Love and Madness: The Murder of Martha Ray, Mistress of the Fourth Earl of SandwichHarper Collins, 2009. okt. 13. - 256 oldal In eighteenth-century England the aristocracy dominated the imagination, their exploits -- and misdeeds -- discussed, debated, and gossiped about in the salons and parlors of London. Now author Martin Levy vividly re-creates one of the most shocking and scandalous events of the period, in a riveting true tale of passion, obsession, murder, and courtroom drama. On a spring evening in the year 1779, a young woman emerged from London's Covent Garden Theatre amid a grand swirl of lords and ladies, their servants and coachmen. From out of the shadows a man emerged, dressed in a black suit. He raised a pistol and fired one fatal shot point-blank into the woman's head. A sudden and brutal murder, it was all the more shocking because of the identities of those involved. The victim was Martha Ray, famed aficionada of fashion and the arts, and longtime live-in mistress of the Earl of Sandwich, high-ranking minister to King George III. The assailant was James Hackman, a respected Anglican minister and Martha Ray's former lover. It was a savage crime that rocked both British high society and the church, and inflamed the interest and imagination of such renowned personages as Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, noted biographer and lover of prostitutes and executions. And it resulted in a courtroom extravaganza unique in the annals of legal proceedings -- where passion was the motive, the madness of "momentary phrenzy" the mitigating circumstance . . . and love the ultimate justification for a crazed act of murder. With consummate skill, author Martin Levy brings to breathtaking life the sights and sounds of an unparalleled era in history -- when hangings were public entertainment and debauchery was a popular pastime of the wealthy and the titled -- and expertly unravels the mystery behind a truly sensational slaying. Fascinating, startling, edifying, and entertaining, Love and Madness is a brilliant tale of crime and punishment as vivid and compelling as the headlines of today. |
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... gentlemen's eyeglasses. A bell rang to signal the rise of the curtain and the beginning of the performance. The orchestral music ceased and one of the company stepped through a stage door to recite a short prologue. Although this hasn't ...
... gentleman had once remarked that he would take it as a special favor if Sandwich did not reveal who had taught him to dance. Yet he had no trouble attracting women. Among his papers are letters from petitioners offering sex in exchange ...
... gentlemen's clubs, including the Sublime Society of Beefsteaks, where singing formed part of the entertainment. The club met in a “handsome room” at the top of Covent Garden Theatre, on the ceiling of which was a gridiron. “We had ...
... gentlemen Martha befriended were no less interesting. Some nights at Sandwich's dinner table, Martha found herself chatting with the naturalist Joseph Banks, with. M. whom she shared a passion for birds, and Banks's colleague. 26 Love ...
Tartalomjegyzék
Newgate Prison | 87 |
A Public Example | 99 |
This Good Old Custom | 125 |
An Essay Inspired by James Hackmans Journey | 155 |
notes | 201 |
bibliography | 219 |
index | 233 |
Más kiadások - Összes megtekintése
Love and Madness: The Murder of Martha Ray, Mistress of the Fourth Earl of ... Martin Levy Korlátozott előnézet - 2004 |
Love and Madness: The Murder of Martha Ray, Mistress of the Fourth Earl of ... M. J. Levy Nincs elérhető előnézet - 2004 |