Julius Beerbohm (26 September 1854 – 21 April 1906) was a
Victorian travel-writer, engineer and
explorer
Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians.
Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...
.
He was the son of Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm (1811–1892),
[Internet Archive listing](_blank)
Max Beerbohm: a Biography, by David Cecil – Houghton Mifflin, 1965 of Dutch, Lithuanian, and German origin, who had come to England in about 1830 and set up as a prosperous corn merchant.
He married an Englishwoman, Constantia Draper, and the couple had four children. Julius Beerbohm's older brother was the renowned actor-manager
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
; his sister was author
Constance Beerbohm
Constance Mary Beerbohm (1856–8 January 1939), was the oldest daughter of Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm (1811–92), . A younger half-brother was the
caricaturist
A caricaturist is an artist who specializes in drawing caricatures.
List of caricaturists
* Abed Abdi (born 1942)
* Al Hirschfeld (1903–2003)
* Alex Gard (1900–1948)
* Alexander Saroukhan (1898–1977)
* Alfred Grévin (1827–1892)
* Alf ...
and
parodist
A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...
.
His half-sister Agnes Mary Beerbohm (1865–1949), who became Mrs Ralph Neville in 1884, was a friend of the artist
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...
and modelled for him in his 1906 painting ''Fancy Dress''. His nieces were
Viola
The viola ( , also , ) is a string instrument that is bow (music), bowed, plucked, or played with varying techniques. Slightly larger than a violin, it has a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of ...
,
Felicity and
Iris Tree
Iris Tree (27 January 1897 – 13 April 1968) was an English poet, actress and artists' model, described as a bohemian, an eccentric, a wit and an adventurer.
Biography
Tree's parents were actors Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Helen Maud, Lady ...
.
Travels in Patagonia
A European engineer, Beerbohm travelled to
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...
in 1877 as part of a group sent to survey the land between
Port Desire
Puerto Deseado, originally called Port Desire, is a city of about 15,000 inhabitants and a fishing port in Patagonia in Santa Cruz Province of Argentina, on the estuary of the Deseado River.
It was named ''Port Desire'' by the privateer Thomas C ...
and
Santa Cruz. His 1881 book ''Wanderings in Patagonia; or, Life among the Ostrich Hunters'' is the account of the time he spent there. In the book he vividly describes the natural history and geography of the country which he labelled 'the last of nature's works'.
[Internet Archive Listing](_blank)
Beerbohm, Julius 'Wanderings in Patagonia, or, Life among the Ostrich Hunters' Chatto & Windus, London (1881)
Beerbohm travelled across deserts and through jungles with the native Indians, the people
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan ( or ; pt, Fernão de Magalhães, ; es, link=no, Fernando de Magallanes, ; 4 February 1480 – 27 April 1521) was a Portuguese explorer. He is best known for having planned and led the 1519 Spanish expedition to the East ...
had come upon in 1520 when he discovered the country.
Beerbohm details a trek through this notoriously hostile terrain and overcomes snowstorms and mutiny, survives a flood and encounters "ostrich" hunters, puma, and swans. A rank amateur, Beerbohm had no previous knowledge of the land, its flora and fauna. Fortunately, for the most part of the journey he travelled with several old hands at ostrich hunting: the memorable Isidro, the Frenchman Guillaume, and the Austrian Maximo.
Most memorable are the several chapters in which the group is stuck on the north side of the Rio Gallegos which was experiencing a severe flood. The group split up, with Beerbohm and Guillaume venturing a dangerous crossing, which almost drowned Beerbohm. When they finally arrived in
Sandy Point, the local prison, along with its military guard, mutinied, got drunk, and took over the town, killing many of its citizens.
Beerbohm's
Patagonia
Patagonia () refers to a geographical region that encompasses the southern end of South America, governed by Argentina and Chile. The region comprises the southern section of the Andes Mountains with lakes, fjords, temperate rainforests, and gl ...
sketches provided the basis for the illustrations for
Lady Florence Dixie
Lady Florence Caroline Dixie (née Douglas; 25 May 18557 November 1905) was a Scottish writer, war correspondent, and feminist. Her account of travelling ''Across Patagonia'', her children's books ''The Young Castaways'' and ''Aniwee; or, The ...
's ''Across Patagonia'' (1881).
Character
In a volume of reminiscences collected on the death of
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
by
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the drama critic for the '' Saturday ...
, Herbert's widow Helen Maud Tree recalled Julius:
"It was in the autumn of 1882 that I first met Julius, (Herbert's younger brother Max, their half-brother was then a little boy of ten). Julius was a brilliant creature, exquisite and elusive: a poet and a dreamer. His poetry was of the soul: his dreams, alas! were of the earth. He was a potential millionaire, and from time to time, one would have said, an actual one. But, over and over again, some bright El Dorado would fade before his vision. Fortunes came quickly, and as quickly were engulfed in new and glittering enterprises. Throughout his eager, hunted life triumph and disaster followed one another in quick succession; but I never saw him – even when misfortunes were huddling on his back – otherwise than calm, perfectly accoutred and equipped, fastidious, fantastic, fascinating and debonair. When I first knew him he was either engaged to that graceful and gracious being, Mrs Younghusband, or they were just married. He brought her, Evelyn, to see us at Old Burlington Street. She had (has to this day) great beauty, charm and distinction, a lovely way of speaking, lovely manners, and a gentle and rare disposition.
After their marriage, they lived in great splendour at Almond's Hotel, and I remember dinner parties where not the decoration but the tablecloth itself was fashioned of Parma violets, and where food and wine were of the nature of a Sybarite's feast. After such Lucullus' feasts, we would sometimes repair to our rooms, where Julius would make me sing "Crépuscule," and where he would also sing, read us his poems or tell us stories of his travels. His was an enchanting personality, and Herbert's pride and joy in him were immense. In their stern and cruel school-days Herbert had been the stronger of the two, the most able to endure; therefore his had been the task to temper hardships to his little brother; and who would accomplish this task so tenderly or with such love and understanding as Herbert? Both brothers, while remembering with delight the beauty of the Thuringian land in spring and summer, recalled with shuddering dislike the iron system of their German school."[Beerbohm, Max (Reprint, 2008). pp. 10–11]
With his wife he had two children: Clarence Evelyn Beerbohm (1885-1917), a musical comedy actor and soldier who married Elizabeth H. Littlewood in 1909 and who was killed in action during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
; and Marie Marguerite Beerbohm (born 1890), who married Ernest Alexander Stuart Watt (1874 - 1954) on 22 February 1912 at the register office, Hanover Square. The marriage was dissolved in 1913.
Julius Beerbohm spent much of his time travelling around Europe losing all his money at
casino
A casino is a facility for certain types of gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos are also known for hosting live entertai ...
after casino. Every now and then he would try to recoup his lost money by thinking up some fantastic project, such as an idea to dredge the
River Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
to attempt to find the lost jewels of the Pharaohs, or setting up a luxury hotel at
Marienbad. This latter was a short-lived venture for after paying the deposit on the hotel Beerbohm left Germany and totally forgot about the entire enterprise until reminded of it by his creditors. Living as he did, he soon lost all of his money and much of his wife's also, and could only continue to live to the standard to which he had become accustomed by borrowing from others. Although facing financial ruin, he continued to keep cabs waiting for him all day at his door, and to attend supper parties where he would entertain the company by reciting one of his poems. He wrote the words to a song, ''Blue-Eyes, Berceuse'', which was set to music by Lord Duppin. He had his linen sent from his London home to Paris to be washed.
[Johnson, Pau]
'Languid in life, quick on the draw' – Paul Johnson on Max Beerbohm: A Kind of a Life
''The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' 13 October 2002
As he lay dying in April 1906, "exhausted by a life of adventure and failure"[ David Cecil, ''Max: a biography'' Constable, London (1964) pg 254] Julius Beerbohm managed to maintain the strict standards of his dandyism. His brother Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
came to see him dressed in a reddish-brown suit that offended Julius's taste. "Ginger!" he said disgustedly, and turned his face to the wall.[
]
See also
*Beerbohm family The Beerbohm family are the descendants of Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm (9 April 1810 – 30 August 1892), the son of Ernest Henery Beerbohm (12 May 1763 – 22 May 1838) and Henrietta Radke (1767–1855), and of Dutch, Lithuanian and German origin, ...
Notes
References
*
External links
*
*
Full text of Beerbohm's ''Wanderings in Patagonia''
Beerbohm's illustrations for ''Across Patagonia''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beerbohm, Julius
1854 births
1906 deaths
Julius
The gens Julia (''gēns Iūlia'', ) was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the ...
Explorers of South America
English travel writers
English engineers
English explorers
English people of German descent
English people of Dutch descent