Volume 27, Number 1 · February 7, 1980
Regina Pinxit
By Rosemary Dinnage
Queen Victoria's Sketchbook
by Marina Warner
Crown, 224 pp., $17.95
The wind is knocked out of a critic's sails when a book provides nothing but pleasure. Clichés threaten dangerously ('delightful!'; 'a treasure trove!'). Queen Victoria, who was a much better artist than writer, solved the problem with her usual directness when as a stage-struck teenager she described evenings at the theater in her diary: 'very much amused' (one underlining), 'VERY VERY MUCH AMUSED (two), 'VERY VERY MUCH AMUSED INDEED' (three). Well, I certainly VERY MUCH ENJOYED the royal artist's work, to the point of being almost converted to monarchism. If she had not been a monarch, would Victoria have had the training and time to indulge in her hobby, the self-confidence to persevere in it, the variety of subjects to draw from; and would the results have been preserved? (Perhaps the answers are yes, yes, not quite, and yes; if so, what has become of other amateur albums that are as gifted and revealing as this?)
Review, 1739 words
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