[ANONYMOUS.] Julia de Vienne. A Novel … Imitated from the French, by a Lady.

Owned by ‘An Absolute Strumpet’

[ANONYMOUS.] Julia de Vienne. A Novel … Imitated from the French, by a Lady. London: Henry Colburn . 1811.

Four vols, 8vo. Contemporary tan quarter morocco over light blue paper boards, flat spines directly lettered and tooled in gilt, edges sprinkled blue; vol. I: pp. [6 (dedication and list of subscribers)], 214, [2 (advertisements)]; vol. II: pp. [2], 227, [1 (advertisements)]; vol. III: pp. [2 (half-title and advertisements)], [2], 256; vol. VI: pp. [2], 256; vols I, II and IV bound without half-titles; very slight rubbing to spine ends and corners; light, variable browning and offsetting, corners of F6 of vol. II, and C2 of vol. IV torn away with loss to text (affecting c . 20 and 25 words, respectively); two words to f. 8 of vol. III rubbed where previously stuck to rear flyleaf; overall a very good, clean set; armorial bookplates of Anne Catherine MacDonnell, 2nd Countess of Antrim (1775–1834) to front pastedowns, with ownership inscription ‘Antrim’ in brown ink to titles of vols III and IV and ‘Antrim May 19th 1811’ to vols I and II, the latter almost entirely trimmed (see below); bookplate of Barry Humphries to front pastedown of vol. I.

First and only edition of this Gothic novel published ‘by a Lady’ and allegedly adapted from a French work, but most likely an original composition, this copy from the library of Anne Catherine MacDonnell, second Countess of Antrim (1778–1834), one of the wealthiest and most independent women of Regency Britain.

Employing familiar Gothic tropes, Julia de Vienne follows its eponymous heroine, an orphan who falls in love with a man from a different social class and is manipulated by female authority figures. The novel, however, is particularly notable for its use of dreams as a narrative device, through which Julia’s experiences are marked by a ‘sense of pointlessness’. Dreams prove a means of articulating emotions within the conventions of the novel, offering ‘a socially acceptable framework […] in which to express and denounce painful experiences of frustration’ (Katgely, pp. 40–41). In Julia the reader finds devices comparable to those employed by Frances Burney (1752–1840) in Camilla (1796), such as using ‘the feverish dream as both a representation of and a means of coming to terms with a precarious sense of self’ (ibid., p. 43).

Virtually nothing is known about the anonymous author, who identifies herself only as ‘a Lady’, and no French source for the novel has been discovered. Nevertheless, the author appears to have enjoyed the patronage of George, Prince of Wales (1762–1830), to whom the book is dedicated. In the dedication, she describes the work as ‘my first attempt’, and expresses ‘the deepest gratitude for the distinguished favour which your Royal Highness has deigned to confer on me’. The dedication is followed by a list of subscribers, containing forty-three names including Frederica, Duchess of York (1767–1820), Elizabeth Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire (1758–1824), and fourteen other women. The advertisements bound in volumes one, two, and three contain several works by women, including Euphronia, or the Captive by Mrs Norris, and The Officer’s Daughter, or a Visit to Ireland in 1790 by ‘the daughter of a captain in the navy’ (later attributed to a Miss Walsh).

This copy comes from the library of Anne Katharine, suo jure Countess of Antrim in Northern Ireland, who succeeded to the earldom on her father’s death in 1791, and was described as ‘the great Irish prize in the matrimonial lottery’ (Aspinall, p. 43). Her connections extended to the Royal Family, too: her 1799 marriage to Sir Henry Vane-Tempest, 2nd Baronet (1771–1813) is mentioned in a letter from Queen Charlotte to the Prince of Wales dated 24 April 1799. The marriage was scandalous, as Vane-Tempest was already committing adultery when they got engaged. In the ensuing proceedings, ‘the jury awarded only a shilling damages against the defendant on 20 June 1799’, after the ‘judge described the countess ‘as an absolute strumpet, frequenting all the fashionable places of vice’ (ibid.).

Provenance :

1. Anne Catherine MacDonnell, suo jure 2nd Countess of Antrim (1778–1834).

2. Barry Humphries (1934–2023), Australian comedian, best known for his stage and television character Dame Edna Everage.

Garside, Raven and Schowerling 1811:8; Summers p. 378. See Aspinall, The correspondence of George, Prince of Wales IV ( 1967 ); Katgely, ‘Treading in Camilla’s Footsteps? Oneiric Experience and Women’s Voices in Julia de Vienne ( by a lady, 1811 ) and Tales of Fancy ( Sarah Harriet Burney, 1816–1820 )’, in Hervouet and Rouhette, Dream and Literary Creation in Women’s Writings in the 18th–19th Centuries ( 2021 ), pp. 39–55 .

SKU: 2125818