The beauty about research is that one is ever having to revise. New information comes in over days, months and years. I post as soon as I have fresh information on Brooks and her circle.
Lately, I have discovered that one of the images in my slide presentation for the talk on March 14th at the Proust Society at the Jefferson Library from the last 6-7:30 has to be revised. Why? Simply because Jean Chalon’s book that has a picture supposedly of a very young Elisabeth de Gramont is in error and it’s all over the web. Yes the young woman illustrated was one of Natalie Barney’s lovers but she wasn’t Lily
This is Lily in 1904.
I am grateful to the author of Elisabeth’s biography, Francesco Rapazzini for pointing this out to me so I could share the correction with my readers.
What this error serves to point out is that no biographer, no author, no academic, no researcher has a corner on any field. Ergo no definitive biography or last word on anything under the sun exists. Those who tell you this or who brand themselves as experts or who the media courtesy to whatever public relations firm advertises their client’s products and represents as THE authority is simply a momentary blip on the screen of whatever means of mass communication is mainstreaming at the moment.
Rediscovering Romaine Brooks 