F. Marion Crawford - Doctor Claudius: A True Story, 1883

F. Marion Crawford (Bagni di Lucca, Italy, 1854 - 1909, Sorrento, Italy)

Doctor Claudius: A True Story, 1883

Ink on paper

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.