Ceremonies of Bravery: Oscar Wilde, Carlos Blacker, and the Dreyfus Affair

259 Pages·2013·2.78 MB·English

by  J. Robert Maguire

CEREMONIES OF BRAVERY
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CEREMONIES
OF
BRAVERY
OSCAR WILDE, CARLOS
BLACKER, AND THE
DREYFUS AFFAIR
J. ROBERT MAGUIRE
1
3
GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP,
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Contents
ListofPlates vii
ListofAbbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1. ‘TheGreatestFriendshipofMyLife’ 11
2. ‘Sadness,Disappointment,Upset,&Weariness’ 23
3. ‘TheGirlwiththeFoghornVoice’ 41
4. ‘HeHasBeenMadtheLast3Years’ 51
5. ‘LettersfromTwoIdiotstoaLunatic’ 64
6. ‘TheMostBitterExperienceofaBitterLife’ 85
7. ‘TheDreyfus-caseParisCannotBeFigured
bytheParisofToday’ 99
8. ‘ParadoxesAreAlwaysDangerousThings’ 122
9. ‘NoOneShouldKnowSuchanInfamousPersonasBosie’ 139
10. ‘HeWasaGreatGenius.HisFamiliarTalkWasGolden’ 156
Epilogue 166
Appendix:CarlosBlacker’s‘PrivateandConfidential’
MemorandumontheDreyfusAffair 169
Endnotes 179
Bibliography 201
Index 207
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List of Plates
1. CarlosBlacker,c.1882,‘thebestdressedmaninLondon’,
accordingtoOscarWilde,whileConstanceWilde
thoughtthathepossessed‘perhapsthegreatestdistinction
ofmannerofallwhomshehadevermet’.BP.
2. OscarWildeattheheightofhissuccess,1892.
PhotographpresentedtoCarlosBlacker(‘always
thetruestoffriendsandthemostsympatheticof
companions’).BP.
3. CarlosBlackerandLordFrancisHope,aboardtheMajestic
inNewYorkHarbor,20April1892.Photographby
thedukeofNewcastle.BP.
4. ‘Linny’,7thdukeofNewcastle,wastwenty-fouratthe
timeofhismarriageon20February1889toseventeen-
year-oldKathleenFlorenceMayCandy,daughterof
MajorH.A.‘Sugar’Candy.CourtesyofBassetlaw
Museum,Retford.
5. CarlosandCarrieBlacker,Cabourg1902.BP.
6. CarlosBlacker(1859–1928),
portraitbyJohnstonForbes-Robertsonc.1882.BP.
7. CarlosBlackerandhistwosons,‘Pip’(CarlosPatonBlacker),
thenseven,andRobin,five,Cabourg1902.Bothboys
laterservedasofficersintheColdstreamGuardsin
WorldWarI.BP.
8. Caroline(‘Carrie’)Frost,daughterofConfederate
GeneralDanielFrostofStLouis,andCarlosBlacker
weremarriedinLondonon7February1895.‘Fromthis
timetotheend’,CarriewrotefollowingCarlos’sdeath
thirty-threeyearslater,‘wewereneverpartedforaday.’BP.
viii LIST OF PLATES
9. PrincessAliceofMonacoandVyvyanHolland,younger
sonofOscarWilde,intheuniformoftheCollegiodella
Visitazione,Monaco,whichheattendedfromJanuary1897
untilthedeathofhismotherinApril1898.BP.
10. CyrilHolland,oldersonofOscarWilde,killedby
asniperatNeuveChapellewhenservingasacaptainin
theRoyalFieldArtillery,9May1915.BP.
11. OscarWildeatatimewhen,asCarlosBlackerinformed
hisfuturewifeCarrie,hewas‘beamingwiththeinebriation
ofsuccess,&...producingexcellentplayswith
remarkablerapidity’.Photograph(London,1892)
presentedtoBlacker.BP.
12. OscarWilde’splayAnIdealHusband‘containsagreat
dealoftherealOscar’,asheinformedCharlesRicketts.
Havingbecome‘engrossedinwritingit’,whileatthe
sametimeperforming‘signalservices’forCarlosBlacker
inhistroubles,‘therealOscar’isrecognizableinthe
playinthecharacterandroleofthephilosopher-dandy
LordGoring.BP.
13. OscarWildeinscriptionincopyofSalome´,published
22February1893,presentedtoCarlosBlacker.BP.
14. MaryAugustaYohe,knownontheLondonstageas
‘thegirlwiththefoghornvoice’andas‘MadcapMay’
forherinvolvementinanumberofhighlypublicized
escapades,marriedLordFrancisHopeinNovember
1894.Mander&MitchensonTheatreCollection.
15. LordFrancisHopedivorcedMayYohein1902forher
‘misconduct’inelopingtoJapanwiththesonofaformer
mayorofNewYork.Describedas‘alonelyunconventional
man’,hesucceededtothetitleof8thdukeofNewcastle
onthedeathofhisbrother.#NationalPortrait
Gallery,London.
16. RobinBlacker,2ndLt,ColdstreamGuards,youngerson
ofCarlosBlacker,killedshortlyafterhiseighteenthbirthday
inthebattleofLoos,28September1915.BP.
17. CarlosBlackerandAnatoleFrance,HotelMajestic,
AvenueKle´ber,Paris,December1915–January1916.BP.
LIST OF PLATES ix
18. AnatoleFrance:tohis‘tre`scherCarlosBlacker’
(24April1918).BP.
19. CarlosBlackerdiaryinPitmanshorthand:Boulogne
24June1898—(includinglinesfromtheOdysseyandAjax,
writteninGreek);25June1898—Undertheheading,
‘LetterfromOscarsayingGoodbye’,theentrycontinues:
‘AfterlunchjustbeforedinnerletterfromOscarwhich
putanendtoourfriendshipforever.’BP.
20. CeremonyofDegradationofCaptainDreyfus,Ecole
Militaire,Paris,5January1895.AdjutantBouxinof
theGardeRepublicaineisseentearingtheinsigniaofrank
fromDreyfus’suniform,whilethepolicevanwaitsinthe
backgroundtotakethecondemnedmantoprisontoawait
deportationtoDevil’sIslandforlife.BP.
21. MajorFerdinandWalsin-Esterhazy.Thetraitorwas
thoughtbyhisemployer,theGermanmilitaryattache´,
tobe‘themostmarvellous,audacious&wonderfulcanaille
thatitwaspossibletoimagine,eitherinfictionorhistory,
&capableofany&everyvillainy,includingmurder’.BP.
22. SalomonReinach,inasecretreporttotheChambre
criminelleofhisconfidentialtalkswithCarlosBlacker
abouttheDreyfuscase(‘heknowseverything’)wrote
that‘Blackerconfidedinfourpersons:1–Conybeareof
Oxford;2–Paton,anOxfordHellenistresidenton
Samos;3–myself;and4–OscarWilde.’BP.
23. JosephReinach,sworntosecrecybyhisbrotherSalomon
astotheidentityofCarlosBlacker,nameshimonly
onceinhisexhaustiveseven-volumeHistoryoftheDreyfus
AffairinafootnoteunrelatedtoBlacker’splan.BP.
24. MajorAlessandroPanizzardi,Italianmilitaryattache´
inParis,standing,secondfromleft,andColonelMaximilian
vonSchwartzkoppen,Germanmilitaryatache´ inParis,
standing,secondfromright.BP.
25. ColonelAlessandroPanizzardi,Rome,8December1899.
Atatimewhen‘threebeingsaloneknewthewhole&entire
truth[aboutDreyfus],namelyGod&thetwoMilitary
Attache´s’,inthewordsofCarlosBlacker,hebecame