An American princess : the remarkable life of Marguerite Chapin Caetani / Laurie Dennett.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Dennett, Laurie, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Caetani, Marguerite.

Periodical editors--France--Biography.

Periodical editors.

Periodical editors--Italy--Biography.

Europe--Intellectual life--20th century.

Europe.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (312 pages) : illustrations, photographs

Place of Publication:

Montreal, Quebec : McGill-Queen's University Press, 2016.

Summary:

In An American Princess, Laurie Dennett relates the remarkable story of a New England woman whose wealth, intelligence, and charm took her to the heart of aristocratic and intellectual Europe. Marguerite Chapin (1880–1963) was the product of two cultures: her father’s enterprising American one and her mother’s French heritage, which enabled her to move to Paris when she inherited a fortune at age twenty-one. There, she studied singing with the greatest tenor of the age, commissioned paintings from artists such as Pierre Bonnard, Edouard Vuillard, and André Derain, and drew upon her many friendships with writers to found and edit the pioneering literary review Commerce. Her marriage, in 1911, to the composer Prince Roffredo Caetani, a member of one of Italy’s oldest dynasties, added a whole new dimension to her life. Not only did it bring her a title, but happiness, two children, and a set of extraordinarily talented in-laws. When Marguerite and Roffredo moved to Italy in 1932, she found refuge from fascism and an outlet for creativity at Ninfa, the estate where the Caetani had created a garden among the ruins of a medieval town. At age sixty-eight, having survived the death of her son, the war, and the German occupation, Marguerite launched the international review Botteghe Oscure. Its aim was to reclaim respectability for Italian writing, but through her discerning and generous editorial vision, it became a showcase for writers everywhere. An engrossing biography based on extensive original research, An American Princess celebrates Marguerite Chapin Caetani’s impressive accomplishments and legacy.

Contents:

Front Matter

Contents

Acknowledgments

A Girl from New England

A Young Heiress in the Making

One Life, Two Worlds

Prince Roffredo and the Caetani

A Strained Courtship with A Happy Outcome

A Family in War and Peace

Villa Romaine and the Genesis of Commerce

A Unique Vocation: Fostering the Commerce of Ideas

The Move to Rome, and Ninfa

War and Tragedy

New Beginnings: Botteghe Oscure

The fullness of time

A Legacy for the Future

Notes

Select Bibliography

Image Credits

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed November 25, 2016).

ISBN:

9780773599932

0773599932

9780773599925

0773599924

OCLC:

953630231