Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Yesterday, I went with my friend, the lovely and talented Hope Tarr , to The Grolier Club here in New York to see the new exhibit, The Enchantress: Emma, Lady Hamilton. Founded in 1884, The Grolier Club is a private club for bibliophiles and enthusiasts of the graphic arts.  It is America's oldest and largest club of its kind. To be a member, you have to be nominated, that just shows you how exclusive it is.  Still the exibitions are open to the public and more importantly they are free. Since I wrote about Emma in Scandalous Women , I was eager to see the exhibition. Although the exibit is small, it is lovely.  The exhibition features the collection of Jean Kislak who has spent years collecting manuscripts, books and art related to Emma and her era, including the events that shaped her life as well as the men who loved her, her husband Sir William Hamilton and her lover Lord Nelson. Among the many amazing items in the exhibit are oil paintings of Emma by Romney...

Decidedly a horse of a different color was the artist George Romney (1734-1802). In the parlance of the 18th century, he would be termed an Original, a description used for people who were truly different, as unique as that horse described by Frank Baum in The Wizard of Oz. Whilst there were, for sure, commonalities with Romney’s fellow painters Reynolds and Gainsborough in the area of their very great artistic talent, there were singular differences as well in personality and temperament that made Romney different from the usual run of talented artists. One such example would be the strange story of his 30-year estrangement from his wife; another would be his life-long obsession with another man’s mistress. Indeed, if a film were ever to be made of the artist George Romney’s unusual life, an apt title might be Obsession, for he was a man too obsessed with beauty. Not abstract beauty, but beauty made flesh. His obsession with a beautiful woman who was no better than she should be --...

Cast & Crew Alexander Korda...... Director Vivien Leigh as Emma Hart, Lady Hamilton Laurence Olivier as Horatio Nelson Alan Mowbray as Sir William Hamilton Sara Allgood as Mrs. Cadogan-Lyon Gladys Cooper as Lady Frances Nelson Henry Wilcoxon as Captain Hardy Heather Angel as Mary Smith Halliwell Hobbes as Reverend Nelson Gilbert Emery as Lord Spencer Miles Mander as Lord Keith Ronald Sinclair as Josiah Backstory:  In 1940, Britian had been at war with Germany for a year. That Hamilton Woman was conceived by British/Hungarian producer Alexander Korda as propaganda, equating the British fiight against Napoleon with the fight against Hitler. It was his idea to team Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, real-life lovers, as their historical counterparts Emma Hamilton and Lord Nelson. Vivien still owed Korda one more film under her contract. This would be the last film that Vivien and Oliver would make together. The script was written quickly by RC Sheriff (with help ...

I'm guest blogging today over at The Risky Regencies about the love affair of Emma Hamilton and Lord Nelson. Please stop by and join me! It's my first time guest blogging and I'm a little nervous.