Mistress of the Elgin Marbles
Susan Nagel

Put “Marie Antoinette” in the title of a book and you've got a winner. This seems true no matter how many books about her have been written. There's just a huge audience for biographies of rich, titled Europeans.

Butler is no fan of these books --- they're really for women, aren't they? --- but he thinks he understands why they're so popular. They're sweeping, real-life romances that careen around a Europe where brilliant princes kiss the hands of fair ladies (and, surreptitiously, deliver love notes). Hard to resist? Impossible. Fantasists of all ages lap this stuff up.

In the endless recycling of these stories, a New Face would be a welcome surprise, a New Story a shock to the eyes. And that is exactly what Susan Nagel delivers in this happily brief biography of the remarkable Mary Nisbet, Countess of Elgin (1778 – 1855).

If her name rings the slightest bell, it's because of her title. “The Elgin Marbles” --- those priceless Greek antiquities, originally sited in the Parthenon --- are named after her husband, the Earl of Elgin, who arranged their sale and transfer to England . In fact, they are Mary's doing.

Mary Nisbet was born rich. And beautiful. Add devastating wit, and she was one of the great catches of Europe . She made what looked like a smart marriage to Thomas Bruce, 7 th Earl of Elgin, who was soon sent to Turkey as “ambassador extraordinaire.” But it turned out to be his 21-year-old bride who was the true ambassador.

Mary not only financed the transport of the marbles, she convinced a British ship captain to disobey a direct order from Admiral Nelson. Most of all, she had Selim III wrapped around her finger; without compromising her marriage, Mary got the besotted ruler to make the deal that let the marbles leave Greece.

The details are to swoon. For the Elgins' first Christmas in Constantinople, her husband gave her an “emerald the size of an egg.” The lavishness is also testament to Elgin 's irresponsibility --- he squandered a fortune. Nagel is very good here, showing the wanton spending that is the habit of the entitled class.

Into this sunny life arrives worse trouble than financial distress. Elgin became jealous of his beautiful, captivating wife. And, like so many royals, he was inattentive of his marriage. He launched a divorce suit against Mary --- an event so unheard-of at their level of society that the court dates might as well have been for a murder.

How it turns out is too exciting to ruin in a review. But the happy ending gives this story a lovely gloss. Two hundred and sixty pages are just the right size for a life rich in events, titles and conflicts. This is a book even a man could love.

--- by  Jesse Kornbluth, for HeadButler.com

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Copyright 2004 by Head Butler Inc.