George du Maurier
Encyclopedia
Cartoonist
A cartoonist is a person who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is usually humorous, mainly created for entertainment, political commentary or advertising...
and author, known for his cartoons in Punch and also for his novel Trilby. He was the father of actor Gerald du Maurier
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
and grandfather of the writers Angela du Maurier
Angela du Maurier
Angela du Maurier was a novelist who had eleven books published in total, including two volumes of autobiography, It's Only the Sister and Old Maids Remember....
and Dame Daphne du Maurier
Daphne du Maurier
Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning DBE was a British author and playwright.Many of her works have been adapted into films, including the novels Rebecca and Jamaica Inn and the short stories "The Birds" and "Don't Look Now". The first three were directed by Alfred Hitchcock.Her elder sister was...
. He was also the father of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and thus grandfather of the five boys who inspired Peter Pan
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie . A mischievous boy who can fly and magically refuses to grow up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood adventuring on the small island of Neverland as the leader of his gang the Lost Boys, interacting with...
.
Early life
George du Maurier was the son of Louis-Mathurin Du Maurier and Ellen Clarke, the daughter of the infamous Regency courtesan Mary Anne ClarkeMary Anne Clarke
Mary Anne Clarke was the mistress of Frederick, Duke of York. Their relationship began in 1803, while he was Commander-in-Chief of the army. Later in 1809, she wrote her memoirs which were published...
. He studied art in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and moved to Antwerp, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, where he lost vision in his left eye. He consulted an oculist in Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Germany, where he met his future wife, Emma Wightwick. He followed her family to London, where he married Emma in 1863. They had five children: Beatrice (known as Trixy), Guy
Guy du Maurier
Guy Louis Busson du Maurier, D.S.O. was an English army officer and playwright. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies and the actor Gerald du Maurier. He was educated at Marlborough and Sandhurst, and became an officer in the Royal Fusiliers in 1885...
, Sylvia, Marie Louise (known as May) and Gerald
Gerald du Maurier
Sir Gerald Hubert Edward Busson du Maurier was an English actor and manager. He was the son of the writer George du Maurier and brother of Sylvia Llewelyn Davies. In 1902, he married the actress Muriel Beaumont with whom he had three daughters: Angela du Maurier , Daphne du Maurier and Jeanne...
.
Cartoonist
He became a member of the staff of the satirical magazine Punch in 1865, drawing two cartoons a week. His most common targets were the affected manners of Victorian societyVictorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
. His most enduringly famous cartoon, True Humility, was the origin of the expressions "good in parts" and "a curate's egg
Curate's egg
The expression "a curate's egg" originally meant something that is partly good and partly bad, but as a result is entirely spoiled. Modern usage has tended to change this to mean something having a mix of good and bad qualities.- Derivation and history :...
". (In the caption, a bishop addresses a curate [a very humble class of clergyman] whom he has condescended to invite to breakfast: "I'm afraid you've got a bad egg, Mr. Jones. The curate replies, "Oh no, my Lord, I assure you – parts of it are excellent!") In an earlier (1884) cartoon, du Maurier had coined the expression "bedside manner" by which he satirized actual medical skill. Another of du Maurier's notable cartoons was of a videophone
Videophone
A videophone is a telephone with a video screen, and is capable of full duplex video and audio transmissions for communication between people in real-time...
conversation in 1879, using a device he called "Edison's telephonoscope
Telephonoscope
A telephonoscope was an early concept of videophone and television, conceptualized in the late 1870's through the 1890's. It was mentioned in various early science fiction works such as Le Vingtième siècle. La vie électrique and other works written by Albert Robida...
".
Writer
Owing to his deteriorating eyesight, du Maurier reduced his involvement with Punch in 1891 and settled in HampsteadHampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
, where he wrote three novels. His first, Peter Ibbetson, was a modest success at the time and later adapted to stage and screen, most notably in the 1935 film starring Gary Cooper
Peter Ibbetson
Peter Ibbetson is an American black-and-white drama film released in 1935 and directed by Henry Hathaway.The picture is based on a novel by George du Maurier, first published in 1891. In 1917, du Maurier's story was adapted into a very successful Broadway play starring John Barrymore, Lionel...
, and as an opera
Peter Ibbetson (opera)
Note: This article is about the opera. For the 1935 film of the same name, see Peter Ibbetson.Peter Ibbetson is an opera in three acts by American composer Deems Taylor from a libretto by Constance Collier and Deems Taylor based on the 1891 novel by George du Maurier. Taylor's music is attractive,...
.
His second novel Trilby
Trilby (novel)
Trilby is a novel by George du Maurier and one of the most popular novels of its time, perhaps the second best selling novel of the Fin de siècle after Bram Stoker's Dracula. Published serially in Harper's Monthly in 1894, it was published in book form in 1895 and sold 200,000 copies in the United...
, was published in 1894. It fitted into the gothic
Gothic fiction
Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled "A Gothic Story"...
horror
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
genre which was undergoing a revival during the fin de siecle
Fin de siècle
Fin de siècle is French for "end of the century". The term sometimes encompasses both the closing and onset of an era, as it was felt to be a period of degeneration, but at the same time a period of hope for a new beginning...
, and the book was hugely popular. The story of the poor artist's model Trilby O'Ferrall, transformed into a diva under the spell of the evil musical genius Svengali
Svengali
Svengali is a fictional character of George du Maurier's 1894 novel Trilby. Svengali "would either fawn or bully and could be grossly impertinent. He had a kind of cynical humour that was more offensive than amusing and always laughed at the wrong thing, at the wrong time, in the wrong place...
, created a sensation. Soap, songs, dances, toothpaste, and even a city in Florida
Trilby, Florida
Trilby is an unincorporated community in the northeast corner of Pasco County, Florida, United States.Trilby has a non-profit "Greater Trilby Community Association" which exists to improve the life and quality of residents of the Trilby, Trilacoochee and Lacoochee area...
were all named for the heroine, and the variety of soft felt hat with an indented crown that was worn in the London stage dramatization of the novel, is known to this day as a trilby
Trilby
A trilby hat is a type of fedora. The trilby is viewed as the rich man's favored hat; it is commonly called the "brown trilby" in England and is much seen at the horse races. It is described as a "crumpled" fedora...
. The plot inspired Gaston Leroux
Gaston Leroux
Gaston Louis Alfred Leroux was a French journalist and author of detective fiction.In the English-speaking world, he is best known for writing the novel The Phantom of the Opera , which has been made into several film and stage productions of the same name, notably the 1925 film starring Lon...
's 1910 novel Phantom of the Opera and the innumerable works derived from it. Although initially bemused by Trilbys success, du Maurier eventually came to despise the persistent attention given to his novel.
The third novel was a long, largely autobiographical work entitled The Martian
The Martian
The Martian, by George du Maurier, published in 1898 is a long , largely autobiographical, novel that describes the lives of two bosom friends, Barty Josselin and Robert Maurice, starting from their school days in Paris in the 1850s...
, which was only published posthumously.
Personal life and death
George du Maurier was a close friend of Henry JamesHenry James
Henry James, OM was an American-born writer, regarded as one of the key figures of 19th-century literary realism. He was the son of Henry James, Sr., a clergyman, and the brother of philosopher and psychologist William James and diarist Alice James....
, the novelist; their relationship was fictionalised in David Lodge
David Lodge (author)
David John Lodge CBE, is an English author.In his novels, Lodge often satirises academia in general and the humanities in particular. He was brought up Catholic and has described himself as an "agnostic Catholic". Many of his characters are Catholic and their Catholicism is a major theme...
's Author, Author.
He was interred in St John-at-Hampstead churchyard in Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
parish in London.
Further reading
- Richard Kelly. George du Maurier. Twayne, 1983.
- Richard Kelly. The Art of George du Maurier. Scolar Press, 1996.
- Leonée Ormond. George du Maurier. Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1969.
- "Du Maurier", a poem by Florence Earle CoatesFlorence Earle Coates-Biography:She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Granddaughter of noted abolitionist and philanthropist Thomas Earle, and eldest daughter of Philadelphia lawyer George H. Earle, Sr. and Mrs. Frances Van Leer Earle, Mrs...
first published in 1898.
External links
- George du Maurier at The Victorian Web
- George du Maurier at Lambiek.net
- George du Maurier, the Satirist of the Victorians by T. Martin Wood. Full text of the 1913 book from Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
(plain text and HTML) - Works by George du Maurier at Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
(scanned books original editions color illustrated) - Gallery of du Maurier cartoons at Punchcartoons.com
- George du Maurier cartoons at CartoonStock (Commercial site)
- Telephonoscope, a cartoon of a television/videophone in 1879