what they're READING now

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I checked back in with my reader's from the Summer Reading Series. Here's where they are and what they said-

An Aesthete's Lament


The one I am reading right now? I just finished (last night) "Rage for Fame," a biography of Clare Boothe Luce ... The next book I shall read is "Conversation Pieces" by Mario Praz ...

theHouse of Beauty and Culture

There is a growing stack (In House, More is More - Tony Duquette, and the new book on David Hicks among them) that I have not even had a chance to look at. This is a very bad habit. I still haven't yet read Pat Montadon's book (2007) or Kevin Sessum's Mississippi Sissy (2007). And, the books I ordered last week (Divas on Screen being among those) are due in on Tuesday! But I digress, in answer to your question I am currently reading: Madeleine Vionnet by Pamela Golbin (new), Wallace Neff and the Grand Houses of the Golden State by Diane Kanner (2005), and Mother of Sorrows by Richard McCann (2005)

And undoubtedly next week I will look at the bookcase with all my unread books and think, but, there is nothing to read! Oh, the caprice of it all.


JCB
Oh, I am never reading just one book! Right now: Angela Davis-Gardner, Plum Wine.

"A mystery that unfolds as beautifully, delicately, and ceremoniously as a lotus blossom. One of the most memorable novels I have read in many years." —Lee Smith, author of The Last Girls

& Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Blithedale Romance. I am organizing my book week for next month...and will finally write that little piece on seasonal reading you suggested (inspired by the Paris Review interviews). le style et la matiere Books? You do mean books, don't you? The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (rereading - inspired by a certain LA post); The Art of Arts by Anita Albus profound reflections on painting, art, symbols of human life through an examination of Dutch art and thinkers of various cultures; Decorating is Fun by Dorothy Draper (I understand Jennifer Boles' inspiration; they are both light and breezy but get down to important brass tacks in an original way); Ghost Stories by Edith Wharton (seasonal yes, but I'd never read these and they are worth reading at anytime)... Mrs Blandings I am reading the Cecil Beaton biography by Hugo Vickers & Emily Evans Eerdmann’s Classic English Design and Antiques. Can’t wait to see what else is on everyone’s bedside tables! & Me If nothing else-checking back in with all makes me know I am not alone. As HOBAC says of his growing stack-And undoubtedly next week I will look at the bookcase with all my unread books and think, but, there is nothing to read! Oh, the caprice of it all. Currently reading- Clarence John Laughlin Prophet Without Honor by A.J. Meek, along with reviewing his published photography books. When I want to switch it up- I go to Ottoline Morrell: Life on the Grand Scale by Miranda Seymour. On my groaning bedside table, next up- Journey Into The Mind's Eye by Lesley Blanch and The House of Life by Mario Praz. Both books recommended by AAL and the Lesley Blanch book by Lucindaville. On the book's jacket, Blanch writes "My book is not altogether autobiography, nor altogether travel or history either. You will just have to invent a new category." In the fiction category-Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel the 2009 Booker Prize winner.


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The Moonstone Part II Sir Richard Burton

all the Burton images are from burtoniana.org

MR. MURTHWAITE in The Moonstone , (Wilkie Collins) is said to be based on Sir Richard Francis Burton.

I just ordered the book The Collector Of Worlds by Iliya Troyanov reviewed in the The Sunday Book Review (Ben Macintyre). I am sure Burton's first hand accounts are the best reads- and there are many.

"the celebrated Indian traveller, Mr. Murthwaite, who, at risk of his life, had penetrated in disguise where no European had ever set foot before"

(from Chapter X of The Moonstone)

"the more I study religions the more I am convinced that man never worshipped anything but himself"
Sir Richard

...and there are many.

Just a small glimpse of Burton's published works. His catalog is astonishing. See it all on the definitive Burton site linked at the beginning of this post.

SIR RICHARD aka Mr Murthwaite

The mausoleum of Burton and his wife Isabel -an impressive desert tent of sandstone.

"All Faith is false, All Faith is true:
Truth is the shattered mirror strown
In myriad bits; while each believes
His little bit the whole to own."
Sir Richard

Burton's wishes were for the two to “lie side by side in a tent” for eternity.

"HONOUR, NOT HONOURS"
Sir Richard's favorite self composed motto

the Moonstone Door, a mystery

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The Loggia of Raphael: A Vatican Art Treasure, published by Abbeville Press

I've read the Moonstone-by Wilkie Collins, more times than I can remember. With books as with movies there will be something that I continually Go Back To- reading rereading remembering.

With the Moonstone- it's the painting of Miss Rachel's door and boudoir by Miss Rachel and Mr Franklin. For the moment- I won't mention the theft of an Indian diamond, "as large as a plover's egg, nor the mastery of the telling of this mystery by Collin's unforgettable characters. The door and its painting- what does it have to do with the mystery? You must read it- if you like a mystery-and you must- or will- after reading the Moonstone.

Betteredge-the house steward- on Decorative Painting:

"Mr Franklin(Rachel's cousin and love interest) and Miss Rachel... confined themselves to making a mess, and all they spoilt, to do them justice, was the panelling of a door. Mr. Franklin's universal genius, dabbling in everything, dabbled in what he called decorative painting... and set her to work decorating her own little sitting room- called for want of English to name it in, her 'boudoir.'... Miss Rachel covered the surface under his direction and with his help, with patterns and devices- griffins, birds, flowers, cupids, and such like- copied from designs made by a famous Italian painter, whose name escapes me; the one, I mean, who stocked the world with Virgin Maries, and had a sweetheart at the baker's."

the real story-

the famous Italian painter?

Raphael Sanzio (1483-1520) His painting embodied the High Renaissance ideals of beauty. "How generous and kind Heaven sometimes proves to be when it brings together in a single person the boundless riches of its treasures and all those graces and rare gifts that over a period of time are usually divided among many individuals can clearly be seen in the no less excellent than gracious Raphael Sanzio of Urbino."- Vasari (1568)

a self portrait (1506)

our painter (l.)-with a friend (1518)

the sweetheart at the baker's

"La Fornarina" by Raphael- Margherita Luti, the daughter of a baker named Francesco Luti from Siena. Raphael's standing relationship with the sweetheart at the baker's is well known, as was his engagement to the niece of Cardinal Bibbiena. So intrigued by the relationship with Luti, Ingres painted Raphael and La Fornarina Margherita together over 300 years later.

La Fornarina (1518-1519)

Fascinated by the La V's identity for centuries as well, recent year long study of the La F. and La V. has unearthed conclusive information that it is one in the same- the sweetheart at the baker's, Margherita. (read-the article-click) The research sites the tiny pearl dangling from the turban and veil in both as evidence they are the same woman- and "Margherita"is Latin for pearl. Raphael signed his name on the blue ribbon arm band La Fornarina wears. Fascinating... like a tattoo of sorts (both possessing- and swearing eternal love to her.) Along with that- a ring on her left hand covered up by Raphael's students upon his death and the (recently) uncovered background foliage of myrtle and quince- symbols of love, fecundity and fidelity. Raphael was a romantic.

La Veleta (1514-1516)

our painter's wife it would seem- and the baker's daughter

Raphael and La Fornarina by Ingres

the Virgin Maries

Our painter's Madonnas are perhaps some of the most famous in the world- this one the Madonna of the Pinks-is my favorite. One of Raphael's early Madonnas painted around 1507- beautiful- full of light- fair of skin. This small devotional painting was painted for contemplation and would have been held in hand.

the "and such like"

Raphael's famous grotesques lie in the Vatican. “Raphael’s Loggia is among the Roman monuments that have been the most appreciated, copied, and visited by artists, connoisseurs, and travelers... “It is the ornamental ensemble that has left the deepest impression on Western art.” (from The Loggia of Raphael A Vatican Art Treasure by Nicole Dacos)

images follow from the Loggia at the Vatican
& The Loggia of Raphael: A Vatican Art Treasure, published by Abbeville Press,

 from the Hermitage- where Raphael's Loggia at the Vatican is faithfully reproduced

Raphael's portrait at center

from the Loggia of Cardinal Bibbiena at the Vatican (by Raphael)

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