Perdita
THE LIFE OF MARY ROBINSON
PAULA BYRNE
In memory of my grandmother,another Mary Robinson
I was delighted at the Play last Night, and was extremely moved by two scenes in it, especially as I was particularly interested in the appearance of the most beautiful Woman, that ever I beheld, who acted with such delicacy that she drew tears from my eyes.
(George, Prince of Wales)
There is not a woman in England so much talked of and so little known as Mrs Robinson.
(Morning Herald, 23 April 1784)
I was well acquainted with the late ingenious Mary Robinson, once the beautiful Perdita … the most interesting woman of her age.
(Sir Richard Phillips, publisher)
She is a woman of undoubted Genius … I never knew a human Being with so full a mind – bad, good, and indifferent, I grant you, but full, and overflowing.
(Samuel Taylor Coleridge)
I am allowed the power of changing my form, as suits the observation of the moment.
(Mary Robinson, writing as ‘The Sylphid’)
CONTENTS
1. ‘During a Tempestuous Night’
2. A Young Lady’s Entrance into the World
12. Perdita and Marie Antoinette
25. ‘A Small but Brilliant Circle’
P.S. IDEAS, INTERVIEWS & FEATURES …
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Q AND A WITH PAULA BYRNE
ABOUT THE BOOK
READ ON
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