A Pilgrimage of Passion The Life of Wilfred Scawen Blunt by Elizabeth Longford

Description

A Pilgrimage of Passion   The Life of Wilfred Scawen Blunt

by Elizabeth Longford

This book is a portrait of one of Victorian Englands most curious and fascinating subjects–the poet- adventurer Arabist, Wilfred Blunt. Born into country gentry, raised Roman Catholic by a mother who spoiled the beautiful but sickly child but sent him off to boarding school to be brutalized. A passionate traveler to Arab lands, daringly involved in Egypt and India’s struggle for independence and the Irish cause, Blunt also toyed with conversion to Islam. He was also know for his womanizing’s and scandalous affairs. His Arabaphilia plunged him into a further career– it was he and his wife Lady Anne Blunt who founded the great Crabbet Park Stud of pure Arabian horses. This book gives great insight to the couples travels in search of quality horses for their stud, their life together and there only child together- Judith, more popularly know as Lady Wentworth. This book presents a different view of Wilfred Blunt as compared to Lady Wentworths description of him in her book The Authentic Arabian. This book details the controversies between the three of them and over the ownership of the horses after the death of Lady Anne etc.. .
This book draws from many sources including family members and Blunts own private papers that were not opened until 1972- fifty years after his death. (Blunt had reduced the time to thirty years on the grounds the time elapsed would reduce the lessons taught nevertheless when the custodians looked at the papers in 1952 they decided it would be wise to wait the full 50 years).
Extensive bibliography, references and indexed

Hard cover book in  good condition, some wear to the cover boards and dinged corners, dust jacket has some tears and missing a big chip on the back panel, now in a protective cover. 467 pages illustrated with black and white photos.
copyright 1979, First American edition