Table Of ContentCEREMONIES 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
Description:Ceremonies of Bravery is a study of the friendship between the prolific writer Oscar Wilde and Carlos Blacker. The two men met in the 1880s, the period when Wilde was judged by many to be 'at his best', and Blacker went on to become a trustee of Wilde's marriage settlement. Wilde declared Blacker 't