William and Lucy – The Other Rossettis - Hardcover

Thirlwell, Angela

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0300102003 ISBN 13: 9780300102000

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2003

Synopsis

The marriage of William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919) and Lucy Madox Brown (1843-1894) united two of the most resonant Pre-Raphaelite family names. Their passionate and ultimately tragic relationship provides a fresh perspective on 19th-century marriage and on the private lives of eminent Victorians. Sibling of Dante Gabriel and Christina Rossetti, William was one of the original Pre-Raphaelite "Brothers", a Bohemian, radical author, poet, critic, artist, connoisseur, biographer, historian and taxman. Lucy, the intense, intellectual daughter of Ford Madox Brown, was an ambitious artist and biographer of Mary Shelley in spite of struggling with tuberculosis for nearly a decade. Drawing on hundreds of previously unpublished sources and a wealth of visual material (including art by William, Lucy and others of their circle and striking contemporary photographs), the book follows William and Lucy through their separate professional careers, marriage, continental travels and Lucy's illness and death. At the crossover between art history, literary criticism, social history and biography, the book rewrites Pre-Raphaelite history and brings to life two fascinating people who were both of their time and ahead of it.

About this title

Review:

'....a delicious slice of social and cultural life in the second half of the nineteenth century.' -- The Mail on Sunday, December 12 2004

'...she can present so much detailed material in such a leisurely manner that it feels entirely natural.' -- The Art Book, September 2004

'Angela Thirlwell's account of [William's] marriage...provides a new perspective on an enlightened and politically radical Victorian couple.' -- RA Magazine, Autumn 2003

'[an] original and engaging study...as intense and delicately inflected as Raphaelite painting...a remarkable achievement, impeccably researched.' -- Frances Spalding, Independent, 7 November, 2003

First choice in 'Christmas Book Selections, 2004' -- Kathryn Hughes, Front Row, BBC Radio 4, 8 December, 2004

‘Angela Thirlwell’s account...provides a new perspective on an enlightened and politically radical Victorian couple’ -- RA Magazine, Autumn 2003

‘This is a serious and substantial work, drawing on wide-ranging archival sources for its previously unpublished information’ -- Charlotte Gere, Art Newspaper, January 2004

‘[an] original and engaging study...as intense and delicately inflected as a Pre-Raphaelite painting...a remarkable achievement, impeccably researched’ -- Frances Spalding, Independent, 7 November 2003

‘a wonderfully illuminating study of a whole slice of 19th-century cultural, social and intellectual life’ -- Kathryn Hughes, Guardian, 3 January 2004

‘meticulously researched and magnificently illustrated...excellent’ -- Rupert Christiansen, Literary Review, November 2003

About the Author:

Angela Thirlwell is an independent scholar, who has written widely about the Pre-Raphaelites.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0300102003
• ISBN 13: 9780300102000
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352