G.P.R.James' 'Prince Life. A Story for my Boy' 1856

T. Cautley Newby first edition - 1856

G.P.R. James moved with his family to America in July 1850, partly to build up his finances again (he had been successfully sued by the engraver who had been engaged to furnish plates for a uniform edition of his works and was out of pocket to the tune of several thousand pounds). They stayed first at the old New York Hotel and then at the alarmingly named Hell Gate, opposite Astoria. Longfellow met James and subsequently wrote that he was very frank, off-hand, and agreeable. In politics he is a Tory, and very conservative. James lectured at Boston as well as in New York, for instance speaking at a Dinner in the Metropolitan Hall called for the purpose of raising a memorial statue to J. Fenimore Cooper, who had died the previous year. James and his family moved to Massachusetts, where he rented a furnished house at Stockbridge. Here he met Nathaniel Hawthorne, who wrote of their meetings in his Journal during the summer of 1851: James is certainly an excellent man; and his wife is a plain, good, friendly, kind-hearted woman, and his daughter a nice girl. Another Journal entry recalled the son, who seemed to be about twenty, and the daughter, of seventeen or eighteen...and Little Charley, who was five.

Charles Leigh James - aged 12

When S.M. Ellis wrote his biography of G.P.R. James - The Solitary Horseman in 1927 - he acknowledged the help of Miss Blanche James, granddaughter of the author, who had allowed him access to the manuscript autobiography of her father, the late Charles Leigh James, whose early recollections provide the principal records of the family's time in America. It was while the James family were living at Stockbridge that James wrote Prince Life for Charles. The latter wrote in his autobiography: I wanted something written for me like The Wonder Book for Hawthorne's children. 

The fairy tale is only 46 pages long and in larger font than usual and, one assumes, it was written to be read at bed-time to the little boy. There are elements of Pilgrim's Progress about it, with very much a didactic frame work. The Prince's misfortune was that he had everything on earth he could want or desire, and a little more. had a fine palace and a fine country, obedient subjects and servants, and true friends...a fairy, called Prosperity, gave him everything he desired as soon as he desired it. Of course, he was bored. Worse, a little, drowsy gray dwarf, called Satiety, followed the Prince about wherever he went. Finally, having had enough, the Prince breaks out of his palace on his horse Expedition. He passes through a fine estate which belongs to a gentleman and lady, Activity and Ease. Between them, the estate is well-run. However, beyond lie the land of Labour and the forest of Adversity. The Prince hacks his way through the latter to a cave, where he encounters one of the most tremendous monsters ever man's eyes lighted upon. The monster's name is Necessity and the Prince must wrestle with him to prove his bravery. He is shown out the following day, only to meet up with a little old woman - Industry, who runs a tight ship for both human and beast. Two very nice, pretty girls work for her, one called Economy and the other Order. The Prince was assigned some work - Industry showed him the way, Order helped him a good deal and Economy provided him with the materials.

Again, his way is pointed out - this time on a road called 'the Right Path'. He was warned not to turn off the thoroughfare and, luckily as he was tempted to do so looking for sustenance, he catches up with a man trudging on before him. His name is Perseverance and, true to his name, he ensures the Prince remains on the straight and narrow. The two finally approach a fine castle; but, with one problem still ahead - two terrible monsters lie close by the narrow drawbridge. Their names? Difficulty and Danger!  Luckily, a man comes running down from the castle gate, a good, serviceable fellow by the name of Courage. The Prince crosses into the castle and is taken into the presence of a beautiful lady to receive a crown. It is called the crown of Contentment. I reserve it for those who, led on by Perseverance. come to me by the Right Path, in spite of Difficulty and Danger...(and what about any danger from the dwarf?) there is a rich jewel called Moderation, in the crown of Contentment, which is too bright and pure to be looked upon by Satiety.

Now, it is unlikely any child of the twenty-first century would be enthralled or convinced by such a moralistic story; but the early Victorian-age child would probably lap it up. I did because it is another, very rare, G.P.R. James first edition!

Gordon Bowker's 'George Orwell' 2003

 

Little, Brown first edition - 2003

At just over 430 pages of text, this biography of George Orwell (Eric Blair), was another 'blockbuster' which has rested unread on my bookshelves for far too long. I knew very little about Orwell - having merely read Down and Out in Paris and London (1933), A Clergyman's Daughter (1935), and Animal Farm (1945). (No - I have never read 1984!) I found the story of his life fascinating, but I don't think I would have liked him. Interestingly, at one stage in his life he described himself as a Tory-anarchist; which is what I subscribe to! The book is far too detailed to be analysed is such a short Blog as this, so I have just put below some of the salient points I gained from its reading.

• from childhood he suffered from ill-health. Cursed by a weak chest, he did not help matters by being a heavy, life-long smoker and taking little care over his well-being
• his relationship with women was problematic. He never stopped desiring them - frequenting prostitutes in Burma and London, living with one in Paris and on several occasions almost forcing himself on colleagues or friends - even though he regarded himself as 'unattractive'. The many shrewd women who knew him almost invariably referred to his sadism and that he saw women as inferior
• he was prejudiced against Scots, disliked homosexuals and public schools. However, he was a staunch atheist but retained an affection for Christian beliefs and wished to be buried in a churchyard; he was a rationalist who took poltergeists and ghosts seriously
• Bowker sums Orwell up: Orwell was no saint; he was a flawed human being, full of contradictions and strange tensions - a faithful and gentle friend, yet a man with a poor attitude towards women, an enemy of state torturers with his own streak of sadistic violence, a champion of human decency yet a secret philanderer, a man with an ambiguous attitude towards Jews
• during and after his time in Spain - his hatred of Stalinism and the Soviet Union, which led to his suspicion of others such as Victor Gollancz, was almost visceral
• his sojourns on the island of Jura, where he rented Barnhill ( a kind of Cold Comfort Farm to one young student!) are made totally understandable by Bowker.    
• I found this comment of Bowker's a shrewd one: as a novelist Orwell had his shortcomings. He was insufficiently interested in individuals to be able to explore character, except his inevitably autobiographical central character. He could experience an intense imaginative vision of an inner life, but he could do it by looking in the mirror but not by looking outwards.
• I think he was a successful journalist cum sociological essay writer but not a great novelist; primarily a literary man with a sociological eye.

It is a fascinating story. his schooldays at St Cyprian's and Eton; his role as a Probationary Assistant Superintendent in the Burmese Police Force; his essentially 'fake' down-and-out days in Paris (his first manuscript was called A Scullion's Diary) and London; his short time as a (quite popular) teacher; his relative failure as a novelist - with A Clergyman's Daughter and Keep the Aspidistra Flying; his increasing well-thought-of articles in various journals, magazine and newspapers (e.g. his later involvement with Tribune); his time at the BBC during the  Second World War; and his two masterpieces - Animal Farm and 1984 - the latter written when he has increasingly ill. I am glad I read Gordon Bowker's book; whether it persuades me to read more of Orwell's work is another matter. We are certainly nearer the horror of the world depicted in 1984, than Orwell was in 1948 or even in the real-life 1984. Dystopia feels more real than Utopia these days.

Poor Eric was hit firmly in the solar plexus with the publication just over two years ago of Anna Dunder's Wifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible Life. Her aim was to rescue this droll, warm-hearted woman from oblivion and in the process wrench herself back into hard-won artistry. Funder suggests that any literary ambitions Eileen had were relinquished in order to cater for Eric's needs, including having perfunctory sex she did not enjoy. As one Reviewer of the book put it, she earned the lion's share of their income, kept house, nursed him through fits of tuberculosis, typed up his notes, edited his typescripts and 'encouraged' his work.  Funder cited several contemporaries who saw Eileen's 'fingerprints' all over Animal Farm - a book that displays a psychological acuity and humanity that Orwell lacked. Certainly Orwell does not come out of this telling well: he denied Eileen visits to her family and friends, let her clean out the cesspit and deal with mice while he got on with his books upstairs. Funder focuses on the couple's time in Spain, when Eileen kept her husband out of danger and often risked her own life for her ant-fascist comrades. Dying of cancer during an operation, at just 39, Eileen's life appears a tragic one. What might she have achieved - in spite of her famous husband?