Month: August 2023

The Mystery Woman Who Built a Treasure—Belle da Costa Greene

Adele Fasick4 Comments

America has often been called a melting pot and it is certainly true that American has brought together people from very different national and racial groups. Some Americans move easily between various cultures, understanding and appreciating the differences and similarities of several. Belle da Costa Greene was one of these people.  Belle was born in 1879 into a prosperous mixed-race family in Washington, D.C. Her mother was a music teacher and her father was the first Black graduate of Harvard University. During the years after the passage of the Fourteenth Amendment, he worked for the government and for several groups devoted to insuring racial equality in the United States.

Belle received a good education and attended classes at Amherst College and Columbia University. She became very interested in history and loved the old manuscripts and books she discovered in the university libraries. Eventually she became a librarian, working first at Columbia University and later at Princeton where she met the nephew of J.P. Morgan, one of the richest men in America.

Belle impressed the people she met at Princeton, not only because she was devoted to her work with books and manuscripts, but also because she was a slim, attractive young woman who could hold her own in any conversation. She dressed well and had a lively wit. Once when someone complimented her on an outfit she was wearing, she remarked, “Just because I am a librarian doesn’t mean I have to dress like one.”  With her looks and charm she soon found a congenial group of friends at Princeton and in the library community.

Belle da Costa Greene

When J.P. Morgan, the multimillionaire who owned one of the most impressive libraries in New York needed an assistant, his nephew, who had met Belle at Princeton, was glad to recommend her as the ideal person to work with him. Belle rented an apartment in New York where her mother and unmarried sisters could live close to her. The job at the Morgan Library turned out to be ideal for Belle and she remained at the library for 43 years—the rest of her working life. 

During the years toward the end of the nineteenth century, when Belle was starting her professional career, segregation of the races increased dramatically especially in the Southern states. Belle and her family were very light-skinned and people who met them often did not know their racial background. Belle’s way of coping with this confusion was to be very quiet about her background. Sometimes she referred to a Portuguese ancestor, but the information she gave was vague. Even many of her closest associates and friends were uncertain about her family and background.

Working at the Morgan Library made it possible for Belle to meet and become friendly with many of the most important art historians and collectors of the times. She became especially close to Bernard Berenson, the most prominent art and literary historian at the time. Although she was discreet about their relationship, they carried on an affair and a friendship that lasted for most of their lives. Berenson was married, but his wife, for the most part, accepted Belle and was aware of how much she meant to Berenson.

Gutenberg Bible on display in Mr. Morgan’s Library, The East Room of The Morgan Library & Museum, Photography by Graham S. Haber, 2017.

During the course of Belle’s tenure at the Morgan Library, she helped to transform the collection from a personal collection into a public institution. She became the first director of the museum in 1926 when it became a public institution. Today it is one of the most important museums in New York City and in the country. Its collections offer scholars and the public a chance to know some of the most important books and manuscripts that record the history of Western Civilization.

The importance of Belle da Casta Greene has not been widely known but a detailed biography by Heidi Ardizzone offers a chance for people to learn more about this fascinating, though still mysterious, woman.  The biography, An Illuminated Life: Belle da Costa Green’s Journey from Prejudice to Privilege (Norton 2021), is available in many libraries.   

A Free Spirit in a Treacherous World—Caroline Lamb

Adele Fasick2 Comments

The early 1800s in England was a time of prosperity for many of England’s aristocratic families, but it was also a time when fortunes could change quickly and harsh punishments were given to people who did not follow society’s rules. Men were expected to serve the king and to expand their family’s fortunes. Women were pawns, whose role was to make good marriages and maintain their family’s position, although they were offered remarkable freedom in their behavior after marriage. 

Caroline Lamb was born into this society in 1785. Her family was aristocratic. Her father was the future Earl of Bessborough and her mother’s family, the Spencers, were equally aristocratic and even wealthier. Caroline lived all her life in a society where men could find favor by flattering the King and his cronies, while the women were often judged on the number and status of the lovers they chose. In fact, one cynic, Lord Egremont, wrote, “There was hardly a young married lady of fashion who did not think it a stain upon her reputation, if she was not known as having cuckolded her husband.”

Lady Caroline Lamb

From early childhood, Carolyn was an attractive and lively child. She had very little formal schooling but gained a good education at home mainly from governesses and the attention of her grandmother, who provided encouragement and a large library. Caroline was a very bright girl who learned to read when she was four years old and honed her skills by writing letters to her cousins and friends.

Although she was almost ignored by her parents, Caroline enjoyed a busy social life at parties and dances. Her lively wit gained her wide attention and her slim, petite figure attracted suitors. At the age of 19, she married William Lamb, a man who moved in the same social circles as she did. The marriage seems to have been a real love match. It was discouraged by William’s parents, but the two young people were determined to marry.  Caroline never got along well with her mother-in-law, who believed that her son should have a more docile wife. Despite family pressure, the young couple seemed congenial and were happy for the first few years of their marriage. Caroline quickly became pregnant, although her first child was stillborn. Another pregnancy resulted in a baby, who died within a few weeks. It was not until her third baby was born that Carolyn had a healthy child who survived infancy.

The new baby, a large, healthy child, was named Agustus. Unfortunately, within a year or two it became apparent that he had serious developmental problems. Caroline spent much of her time taking care of Augustus, even breast feeding him, although most wealthy women hired wet nurses. Nonetheless, Augustus developed slowly in speech and was clumsy in physical actions.

Caroline spent much of her time with Augustus but did not neglect her social life. In 1812, she wrote a letter of appreciation to a young poet—Lord Byron—an act that determined much of the rest of her life. Byron called upon her and the two began a tumultuous affair that lasted for about six months. It has been said that she coined the well-known description of Byron as “mad, bad, and dangerous to know”. But the affair cooled after a few months and William Lamb decided to take Caroline abroad for a trip through Ireland in order to get away from the watchful eyes of society. Byron and Caroline continued to write to one another during the months-long trip, but by the time Lambs returned to London, Caroline learned that Byron was no longer interested in continuing the affair.

Caroline’s passionate nature and indiscreet behavior did not allow her to acknowledge the end of the affair with Byron. She continued to contact him and even call upon him, and she met him often at various social events. At one party, when Byron insulted her, she smashed a wine glass on the table and attempted to slash her wrists. Her actions made her notorious enough that she stood out even in the permissive social atmosphere of the time. Several friends broke with her and stopped inviting her to parties. Relations between Caroline and William Lamb became strained, although William continued to refuse to divorce her as his parents urged him to do.

During the years following the end of Caroline’s affair with Byron, her life became more erratic, but she never lost her vitality and intellectual interests. She continued to write both poetry and prose. Her most famous novel, Glenarvon, was widely popular and was praised by writers such as Goethe. William Lamb’s family continued to press him to divorce Caroline, but he refused to leave her. Finally the couple agreed to a formal separation, but they continued to be in touch with each other as Caroline’s health deteriorated. When William heard how sick she was, he travelled home from the continent to be with her when she died in 1828.

For many years Caroline Lamb has been remembered only for the scandalous tales of her relationship with Byron, but now at last she has received the biography she deserves. Antonia Fraser, who has chronicled the lives of so many historical figures, recently published Lady Caroline Lamb: A Free Spirit (Pegasus Books 2023). It is a pleasure to read more about Caroline Lamb and to recognize that she was an interesting person and not just a flighty fan of a famous poet.