Queen Caroline and Sir William Gell

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxiii

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2. A Princess and Her Chamberlain

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

      PDF

   2. Princess Caroline

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 3-15

   3. Sir William Gell

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 17-30

   4. A Princess and Her Chamberlain

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 31-49

   5. Sir William Gell in Italy

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 51-64

   6. Caroline’s Adventures

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 65-96

   7. The Trial of Queen Caroline

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 97-117

   8. Sir William Gell’s Later Years

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 119-151

3. Queen Caroline’s Letters to Sir William Gell

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153

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   2. The Letters

      • Jason Thompson

      Pages 155-256

4. Back Matter

   Pages 257-266

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This book explores the relationship between Queen Caroline, one of the most enigmatic characters in Regency England, and Sir William Gell, the leading classical scholar of his day. Despised and rejected by her husband, Caroline created a sphere and court of her own through patronage of scholarship.  The primary beneficiary was Gell, a pioneering scholar of the classical world who opened new dimensions in the study of ancient Troy, mainland Greece, and Ithaca.  Despite his achievements, Gell had scarce financial resources.  Support from Caroline enabled him to establish himself in Italy and conduct his seminal work about ancient Rome and, especially, Pompeii, until her sensational trial before the House of Lords and premature death. Concluding with the first scholarly transcription of the extraordinary series of letters that Caroline wrote to Gell, this volume illuminates how Caroline sought power through patronage, and how Gell shaped classical scholarship in nineteenth-century Britain.

• Caroline of Brunswick
• George IV
• Sir William Gell
• Regency historiography
• The Trial of Queen Caroline
• Regency political history
• Regency social history
• Queen Caroline's letters to Sir William Gell
• John Gardner Wilkinson
• classical studies
• royal patronage
• Act of Settlement
• classical scholarship

• Copper Hill, USA

  Jason Thompson

Jason Thompson is a historian of the British Empire and the author of Sir Gardner Wilkinson and His Circle, A History of Egypt: From Earliest Times to the Present, and most recently, the three-volume Wonderful Things: A History of Egyptology.

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