''Love and Madness'' is a 1780

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

by Sir Herbert Croft. It was based on the 1779 murder of

Martha Ray Martha Ray (1746 – 7 April 1779) was a British singer of the Georgian era. Her father was a corsetmaker and her mother was a servant in a noble household. Good-looking, intelligent, and a talented singer, she came to the attention of many of ...

, the mistress of

Lord Sandwich Earl of Sandwich is a noble title in the Peerage of England, held since its creation by the House of Montagu. It is nominally associated with Sandwich, Kent. It was created in 1660 for the prominent naval commander Admiral Sir Edward Montagu ...

, by

James Hackman James Hackman (baptized 13 December 1752, hanged 19 April 1779), briefly Rector of Wiveton in Norfolk, was the man who murdered Martha Ray, singer and mistress of John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich. Rawlings, Philip, ''Hackman, James (bap. 1752, ...

. Its full title is ''Love and Madness, a Story too True: in a Series of Letters between Parties Whose Names Would Perhaps be Mentioned Were They Less Known or Lamented''. The work proved very successful with many people initially believing that the fictional letters between the participants it contained were genuine. A large amount of the book was devoted to

forgery Forgery is a white-collar crime that generally refers to the false making or material alteration of a legal instrument with the specific intent to defraud anyone (other than themself). Tampering with a certain legal instrument may be forbidd ...

, with two forgers

James Macpherson James Macpherson (Gaelic: ''Seumas MacMhuirich'' or ''Seumas Mac a' Phearsain''; 27 October 1736 – 17 February 1796) was a Scottish writer, poet, literary collector and politician, known as the "translator" of the Ossian cycle of epic poem ...

and

Thomas Chatterton Thomas Chatterton (20 November 1752 – 24 August 1770) was an English poet whose precocious talents ended in suicide at age 17. He was an influence on Romantic artists of the period such as Shelley, Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge. Althoug ...

, featuring prominently. The novel was apparently a major influence on

William Henry Ireland William Henry Ireland (1775–1835) was an English forger of would-be Shakespearean documents and plays. He is less well known as a poet, writer of gothic novels and histories. Although he was apparently christened William-Henry, he was known ...

, the author of the Shakespeare Forgeries, who used the subplot about forgery as an inspiration. Ireland was himself reported to be an illegitimate son of Lord Sandwich by another mistress.

Publication history

An amended edition of this novel appeared in the spring of 1780 by publisher George Kearsley in a campaign to promote the novel.

Reception

The ''Morning Post'' initially received the letters well, and considered them instructive and inoffensive and painted a colourful picture of 'the dreadful consequences of the passion of love, unrestrained by virtue ..which fill the mind at once both with horror and pity'.

References

Bibliography

* Levy, Martin. ''Love and Madness: Murder of Martha Ray, Mistress of the Fourth Earl of Sandwich''. Perennial, 2005. * Pierce, Patricia. ''The Great Shakespeare Fraud: The Strange, True Story of William Henry-Ireland''. Sutton Publishing, 2005. * Brewer, John. ''Sentimental Murder : Love and Madness in the Eighteenth Century.'' London: Harper Perennial, 2005, p. 152. . * ''London Evening Post. Cited in:'' ''Sentimental Murder : Love and Madness in the Eighteenth Century.'' London: Harper Perennial. p. 155.

External links

* 1780 novels English novels {{18thC-novel-stub