Library Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
BE2004.6.164 |
Object Name |
Novel |
Title |
Elizabeth Visits America |
Author |
Glyn, Elinor |
Summary |
A hardcover book or novel entitled Elizabeth Visits America, by author Elinor Glyn; published by Duffield & Company, New York, 1909. The cover is made of linen-covered cardboard in medium green, stamped with a white frame border, 2 mm wide, as well as a crown, the title, and the author's name. The book has a total of 350 pages. Facing the frontispiece is a photographic portrait of 'Elizabeth Valmond'. In the top right corner of the front fly leaf is written, 'a/855 $1.50'. Handwritten on the fly-leaf in black ink is: 'Dear Annie and Bev, with love from Mother, June 30th 1909.' |
History |
The novel is a compilation of letters from Elizabeth (The Marchioness of Valmond) to her mother, describing her trip to America. It is a romantic adventure story told in a most interesting voice and style. The language is typical of the time and genre. The book was a gift from Mary Harris (1859-1954) to her daughter Annie (1882-1986) and her son-in-law Beverly Sayers (1883-1976). The author, Elinor Glyn (1864-1943), was the daughter of Douglas and Elinor Sutherland and first cousin to Mary Magrath Harris of Benares. Elinor and her sister, Lucy (later famous as the couturier Lucile and a survivor of the Titanic) spent their early years growing up in Guelph after their father died of Typhus shortly after Elinor's birth. Their mother remarried in 1872 and the family moved to the island of Jersey. Elinor married Clayton Glyn in 1892 and they had two daughters Margot (1893) and Juliet (1898). Elinor was a noted novelist who gained critical acclaim for her first novel "The Visits of Elizabeth", based on her early social experiences. Elinor gained notoriety after writing "Three Weeks", a novel in which a younger man becomes the lover of an older woman with a passionate love scene on a tiger skin rug!! Elinor invented the genre of romance novels that we know today. Elinor continued to write many novels and also reported about World War I, becoming one of two women present at the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. Elinor restyled herself as Madame Glyn when she took a position for Famous Players- Lasky (later Paramount Pictures) writing screenplays for the infant motion picture industry in Hollywood. Elinor wrote many screenplays and helped to influence the style of both sets and actors. Her greatest success came with the movie 'It' which launched the career of Clara Bow and even had a cameo appearance by Elinor herself. Elinor counted Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks among her Hollywood friends. Elinor was a very glamorous, extravagant and interesting woman and has been the subject of many articles and books including Marion Fowlers, "The Way She Looks Tonight". Elinor wrote her autobiography "Romantic Adventure" in 1936. She died at the age of 79 in 1943. |
Subjects |
Books Elinor Glyn Elizabeth Visits America Fiction Fictitious characters Hardcover Novel Romance |
People |
Glyn, Elinor Harris, Mary Sayers, Annie Harris |