The Exiled Collector - Brossura

Sebba, Anne

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0719565715 ISBN 13: 9780719565717

Casa editrice: John Murray Pubs Ltd, 2005

Riassunto

On August 30th 1841 William John Bankes, former Tory MP, pioneer Egyptologist and renowned traveller, was caught in compromising circumstances with a guardsman in London's Green Park. Faced with the death penalty, he fled to exile in Venice, leaving forever his beloved house, Kingston Lacy in Dorset. It was the vicarious embellishment of this house that was to be his only enduring passion. Brilliantly written and highly readable, The Exiled Collector is the first ever biography of William Bankes, recounting his dramatic life story. It examines the psychology of collecting, the pain and creativity of exile and affords a revealing insight into the minds of a hypocritical ruling elite in early Victorian Britain.

Su questo libro

Recensione

A cracking and detailed tale (Antiques Trade Gazette)

A rich biography of a complex figure... The writing sparkles because Anne Sebba has seen the adventure in Bankes's life. (Christopher Lee, Literary Review)

Anne Sebba tells this tale ... with great aplomb, producing in the process a wonderful hybrid of a book. (Independent on Sunday)

A torrid tale (Tatler, Must Reads)

Anne Sebba tells us in The Exiled Collector a tale of Byron's friend William Bankes - esthete, member of Parliament, scion of a rich family - who became a notorious pariah in the 1830s when he was arrested not once but twice for approaching soldiers in public places. Bankes fled an England in which a convicted sodomite was still executed and spent the rest of his days in Venice and France compulsively collecting paintings and architectural details for his country house back in England. He knew he would never be permitted to live in the sumptuous interiors he was piecing together but paradoxically this elderly homosexual bachelor was assembling a home for future generations of his family. Anne Sebba has written this record of exquisite taste and brutal suffering with equal measures of verve, tact and eloquence. (Edmund White)

Anne Sebba's fascinating book ... (brings) Bankes out of the footnotes to which history consigned him, and back to life. (Financial Times)

Brisk, authoritative and readily engaging ... Anne Sebba is marvellously sure-footed in her grasp of this tale ... lively and illuminating (Daily Mail Critic's Choice)

This is the first biography of William Bankes and it shows that his story - poignant and colourful by turns - well deserves to be told. (Daily Telegraph)

Anne Sebba's fascinating book is more than the portrait of another rich, gay dilettante ... it is the portrait of an obsession ... Sebba illuminates this bizarre but brilliant project by bringing Bankes out of the footnotes to which history consigned him, and back to life. (Financial Times)

Anne Sebba has written this record of exquisite taste and brutal suffering with equal measures of verve, tact and eloquence. (Edmund White)

Descrizione del libro

The poignant story of William Bankes, pioneering traveller and collector, who spent his life in exile, furnishing a house in which he could never live.

Dettagli dell'edizione

• Editore: John Murray Pubs Ltd
• Data di pubblicazione: 2005
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0719565715
• ISBN 13: 9780719565717
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 320
• Contatto del produttore: non disponibile
• Persona responsabile: non disponibile