Time was: The reminiscences of W. Graham Robertson

by W. Graham Robertson

Genres: Memoir

343 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1931

Reviews

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a marvelous book...yet another amazing voice from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, a la Gwen Raverat. Robertson, an artist, playwright, and theater designer, was friends with pretty much every 19th century artist: Whistler, Oscar Wilde, Ellen Terry, John Sargent (who painted him), Henry Irving, Sarah Bernhardt, William Morris, Edward Burne-Jones.... The otter character, Portly, in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows is based on Robertson's dog Portly. I mean. You can see why he had so many friends, because he comes off as intelligent, charming, and very funny. He is frank and kind, a keen observer, and not afraid to be critical. I laughed out loud so many times and turned over so many page corners.

It's so fun to see these famously brilliant people brought to life in all their humor, pettiness, moods, and insecurities. My favorite bits are about his good pal Ellen Terry--she sounds like an absolute riot.

But this! He describes Henry James:

The Henry James of those days was strangely unlike the remarkable looking man of almost twenty years later who was then himself painted by Sargent.

In the nineties he was in appearance almost remarkably unremarkable; his face might have been anybody's face; it was as though when looking round for a face he had been able to find nothing to his taste and had been obliged to put up with a ready-made 'stock' article until something more suitable could be made to order for him.

This special and only genuine Henry James face was not 'delivered' until he was a comparatively old man, so that for the greater part of his life he went about in disguise.

My mother, who was devoted to his works, used to be especially annoyed by this elusive personality.

"I always want so much to talk to him,' she complained, 'yet when I meet him I can never remember who he is."

Perhaps to make up for this indistinguishable presence he cultivated impressiveness of manner and great preciosity of speech.

He had a way of leaving a dinner party early with an air of preoccupation that was very intriguing.

"He always does it," untruthfully exclaimed a deserted and slightly piqued hostess. "It is to convey the suggestion that he has an appointment with a Russian princess."

[Kathrin Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming book from the Victorian era which gives insights into the personalities of some well known personalities including Ellen Terry, Henry Irving, Oscar Wilde and John Singer Sargent. The portrait of Robertson by Sargent first made me aware of these memoirs.