Rochester the Mad Earl

by Kathleen Kellow

From the 1957 Robert Hale edition:

“This is the story of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester–Restoration poet, wit and rake. As a boy he was eager to take his place among the immortals. Two passions prevented him: women and wine. He was the lover of many women, but there were two who had his lifelong devotion.

He sought an heiress in marriage and when she refused, he abducted her under her grandfather’s eyes. He realized the genius of a serving girl and made her a great actress. He set up as a quack doctor, roamed London in disguise, and mocked the King to his face. Nothing was too daring or too fantastic for “The Mad Earl”; and madly he squandered his life and his gifts, until, with life scarcely begun, he found that it was over.

This is the story of the most brilliant, the most gay, and the most tragic of men.”