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Full Description
The
Record of a Long Life, written in 1896, is the memoir of Henry
Pilleau, army surgeon, traveller and artist.
Spanning
most of the 19th century, it offers revealing insights into the changes in
those years: from a description of his childhood home in Kennington looking out
on an open expanse of countryside to his observations on the impact of tourism
on the ancient marvels of Egypt.
He served in
India before and after the Mutiny and in Ireland during the Great Famine and a
Fenian rebellion. He records in fascinating detail the conditions in which he
practised and the medical improvements he made.
The memoir is
a rich kaleidoscope. On one page there is an amusing conversation with
Constable about Turner's work; on another we read of hair-raising encounters
with tigers. He reminds the Governor-General of India that they had been
room-mates at school; he tells of an audience with the King of France
immediately after an attempted assassination; he relates the sad story of a
captured Andaman islander and his months as medical companion to a sickly
12-year-old Lord Herbert on an eventful trip to the Holy Land.
The novelist Charles
Dickens, the billiards champion Kentfield, the unconventional Arabist Lady Duff
Gordon and the actor Charles Kean all appear. But it is as an artist and a
traveller that Henry Pilleau is at his most observant, never happier than when
sketching in his favourite cities, Cairo and Venice.
This volume
weaves his art into the pages of the memoir, the result being an engaging mix
of social history and art.
