Clairmont, Paola, 1825-1891.

Pauline "Paola" Clairmont, niece of Claire Clairmont of the Shelley circle. Like her aunt, she was a governess, traveled widely, and had a child out of wedlock. Paola also lived with Claire, first as a boarder and then as an unpaid housekeeper, during the final years of her aunt's life. The story of Paola's encounters with Shelley enthusiast Edward Augustus Silsbee inspired Henry James's novella "The Aspern Papers.".

From the guide to the Paola Clairmont manuscript material : 42 items, 1853-1885, (The New York Public Library. Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle.)

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