Nelson & His World

Discussion on the life and times of Admiral Lord Nelson
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 Post subject: The Infamous Memoir of Lady Hamilton
PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:44 am 
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Location: mid-Wales
Soon after Emma Hamilton's death in 1815, an infamous memoir of her appeared, revealing salacious and intimate details of her relationship with Nelson, her confrontations with Lady Nelson, her scandalous behaviour and her notorious history. The memoir was 'too knowledgeable to be discounted, but too biased to be believed.'

Who was the author of this scandalous work? For the last 200 years, nobody knew. The finger of suspicion has pointed at both Harrison and Emma's servant, Oliver, but nothing was certain and bibliographers always had to resort to listing the author as 'Anonymous'. Until now. The current issue of 'History Today' (August 2008) has an article which reveals that the secretive author of this notorious biography has finally been unmasked - and by none other than Mira, who contributes regularly to Nelson's World.

I will reveal no more here. Go and buy your copy of 'History Today' which is now on the newsagents' shelves, and read of her discovery.

This revelation is a remarkable piece of literary and historical detective work, and a significant contribution to Nelsonian studies. I am sure everyone here will join me in offering Mira our warmest congratulations on a splendid achievement.


Last edited by tycho on Sat Nov 08, 2008 11:32 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Thu Jul 24, 2008 7:41 am 
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CONGRATULATIONS, Mira on a brilliant piece of sleuthing made possible only by your years of dedicated research work.

Congratulations too, on a beautifully written and constructed article that provides such a wonderfully compelling portrait of the cowardly and cunning biographer.

And what a spectacular way to launch your published career! With such a important revelation in the Nelson/Emma arena in such a highly respected publication.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Jul 25, 2008 9:51 am 
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For those further afield, it is worth mentioning that the article is available on a pay per view basis, or the magazine can be purchesed mail order on the History Today website. The first few paragraphs and a picture of the cowardly cleric are here: http://www.historytoday.com/MainArticle ... d=30256919

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Jul 27, 2008 7:51 pm 
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I have a copy of the infamous memoir - it is a work of poisonous sanctimony but no less interesting for that.

The book is hard to come by but it is available on googlebooks.

www.books.google.co.uk/books?id=kKIEAAAAYAAJ

If this link doesn't work, simply google 'memoir Lady Hamilton' and it will appear quite early in the listing.


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 Post subject: Peeping John
PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 9:25 pm 
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Can I just say thank you very, very much for your kind words. I'm really touched by your noticing the feature.

The full piece wasn't originally written for History Today, and at close to 4,000 words impossible to fit into the space. It was an immensely difficult process to remove so much of the connecting narrative, and the richness and depth have suffered a little bit as a consequence.

Hopefully the full story will see the light of day, but I can't tell you how much fun the project was, once the pieces began to fall into place.

Thank you again!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Oct 03, 2008 1:16 pm 
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Congratulations! A very interesting article - and what a coup!


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