8.3.12

Vernon Lee – aka Violet Paget 

This famous portrait of author and sociologist Vernon Lee is usually found in the Tate Gallery in London but is currently on display in Florence at the latest “must see” exhibition at the Strozzi Palace – Americans  in Florence . It was painted when both artist and sitter were in their 20’s and they had remained friends from their first childhood introduction.

Violet Paget preferred her masculine “nome de plume” to her actual name, preferred men’s clothing to women’s clothing and so you will not be surprised to learn that sexually she also preferred women to men.

A prolific reader and author of over 90 books on a wide variety of subjects – including ghosts and the Renaissance – Vernon Lee lived in the Palmerino Villa near Maiano,  just outside of Florence, from 1889 until her death in 1935 , with only a brief interruption during the war.

On Tuesday 7.3.12 visitors to the library of the British Institute of Florence were treated to an insight into her thoughts through the hundreds of notations she made in the margins of the 425 plus books , written in English, Italian and French that she bequeathed to the library when she died ( a fraction of her actual library!)  These books have been housed in a purpose built bookcase and can still be inspected by visitors – including our lecturer Dr Towheed who has spent over a month burrowing through these books and I imagine struggling to read some of the more hastily or angrily written notations!

I was delighted! – writing in margins was forbidden to me – so I have forgotten my own thoughts – mostly hardly worth remembering – but they are sometimes funny to look back at and remember what was going on in your life at the time that provoked the comments!