three letters, the two before her marriage deal with much news of common relations and acquaintances. The third contains a detailed account of the society wedding of Margot Tennant and H.H. Asquith (later Prime Minister). A "tour de force" which shows her capability for detailed observation of people and faces, while emphasizing the prejudices of her upbringing.