The year 1857, which should have been triumphant for Elizabeth Gaskell with her biography of Charlotte Bronte written and in the publishers' hands, was in now well-scripted parlance an "annus horribilis".
On May 7th., 1857, Elizabeth stated simply to Laetitia Wheelwright, in a formal note: "I have today finished my Life of Miss Bronte; and next week we set out for Rome". On June 16th., she wrote to Ellen Nussey: "I am in the Hornet's nest with a vengeance". Lady Scott, formerly Mrs. Lydia Robinson, was depicted in "The Life" as the cause of Branwell Bronte's dismissal and disgrace - he was besotted with her and on her mocking dismissal of his marriage proposal he turned again to much drink and many drugs and an early grave. Mrs. Robinson buried her husband Edmund on May 26th., 1846 and by 1848 she had set her sights on Sir Edward Dolman Scott who had a terminally ill wife. Before the year was out, she had led him to the altar; he was seventy-five - she a grasping forty-eight.
Elizabeth Gaskell had been straightforward with George Smith the publisher writing that "I have three people I want to libel - Lady Scott (that bad woman who corrupted Branwell Bronte), Mr. Newby, & Lady Eastlake". A compromise was negotiated on Newby and Lady Eastlake, but to her cost not Lydia Scott.
The first edition of "The Life" was published on March 25th., 1857, and well received; Lady Scott sued for libel and the matter seemed to have been settled in Elizabeth's absence. A second edition, a straightforward reprint, was announced on May 9th. Then, unexpected, came a letter from Lady Scott's solicitors announcing that legal action would follow unless all passages about her were withdrawn and a public apology made. All unsold copies were called in and on May 26th., two days before Elizabeth returned, William Shaen, one of the Gaskells' solicitors sent a formal letter of retraction which was placed in "The Times" and the "Athenaeum".
The revisions took all summer and so depressed Elizabeth that at the end of June she wrote to George Smith asking him if he could find someone else as editor. He astutely did not reply, and Elizabeth resigned herself to "my weary and oppressive task". When it was finally finished in November, the third edition was longer than the first.
http://www.maggs.com/title/MO36832.asp
On May 7th., 1857, Elizabeth stated simply to Laetitia Wheelwright, in a formal note: "I have today finished my Life of Miss Bronte; and next week we set out for Rome". On June 16th., she wrote to Ellen Nussey: "I am in the Hornet's nest with a vengeance". Lady Scott, formerly Mrs. Lydia Robinson, was depicted in "The Life" as the cause of Branwell Bronte's dismissal and disgrace - he was besotted with her and on her mocking dismissal of his marriage proposal he turned again to much drink and many drugs and an early grave. Mrs. Robinson buried her husband Edmund on May 26th., 1846 and by 1848 she had set her sights on Sir Edward Dolman Scott who had a terminally ill wife. Before the year was out, she had led him to the altar; he was seventy-five - she a grasping forty-eight.Elizabeth Gaskell had been straightforward with George Smith the publisher writing that "I have three people I want to libel - Lady Scott (that bad woman who corrupted Branwell Bronte), Mr. Newby, & Lady Eastlake". A compromise was negotiated on Newby and Lady Eastlake, but to her cost not Lydia Scott.
The first edition of "The Life" was published on March 25th., 1857, and well received; Lady Scott sued for libel and the matter seemed to have been settled in Elizabeth's absence. A second edition, a straightforward reprint, was announced on May 9th. Then, unexpected, came a letter from Lady Scott's solicitors announcing that legal action would follow unless all passages about her were withdrawn and a public apology made. All unsold copies were called in and on May 26th., two days before Elizabeth returned, William Shaen, one of the Gaskells' solicitors sent a formal letter of retraction which was placed in "The Times" and the "Athenaeum".
The revisions took all summer and so depressed Elizabeth that at the end of June she wrote to George Smith asking him if he could find someone else as editor. He astutely did not reply, and Elizabeth resigned herself to "my weary and oppressive task". When it was finally finished in November, the third edition was longer than the first.
http://www.maggs.com/title/MO36832.asp
I feel so sorry for Elizabeth...but at least she got the truth out initially and we can freely read it all today! What a good friend she was to Charlotte!
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