From Crystal Palace to the Grand-Guignol: Vernon Lee and the First World War

Abstract

In July 1893, in a letter to her mother Matilda, Vernon Lee wrote that she would be attending the Crystal Palace exhibition in Sydenham, and whilst there she would ‘witness some Dahomey people war dance’. The promotional material, which featured heavily in the July, August, and September 1893 timetables of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, noted that the Dahomey were to be exhibited alongside ‘Prandi’s Royal Italian Marionettes’ as ‘The Greatest Novelty in Europe’. Across London, advertisements billed the Dahomey as

THE FAMOUS AMAZON WARRIORS,

A REGIMENT OF POWERFUL WOMEN,

Natives of Dahomey, the Suite of Behanxin, King of Dahomey, taken Prisoners by the French Army, under the command of General Dodds. The finest of the Races of Africa.

THE GREATEST NOVELTY IN EUROPE.

EXCITING MARTIAL DISPLAY. SHAM FIGHT. THRILLING SCENES.