The Last of Uptake, and Where it All Leads
REX WHISTLER
Cover illustration (detail) for The Last of Uptake by Simon Harcourt-Smith,
London: Batsford, 1944, republished Solstice Productions Ltd. 1967
Copyright Simon Harourt-Smith
Rex Whistler (1905 - 1944) couldn't have seen Foots Cray Place burn in 1949, but he might have had a chance to see another English Palladian stately home in flames when, in 1929 Nuthall Temple outside of Nottingham was doused with paraffin and set on fire to the delight of a large crowd: "the cupola of the great Octagon came down into the flames in a cascade of golden fragments. Swaggering among the smoking ruins, a group of boys from the village posed as conquerors." (Thrumpton Hall, by Miranda Seymour, 2007, p. 40-41).
In any case I was thinking of Whistler's image the other day in light (no pun intended) of other Palladian houses burned to the ground, (see below) such as Foots Cray Place, the site of which like that of Nuthall Temple now also lies beneath the M1, the latter's under one of the slip roads at Junction 26. The Last of Uptake is a lovely match up, Whistler's wonderful illustrations to Harcourt-Smith's story, written to divert his wife during the Blitz, "when she was lying a helpless invalid in plaster" (book jacket flap). Whistler died in the Normandy Invasion in 1944.
I wanted a Rex Whistler to do the cover illustrations for my book series, but I was talked into photographs of handsome young men instead. I don't regret the decision, but if you're a clever artist who works in a Whistler-Beaton-Oliver Messel style, please let me know. I could easily be talked into something for the boxed set edition.
Simon Harcourt-Smith's father was Sir Cecil Harcourt-Smith KCVO (1859 - 1944), archaeologist, appointed Keeper of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the British Museum in 1904, and Director and Secretary of the Victoria & Albert from 1909 - 1924. Simon shows up periodically in the journals of James Lees-Milne (speaking of stately homes).
Simon's niece is Joanna Harcourt-Smith, a blogger on one of my favorite alternative on-line magazines Reality Sandwich. According to the Daily Mail Joanna grew up "a flower-power teenager in the Sixties, [who] lived with the Rolling Stones in France, cavorted with playboy Gunther Sachs, Salvador Dali and the Aga Khan, before falling in love with the LSD guru Timothy Leary, by whom she has a son, Marlon."
The story of Joanna's nephew, (son of her late sister Florence), the hedge fund tycoon Arki Busson who's dated great beauties like Elle Macpherson and Uma Thurman, will have to wait for another time. But needless to say, everything is connected. As you can see, even the most cursory sort of search for meaning winds up leading to fire and beautiful people, art and war, love and drugs. As a friend of mine used to say, "Someday I'd like to go on a date that doesn't end with one of us leaving in a squad car."
Haven't we all felt the same.
Hey George, I want you to know that you're more than welcome to repost any material from my blog site. I am trying to build a platform and drive traffic to my site, so feel free to plug me and mention my site whenever the mood strikes your fancy. On another note, I am really looking forward to reading your books, but I just started an MFA creative writing program at Northwestern University and in addition to workshopping our material, there's also a lot of critical reading involved so I may have to postpone your books until I have a bit of spare time. I do indeed love your blogs and perspective on the world, and I'll try to visit your site early and often.
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