William Morton Fullerton (18 September 1865 – 26 August 1952) was an American print journalist, author and foreign correspondent for ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ...

''. Today he is best known for having a mid-life affair with Pulitzer Prize-winning author

Edith Wharton Edith Wharton (; born Edith Newbold Jones; January 24, 1862 – August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, short story writer, and interior designer. Wharton drew upon her insider's knowledge of the upper-class New York "aristocracy" to portra ...

Career

Fullerton was a graduate of

Phillips Academy ("Not for Self") la, Finis Origine Pendet ("The End Depends Upon the Beginning") Youth From Every Quarter Knowledge and Goodness , address = 180 Main Street , city = Andover , state = M ...

Andover, Massachusetts Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in '' The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc. An encyclopedia (American Engli ...

and studied at Harvard. He received his Bachelor of Arts in 1886. While studying at Harvard, he and classmates began ''

The Harvard Monthly ''The Harvard Monthly'' was a literary magazine of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, beginning October 1885 until suspending publication following the Spring 1917 issue. Formed in the latter months of 1885 by Harvard seniors Willia ...

''. After his graduation and first trip to Europe in 1888, he spent several years working as a journalist in the Boston Area. In 1890, four years after his graduation from Harvard, Fullerton moved to France to begin work for ''

'' office in Paris. He eventually became the chief foreign correspondent, and remained with ''The Times''. He remained there until 1910, leaving to try his hand at freelance journalism. He authored several books and numerous articles and served as an officer during World War I. Later, Fullerton joined the staff of

Le Figaro ''Le Figaro'' () is a French daily morning newspaper founded in 1826. It is headquartered on Boulevard Haussmann in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. The oldest national newspaper in France, ''Le Figaro'' is one of three French Newspaper of recor ...

, where he remained until his death in 1952. It was Fullerton's extensive knowledge of the world of publishing that led him to assist author

(with whom, at the time, he was involved) in publishing the French translation of her classic novel

The House of Mirth ''The House of Mirth'' is a 1905 novel by American author Edith Wharton. It tells the story of Lily Bart, a well-born but impoverished woman belonging to New York City's high society around the end of the 19th century. Wharton creates a portrait ...

, through a well-known magazine.

Personal life

Morton has been described as "Singularly attaching… a dashing well-tailored man with large Victorian moustache and languid eyes, a bright flower in his button hole, and the style of a 'masher'." After graduating, he was intimate with

George Santayana Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás, known in English as George Santayana (; December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952), was a Spanish and US-American philosopher, essayist, poet, and novelist. Born in Spain, Santayana was raise ...

and close to

Bernard Berenson Bernard Berenson (June 26, 1865 – October 6, 1959) was an American art historian specializing in the Renaissance. His book ''The Drawings of the Florentine Painters'' was an international success. His wife Mary is thought to have had a larg ...

. Upon moving to London he befriended Hamilton Aidé and became the lover of

Lord Ronald Gower Lord Ronald Charles Sutherland-Leveson-Gower (2 August 1845 – 9 March 1916), was a British sculptor, best known for his statue of Shakespeare in Stratford-upon-Avon. He also wrote biographies of Marie Antoinette and Joan of Arc, as well as s ...

. From 1906 to 1909 he was famously involved in an affair with American Pulitzer Prize–winning author

. They met in the summer of that year after being introduced by mutual friend

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was th ...

. She undoubtedly considered him the love of her life, describing him as her "ideal intellectual partner". However they were never 'officially' together, as Wharton was already married and Fullerton's highly promiscuous personality prevented him from ever committing to a serious relationship. After the affair ended, Wharton, who was fiercely guarded when it came to her private life, requested that Fullerton destroy every letter she had ever sent him in order to avoid any scandal. The affair itself, although suspected, was not confirmed until the 1980s. Fullerton had ignored Wharton's request and had kept all of her letters, which were eventually published as a book, ''The Letters of Edith Wharton'', in 1988. The affair probably helped inspire an erotic fragment for ''Beatrice Palmato'', a novel that Wharton outlined but didn't pursue, given that the incestuous father-daughter relationship at its core would make it unpublishable.Erlich, Gloria C. ''The Sexual Education of Edith Wharton.'' Berkeley: University of California Press He was also engaged to his half cousin

Katharine Fullerton Gerould Katharine Elizabeth Fullerton Gerould (February 6, 1879 – July 27, 1944) was an American writer and essayist. Biography Katharine Fullerton was born in Brockton, Massachusetts, and became the adopted daughter of Reverend Bradford Morton Fullert ...

, but the engagement was called off when Fullerton postponed the wedding. Katharine, sick of waiting, went on to marry another man and become a successful author in her own right. Around the same time he was engaged to Katharine and also involved with Wharton, Fullerton lived with an older woman named Mme Mirecourt, in Paris, but the affair ended disastrously and Fullerton was left owing her a great deal of money. Morton also had a long affair with the Ranee of Sarawak,

Margaret Brooke Margaret, Lady Brooke, Ranee of Sarawak (born Margaret Alice Lili de Windt; 9 October 1849 – 1 December 1936) was the ranee of the second White Rajah of Sarawak, Charles Anthony Johnson Brooke. She published her memoir, ''My Life in Sarawak'' ...

. A biography, ''Mysteries of Paris: The Quest for Morton Fullerton'', was published in 2001 by Marion Mainwaring.

References

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The Sexual Education of Edith Wharton
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# # ttp://www.npg.si.edu/exh/wharton/whar3.htm Edith Wharton#
Matt & Andrej Koymasky - Famous GLTB - William Morton Fullerton
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The Sexual Education of Edith Wharton
#

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No Gifts from Chance: A Biography of Edith Wharton
#

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fullerton, William Morton 1865 births 1952 deaths Harvard University alumni American male journalists American LGBT journalists Phillips Academy alumni