"The Villa Altiere" by Mary Ellen Edwards, eighth full-page illustration for Charles Lever’s "The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly" (December 1867)

The Villa Altiere

Mary Ellen Edwards

1867

Wood engraving by Joseph Swain

15.8 cm high by 10.4 cm wide (6 ⅛ by 4 inches)

Main illustration for the eighth (December) 1867 serial number of Charles Lever’sThe Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly in the Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 16, facing p. 641.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Anticipated: A Parlour Conversation about Religion in the Roman Villa

At a window which opened to the ground — and from which a view of the garden, and beyond the garden the rich woods of the Borghese Villa, and beyond these again, the massive dome of St. Peter's, extended — sat two ladies, so wonderfully alike that a mere glance would have proclaimed them to be sisters. It is true the Countess Balderoni was several years older than Lady Augusta Bramleigh; but whether from temperament or the easier flow of an Italian life in comparison with the more wearing excitement of an English existence, she certainly looked little, if anything, her senior.

They were both handsome, — at least, they had that character of good looks which in Italy is deemed beauty; they were singularly fair, with large, deep-set blue-grey eyes, and light brown hair of a marvellous abundance and silkiest fibre. They were alike soft-voiced and gentle-mannered, and alike strong-willed and obstinate, of an intense selfishness, and very capricious.

“His eminence is late this evening,” said Lady Augusta, looking at her watch. “It is nigh eight o'clock.”

“I fancy, Gusta, he was not quite pleased with you last night. On going away he said something, I didn't exactly catch it, but it sounded like 'leggierezza;' he thought you had not treated his legends of St. Francis with becoming seriousness.”

“If he wanted me to be grave he oughtn't to tell me funny stories.”

“The lives of the saints, Gusta!”

“Well, dearest, that scene in the forest where St. Francis asked the devil to flog him, and not to desist, even though he should be weak enough to implore it — wasn't that dialogue as droll as anything in Boccaccio?” [Chapter XXVII, "The Villa Altieri," pp. 662-663]

Commentary: Focus on Lady Augusta, not the Exquisite Italian Vista

The parlour of the Villa Altieri on a slope of the Pincian Hill in Rome offers a stunning view of Campagna towards the hills of Albano in the west. However, the illustrator shows nothing of this picturesque backdrop as she contrasts the two faces of the middle-aged, fashionably dressed aristocrats as they dissect Lady Augusta's somewhat frivolous religious views. But Lady Augusta's somewhat flighty notions about converting to Catholicism become secondary issues when the mailbag arrives. The lassitude of Edwards' figures suggests that Lady Augusta has yet to reveal to her friend "Dolly" that her stepdaughter Marion has just married the much older Lord Viscount Culduff.

The news from Ireland of family affairs is not entirely satisfactory for Augusta, since her husband's recent stroke and paralysis seem to be leaving the oldest stepson, Augustus, in charge the family's finances, which appear to have taken a turn for the worse: "all his late speculations have turned out ill. Penstyddin Copper Mine is an utter failure; the New Caledonian Packet Line a smash; and there's a whole list of crippled enterprises" (666). Lady Augusta's considered conclusion is, "it might have been worse" (666), giving the reader the sense that she is determined to have some say in directing the Bramleigh investments, and will not be content to wonder whether Augustus will tolerate her increased expenses.

There is, then, hardly complete closure at the close of the December 1867 serial instalment; however, there are sixty-nine chapters in total, and developments in the novel will continue.

Bibliography

Lever, Charles. The Bramleighs of Bishop’s Folly. The Cornhill Magazine 15 (June, 1867): pp. 640-664, and 16 (July-December 1867): 1-666. Rpt. London: Chapman & Hall, 1872. Illustrated by M. E. Edwards; engraved by Joseph Swain.

Stevenson, Lionel. "Chapter XVI: Exile on the Adriatic, 1867-1872." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 277-296.

Created 28 August 2023