Caroline Norton | Four autograph letters signed, to Lily Motley

Caroline Norton

Four autograph letters signed, to Lily Motley

lively and entertaining letters describing her summer with an eye for comic detail, the first describing her chaos on the railways following a concert at Crystal Palace ("...The confusion was so great, - that even my customary treachery of a shilling to some sprightly looking railways porter, - and the most unmatron-like swift race after his meteoric flittings thro' the crowd, to a possible place in the carriages, - only brought me home at 1/2 past Nine..."), with later letters describing how her attempt to find respite in the quiet of the countryside near Glastonbury had been thwarted by a yapping dog, the slaughter of a pig, and the land-lady's parrot, and also a visit to the country seat of the Earl of Eglinton which was bedevilled by typical Scottish summer weather, 14 pages, 8vo, Chelsea, Glastonbury, and Eglinton Castle, [c.28 June] to 8 October [1860], with one autograph envelope, occasional light soiling, a few minor nicks

FINE EXAMPLES OF THE SPRIGHTLY PROSE OF CAROLINE NORTON. Perhaps best remembered as a leading campaigner for women's property rights following the very public breakdown of her marriage, the flamboyant and aristocratic Norton (1808-77) was also a significant novelist and poet. In the summer of 1860 she suffered from painful neuralgia in her writing arm, but in the years that followed she published her finest novel, Lost and Saved (1863), which shocked many reviewers with its treatment of sexual morality. Her correspondent, Elizabeth Cabot ("Lily") Motley (d.1928), was the daughter of the American diplomat and author John Lothrop Motley. In 1876 she became Lady Harcourt on her marriage to Sir William Harcourt, whose political career included stints as Home Secretary (1880-85), Chancellor of the Exchequer (1886, 1892-95) and Leader of the Opposition (1896-98).

LITERATURE:

Selected Letters of Caroline Norton, ed. Belson, Nos 566-569