Read complete books and articles on: Fanny Kemble

Kemble, Roger - 1721–1802, English actor and manager. During his years as the leader of a traveling company, he married (1753) Sarah Wood, 1735–1806, an actress. They had 12 children, thus founding one of the most distinguished families of actors ever to grace the English stage. Five of their children became famous; the best known of the children was Sarah Kemble (see Siddons

The eldest son, John Philip Kemble, 1757–1823, made his London debut (1783) as Hamlet. He was a stately, formal actor, the era's foremost exponent of the declamatory school of acting, and suited only for tragedy; his best role was Coriolanus. At the Drury Lane from 1783 to 1803, he became manager in 1788 and often played opposite Sarah Kemble Siddons. He managed Covent Garden (1803–8) and, when it was destroyed by fire, built a new one, opening it in 1809. George Stephen Kemble, 1758–1822, their second son, was also a Shakespearean actor, well known in later life for his girth and for his performance as Falstaff, especially at Covent Garden (1806) and the Drury Lane (1816). He also managed (1792–1800) the Edinburgh theater. One of their daughters, the actress Elizabeth Kemble, 1761–1836, married the actor Charles Edward Whitlock and with him went (1792) to the United States, where she acted in several roles. Perhaps best known for her performance of Portia, she retired in 1807. The youngest son, Charles Kemble, 1775–1854, made his debut in 1794 in Macbeth at the Drury Lane. He was known for his many Shakespearean roles and particularly acclaimed for his comic portrayals. He also managed (from 1822) Covent Garden.

Fanny Kemble (Frances Anne Kemble), 1809–93, elder daughter of Charles Kemble, made her debut as Juliet in 1829 under her father's management at Covent Garden. Her success was immediate, and her stature as an actress grew in both comedy and tragedy. She was the original Julia in The Hunchback, written for her by Sheridan Knowles. She scored a great success when she made a two-year tour of the United States with her father. In 1834 she married Pierce Butler, a wealthy Philadelphian with rice and cotton plantations in Georgia, where she lived for a time and where she formed a lasting antipathy to slavery. During the Civil War she was in England, writing against slavery for the London Times. Her Journal of America (1835), Journal of a Residence on a Georgia Plantation in 1838–1839 (1863, ed. by John A. Scott, 1961), and Records of a Later Life (1882) are much-used sources on the era. Her sister, Adelaide Kemble, 1815–79, was, during her brief career, an opera singer. A brilliant mezzo-soprano, she debuted (1838) in Italy as Bellini's Norma and appeared at Covent Garden. She was married (1843) to Edward Sartoris.

See P. Fitzgerald, The Kembles (1871); S. Kemble, The Kemble Papers (New-York Historical Society Collections, 1885); biography of John Philip Kemble by H. Baker (1942); biographies of Fanny Kemble by L. S. Driver (1933), R. Rushmore (1970), C. Wright (1972), and C. Clinton (2000); M. Gough, ed., Fanny Kemble: Journal of a Young Actress (1990); Fanny Kemble's Journals, selections ed. by C. Clinton (2000); A. Blainey, Fanny and Adelaide (2001).

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8 of the Best Books and Articles on: Fanny Kemble

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1.

Fanny Kemble, a Passionate Victorian (1938) » Read Now
by Margaret Armstrong. 392 pgs.

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...FANNY KEMBLE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK BOSTON...COMPANY OF CANADA, LIMITED TORONTO FANNY KEMBLE From the portrait by Thomas Sully In the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine...
2.

Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838- 1839 » Read Now
by Frances Anne Kemble, John A. Scott. 432 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...the Journal xlv Fanny Kembles Picture of Slavery liii...source for the early years of Fanny Kembles life is her own Records of...summer tour of 1832, Charles and Fanny...
3.

The Letters of Edward Fitzgerald to Fanny Kemble (1895) » Read Now
by William Aldis Wright, Edward FitzGerald. 262 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...LETTERS OF EDWARD FITZGERALD TO FANNY KEMBLE -ii- LETTERS OF EDWARD FITZGERALD TO FANNY KEMBLE 1871-1883 EDITED BY WILLIAM...Gerald to his life-long friend Fanny Kemble...
4.

From Miranda to Prospero: The Works of Fanny Kemble, in Victorian Studies » Read Now
by Alison Booth. 28 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

...From Miranda to Prospero: The Works of Fanny Kemble ALISON BOOTH Fanny Kembles life (1809-1893) spanned most of the nineteenth...niece of Mrs. Siddons and daughter of...
5.

Them Dark Days: Slavery in the American Rice Swamps (Chap. 7 "Frances Kemble") » Read Now
by William Dusinberre. 556 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

In this groundbreaking book, Dusinberre conducts an intense investigation of slavery in the rice swamps of South Carolina and Georgia. Concentrated there were some of the richest--and most expansive--plantations of the South. It was an unhealthy region for both blacks and whites; slavery, in the...
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In this groundbreaking book, Dusinberre conducts an intense investigation of slavery in the rice swamps of South Carolina and Georgia. Concentrated there were some of the richest--and most expansive--plantations of the South. It was an unhealthy region for both blacks and whites; slavery, in the swamps, was administered with particular severity. Focusing on three of the largest plantations, Dusinberre presents portraits of individuals, both black and white, who personify and exemplify the harsh realities of the slave system. Them Dark Days offers a vivid reconstruction of slavery in action; while it conveys the atmosphere and daily routine of the plantations, it also sets the analysis of slave culture within a wider context of health, discipline, privilege, and psychology.
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6.

The Myth of Aunt Jemima: Representations of Race and Region (Chap. 4 "The Strange Career of Fanny Kemble") » Read Now
by Diane Roberts. 230 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library

The Myth of Aunt Jemima is a bold and exciting look at the way three centuries of white women writers have tackled the subject of race in both Britain and America. Diane Roberts challenges the widely-held belief that white women writers have simply acquiesed in dominant cultural inscriptions of...
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The Myth of Aunt Jemima is a bold and exciting look at the way three centuries of white women writers have tackled the subject of race in both Britain and America. Diane Roberts challenges the widely-held belief that white women writers have simply acquiesed in dominant cultural inscriptions of race. The Myth of Aunt Jemima shows how 'the mythic spheres of race, of the separation of black and white into low and high, other and originary, tainted and pure, remain to trouble a society struggling still to free itself from debilitating racial representations.' Beautifully written, with a powerful series of textual readings, The Myth of Aunt Jemima pushes at the boundaries of thought around the issues of race and gender. An important and innovative book.
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7.

Eminent Women of the Age: Being Narratives of the Lives and Deeds of the Most Prominent Women of the Present Generation ("Mrs. Frances Anne Kemble" begins on p. 102) » Read Now
by James Parton. 628 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

...HIGGINSON, 38 3. FANNY FERN,--MRS. PARTON , By...5. MRS. FRANCES ANNE KEMBLE , By JAMES PARTON...HAMILTON,--MISS DODGE , By FANNY FERN, 202 11...lion. She was an American...
8.

A Cultural Encyclopedia of the 1850s in America ("Kemble, Fanny (1809-1893)" begins on p. 217) » Read Now
by Robert L. Gale. 480 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The 1850s were a particularly fruitful and eventful period in American history, a time of unrest and preparation for change. This reference work provides a thorough record of the cultural happenings in America during that period. The volume is divided into several sections. It begins with a...
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The 1850s were a particularly fruitful and eventful period in American history, a time of unrest and preparation for change. This reference work provides a thorough record of the cultural happenings in America during that period. The volume is divided into several sections. It begins with a chronology that presents the events of the 1850s in capsule form year by year. A list of entries follows. The encyclopedia that comes after the list of entries contains brief, alphabetically arranged articles for performers, military personnel, theologians, composers, critics, educators, explorers, historians, industrialists, inventors, authors, artists, physicians, scientists, sculptors, and numerous events and creative works. A bibliography, divided into topical sections, directs the reader to the best sources of additional information. An appendix lists the biographical entries according to professional categories, and a detailed index adds to the usefulness of the volume.
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