The Immortal Evening

August 25, 2014
Written with great eloquence and insight, this meticulously detailed historical recreation from Plumly (Immortal Yeats) breathes life into a pivotal moment in the British Romantic era. On December 28, 1817, Benjamin Haydon, a painter of historical canvases, hosted a small dinner for his friends William Wordsworth, John Keats, and Charles Lamb, all on the cusp of literary immortality. The purpose of the “immortal dinner,” as Haydon later referred to it, was to show off his three years of progress on Christ’s Entry into Jerusalem, a massive painting into which he had incorporated the faces of all three friends. By 1820, when the canvas was finally finished, Wordsworth was recognized as England’s greatest living poet, Keats had written his most memorable verse, Lamb was a renowned essayist, and Haydon was himself enjoying a brief spurt of the fame that eluded him most of his career. Although Plumly devotes little more than a chapter to the raucous, lively dinner itself, it allows him to delve into events leading up to it and resulting from it, and to offer astute assessments of the principals’ worldviews and aesthetics. The colorful portrait he paints is that of a select artistic fraternity, frequently contrary in their opinions and attitudes, who nevertheless knew that they were making a significant impact on the spirit of their age. Agent: Rob McQuilken, Massie, McQuilken.

November 1, 2014

Picture William Wordsworth in his mid-40s wearing a dressing gown, face covered with the accoutrements of a life mask while painter Benjamin Robert Haydon and editor John Scott secretly snigger at the poet who is oblivious to their reverential gaze. This is one of many intimate moments poetically layered into Plumly's (English, Univ. of Maryland; Posthumous Keats: A Personal Biography) work. The author explores the themes of immortality and genius by weaving biographical information with the personal correspondence and the creative works of Haydon, Wordsworth, John Keats, and Charles Lamb surrounding their attendance of Haydon's December 28, 1817 dinner party to celebrate his progress on their portraits within the painting Christ's Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem. Plumly's volume joins Penelope Hughes-Hallett's The Immortal Dinner: A Famous Evening of Genius and Laughter in Literary London, 1817. VERDICT The title is highly recommended for students of poetry. Readers with an interest in art history will also find Plumly's interdisciplinary approach relevant to the study of 18th- and 19th-century English painters.--Nerissa Kuebrich, Chicago

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