ID: 2641
Skittles: A Biography of a Fascinating Woman: The fictionalised biography of one of the last great Victorian courtesans
"Anonyma"
Category: History
Place/Publisher/Date:
London George Vickers.
Description:
First edition; 8vo; modern calf binding; top edge gilt. Catherine "Skittles" Walters (1839-1920) came from humble beginnings but became one of the last of the great courtesans of Victorian London. Her nickname originated from her working at a bowling alley near Park Lane. A celebrated horsewoman, she was a part of the "pretty horsebreakers", a group of courtesans made famous by their remarkable horsemanship. The sight of Walters riding on Rotten Row in Hyde Park drew sightseers. Her skills in the saddle allowed her to mix easily with high society, she became the mistress of Spencer Cavendish, Marquess of Hartington (later eighth Duke of Devonshire), who set her up in a Mayfair house. In 1862, at the height of her fame, she left London, selling her house and auctioning its contents, and travelled to New York with a rich married man, Aubrey de Vere Beauclerk of Ardglass Castle, County Down. Walters later lived in Paris, where under the patronage of Achille Fould, Finance Minister to Napoléon III, she took her place amongst the leaders of the demimonde, and established a salon. It was here she met the poet Wilfrid Scawen Blunt, who remained infatuated with her for the rest of his life. She spent ten years in Europe, returning regularly to Leicestershire for the hunting season. In 1872, Walters returned to London and established another salon. Her callers included the Prince of Wales the future Edward VII. George Vickers, brought out three fictionalised biographies: Anonyma: or, Fair but Frail; Skittles: the Biography of a Fascinating Woman; and Skittles in Paris. The author was possibly William Stephens Hayward, or Bracebridge Hemyng. The sale and commercial success of the biographies caused expressions of moral concern in contemporary newspapers and magazine. Landseer's The Shrew Tamed (1861) is purported to include a portrait of Walters and there is a blue plaque in her honour on the house where she lived in Mayfair. A fine copy with some pencilled notes to the front endpapers.
Price £2750.00
