A.S.W. Rosenbach, Philadelphia Gentleman

I have used some (what I think is) interesting information on tours at the Rosenbach for years, but until now I have never had a forum where I could share it with other docents. I just talked about it on my last tour with a couple who wanted to know about Dr. Rosenbach's social status.

E. Digby Baltzell, the Philadelphia sociologist, published a book in 1958, called Philadelphia Gentlemen: the making of a national upper class. In a chapter about the city between the wars, he describes three social hierarchies: the Episcopalian, the Quaker and the Jewish. These people all knew about each other, but there was almost no social crossover between the groups. Except, that is, for a very few people, and one of them was A.S.W. Rosenbach. He was not only a member of Philadelphia's Jewish elite but of the Philadelphia elite, who might be asked to gatherings of any of the local socialites.

Baltzell does not mention Philip Rosenbach. I have to assume that Abie's membership in the Philadelphia elite did not extend to other family members.

Reading Dickens

This morning on Facebook, the British Library posted a clip of Simon Callow reading the “Death of Nancy” scene from Charles Dickens’ masterpiece, Oliver Twist. So brilliantly does Callow (who frequently plays Dickens in one-man shows) perform this scene, that one could easily imagine what it must have been like witnessing Dickens himself perform the very same reading in the last years of his life.

At the time Dickens first contemplated including the “Death of Nancy” scene in his public readings, he was a bit concerned that the subject might be inappropriate for the mixed company ever present at his popular performances. Eager to hear other opinions, he arranged for a preview engagement that took place on November 14, 1868 at St. James Hall, Piccadilly before a special handpicked audience of approximately fifty critics, artists, and literary men of London.

One of those present was (William) Charles Kent (1823-1902), editor, journalist, and friend of Dickens. Before the performance began, Dickens whispered to Kent, "I want you to watch this particularly, for I am very doubtful about it myself!" Kent, who later wrote of the experience, recalled, “In its climax, it was as splendid a piece of tragic acting as had for many years been witnessed.”

There is a delightful connection to this story in the collection at the Rosenbach in the form of a lock of Dickens’ hair that was sent to Charles Kent by Georgina Hogarth, Dickens’ sister-in-law, shortly after the author’s death in June of 1870. One can only imagine what a priceless memento of his literary friend it must have been.

This same lock of hair will be on display in the partner desk for the upcoming Romance at the Rosenbach Tour to be presented in February.

Another skating image from the collection

Here's a wonderful image by one of Dickens illustrators, George Cruikshank (1792-1878) I found in the Rosenbach collection....

These skaters, however, are obviously not ICE skating as they are in a parlor with an organist and a harpist! Doesn't it look like fun? A wonderful idea for Docent Social Night????

Skating in Philadelphia

Although I couldn't locate any references to skating in Shakespeare, I do happen to have some information about it in nineteenth-century Philadelphia, culled from my research on Rebecca Gratz.

The years from about 1830 to 1860 had some frigid winters with the Schuykill and the Delaware River completely frozen across and ready for skaters. Above is an image of a lithograph of skaters on the Delaware in one of the coldest winters, 1856, and as you can see, lots of people turned out for the fun. It must have been very cold and the ice very hard for so many to skate safely on the river at one time.

There's no record of Rebecca skating and by 1856 she was far too old for the sport. The closest she got to ice that year was the slick in front of her front door, and although the little boys of the neighborhood enjoyed it, she had the ice covered.

Ice Skating - Literature

I was thinking of Hans Brinker and his silver skates in reading your fun Blogs but I was also reminded of this great book I found last year called the Frozen Thames by Helen Humphreys. I'm copying a review that was posted on Amazon because its short and gives a good description.

I was totally amazed about how many times the Thames actually completely froze over (40 times) and they had winter fairs and skating parties. It's a lovely book

By

Beaumont Hardy "Beaumont Hardy Editing" -

This review is from: The Frozen Thames (Hardcover)

The Frozen Thames is one of those books so well-written that it transcends its theme; readers with no particular interest in the Thames or its temperature will enjoy Helen Humphreys's beautifully restrained prose. Each short story--or "vignette," as the book jacket calls them--takes place during a year when the Thames River froze. Although the vignettes are fictional, Humphreys has done extensive research about the historical figures, political circumstances and popular sentiment during each freeze year. The book is filled with descriptions of spectacular Frost Fairs on the river, accounts of everyday life and tragedy during each of the frigid years, and compelling references to the various British monarchs who ruled during the Thames freezes. The vignettes begin in 1142 and end in 1895 with the author's poignant explanation of why the Thames no longer freezes. Fans of Virginia Woolf will enjoy the author's closing reference to Orlando.

Besides being compellingly written, this book is also physically attractive. The stories are illustrated with contemporary depictions of London and the freezes. The book's pages are shiny and thick and fun to turn. The book itself is small, fat, and pleasant to hold.

The Frozen Thames would make an ideal gift for a thoughtful reader, even if that readers isn't a Thames aficionado

Ice Skating in Literature

In answer to Shawn's last posting (and not surprisingly to anyone who knows me) the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of ice skating in literature is Mr. Pickwick's immediately recognizable physique on the ice! It occurs in Chapter 30 of the The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (affectionately known as The Pickwick Papers). You have to love Dickens' title for chapter 30:

HOW THE PICKWICKIANS MADE AND CULTIVATED THE

ACQUAINTANCE OF A COUPLE OF NICE YOUNG MEN

BELONGING TO ONE OF THE LIBERAL PROFESSIONS; HOW

THEY DISPORTED THEMSELVES ON THE ICE; AND HOW

THEIR VISIT CAME TO A CONCLUSION

It is Dickens' first novel and tells of the ramblings of Mr. Pickwick and his friends, Nathaniel Winkle, Augustus Snodgrass and Tracy Tupman and is considered one of Dickens' funniest.

The original illustrator for this novel was Robert Seymour and this is his rendering of the ice skating event ....

We do have part of the MS for the Pickwick Papers at the Rosenbach which you have seen if you attended the 2009 Romance at the Rosenbach tour.

But there is yet another image of this event in Dr. R's collection, this one by Arthur Burdett Frost (1851 - 1928). It's a familiar scene and one seen on many holiday cards.

Here is the info from the Rosenbach web - site...

"Black and white reproduction image on India paper from ”A Portfolio of Twelve Original Illustrations Reproduced from Drawings by A. B. Frost to Illustrate ’The Pickwick papers’ ” published London: A.J. Slatter, 1908.

Title given in List of Plates as ”’Stop an Instant, Sam,’...Chap XXX”. Image depicts two men on a frozen lake. A man in ice skates hangs on the arm of a second man without skates. A group of men and women appear in the background. ”A.B. Frost” is printed at the lower right, within the image."

And YES, Shawn, I would love to go ice skating with you some of these days!

New Year Resolutions

Among the resolutions I've announced for this year - along with reading more Shakespeare and spending less time online - is to ice skate twice a week. This is already proving to be a bold and courageous decision. I will not go into the embarrassing (and painful) details of my experience today at the Class of 1923 Rink but will assert that I plan to be there at noon again on Friday - if anyone dares to join me.

More interesting, though, is the curiosity this raises about ice skating in literature. What skating scenes do you remember? The first image to come to my mind was of the great frozen Thames in Orlando, the elaborate skating parties there, and Orlando's passionate skate with Sasha. Not surprisingly, an internet search turned up this list of literary skating, courtesy of The Guardian.

When I searched online images at the Rosenbach, several prints came up,  all of which use skating to poke fun at their subjects. I wonder if there is any mention of skating in Shakespeare?

Shakespeare Favorites

Last Oct. 25th, I emailed some friends to remind them that it was St. Crispian's Day on which it was traditional in my house (and should be in theirs) to watch the St. Crispian's Day speech in Shakespeare's Henry V, as delivered by Kenneth Branagh.

This created a flurry of responses from which I have created a list of favorite Shakespeare productions and documentaries. I have been so busy in the last two months that I am tardy in getting them onto the blog. Please tell us your own favorites if you do not find them here:

Plays on Film

Henry V (Kenneth Branagh version)

Henry V (Olivier version)

Much Ado About Nothing (Branagh)

Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet

Documentaries

Looking for Richard: Al Pacino on Shakespeare and, in particular, Richard III. Scenes from the play acted by Pacino, Kevin Spacey, Estelle Parsons and an amazingly effective Alec Baldwin.

Shakespeare Behind Bars: A Shakespeare program, in its 20th year in a maximum security prison, takes on The Tempest. All I can say is that this documentary is astonishing.

Acting Shakespeare: From the BBC in the 1980's, this series uses young actors from the Royal Shakespeare Company. The Director in charge is a bit Monty-Pythonesque, but the actors -- Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, David Suchet, Judi Dench et al -- are terrific.

In Search of Shakespeare: Michael Woods' series focuses on Shakespeare life.

Fiction

Shakespeare in Love.

Slings and Arrows: A Canadian series about a Shakespeare Festival; the plot and relationships among the characters often reflect those of the plays they are putting on.

All these are available on Netflix, and many of them are also available through the Free Library.