LEADER 04317nam 2200673Ia 450 001 9910787544303321 005 20220304032827.0 010 $a0-8122-0316-X 024 7 $a10.9783/9780812203165 035 $a(CKB)2670000000418188 035 $a(OCoLC)859160640 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10748431 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000981179 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)11505253 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000981179 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10989364 035 $a(PQKB)10487648 035 $a(MdBmJHUP)muse26827 035 $a(DE-B1597)449183 035 $a(OCoLC)979968271 035 $a(OCoLC)987953699 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780812203165 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3442064 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10748431 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL682387 035 $a(OCoLC)932312862 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3442064 035 $a(EXLCZ)992670000000418188 100 $a19981014d1999 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe most beautiful man in existence$b[electronic resource] $ethe scandalous life of Alexander Lesassier /$fLisa Rosner 210 $aPhiladelphia $cUniversity of Pennsylvania Press$d1999 215 $a1 online resource (281 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 0 $a1-322-51105-5 311 0 $a0-8122-3486-3 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. [205]-249) and index. 327 $tFront matter --$tCONTENTS --$tList of Illustrations --$tPreface: A Journal of Life --$tCHAPTER 1. Interest or Love --$tCHAPTER 2. Born to Misfortune --$tCHAPTER 3. Hot from Your Studies --$tCHAPTER 4. This Despicable Rock --$tCHAPTER 5. The Most Beautiful Man in Existence --$tCHAPTER 6. Tinsel of Military Reputation --$tCHAPTER 7. Soothing Hope of Speedy Promotion --$tCHAPTER 8. Arrived at Wealth and Dignity --$tCHAPTER 9. Thrown on the Wide World --$tCHAPTER 10. Appearances Are of Essential Consequence --$tCHAPTER 11. Consecutive Chain of Corroborative Evidence --$tCHAPTER 12. Compare What I Might Have Been with What I Am --$tEpilogue: One Series of Hardships and Privations --$tA Note on Sources --$tNotes --$tBibliography --$tAcknowledgments --$tIndex 330 $a1833, Catherine Jane Hamilton returned from India to Edinburgh to seek a divorce from her husband, the physician Alexander Lesassier. The charge was adultery, and proof for it lay in a trunk containing her husband's personal papers. Catherine won her suit without difficulty and the trunk was deposited in the library of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. Alexander Lesassier died in 1839 during the First Afghan War; his trunk and its contents remained untouched for the next century and a half. It has now been opened and a remarkable tale, told in remarkable detail, has spilled forth. The life of Alexander Lesassier, as expertly reconstructed by Lisa Rosner, affords startling insight into the sensibilities of an era and of the man who, in his own eyes and those of the women who adored him, was its most perfect creation. Affable and self-absorbed, engaging and ignoble Lesassier was a physician, military surgeon, and novelist, who was also a shameless opportunist, charming scoundrel, seducer, and survivor. His is the story of a failed medical man who wanted to be something different and saw himself as entitled to more than he had; someone who can always be guaranteed to make the wrong choice, and then protest that he has done well. This fascinating and deeply absorbing book offers rare insights into Georgian, Regency, and early Victorian Britain through the fortunes and misfortunes, hopes and whims, of "the most beautiful man in existence." 606 $aPhysicians$zGreat Britain$vBiography 606 $aPhysicians$zScotland$zEdinburgh$vBiography 607 $aGreat Britain$xSocial life and customs$y19th century 607 $aGreat Britain$xSocial life and customs$y18th century 615 0$aPhysicians 615 0$aPhysicians 676 $a610/.92 676 $aB 700 $aRosner$b Lisa$0541989 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910787544303321 996 $aThe most beautiful man in existence$93809423 997 $aUNINA