Caroline Lamb

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Caroline Lamb, Viscountess Melbourne (born on November 13, 1785 at Canford House in Dorset as Lady Caroline Ponsonby , † January 26, 1828 in London ) was a British writer .

Thomas Lawrence : Portrait of Lady Caroline Lamb, oil on canvas, around 1805

Life

Lady Caroline Ponsonby was the only daughter of four children of the politician Frederick Ponsonby, 3rd Earl of Bessborough (1758-1844) and his wife Lady Henrietta Frances Spencer (1761-1821), a daughter of John Spencer, 1st Earl Spencer and Margaret Georgiana Poyntz. She grew up with her maternal aunt, Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire . Her mother was a mistress of the British King George IV.

Despite her lack of schooling, Lady Caroline proved to be very linguistically gifted and spoke French , Italian and Greek fluently . In June 1805 Lady Caroline married the English aristocrat and politician William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779-1848). After two miscarriages, the couple's only child, George Augustus Frederick, was born in 1807.

In 1812 Lady Caroline met the poet Lord Byron (1788-1824). The two began an affair that lasted until 1813, but even after the relationship ended, Lady Caroline continued to be obsessed with the poet. Her novel Glenarvon , which like all her other works appeared anonymously during her lifetime, is considered a gothic novel . Ashamed and dishonored, Melbourne decided to leave his wife, although the official separation did not take place until 1825. Lady Caroline died prematurely in 1828 at the age of 42 as a result of her alcohol and drug use.

Works

  • Glenarvon , London 1816 (Reprint: Woodstock Press, Oxford 1993, ISBN 1-85477-132-9 )
  • Graham Hamilton , Colburn, London 1822 (2 vols.)
  • Ada Reiss , Murray, London 1823 (3 vol.)

literature

  • Cecil David: The young Melbourne and the story of his marriage with Caroline Lamb . Constable Books, London 1955
  • Paul Douglass: Lady Caroline Lamb. A biography. Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2004, ISBN 1-4039-6605-2
  • Paul Douglass (Ed.): The whole disgraceful truth. Selected letters of Lady Caroline Lamb . Palgrave Macmillan, New York 2006, ISBN 1-4039-6958-2
  • Elizabeth Jenkins: Lady Caroline Lamb . Gollancz, London 1932

Movie

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Lamb, Caroline
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Lamb, Lady Caroline
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British writer
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Canford House, Dorset
DATE OF DEATH January 26, 1828
Place of death London