Valentino: An Historical Romance Of The Sixteenth Century In Italy
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(This work has been selected by scholars as being cultural...)
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.
This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.
As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
William Waldorf Astor was a wealthy American-born attorney, politician, businessman, and newspaper publisher.
Background
William Waldorf Astor was born on March 31, 1848 in Manhattan, New York, United States. He was the only child of financier and philanthropist John Jacob Astor III and Charlotte Augusta Gibbes.
His childhood was spent in Germany and in Italy under the care of private tutors and a governess. He grew up in a cold and distant household.
On the death of his father in February 1890 he succeeded to the management of the family estate, with a personal fortune estimated at $100, 000, 000.
It was induced, according to report, partly by his political experiences and partly by the contest waged between his wife and his aunt for the leadership of what was then known as the "four hundred" of metropolitan society.
Education
He was trained by private tutors and later was graduated from Columbia Law School.
Career
For a time he was associated with a law firm. Later he was employed under his father in the management of the family estate, but he soon tired of the work and withdrew. Persuaded, against the family tradition, to enter politics, he was elected (1877) to the Assembly as a Republican. Two years later he was elected to the Senate. He was twice a candidate for Congress, but each time was defeated.
In August 1882 he was appointed by President Arthur minister to Italy, a post which he retained for three years. A period of literary activity followed. In 1885 he published Valentino: An Historical Romance of the Sixteenth Century in Italy; in 1889 Sforza, a Story of Milan; in 1900 Pharaoh's Daughter and Other Stories.
In September 1890 he removed with his family to England and took up his residence in an imposing mansion in London. In 1893 he bought the liberal daily newspaper, the Pall Mall Gazette, with its weekly edition, The Budget, and changed the two journals into conservative organs. The same year he established a monthly periodical, the Pall Mall Magazine. He then grew tired of journalism, and though from time to time contributing an article or an editorial, he rarely visited his office.
Years later (1911) he bought, for some unknown reason, a Sunday newspaper, The Observer. Three years later he disposed of all his publications, the daily and the Sunday journals going to his son, Maj. Waldorf Astor, who shortly afterward sold them. In 1899 he became a British subject. His dislike of his former compatriots appears in much that he wrote and said.
An article on his famous grandfather, published in the Pall Mall Magazine for June 1899, served as a vehicle for a particularly vigorous criticism of American character and customs. Despite this antipathy he was keenly sensitive to American opinion. In July 1892, in an effort to learn what Americans thought of him, he caused a false report of his death to be published here.
He was not to be enlightened, for the hoax was discovered before any obituary had appeared. His life in England was characterized by vast expenditures, a somewhat obtrusive effort to win social recognition, and a series of quarrels and squabbles over insignificant matters. He bought several estates, one of them embracing the Ann Boleyn castle at Hever, Kent, and he entertained lavishly.
The Hever castle he restored at a cost said to be more than $10, 000, 000. On Jan. 1, 1916, he was made a peer, with the title Baron Astor of Hever Castle, and on June 3 of the following year was made a viscount. He had achieved a desired social distinction, but not without strong opposition. A considerable part of the English press denounced his elevation to the peerage as an act of recompense for financial support to the party then in power. His estimated wealth shortly before his death was $80, 000, 000.
On his removal to England he had reinvested a large part of his funds in London real estate. In August 1919, presumably to avoid the inheritance tax, he conveyed all his property in America to a trust in favor of his sons, Maj. Waldorf and Capt. J. J. Astor.
His numerous quarrels culminated in the episode in which an affront was offered to Admiral Sir Berkeley Milne, which brought about a strong reaction against him in English social circles. After that he gradually retired from society. He died at Western House, Brighton.