In the 1690s, in the wake of a series of consti-tutional reforms, England’s Parliament began to meet annually for the first time in history, luring aristocrats to London from their country

estates for months at a time. This elegant, urban elite was dubbed the “beau monde,” meaning “beautiful world” in French, a language they all spoke fluently. Their transformative effect on London’s culture and commerce is explored in The Beau Monde: Fashion-able Society in Georgian London, a new book by Hannah Greig, lecturer in history at the University of York.

With its stars and scandals, the beau monde had much in common with today’s celebrity culture. “But what makes the London beau monde different is the political

underpinning,” Greig explains. “Most people in the beau monde had a relationship to a politician, so their social and public life had a political di-mension.” The book demonstrates that seemingly frivolous indulgences like ball gowns, carriages, and opera tickets were tools to advance political careers and agendas. Membership in the beau monde was deter-mined by power, money, and family ties. “You needed the right connections,” Greig says. “You couldn’t just turn up in London and make it on your own.” But it required hard work, too. Long before Facebook, LinkedIn, and eHarmony, the beau monde perfected the art of social networking. “Whereas we might send out a few emails or tweets to stay connected, they were constantly going from place to place—balls, parties, pleasure gardens—sometimes attending multiple events in a single evening,” Greig says. “The timetable seems in-credibly exhausting and relatively tedious. Lots of women would carry letters and add comments to them before posting them at the end of the evening to keep people up to date with the latest news. They very rarely talked about the excitement, the glamour, and the pleasure.” Instead, the letters would contain detailed reports on who was seen where and what everyone was wearing.

The beau monde left its mark on the topography of London as these seasonal visitors settled in the West End, building stately townhouses around St. James’s Court and Piccadilly. The book includes a heartbreaking catalog of demolished residences. “We have shopping streets and smaller houses, but most of the grand London houses have gone,” Greig laments. One rare survival is Spencer House, the London home of the family of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (whose portrait by Reynolds is at left). “Its majesty and its proximity to Green Park

The Beautiful PeopleLIFESTYLES OF GEORGIAN LONDON’S RICH AND FAMOUS

By Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell

The book is published by Oxford University Press. At right: One member of the beau monde: Georgiana (Spencer) Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire, 1775–76, by Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723–1792). The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

30 Membership in the beau monde was determined by power, money, and family ties.

lessons learned

2 N. Lake Ave. | Ste. 1000 | Pasadena, CA 91101 (626) 844 7300

– Over 70 years combined experience

– Knowledgeable in all aspects of Family Law

– Committed to your best results

divorce mediation custody & visitation

spousal support

child support

pre & post marital

agreements

appeals

modifications

domestic partnerships

expertise

A Full-Service Family Law Firm serving the Los Angeles area

make you realize what 18th-century London must have been like,” Greig says. If buildings are scarce, documents are plentiful. “Sometimes historians have diffi culty fi nding mate-rial in their fi eld, but that absolutely isn’t a challenge with the 18th-century aristocracy,” Greig explains. “You’re swamped with material. These families were very adept at recording their own histories.” The book draws on a century’s worth of carefully preserved letters, diaries, and family records. Greig’s research included a trip to The Hunting-ton to consult the Stowe House papers, the largest British family archive held in the United States; she also participated in The Huntington’s 2004 conference on gender, taste, and material culture

in the 18th century. But much of her work was done in “a lot of very small English record offi ces in not very glamorous destinations,” she says. “You’re there in the rain and there’s nowhere to go for lunch. The Huntington is a much diff erent research experience!”

Kimberly Chrisman-Campbell was the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Curatorial Fellow in French Art at The Huntington from 2003 to 2007. Her book Fashion Victims: Dress at the Court of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette will be published by Yale University Press this fall.

32

HOLLYWOOD HISTORIAN

For those hoping to join the beau monde, “the devil really was in the details,” Hannah Greig writes in The Beau Monde. Her attention to the details of Georgian life has made her a sought-after historical adviser to fi lm and the-ater productions. Her fi rst project was the 2008 movie The Duchess, based on Amanda Foreman’s biography of the Duchess of Dev-onshire. Most recently, she assisted the BBC with the Jane Austen–inspired miniseries Death Comes to Pemberley, airing in the United States on PBS later this year. She begins with the script. “I try to highlight any words or phrases or historical references that are wrong,” she says. Not all of her sug-gestions are taken; both the story and the look of the production might require a certain dis-regard for accuracy. She is sometimes invited

to be a watchful presence on fi lm sets, as well. “It’s often when they’re doing something big like a ball or, in Death Comes to Pemberley, a court scene,” she says. Most of her advice is practical in nature. “I’m often asked with great seriousness how to hold a fan or whether a hairstyle is correct,” she laughs. But she is more concerned about factual errors. “As a historian what interests me most is character and context,” she says. Her alarm bells go off “when something is completely fabricated or a character is skewed for the purposes of the narrative.” In The Duchess, for example, “most of my colleagues would agree that the Duchess of Devonshire’s political signifi cance wasn’t conveyed very well,” she says. “It’s diffi cult to dramatize the 1784 Westminster election as opposed to a First World War battle sequence, so I can understand why. But as a historian, I found that a bit frustrating.” On another project, a subplot about an illegitimate child sparked “a good many conversations about whether the mother would keep her baby or give it up.” The Hollywood ending won out over the historical one. The baby stayed with mum.

–KCC

Hannah Greig served as historical adviser on the fi lm The Duchess (above) and the BBC series Death Comes to Pemberley.

ADVERTISEMENTS

Cultural Guide

Dunham BiBle museum

anDerson GalleriesmoB museum

The Anderson Galleries are dealers, agents and certified appraisers of museum quality 19th and 20th century paintings, drawings and sculpture. We specialize in European and American academic, realist, impressionist,

The Mob Museum is a world-class destination in downtown Las Vegas dedicated to the story of organized crime and law enforcement. True stories of Mob history are brought to life through interactive, high-tech exhibits and over 600 artifacts, the largest collection of Mob and law

Located on the campus of Houston Baptist University. Discover the amazing history and influence of the Bible. Creative exhibits provide background for the museum’s unparalleled Bible collections. Exhibits include ancient and

post-impressionist and modern works including Courbet, Renoir, Monet, Pissarro, Sisley, Guillaumin, Vuillard, Bouguereau, Le Sidaner, Lebasque, Corot. We are always interested in purchasing quality paintings. Open Monday–Friday 10:00am–6:00pm, and by appointment.

354 North Bedford DriveBeverly Hills, CA 90210info@andersongalleries.com

310 858 1644andersongalleries.com

enforcement memorabilia under one roof. The Museum has accumulated numerous accolades since opening in 2012, including being named one of “10 World Landmarks You Haven’t Seen – Yet” by NBC News, as well as several “Best Museum” awards. Hours are Sunday-Thursday 10:00am–7:00pm and Friday–Saturday 10:00am–8:00pm.

300 East Stewart AvenueLas Vegas, NV 89101

702 229 2734themobmuseum.org

medieval Bible manuscripts, the earliest printed Bibles, foreign translations and the earliest English and American Bibles. Open Monday–Saturday 10:00am–4:00pm. No admission fee but donations are accepted.

7502 Fondren RoadHouston, TX 77074

281 649 3287hbu.edu/biblemuseum

John William Godward (British, 1861-1922) A Quiet Pet

October 11, 12 & 13, 2014www.ojaistudioartists.org

ojai stuDio artists

Please come to one of the most beautiful open studio tours in Southern California. The Ojai Studio Artists tour is in its 31st year, celebrated annually on the second weekend in October.

October 11th, 12th & 13th, 2014

Friday 7:00pm – Artist talk with Karen Lewis at Ojai Art CenterSaturday 7:30pm – Artist reception with live music at Ojai Art CenterSaturday–Monday 10:00am–5:00pm – Self-Self-Self guided tours

805 646 9892ojaistudioartists.org

Huntington Culture Guide spring/summer 2014.indd 1 5/9/14 3:20 PM