Henry Drummond Wolff

Henry Drummond Wolff pursued diplomacy, Conservative politics, and authorship in Britain, with writing that ranged from youthful fiction to later political recollection. Issued in 1852 with the subtitle A Story of the Day, Blondelle opens that career. He next wrote The Island Empire, a historical account of Napoleon's first exile that was advertised by reference to his authorship of Blondelle. Some Notes of the Past, 1870-91 looks backward from a very different stage of Wolff's life. Published during the 1890s, it recalls visits connected with the Franco-Prussian War and figures associated with the Bonaparte family. Wolff's diplomatic postings later included Madrid, Tehran, Constantinople, and Bucharest, while his political associations placed him among the Fourth Party Conservatives. The two books consequently frame an unusually broad public career. Blondelle shows the aspiring novelist, while Some Notes of the Past, 1870-91 records the observer of European politics and personalities after decades of direct involvement.