August - The Real Mr Frankenstein and wearing a miniature

The Real Mr Frankenstein

For any followers who are interested, my biography of Sir Anthony Carlisle will be released as an eBook in .pdf format in October 2009. The project was started after I purchased this miniature portrait of him last year.

When I found he was present at the death of Mary Wollstonecraft, mother of Mary Shelley, I felt there had to be a Frankenstein link. I am now satisfied he was the model for Victor Frankenstein and in his portrait, he appears to claim the link. The figure in the rear is a cadaver rising from the dead with a shroud in its left hand, and even looks like Mary Shelley's Creature.

More information about the project is available on my new website page at The Real Mr Frankenstein

Wearing a miniature
For those interested to know how a miniature was worn, here is a good example from around 1840 in an oil painting for auction by Eldreds.

Helping authors
By an odd series of coincidences, in the last month, I have been approached by three authors writing novels where a miniature portrait is a key part of their plot.

Each author was seeking to refer to a miniature in an authentic and correct manner. I was very pleased to assist each of them. Their three plots are entirely different and so they have no fears in that respect.