Nicola here. A couple of weeks ago I received a copy of a
hardback foreign edition of one of my books, Lord of Scandal, in Polish. I was
thrilled to get this not only because it’s always lovely to see an older book
making a comeback but also because of the gorgeous cover. (Ben Hawksmoor, the
hero of Lord of Scandal, has fair hair but I’m not going to quibble about that
because this boy looks BAD which is exactly right for the story. That's why I have posted a big cover!)
Lord of Scandal is a book that’s very close to my heart. It was only my second single title for HQN and it garnered a RITA nomination in 2008. I was writing it at the same time that I was researching my MA dissertation and it was this research into 18th and 19th century heroes and celebrity that fed into the book. I thought it would be interesting to dig out some of the things I discovered and talk about them here since the parallels between the cult of celebrity 200 years ago and the one we have now are pretty strong.
The Written Word
Celebrity isn’t a new concept, of course. Roman gladiators were the celebrities of their day. By the 18th century the growth of metropolitan society and the spread of literacy meant that gossip about the private lives of people in the public eye could be disseminated much more easily than ever before. Scandal sheets, which started as early as Elizabethan times, referred to celebrity gossip as “secret history.” Thus it was that the public was as informed about Nelson’s ménage a trois with Sir William and Lady Hamilton as it was with his naval victories. Journalists were not above hanging out in seedy taverns to pick up gossip from servants over a game of dice or even hanging about in the street outside people's houses to try and pick up some juicy piece of information.
Self-publicity
Self-publicity was already going strong. One of the stories
I love is about the poet Byron. “I awoke one
morning and found myself famous,”
Byron said in 1812, after the publication of the first two cantos of Childe
Harold’s Pilgrimage had brought him instant literary success. However he had
been working on his celebrity for years and continued to do so, realising that
there was nothing so effective as spinning your own legend. He accompanied the
publication of his poem The Corsair in 1814 with a self-portrait complete with
exotic headscarf and cutlass, thus identifying himself explicitly with his smouldering piratical hero. Even his departure from England was a
piece of theatre as he took a coach that was modelled on Napoleon’s campaigning
carriage with the conceit of the initials NB (Noel Byron) emblazoned on the
side.
Horatio Nelson was another man who was skilled at talking himself up. He consciously used the press to create the hero persona that drew him to public attention and acclaim. His decisive tactics at the battle of St Vincent had contributed much to the victory and his daring capture of two enemy ships was seen as the most spectacular moment of the day. But this in itself would not have been sufficient to elevate him to hero/celebrity status – many naval captains had achieved just as much. However Nelson promoted himself by giving an interview intended for publication to Colonel John Drinkwater, an author who witnessed the Battle of St Vincent. He also published a narrative: “Nelson’s Patent Bridge for Boarding First-Rates” (editors take note of the catchy title!) which was a huge popular success.
Public Appearances
Just as the film stars of the modern day turn out to wave to the crowds at premieres and parties, so the celebrities of the Regency age were feted in streets. In Lord of Scandal I feature a curricle race through London and the crowds turn out to cheer on the celebrity contestants. This was based on the idea of people thronging the streets when a Regency "superstar" passed through.
On his return to England in the summer of 1797 Nelson was greeted with public acclaim wherever he went. Success at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and Copenhagen in 1801 served as further moments that cemented his fame, and each of his victories was celebrated by huge popular demonstrations. Lady Elizabeth Foster described Nelson’s appeal rather well, I think:
"Wherever (Nelson) appears he electrifies the cold English character. Rapture and applause follow his steps. Sometimes a poor woman asks to touch his coat. The very children learn to bless him as he passes, and doors and windows are crowded."
Nor was Nelson the only Regency celebrity to receive such popular acclaim. During the state visit of Czar Alexander of Russia and King Frederick of Prussia in 1814, for example, celebrity-watchers went to ridiculous lengths to catch a glimpse of their heroes, some people renting windows along the route of the Grand Procession, others holding parties in kitchens and basements so that they could peer through the area grating to see the famous visitors pass by. Yet in the same manner as celebrities are sometimes built up today only to be criticised in the press, interest in the Regency celebrities could also wane. Lady Shelley felt that the foreign visitors were ubiquitous and had outstayed their welcome: “Their stay became, at last, a positive nuisance.”
Sporting heroes of the day also used their popularity to
generate public celebrity. George
Wilson, famed for his achievements in the sport of pedestrianism, understood
the value of publicity and used to advertise his events in advance, selling
engravings of himself in action to onlookers. By 1815 he was so famous that when he turned up for a pedestrian event
in Blackheath there was such a huge crowd that he had to employ men with whips
and ten foot staves to cut his way through the throng, the equivalent of the
modern day bodyguard.
Images
Cara/Andrea wrote a wonderful blog piece here on how
satirical cartoons spread gossip about figures such as the Prince Regent and
fed the appetite for scandal. Portraiture was another way in which celebrities
could use the visual arts to project an image. There was a growing demand for
glamorous and humorous pictures. Sporting heroes such as boxers Jem Belcher and
Tom Cribb had their reputations enhanced through the production of tinted
drawings like modern day sporting posters.
Opera singers and actresses were celebrated in a similar way. Benjamin
Haydon’s portrait of the poet Wordsworth was painted against a backdrop of the
mountain Helvellyn – a hero in the setting of his deeds. The artists who
painted Nelson were colluding with the subject to present him in heroic guise
and burnish his celebrity. The 1798-9 picture of Nelson by Guy Head, for
example, paints him at the moment of victory at the Battle of the Nile,
“showing a phallic sword thrust suggestively into the furled French colours.” (It always reminds me of the bit in Blackadder when Wellington gives the Prince Regent a gift of a cigarillo case "engraved with the regimental crest of two crossed dead Frenchmen emblazoned on a mound of dead Frenchman motif." Not subtle at all.)
The meaning of the portrait could scarcely be more obvious and was no doubt immediately understood by every Englishman who saw it. In a further twist on the phallic symbolism, Nelson gave the painting as a personal gift to Emma Hamilton.
The fame of most Regency celebrities was based on
accomplishment, whether military, sporting or other. It that respect it could
be said to have a greater intrinsic worth than some modern day celebrity,
though it could also be argued that the fame of Beau Brummell, for example,
based on his skill as an arbiter of fashion, was no different from that of a
top model today. As for the beautiful Misses
Gunning, a comparison with reality
television might be drawn when a crowd turned out at an inn one night simply to
watch them eat.
Do you have a favourite Regency celebrity or a public figure from the period who particularly interests you? I’m offering a copy of Lord of Scandal (in English or Polish!) to one commenter. (And here's another gorgeous Polish cover, this time for Deceived. I like them so much I couldn't resist posting it up.)