Julius Beerbohm
Encyclopedia
Julius Beerbohm was a Victorian
travel-writer
, engineer
and explorer
.
He was the son of Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm (1811–1892), of Dutch
, Lithuania
n, 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
; his sister was author Constance Beerbohm
. A younger half-brother was the caricaturist
and parodist
Max Beerbohm
. His half-sister Agnes Mary Beerbohm (1865-1949), who became Mrs Ralph Neville in 1884, was a friend of the artist Walter Sickert
and modelled for him in his 1906 painting Fancy Dress. His nieces were Viola
, Felicity
and Iris Tree
.
an engineer
, Beerbohm travelled to Patagonia
in 1877 as part of a group sent to survey the land between Port Desire
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 labeled 'the last of nature's works'.
Beerbohm traveled across deserts and through jungles with the native Indians, the people Ferdinand Magellan
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 traveled 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
sketches provided the basis for the illustrations for Lady Florence Dixie
's Across Patagonia (1881).
by Max Beerbohm
, Herbert's widow Helen Maud Tree recalled Julius:
Beerbohm spent much of his time travelling around Europe losing all his money at casino
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 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.
As he lay dying in April 1906, "exhausted by a life of adventure and failure" Julius Beerbohm managed to maintain the strict standards of his dandyism. His brother Herbert Beerbohm Tree
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.
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
travel-writer
Travel literature
Travel literature is travel writing of literary value. Travel literature typically records the experiences of an author touring a place for the pleasure of travel. An individual work is sometimes called a travelogue or itinerary. Travel literature may be cross-cultural or transnational in focus, or...
, engineer
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
and explorer
Exploration
Exploration is the act of searching or traveling around a terrain for the purpose of discovery of resources or information. Exploration occurs in all non-sessile animal species, including humans...
.
He was the son of Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm (1811–1892), of Dutch
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
n, and German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
; his sister was author Constance Beerbohm
Constance Beerbohm
Constance Beerbohm was the oldest daughter of Julius Ewald Edward Beerbohm , 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...
. A younger half-brother was the caricaturist
Caricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
and parodist
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
. His half-sister Agnes Mary Beerbohm (1865-1949), who became Mrs Ralph Neville in 1884, was a friend of the artist Walter Sickert
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert , born in Munich, Germany, was a painter who was a member of the Camden Town Group in London. He was an important influence on distinctively British styles of avant-garde art in the 20th century....
and modelled for him in his 1906 painting Fancy Dress. His nieces were Viola
Viola Tree
Viola Tree was an English actress, singer, playwright and author. Daughter of the actor Herbert Beerbohm Tree, she made many of her early appearances with his company at His Majesty's Theatre...
, Felicity
Felicity Tree
Lady Felicity Cory-Wright was an English baronetess, the daughter of the actor Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree and his wife, the actress Helen Maud Holt...
and Iris Tree
Iris Tree
Iris Tree was an English poet, actress and artists' model, described as a bohemian, an eccentric, a wit and an adventuress....
.
Travels in Patagonia
A EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an engineer
Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill and profession of acquiring and applying scientific, mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines, devices, systems, materials and processes that safely realize improvements to the lives of...
, Beerbohm travelled to Patagonia
Patagonia
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
in 1877 as part of a group sent to survey the land between Port Desire
Puerto Deseado
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....
and Santa Cruz
Puerto Santa Cruz
Puerto Santa Cruz is a town and municipality in Santa Cruz Province in southern Argentina....
. 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 labeled 'the last of nature's works'.
Beerbohm traveled across deserts and through jungles with the native Indians, the people Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan
Ferdinand Magellan was a Portuguese explorer. He was born in Sabrosa, in northern Portugal, and served King Charles I of Spain in search of a westward route to the "Spice Islands" ....
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 traveled 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
Patagonia is a region located in Argentina and Chile, integrating the southernmost section of the Andes mountains to the southwest towards the Pacific ocean and from the east of the cordillera to the valleys it follows south through Colorado River towards Carmen de Patagones in the Atlantic Ocean...
sketches provided the basis for the illustrations for Lady Florence Dixie
Lady Florence Dixie
Lady Florence Caroline Dixie , before her marriage Lady Florence Douglas, was a British traveller, war correspondent, writer and feminist.-Early life:...
's Across Patagonia (1881).
Character
In a volume of reminiscences collected on the death of Herbert Beerbohm TreeHerbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
by Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
, 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, fsacinating 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 spent much of his time travelling around Europe losing all his money at casino
Casino
In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...
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 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
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
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.
As he lay dying in April 1906, "exhausted by a life of adventure and failure" Julius Beerbohm managed to maintain the strict standards of his dandyism. His brother Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree was an English actor and theatre manager.Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre, winning praise for adventurous programming and lavish productions, and starring in many of its productions. In 1899, he helped fund the...
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.