F. Marion Crawford (Bagni di Lucca, Italy, 1854 - 1909, Sorrento, Italy)
Doctor Claudius: A True Story, 1883
Ink on paper
F. Marion Crawford - Doctor Claudius: A True Story, 1883
Object details
Object number
ARC.006101
Creator(s)
F. Marion Crawford (Bagni di Lucca, Italy, 1854 - 1909, Sorrento, Italy)
Title
Doctor Claudius: A True Story
Date
1883
Medium
Ink on paper
Language
English
Signatures, inscriptions, and markings
Inscribed in ink (center): Doctor Claudius, / A true story. / By F. Marion Crawford. / Author of Mr. Isaacs. / Dedicated to my dear friends / The Countess Margaret and Claudius Ph. D.
Inscribed in ink (lower left): NB to printer / Please print the dedication / on fly leaf when this appears in book form
Provenance
Probably a gift from the novelist, F. Marion Crawford to Isabella Stewart Gardner in 1883.
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner and the novelist F. Marion Crawford bonded over a love of the Italian poet Dante. Their close relationship inspired rumors of an affair. It is impossible to know whether or not the two had a physical affair, but the surviving traces of their mutual admiration have romantic undertones.
In the summer of 1882, Crawford spent time at the Gardner family vacation home in Prides Crossing on Massachusetts' north shore at Isabella's invitation. During this stay, he wrote his second novel, Doctor Claudius. Central to the book's plot is a romantic relationship between a young professor and an older American woman. Isabella displayed the handwritten manuscript of the book in the Crawford/Chapman Case.
Bibliography
Diana Seave Greenwald, "Did They or Didn't They? F. Marion Crawford and Isabella Stewart Gardner," Inside the Collection (blog), Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 5 March 2024, https://www.gardnermuseum.org/blog/f-marion-crawford-and-isabella-stewart-gardnerGallery
Blue Room
Case
Crawford / Chapman Case
Rights and reproductions
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Blue Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner and the novelist F. Marion Crawford bonded over a love of the Italian poet Dante. Their close relationship inspired rumors of an affair. It is impossible to know whether or not the two had a physical affair, but the surviving traces of their mutual admiration have romantic undertones.
In the summer of 1882, Crawford spent time at the Gardner family vacation home in Prides Crossing on Massachusetts' north shore at Isabella's invitation. During this stay, he wrote his second novel, Doctor Claudius. Central to the book's plot is a romantic relationship between a young professor and an older American woman. Isabella displayed the handwritten manuscript of the book in the Crawford/Chapman Case.