Life Of King Henry V

Fildes, Sir (Samuel) Luke: "The Doctor" Published April 10th 1893 by Thomas Agnew & Sons, Painted by Luke Fildes, R.A., Photogravure Gouipil, printed in Paris, Plattengrösse 60 x 80 cm, Blattgrösse 60,5 x 94,

Sir Luke Fildes's popular masterpiece, "The Doctor", which refers to the experience of the death of his son. The scene is structured in two grounds, separated by the central figure, the little child who is lying ill on a hurriedly prepared bed.
She has survived the night (we are advised about this by the dawn we can see coming in through the window). The background is lit by the natural light coming from the window and it is dominated by the figure of the father. His hand is on the shoulder of his desperate wife, who is withdrawn into herself, while he stands up firmly and his face is knitted and turned towards the doctor - he is taking part in the situation attentively. Besides, the direction in which he is looking and his being lit by both the natural and the artificial light (as we can see from the colour of his face and the double shadows we can see behind his body), show us that he is the meeting point between the two grounds.
In the foreground we can see the figure of the doctor and the child. The physician has his back bent towards the little girl. His right hand is leaning on his leg, as if he was about to get up, but his left hand is holding his face: in his figure there is a contrast between dynamism and being static. This contrast is underlined by his look, turned towards the girl and at the same time full of deep wonder. The doctor wishes to save her, but he is unable to do it.It is the drama of the experience of one's own limit.
The late-Victorian public really appreciated this image of the quiet heroism of the ordinary doctor: the hero is not the one who does incredible things, but the one who fully lives his everyday life, the one who does what he is asked to do.
After looking at this painting, one doctor of sir Luke's days told his students: "a library of books would not do what this picture has done and will do for the medical profession in making the hearts of our fellow men warm to us with confidence and affection".
The Doctor was commissioned by Henry Tate in 1887, since then the image has been used in many different forms. The United States and Britain put it on postage stamps, political cartoonists lampooned it, and the American Medical Association used it in a campaign against socialized medicine.
There are different stories about the origins of the painting. The most likely is that Tate gave Fildes the freedom to choose the subject matter himself. Fildes eldest son, Phillip died Christmas morning, 1877. He was attended by Dr. Gustavus Murray, who impressed Fildes greatly with his care and attention to his dying child. The painting has a happier ending than real life did, as the child has survived through the night and dawn is breaking. Fildes chose his subject matter immediately, although the painting was not begun for four years, and then only with urging from Tate. Another version has Queen Victoria ordering the painting to commemorate the service of her own physician, Sir James Clark who she was said to have sent to care for a servant's sick child. Fildes went to great lengths to achieve realism in this painting, by constructing the cottage scene in his studio in London, and painting at dawn to catch the unique character of dawn light. Fildes is well known in the context of the social realist movement depicting the plight of the poor, his painting Applicants for Admission to the Casual Ward was so popular police had to keep back the large crowds of onlookers. Fildes was also a talented illustrator whose work appeared in magazines and books, most notably Charles Dickens's last book Edwin Drood. Fildes like most painters of his era made most of his income from painting portraits for wealthy clientele, but he made the most impact with social pictures.
SIR (SAMUEL) LUKE Fildes (1844-1927), painter, was born at Liverpool 18 October 1844, the son of James Fildes, of Chester, by his wife, nee Fogg. Educated privately at Chester, he studied art successively at Warrington, at the South Kensington Art School, and the Royal Academy Schools. Towards the end of the 'sixties he began practising book and magazine illustration, working for the Cornhill Magazine, Once a Week, and the "Graphic"; to the first number of the Graphic he contributed in 1869 a drawing, 'The Casuals', which anticipates the subject of one of his most famous pictures, painted five years later. Through (Sir) J.E. Millais Fildes was brought into contact with Charles Dickens, and produced the set of illustrations which in August 1870 appeared in the volume containing Dickens's unfinished novel The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His first exhibit at the Royal Academy, in 1868, was a drawing, 'Nightfall' ; in 1872 he exhibited for the first time a picture, 'Fair Quiet and Sweet Rest' (now belonging to the Corporation of Warrington), which was followed in 1873 by 'Simpletons' and in 1874 by 'Applicants for admission to a Casual Ward'. The last of these was Fildes's first great public success in the then popular anecdotal and melodramatic vein, which for a considerable period he continued to exploit: the picture, the significance of which was emphasized by a quotation from Dickens, is now at the Royal Holloway College. 1874 was also the year of Fildes's marriage to Fanny, daughter of William Woods, of Warrington, and sister of the painter Henry Woods, R.A. (1846-1921). Fildes's brother-in-law soon afterwards settled permanently in Venice, and as a result, Fildes was brought into frequent contact with that city, being also to some extent influenced by certain contemporary painters working there, notably an Austrian artist who at the time enjoyed a great vogue, Cecil von Haanen. Scenes from Venetian life were thenceforth for a while frequently treated by Fildes alongside of those anecdotal subjects in an English "setting by which he had established his position as a popular painter. Among his pictures in the former category 'An Alfresco Toilet' (1889 ; now in the Lady Lever Art Gallery, Port Sunlight) was an immense success; and in the latter group there should further be mentioned 'The Widower' (1876; this and the 'Casual Ward', already mentioned, each realized oe2,100 at Christie's, 28 April 1S83); 'The Return of the Penitent' (1879); 'The Village Wedding' (1883); and, Fildes's most widely known painting, 'The Doctor' (1891; now in the Tate Gallery). Meanwhile, Fildes had in 1879 been elected A.R.A. and in 1887 R.A., his diploma work being 'A School Girl', exhibited in 1888. He soon became an influential member of the Academy council; and he was also for many years chairman of the Arts Club.
The portrait of his wife exhibited by Fildes at the Academy in 1887 attracted much attention, and gradually the artist was led to devote himself almost exclusively to portraiture, gaining a large and fashionable clientele. In 1901 he was commissioned to paint a state portrait of King Edward VII (exhibited in 1902) followed by one of Queen Alexandra (exhibited in 1905; both are in the Blue Drawing Room at Buckingham Palace); and in 1912 the task of painting a state portrait of King George V was also allotted "to him. A fluent, facile realism is characteristic of Fildes's work as a portrait-painter and may be regarded as the keynote of his art generally, explaining its wide popularity at the time. Pictorially, Fildes stands for that average modernity of handling which gained ground in European painting as the conquests of French impressionism were gradually absorbed.
Fildes, who was knighted in 1906 and created K.C.V.O. in 1918, died 27 February 1927 at his house, 11 Melbury Road, Kensington, built by Richard Norman Shaw. His wife, who also practised painting, and exhibited at the Academy in 1878 and 1883, died in April 1927; they had four sons and two daughters. A selection of Fildes's works was exhibited at the Royal Academy Winter Exhibition in 1928.
[The Times, 28 February 1928; Algernon Graves, The Royal Academy of Arts, a complete dictionary of contributors and their work., vol. ii, 1905; subsequent Royal Academy Exhibition Catalogues, including.that-of the Memorial Exhibition of 1928." T. BOBENIUS, D.N.B.

W. W. Fenn: 'Our Living Artists: Luke Fildes, A.R.A.', Mag. A., iii (1880), pp. 49-52; D. C. Thomson: 'The Life and Work of Luke Fildes, R.A.', A. Annu. (1895), pp. 1-3; L. V. Fildes: Luke Fildes, R.A.: A Victorian Painter (London, 1968); B. Myers: 'Studies for Houseless and Hungry and the Casual Ward by Luke Fildes, R.A.', Apollo, cxxiv/952 (1982), pp. 36-43 Hard Times (exh. cat. by J. Treuherz, Manchester, C.A.G., 1987-8)

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H.V. Morton. In Search of London. London: Methuen Publishing Ltd, 1995
0413184706 Book Description A gem for the tourist and armchair traveler alike, by the incomparable H. V. Morton. "The master of the genre." --Jan Morris. H. V. Morton turns his traveler's intuition and his reporter's eye for detail on the city that has fascinated him since childhood--London past, present, and timeless. He explores the City and the Temple, Covent Garden, SoHo, and all the "submerged villages beneath the flood of bricks and mortar," uncovering layer upon layer of London's history. Morton follows the lead of imagination back and forth across the city, tracing unforgettable scenes: the Emperor Claudius leading his war elephants across the Thames...the grisly executions at the Tower...the city of Shakespeare, Dickens, and Queen Victoria...and the shattered yet defiant city of the Blitz as well as the postwar London of "ruins and hatless crowds." Morton's quest for the city's heart reveals how London's daily life is rooted in a past that is closer and more familiar than we might think, making the book as informative, entertaining, and rich in human color today as when it was written, fifty years ago. --This text refers to the Paperback edition. About the Author Henry Vollam Morton was born in 1892 near Manchester, England. He became an international celebrity by scooping the world's press in the sensational discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb in the early 1920's. His newfound fame subsequently led to a series of extraordinary popular vignettes on English city and country life, which went on to sell millions of copies worldwide. He died in South Africa in 1979 at the age of eighty-six. --This text refers to the Paperback edition. 5.0 out of 5 stars Writing as Timeless as London Itself, August 6, 2003 By P. Martin - This review is from: In Search of London (Paperback) While much of London is very different today than it was when this book was written around 1950, much more of London is timeless, as H.V. Morton most engagingly demonstrates in "In Search of London." If I had not been reading this book during a recent visit to London, I am sure that I would never have visited the Temple, which is a cluster of buildings tucked away just off Fleet Street with historic significance dating back to the twelfth century. "No place in London has a more romantic origin than the Temple. The name commemorates the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, and came to Thames-side with the crusading Order of the Knights Templar in the 12th Century," Morton writes. The Temple Church is a must-see (my commentary, not Morton's). Even though much of it was badly damaged during World War II in the Blitz, the medieval part with authentic gothic gargoyles inside the church at eye-level (very unusual and what a treat!) were not affected and the rest of the church has been restored. Here's some of what he has to say about the aftermath of the blitz: "Milk Street is a little lane which used to lead to one of the most crowded portions of the City of London... When I reached the end of Milk Street, I looked out toward Moorfield across an area of devastation so final and complete that the memory of it will always rise in my mind whenever I hear the word Blitz. There are other parts of London as badly ravaged, but this to me will always be the most horrific. Thousands of buildings have been burned and blasted to the cellars..." He then writes almost poetically of the grass, flowers and trees that had taken over the ruins, ending with an amusing exchange with the local postman. Among his (and our) many other adventures, he visits and/or discourses on the Tower of London, Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum ("One of the earliest memories I have of London as a small boy is that of the wax figures in Madame Tussaud's exibition."), the execution of Charles I in 1649 ("In the long record of English tragedy and fortitude there is no nobler death than that of King Charles I."), and Hyde Park: "...So Hyde Park belonged to the monks of Westminster for nearly four and a half centuries. The abbots had a pleasure house there. The monks fished, no doubt, on the banks of many streams, like the Westbourne, which flowed from Hampstead and traversing Hyde Park, found their way into the Thames. When Henry VIII decided to make this his great hunting ground, he persuaded the monks to exchange the Manor of Hyde for the dissolved priory of Hurley in Berkshire..." As I said in my review of "In Search of England", the first of his many travel books which was written in the late 1920's, H.V. Morton is a great writer. His style is simple, sincere and insightful. He loves what he's writing about and is able to share his experiences so they come alive for his readers. What a gift. 5.0 out of 5 stars Stroll through London with Mr. Morton, February 24, 2006 By Rich Leonardi "http://richleonardi.blogspot.com" (Cincinnati, Ohio) This wonderful book is so much more than a mere travel guide. It's an elegant "travelogue," with Mr. Morton gently leading readers by the hand through the city he clearly loves. As we walk with him, we learn about and experience everything from the city's history and form of government to what it's like to ride a red omnibus or to visit a London church on a Sunday morning. Morton wrote "In Search of London" in 1951 and his description of a city still largely in ruins from the Blitz is almost enough to move you to tears. [...] [...] [...] Mr. Morton wrote "In Search of London" when the memory of the Blitz was still fresh and a reasonable man counted on Christianity to carry the day where the Nazis failed. At a time when venerating stones and trees has captured the young English imagination, when weekly attendance at Anglican worship services is in the single digits, and when there are more Moslems practicing their faith in London than members of the Church of England, is Mr. Morton's thought still strange? My one regret is that I did not find this book before my recent trip to London. As it is, my memories and impressions are still fresh enough to reminisce with Mr. Morton. 5.0 out of 5 stars H.V. Morton was a special author, May 29, 2006 By Sammy Madison (USA) - I don't know a lot about H.V. Morton, but from his writings, he had to be an amazing man. Although the books I have read by him were written fifty years ago or even more, his personality just shines through in his writing. He travelled all over the world, and happened to be on hand for the discovery of King Tut's tomb. He wrote really fascinting books on his travels in Italy, Spain, and England. In a way Morton reminds me of Kennith Clark, the historian who saved all the cultural treasures during WWII. He was so well-travelled, cultured, and intelligent, and had such a gift for describing people and places. His books on the cities of Rome and London are especially wonderful. Morton obviously loved imagining the history of the ancient cities. "In Search of London" is so interesting because in one sentence he writes about his personal recollections of the blitz, then he's going on about the Roman occupation of London. If you liked Edward Rutherford's books about England you will get a thrill reading H.V. Morton's books. Condition: clean, tight, unmarked..

Trade Paperback, Fine

[SW: LONDON (ENGLAND)_DESCRIPTION AND TRAVEL,]

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Weir, Alison: The Wars of the Roses, New York Ballantine Books 1996
ISBN: 0345404335 Very Good

xvii, 462 pp., [12] pp. of plates, illus., ports., biblio., index; 21 cm. Near fine. Tight, clean copy. Browning. "Lancaster and York. For much of the fifteenth century, these two families were locked in battle for control of the British monarchy. Kings were murdered and deposed. Armies marched on London. Old noble names were ruined while rising dynasties seized power and lands. The war between the royal House of Lancaster and York, the longest and most complex in British history, profoundly altered the course of the monarchy. In The Wars of the Roses, Alison Weir reconstructs this conflict with the same dramatic flair and impeccable research that she brought to her highly praised The Princes in the Tower. The first battle erupted in 1455, but the roots of the conflict reached back to the dawn of the fifteenth century, when the corrupt, hedonistic Richard II was sadistically murdered, and Henry IV, the first Lancastrian king, seized England's throne. Both Henry IV and his son, the cold warrior Henry V, ruled England ably, if not always wisely--but Henry VI proved a disaster, both for his dynasty and his kingdom. Only nine months old when his father's sudden death made him king, Henry VI became a tormented and pathetic figure, weak, sexually inept, and prey to fits of insanity. The factional fighting that plagued his reign escalated into bloody war when Richard Plantagenet, Duke of York, laid claim to the throne that was rightfully his--and backed up his claim with armed might. Alison Weir brings brilliantly to life both the war itself and the historic figures who fought it on the great stage of England. Here are the queens who changed history through their actions--the chic, unconventional Katherine of Valois, Henry V's queen; the ruthless, social-climbing Elizabeth Wydville; and, most crucially, Margaret of Anjou, a far tougher and more powerful character than her husband,, Henry VI, and a central figure in the Wars of the Roses. Here, too, are the nobles who carried the conflict down through the generations--the Beauforts, the bastard descendants of John of Gaunt, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, known to his contemporaries as "the Kingmaker"; and the Yorkist King, Edward IV, a ruthless charmer who pledged his life to cause the downfall of the House of Lancaster. The Wars of the Roses is history at its very best--swift and compelling, rich in character, pageantry, and drama, and vivid in its re-creation of an astonishing, dangerous, and often grim period of history. Alison Weir, one of the foremost authorities on the British royal family, demonstrates here that she is also one of the most dazzling stylists writing history today." - Publisher. 12th printing Trade Paperback 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall

[SW: Great Britain History Wars of the Roses, 1455-1485]

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HOLZKNECHT, KARL J.; MCLURE, NORMAN E (EDITED AND INTRODUCTION BY). Selected Plays Of Shakespeare. American Book Co., New York: 1937

739 pages. Includes: The Comedy Of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Life of Henry V, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Tempest. Hardcover, no dustjacket. Volume 2 only. Good condition with underlining and margin notes. Previous owners name on half title page.

[SW: (Key Words: Literature, The Comedy Of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Life of Henry V, King Lear, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Tempest, William Shakespeare).]

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