Louis XVII or the Arab Jew.

Mrs. Weldon. (née Treherne). Wife of Norroy, King-at-Arms of H.M. Household.

Published by London: Nichols & Co. Bloomsbury., 1908

About this Item

8vo. xx, 102, [6] pp. In the publisher's stiff card wraps, ink-stamped to front board and spine. Inscribed To Ma. by the author to title page. The largely-ignored book of the noted litigant and amateur soprano of the Victorian era, Georgina Weldon, which came about through her association with the descendants of Karl Wilhelm Naundorff, one of a number of pretenders who claimed to be Louis XVII of France. She enjoyed a colourful life which included having a lunacy order against her, two spells in prison and a constant stream of litigation (by 1900 she had brought over a hundred cases to court) which she always conducted herself without counsel, becoming known as the Portia of the Law Courts . On the musical side, her singing career benefitted from a close association with Charles Gounod who came to live with her and her husband at Tavistock House in Bloomsbury whilst working on his opera Polyeucte . Rumours of the affair drove him back to Paris and his wife, whereupon Georgina refused to send on his personal belongings, including the draft of his opera. Only when he had virtually reconstructed the musical score, nearly a year later, did she return the original draft to him with her name scrawled diagonally across each page in crayon.

Seller Inventory # PS.691

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Louis XVII or the Arab Jew.
• Publisher: London: Nichols & Co. Bloomsbury.
• Publication Date: 1908
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Signed: Inscribed by Author(s)