Of Dandyism and of George Brummell - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly

The word "dandy" denotes a person of flamboyant dress and meticulous grooming, generally associated with aristocratic manners and a self-absorbed attitude. In the 18th and 19th centuries, dandyism was a movement unto itself, proudly represented by the likes of Lord Byron, Oscar Wilde, Baudelaire, and Huysmans. However, the most prominent dandy of the period was the (now mostly forgotten) commoner George "Beau" Brummell.

In fact, Lord Byron estimated that the three greatest men of the 19th century were (in order) Brummell, Napoleon, and himself. All three were not only fashionable (Napoleon wearing garments of "opulent grandeur"), but they were also said to have similar downfalls. Brummell eventually lost his fortune, his friends, his reputation, and died in exile and poverty: "the year 1815 was fatal to three great men--Byron, Buonaparte, and Brummell" (the year Byron was married, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, and Brummell was ostracized).

"Of Dandyism and of George Brummell" (1844), by Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly, is considered one of the foremost manifestos of the dandy philosophy. "Dandyism," the author writes, is more than a superficial concern for outward appearance, it "is a complete theory of life." The author portrays Brummell as a genius of style and wit, who transcended class distinctions and the mediocrity of the modern world, to courageously embrace his destiny as a tragic hero.

Of Dandyism and of George Brummell:

• Google Books
• Internet Archive

Supplemental:

• "Brummelliana" by William Hazlitt

Extracts:

• "...my whole person, the envy of the beaux, the idol of the women and the admiration of the tailor." ("Fragments from a Writing Desk No. 1")
• "...beautiful as Apollo, dressed in a style which would extort admiration from a Brummell..." ("Fragments from a Writing Desk No. 1")
• "Darius giving laws to the Medes and the Persians...was not a whit more sublime, than Beau Brummel magnificently ringing for his valet." (Mardi, 1.60)
• "[Plato] has the sleek and smooth appearance of a modern Brummel." ("Statues in Rome" lecture)
• "In his general toilet he is far from imitating a Brummellian precision and starchedness of cravat." ("Authentic Anecdotes of Old Zack")
• "...I could not avoid comparing them with the fine gentlemen and dandies who promenade such unexceptionable figures in our frequented thoroughfares. Stripped of the cunning artifices of the tailor, and standing forth in the garb of Eden—what a sorry, set of round-shouldered, spindle-shanked, crane-necked varlets would civilized men appear!" (Typee, 25)
• "Then we often encountered the dandy Blue Shark, a long, taper and mighty genteel looking fellow, with a slender waist, like a Bond-street beau, and the whitest tiers of teeth imaginable. This dainty spark invariably lounged by with a careless fin and an indolent tail." (Mardi, 1.13)
• "Mr. Thompson was a great crony of the steward’s, who, being a handsome, dandy mulatto, that had once been a barber in West-Broadway, went by the name of Lavender." (Redburn, 17)
• "Dandies! amputate yourselves, if you will; but know, and be assured, oh, democrats, that, like a pyramid, a great man stands on a broad base." (Redburn, 57)
• "...the captain had just been...sweeping the vast horizon with his quadrant, like a dandy circumnavigating the dress-circle of an amphitheater with his glass." (Redburn, 59)
• "...pluming themselves upon the cut of their trowsers, and the glossiness of their tarpaulins, from the rest of the ship’s company, they acquire the name of “sea-dandies” and “silk-sock-gentry.”" (White-Jacket, 8)
• "No town-bred dandy will compare with a country-bred one..." (Moby-Dick, 11)
• "...some merchant ships...will oftentimes pass on without so much as a single word of recognition, mutually cutting each other on the high seas, like a brace of dandies in Broadway; and all the time indulging, perhaps, in finical criticism upon each other’s rig." (Moby-Dick, 53)
• "Like fashionables, they are for ever on the move in leisurely search of variety." (Moby-Dick, 88)
• "In truth, a mature man who uses hairoil, unless medicinally, that man has probably got a quoggy spot in him somewhere." (Moby-Dick, 25)
• "...what care these fops and brawlers for me? But am I not myself an egregious coxcomb?" (Mardi, 2.76)
• "The dandy and the man; strength and effeminacy; courage and indolence, were so strangely blended in this superb-eyed youth, that at first sight, it seemed impossible to decide whether there was any genuine mettle in him, or not." (Pierre, 16.2)
• "Song of poor-devil dandy" (Clarel, 2.5)

This meetup is part of a series on Fig Leaves and Fancy Pants.