FIRST CELEBRITIES: Five Regency Portraits

A-listers of another period, from the very cradle of celebrity culture here are highly readable pen-portraits of five 'celebs' who sprang from heady cocktail of a capitalist economy, democratic ideas, an increase in literacy and a rumbustious 'free press' during Regency London. The book provides a novel window into the political and cultural climate of Jane Austen's period. Peter James Bowman shows how following the outrageous fame of Lord Byron, an interest in the foibles rather than the achievements of prominent individuals was kindled and sustained by newspapers, satirical prints and society gossip. Here are five pen portraits of colourful men and women who played leading roles in their day but whose reputations subsequently faded. Their particular spheres of activity were the stage, politics, diplomacy, art, literature and fashion which are also explored. Harriot Mellon was the illegitimate daughter of a wardrobe-keeper in a company of strolling players. She married the elderly banker Thomas Coutts and seven years later was the richest widow in the land and a target of ferocious abuse. Dorothea Lieven, the Russian ambassador's wife, used her intellect, dignity and a talent for flattery to entrance numerous statesmen and become a force in British politics. Richard Grenville, Duke of Buckingham, was a corrupt parliamentarian who squandered a vast income and caused the decline of the mighty Grenville dynasty. Lady Charlotte Bury was mocked by Thackeray as 'Lady Flummery' because of her execrable novels, but she was a great beauty who married for love not once but twice. Sir Thomas Lawrence deserved his eminence as an artist but had to use all his charm and courtliness to conceal the potentially explosive secrets of his private life. For fans of Bridgerton and Jane Austen, here is the real deal. 320pp, photos plus 16 pages of colour and archive plates.