Sarah Orne Jewett Letters of 1893
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Bucklin Davenport Claflin
South Berwick
2 January 1893
Dear Mrs. Claflin
It was so good of you to think of me at Christmas time! I have taken the forget-me-nots in good earnest ^because you see I didn't exactly need them !!^ [ begin insertion below the line] except in their capacity as a [needle back ? end insertion below the line] -- I only wish that we were near enough to talk together for it seems such a long time since I saw you and there are so many things to be said. The year that has just closed has been a
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year of change and loss, but I hope that this new [one blotted] will be full of good cheer and hopefulness to you and to me and all those whom we love. And yet this very morning came the news of dear kind Mr. Horsford's death.* I feel so sorry for them all, and I know so well how hard it is to bear such a sudden blow -- ---
I have been very little in Town* since I came back in October, now and [then corrected] I go to Charles St. for a Sunday or for two or three days and
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once Mrs. Fields* has been here. We did not know that you and the governor had gone South until one day when Mrs. Fields went ^to 63*^ hoping to find you and was told that you had flown -- but directly after that all the newspapers spoke of it! --
I wish that I knew where you are! I am proud to say that we are not having a terrible New England winter this year -- As I look out of my windows it seems like April, but I suppose that snow will be falling soon. This appears to be the January thaw with nothing to thaw.
We are all pretty well, and as busy as usual
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with works and ways.* Mary* spent week before last with Mrs. Tyler* and found the new house very pleasant. I had a great plan about making the girls' and Theodore* go South with me when January came in, but so far we have hardly wished for any change of climate -- The few cold days have not been unwelcome. Yet I do envy you -- it is lovely to be where green things are growing. Dont you believe that if "Thy friend"* had once gone to Florida and escaped his months of neuralgia he would have done it every year with joy? How we miss him, dont we! I went to the Amesbury memorial meeting,* with the Cartlands* and it was interesting -- "in a way" -- Dr. Leslie's* brief address was very simple and touching and what thy friend would
[ up the left margin and across the top margin of page one ]
have liked -- but I didn't care much for 'Senator' Patterson's* address. Mrs. Fields has not been free from her winter colds [ink spot?] I am sorry to say but she has been getting out a good deal, the weather has been fair. I seem to say a good deal about weather in this letter but it is the time of year when one is often reminded of it!
Good by. I wish you and
[ Written up the left margin of page two ]
Mr. Claflin a happy new year -- I wish I could spent this afternoon with you both instead of only sending a stupid letter. Please give
[ Written up the left margin of page three ]
my love to Mary* [unrecognized word] when you write. Yours always affectionately
[ Written down the top margin of page three ]
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes
Mr. Horsford's death: Eben Norton Horsford died on 1 January 1893. See Key to Correspondents. The first page of this letter has a black border, presumably to indicate mourning for Professor Horsford.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
63: The Claflin's winter home was 63 Mount Vernon St. in Boston.
works and ways: In her letters, Jewett several times repeats this phrase, sometimes within quotation marks. The actual phrase does not appear, as one might expect, in the King James Bible, though it is suggested in several places: Psalms 145:17, Daniel 4:37, and Revelations 15:3. In each of these passages, the biblical author refers to the works and ways of God. Jewett may be quoting from another source or from commentary on these passages, which tend to emphasize that while God's ways are mysterious, they also are to be accepted humbly by humanity.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Tyler: Augusta Maria Denny Tyler. See Key to Correspondents.
the girls' and Theodore: Presumably, Jewett refers to the family members living next door to each other in 1893, sisters Mary Rice Jewett and Carrie Augusta Eastman and Carrie's son, Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
"Thy friend": John Greenleaf Whittier. See Key to Correspondents.
the Amesbury memorial meeting: The New York Times of 18 December, 1892, p. 5, reported a 17 December Amesbury, MA "Memorial to Whittier" on the birthday following his death on 7 September of that year. The article reports:
The exercises were held in the Opera House this afternoon and were of a special memorial character. Among those present were Prof. E. C. Smythe, Andover; Abigail Dodge, (Gail Hamilton,) Lucy Stone, John W. Hutchinson, Lynn; Henry Cabot Lodge, E. Mody Boynton, Brooklyn; Charles Carleton Coffin, Prof. Bancroft of Andover, and others of local professional and literary note.Cartlands: Richard Cary says that Joseph Cartland (1810-1898) and Gertrude Cartland (1822-1911) accompanied Whittier on his summer vacations in Maine and New Hampshire for five decades, and Whittier lived in their home at Newburyport, Massachusetts most of his last fifteen winters.
The exercises opened with a prayer by the Rev. Dr. William J. Tucker of Andover and the singing of "Immortal Love, Forever Full," words by Mr. Whittier, by a quartet. The President of the day, Dr. H. G. Leslie, then addressed the gathering. Dr. Leslie read a touching poem by Margaret Sangster, following which Prof. Churchill of Andover read selections from the songs of the dead poet. Those were followed by an oration by the Hon. James W. Patterson of Hanover, N.H. In the course of his analysis of the personal character and literary work of the dead poet, he said ....
[ The reporter quotes at some length from the oration. ]
At the conclusion of the oration, Miss Harriet Whittier of Cambridge sang a solo. Prof. Churchill read "The Reformer," and the quartet sang "While the Years Roll on" and Whittier's poem, "Just a Song at Twilight." Prof. Churchill read brief poetical tributes contributed by Harriet Prescott Spofford, Lucy Larcom, Robert Purvis, and Louise Chandler Moulton, and letters of regret from Oliver Wendell Holmes, Robert C. Winthrop, E. C. Stedman, Gov. Russell, Gov. H. A. Tuttle of New-Hampshire, Charles Dudley Warner, Louise Chandler Moulton, Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, Celia Thaxter, Henry L. Dawes, William H. Haile, A. E. Pillsbury, Robert Purvis, and William Cogswell. The exercise closed with a benediction.
Dr. Leslie's address: Horace Granville Leslie (1842-1907), a physician and poet, served as a surgeon in the Civil War. See The Granite Monthly: A New Hampshire Magazine, Volume 39 (1907), p. 326.
'Senator' Patterson's address: James Willis Patterson (July 2, 1823 - May 4, 1893) was an American politician and a United States Representative and Senator from New Hampshire.
Mary: Mary Ellis, Mrs. Claflin's step-granddaughter. See Emma Ellis in Key to Correspondents. The manuscript of this letter is held by Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in the Governor William and Mary Claflin Papers, GA-9, Box 4, Miscellaneous Folder J. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
William Perkins Babcock* to Sarah Orne Jewett
Barbizon Seine & Marne,
3rd Jan. '93 (A very happy new year).
My dear Miss Jewett,
The day before Christmas, I received your beautiful birds and flowers; the cold was intense, and I welcomed & took to heart most gladly the whole company; which Soon* began to nestle -- [ & tussle ? ], and as their voices thawed, to chirp, to warble, and to Sing I dont Know what charming Songs, not in the Japanese tongue only, but ^in^ Some universal language of joy & gladness: So that with the blooming flowers, the exotic perfume -- [ & musical ? ] gossip, we all [ became ? ] friends, and turning winter into Summer, had really a pleasant garden-party.
In turn, I sat down and played to my new guests -- (my usual way of "letting off steam", when oppressed with excess of joy or Sadness): the little birds were Silent and attentive, and Seemed to comprehend what I hardly understood myself; but when I tried Some Paderewski* ^(?)^ touches, the owl began to "hoot," and the Storks to [ fleck ? ] at my crazy bones; -- So for want of Elbow-room, I closed my piano, and laid the birds flat at rest, in their album.
But to Speak Seriously, I was indeed glad to get indirect news from you. I had for a long time been tempted to write, but hesitated & delayed, fearing to appear importunate, and to claim your attention, when after your long absence, you must have been fully interested & occupied with your own affairs.
"Out of Sight, out of mind --" is often true, and very natural, & Surely I would not have been tempted to complain; for your last letter, from England,
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gave me great Pleasure, it was very generous, and although I extracted every particle of its genial charm, I could not, like Oliver,* pretend to ask for more: he, poor child, had a Small mouth but an Exacting Stomach, besides which, his gruel was thin, and ceremoniously served.
At present I take great pleasure, in thanking Mrs Fields* and yourself, for your Kind and timely remembrances. I hope you have been quite well, and that all you may have wished for, has happily come to pass.
I Enjoyed your visit last Summer most particularly. I may safely say, it brought me "bonheur" for I have not, for many years, received so much attention, met -- so many Sympathetic & appreciative friends -- strangers, or received so many Kind letters, and handsome presents: it seemed almost like a Conspiracy to "Spoil" me, were it possible to Spoil an old man of nearly 70. All of which imposes duties that are not easy to perform, but must be accomplished.
I wish I possessed a cheerful temperament (a rich gift ) and was not so affected by the trials of life.
Joshua Reynolds* Said that "the secret of happiness, was in not being annoyed by "trifling" circumstances;{"} that would appear wise to one possessing an impenetrable epiderm, but what can be done with thin-Skinned Sensitive People!
In introducing me to Madame Blanc,* you made me acquainted with a charming and very distinguished lady, possessing remarkable talent.
After you left Barbizon, She had the Extreme Kindness to bring me Eight volumes of "Thoreau" and the "Gods in Greece", -- -- for all of which I am indebted to you. I had the pleasure of Seeing her twice
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after your departure. The last time with her son, I found her very sympathetic & encouraging.
Allston* said "A man of Genius", (or simply talent) "should not aim at praise, except in the form of Sympathy: this assures him of his success, since it meets the feeling which possessed himself". Mme Blanc seemed pleased with some Studies in Composition, (subjects for pictures) etc, which I showed her: I hope we may meet again, perhaps in early Spring.
Let me thank you for your kind advice in regard to health and restoratives, ( coca, [ alum ? ], Etc Etc).
It seems amusing, for an old man, to receive medical advice from such a young doctor as yourself: you are truly a Charming M.D., and the Sight of you alone, would do more good, than Even your prescriptions. Though all you advise is excellent, as artificial aid.
I suppose your pen is always very busy, & I hope you are occupied with some work that delights you, that will come from the press as your "chef* d'oeuvre".
I find there is no object in life worth a nut-Shell, in comparison to -- work, on Condition of improving; Earnest work is Sincere prayer.
Hoping, at your leisure, you will Kindly give me ^good^ news of yourself & Mrs. Fields, to whom I send warmest regards (souvenir affectueux).* I pray you dear Miss Jewett to remember me, as truly your very affectionate friend
Wm P Babcock
P.S.
Although you have a pen that [ runs rapidly ? ]
r.s.v.p.
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= (faster than my brush,) besides having a "tender"* to furnish continually combustion [ & warmth ? ], I will not impose upon you, by hoping for a long letter in reply: the assurance that all goes well with you, will give me much pleasure.[ Up the left margin of page 3 ]
13th Jan. 1893
The weather is bitter cold, here, barbarously So; my fingers are stiff. What the [ poor ? ] can do to Keep life in, God only Knows. A beggar travelling towards Fontainebleau{,} a young* man, and Six children, with hardly Clothes, (thin) enough to cover them, just knocked at my door; what can one do for such?
I have a friend in England, who has a Princely Estate in the country; -- Electric light, 12 horses in his stables, etc, -- and Every thing in Keeping; he is wealthy & generous, & yet from principle,* turns the poor, (beggars & tramps {)} from his doors ! ! ! ?
I wish you may live long enough to see all that changed, as change it will,* as surely as that the [ earth corrected ] continues to turn.
But to finish with Something beautiful, cheerful & Consoling from Allston & Renan, the great!*
"No genuine work of Art ever was, or ever can be, produced but for its own Sake; if the painter does not conceive to please himself, he will not finish to please the world."
"If an Artist love his art for its own Sake, he will delight in Excellence wherever* he meets it, as well in the work of another, as in his own. This is the test of a true love." And Renan says, " Je ne crois plus que le Christianism Soit le résumé Surnaturel de ce que l'homme doit Savoir; mais je persiste à croire que l'existence est la chose du monde la plus frivole, Si on ne la conçoit comme un grand, et continuel devoir." Is that not consoling and good to work upon?* W.P.B.
Jan 17th
My birthday 67!! Helas! For my life, I have not been able to find your add', &havetake
[ Up the right margin of page 3 ]
the liberty of sending this letter to the care Mr. Bradlee.*
Notes
Babcock: Some readers have believed this letter is by American author, William H. Babcock, which is not surprising given the eccentric signature. However, the writer gives his 67th birthday as January 1893, which identifies him as the expatriate American painter, William Perkins Babcock (1826-1899). Note also his references to painters in the notes below.
Soon: Babcock employs eccentric capitalization. I have attempted to transcribe his words as they appear.
Paderewski: Polish pianist and composer, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941). Wikipedia.
Oliver: Babcock refers to Oliver Twist, the protagonist of the 1837-9 novel of that name by British author Charles Dickens (1812-1870).
Fields: Annie Adams Fields. Key to Correspondents.
Joshua Reynolds: British painter Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792). Wikipedia.
Babcock's quotation, which looks more like a paraphrase, has not yet been located.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. Key to Correspondents.
Thoreau ... Gods in Greece: American author, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862). Wikipedia.
American author and classics educator, Louis Dyer (1851-1908) was the author of Studies of the Gods in Greece (1891) Wikipedia.
Allston: American painter, Washington Allston (1779-1843). Wikipedia.
The quotation appears in a posthumous collection of Allston's Lectures on Art (1850), in a section of aphorisms, "Sentences Written by Mr. Allston on the Walls of His Studio" (p. 172).
chef: Babcock has underlined this word twice.
affectueux: French. Affectionate remembrance.
young: This word is underlined twice, as is "can."
principle: This word is underlined twice.
tender: This seems clearly what Babcock wrote. Perhaps he intended a pun on "tinder?"
will: In this sentence "long enough" is underlined twice, and "it will" is underlined 3 times.
great: This word is underlined twice.
French scholar and philosopher, Joseph Ernest Renan (1823-1892). Wikipedia.
Babcock quotes from Renan's "Memories of Childhood / Souvenirs d'Enfance," Revue des Deux Mondes 42 (1880), p. 71. Wikisource translation: "I no longer believe that Christianity is the supernatural summary of what man must know; but I persist in believing that existence is the most frivolous thing in the world, if we do not conceive of it as a great and continual duty."
The quotation from Allston also appears in Lectures on Art (1850), Aphorisms, p. 167, where it is attributed to Swiss-British painter, Henry Fuseli (1741-1825). It may be found in The Life and Writings of Henry Fuseli, Esq. v. 3 (1831) by John Knowles.
wherever: This word is underlined twice.
work upon: These words are underlined twice.
In the previous underlined part of the French quotation from Renan, this portion is underlined twice: Si on ne la conceit comme un grand, et. [ if we do not conceive of it as a great and ].
67: This number is underlined twice.
Bradlee: This transcription is uncertain, and this person has not yet been identified.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743 Box 1, Item 14 I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Chauncey Woolsey to Sarah Orne Jewett
Newport January 11
[ 1893 ]*
Dearest Sarah -- I shall send this to South Berwick on the chance of your being there, though I hope you are with Mrs Fields* instead, for it must be cruelly cold in Maine{.} And you are by no means fit to face the snows. I wonder if the enclosed has met your eyes. It seems to Dora* and me rather a happy solution of the Chicago problems, and we are wondering if perhaps you and Mary would not like to join forces with us and perhaps three or four other people and make up
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a little party to go together, days in the second week of May? There is no likelihood of heat then, and the crowd will not be so bad as in the three succeeding months. And I hear excellent accounts of the Raymond* management. It is always generous and thoroughly well arranged and the new hotel near the Fair buildings seems a great advantage. To see an Exposition takes enough out of one without [ adding corrected ] fifteen miles of steamboat or railway every day.
[ Page 3 ]Write me how this strikes you and Mary,* and I will make further enquiries of the Raymond people. Unless, indeed, you are in Boston, and could interview them personally, which would be even better. I suppose the price varies with the accommodations, and we should want a [ section ? ] apiece for the passage, as neither of us is adapted for upper berths -- or a drawing room compartment [ with ? ] the down=stairs beds. --
It would be such an
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immense addition to the pleasure of it all to have you and Mary along. Do you suppose there would be any chance of S.Ws going with us? I think I know two very especially nice girls who would like to join and whom you would like.
When are you coming to see me? I am glad you are not freezing in the [ 2 unrecognized words ] at this minute, but the mercury was lower last night than for ten years, and it wont stay so long. We are going to peg it up to that [ are or all ] [ 2 unrecognized words ] can come any time -- -- Love to whoever you are with Coolidge
Notes
1893: This date is confirmed by discussion in the letter of plans to attend the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, IL, 5 May to 31 October 1893.
Associated with this letter is an envelope addressed to Jewett in South Berwick, canceled 13 January. No year is readable, but it seems reasonable to associate these two documents.
Of special interest are notes Jewett appears to have written on the envelope, snippets mostly related to her story, "All My Sad Captains," which first appeared in Century Magazine in September 1895.
Front of the envelope down from the left side:
A man can keep his eye on such thing as a lady cant.Back of the envelope down from the left side. There are figures, a "300" and two multiplication solutions, in addition to the following text:
Exactly so ^Capin^ Witherspoon said Captain Crowe --but there wasnosatisfaction in his
Captain Crowe
Mrs. Witherspoon could only see them from the ground, but I opened [ the skylight ? ] and made a careful inspection.It is clear that these notes come from early in Jewett's composition process. None of this text appears verbatim in the story. Captains Crowe and Witherspoon appear there, but Captain London does not. The topic under consideration here probably is a widow's roof, an issue of importance in the story.
Capn London [ 90x ? ] Exactly
to [ unrecognized word ]
Capn London said Captain
London
Crowe absently, with a little sigh.
He ought not to have
She was [ deletion] anxious, but she [ deletion ] could not view them herself
and when I
Fields: Annie Adams Fields. Key to Correspondents.
Dora: Dora was, presumably, Woolsey's sister, Theodora Walton Woolsey (1840-1910).
Raymond management: According to Richard Cary, Jewett attended the Columbian Exposition with Annie Fields and "Susan Coolidge" (Sarah Chauncey Woolsey) soon after it opened in May 1893.
Raymond & Whitcomb, a New York travel agency, provided travel, hotel and tour arrangements for the exposition from various eastern starting points. Customers stayed at the Raymond and Whitcomb Grand Hotel in Chicago, which promised convenience, comfort, and pure Wisconsin water.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. Key to Correspondents.
S.W: Sarah Wyman Whitman. Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743 Box 5, Item 244.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Samuel Wesley Marvin
17 January 1893My dear Mr Marvin
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End Letterhead ]
I have been deeply interested in my friend Mrs Burnett's work upon Mr Lowell's unfinished revision of Donne* which is soon to be published by the Grolier Club.* Is there any chance of my getting a copy? I do not like tohavetake one of Mrs. Burnetts because she
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has promised one to Mrs. Fields* also, and that is, in a sense mine because we are so often together and have so many books in common, but I should very much like to have a copy of my own, for every reason.
I always wonder, now that I am older and wiser, if when you once spoke of the possibility of my joining the club, years ago, I could have shown myself fainthearted, or by which
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chance I failed to join if the chance were really mine! But I never take one of your books in my hand without delight -- Mr. Lowell gave Mrs. Fields the Areopagitica* and it keeps its place on the library table and never gets "put away" --
I wish that you would give my best regard to your sister* when you see her or are writing to her, and tell her that the four-leaved clovers are
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still green in my memory.
And believe me ever
Yours most sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes
Mrs. Burnett ... Mr. Lowell's unfinished revision of Donne: The Poems of John Donne From The Text of the Edition of 1633 Revised by James Russell Lowell With the Various Readings of the Other Editions of the Seventeenth Century, and with a Preface, an Introduction, and Notes by Charles Eliot Norton, New York: Grolier Club, 1895. Mabel Lowell (Mrs. Edward) Burnett, daughter of American poet, James Russell Lowell, assisted in the preparation of this volume. Link to on-line texts: volume 1 volume 2.
Grolier Club: The Grolier Club is a private society of bibliophiles in New York City, founded in 1884.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Areopagitica: A 1644 anti-censorship essay by British poet John Milton. The Grolier Club edition appeared in 1890.
your sister: Marvin's sister was Julia Kirk Marvin. How she is connected in Jewett's mind with four-leaved clovers is not yet known. It is possible that they had some communication about Jewett's poem, "Perseverance," in which four-leaved clovers are significant.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Small Library, University of Virginia, Special Collections MSS 6218, Sarah Orne Jewett Papers. With the letter manuscript is a copy of Jewett's card, which reads: Sarah O. Jewett. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Charles Eliot Norton* to Sarah Orne Jewett
Shady Hill. 20 Jany. 1893.
Dear Miss Jewett,
I thank you for sending me these notes of Lowell's. They are pleasant and precious memorials of him. There was so much life and virtue in him that they overcome the common non-conductory and made his pen and his paper parts of himself. You feel the warm touch of his
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hand in every [ deletion ] letter that he wrote.
But I question about publishing in the volumes of his "Letters" these which you so kindly offer me. The [ notelet ? ] to you would lose a little of its charm (would it not?) were it [ deletion ] read by the indifferent and simply curious readers, -- curious with the impertinent curiosity which vulgarizes & degrades our age, and stations reporters at the very gates of Heaven.
[ Page 3 ]
And though I heavily sympathize with the judgment expressed in the pointed letter,* & wish it might be known to all [ deletion ] ^men^, -- yet I think the critical and discriminating reader would discover in it the tone of words meant for advertising, and would wish rather for some off hand and incidental expression ofhis^Lowell's^ regard for your work. I may be too fastidious, and I will ask some fair-minded lover of yours before deciding.
[ Page 4 ]
I hope you are keeping warm at South Berwick, and can enjoy the sparkling beauty of these winter days.
I am
Faithfully Yours
C. E. Norton.
Miss Jewett.
Notes
Norton: See Sara Norton in Key to Correspondents.
Associated with this letter is an envelope addressed to Jewett in South Berwick, ME, and cancelled on 22 January 1893.
pointed letter: Here Norton probably refers to a letter of July 1891, James Russell Lowell to Constable. The "notelet" may be Lowell's 26 April 1891 letter to Jewett. Neither of these letters appeared in Letters of James Russell Lowell (2 v., 1893), edited by Charles Eliot Norton.
For Lowell, see Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence, bMS Am 1743 Box 4, Item 166. I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ 21 January 1893 ]*
Dear old fellow. I fear that Friday would be an impossible night for me, indeed Wednesday is the only moment when I venture to think I might: & even that "as
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[ unrecognized words ] !" -- so you must act with absolute freedom -- & not think of the [ unrecognized word bearer ? ] of a dark lantern. But my! how much this is to say: & as to Deephaven [unrecognized words ] in for the [ little ? ] Woodburys most handsome, feeling sure you would want them. This
[ Page 3 ]
between the dinner bell & dinner.
[ Thine ? ]
_SW_*
Notes
21 January 1893: The envelope associated with this letter, addressed to Jewett in South Berwick, is cancelled lightly, probably in 1893. This date is confirmed when Whitman refers to the illustrators, Charles and Marcia Woodbury, of the 1893 edition of Jewett's novel, Deephaven (1877). See Key to Correspondents.
It is unfortunate that I am not able to transcribe the sentence mentioning the Woodburys, for it suggests that Jewett may have asked Whitman to create illustrations for her new edition as well as the cover, and that Whitman deferred to the Woodburys on the illustrations.
SW: Whitman varies in this signature from her typical long line beneath the initials. Instead she draws an extended >.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Whitman, Sarah (Wyman) 1842-1904. 92 letters; [1884]-[1903] & [n.d.] Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 -107. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Annie Adams Fields
Ports. Jan 25th (93Dearest Annie:
They thanked you much & asked me to say so for them. I am thinking of you continually about Phillip Brooks.* How almost paralysing are these blows! Alas for the myriads who so love him that his light is so soon withdrawn!
I have promised those poor people in the black [ shadow corrected ] to take Karl & return to them for a few days. It seemed as if they could not let me go & I had to promise I would return & stay with them from Friday morning till Monday morng, bringing my care with me -- he will be content for that space of time, I think. And I shall run
[ Page 2 ]
in to see you, dear, if only for a moment, I hope. I send back your book with many thanks -- Ever & ever Annie dearest your loving
C.
Notes
Phillips Brooks: Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and Bishop of Massachusetts, died January 23, 1893, and was buried on the 26th. See Key to Correspondents
shadow: Thaxter had a number of Boston friends likely to be deeply affected by the death of Bishop Brooks, but it is not yet known to which she refers here.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Boston Public Library, Rare Books Department, Celia Thaxter correspondence with Annie Fields, 1869-1893,
MS C.1.38 Box 2 Folder 6 (250-269) https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/qb98p7808
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Horace E. Scudder
148 Charles Street
Boston
[January 27, 1893]
Dear Mr. Scudder:Should you like to print this brief remembrance of yesterday in The Contributors' Club?1
Yours sincerely,
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes1 Date and topic are established by an annotation on page 4 of this letter: "In C. C. after Bishop Brooks's funeral." Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), rector of Trinity Church, Boston, and Bishop of Massachusetts, died January 23, 1893, and was buried on the 26th. The sketch appeared, unsigned, under the title "At the Funeral of Phillips Brooks," in The Contributors' Club, Atlantic Monthly, LXXI (April 1893), 566-567. See Miss Jewett to Mrs. George D. Howe in Fields, Letters, 107-108.
This letter is edited and annotated by Richard Cary in Sarah Orne Jewett Letters; the ms. is held by Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, Maine.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Samuel Thomas Pickard
148 Charles street
Tuesday 31st Jan. [1893]
Dear Mr. Pickard
Your letter finds me here and fills me with hot anger. The day I went to Amesbury to the memorial service I fell in with Phebe* who seated herself beside me and during the long wait in the train at the station and the short journey to Newburyport she talked of their fancied wrongs in a way that completely lost her anything that was left of an interest. I have tried to keep hold of her for dear Mr. Whittier's* sake. I answered her in a general way, but I hated what she said and the air of low gossip and vulgar talebearing with which she said it. After I gladly left her and Mr. Garrison and I were making the rest of the journey to town he told me that they were behaving badly and that Phebe had been at the office in Park St.* and much offended their sense of propriety with these ridiculous stories. I heard from him the true tale of the last days at Hampton Falls.* Mrs. Fields* and I have wondered why our dear friend had evidently lost all interest in staying at Oak Knoll,* after appearing so pleased and contented there in earlier years: it came out in many ways and made him sad and troubled.
It is very hard for you and Mrs. Pickard to have this going on, and I grieve bitterly for the dear friends at Newburyport, but it will all pass, it is not truth: and being beneath contempt we must not let ourselves be too much troubled about it. You need not fear the prejudice of any one who really knows the least bit about the last five [years?] of Mr. Whittier's life. I have heard so many people wonder why he didn't [talk?] about Oak Knoll as he used -- and these revelations will tell another tale [than?] the one the cousins have in mind.
I am most sorry that you are hampered in the use of material* -- but per[haps?] I drop this word of consolation into your ear -- they may be ambitious to [sell?] any fragments of material as soon as possible which will put them within [your?] reach!
Mrs. Fields sends her very kind regards to you both, and wished me to [tell?] you that she happens to have a little book about our dear friend which she [thinks?] you may not know by Mr. George Stewart of Quebec* & there is a particularly valuable list in it of papers that had been written about him. She will [send?] it to you with great pleasure if you do not know it; it is an out of the [way?] little book but you may, for all that, have it close under your hand.
I have been hoping to see you both and wishing to write. I am picking [out?] my letters as I promised, as fast as I can, but there will not be many of [any?] length, for as I have said, those were written to Mrs. Fields and so, he [wrote?] to both of us.
I am particularly glad in view of all this trouble that Mrs. Fields said [what?] she did of the last days, of "those nearest to him" who ministered & his [love?] for Amesbury & the Cartlands.* Believe me your sincere friend
Sarah O. Jewett
I have been thinking that in the spring you ought to come to S. Berwick so [that?] I may drive you down the riverside, at Rollinsford and show you some places [where?] Mr. Whittier used to visit with his mother.
Notes
Phebe ... Mr. Whittier: Jewett refers to her friend, the recently deceased poet, John Greenleaf Whittier. Richard Cary says: "Phebe Woodman Grantham was the adopted daughter of Whittier's cousin Abby J. Woodman. In her childhood she lived at Oak Knoll and was the object of much affection by Whittier, who wrote the poem "Red Riding Hood" for her. She became extremely possessive of Whittier in later life and, from accounts in Albert Mordell's biography and a letter by Miss Jewett to Samuel T. Pickard, could be unseemly sharp in defending her interest."
Mr. Garrison ... the office in Park St: Francis Jackson Garrison of Houghton, Mifflin. 4 Park Street in Boston was the address of the publisher and of Atlantic Monthly.
Hampton Falls: Whittier died on 7 September, 1892 at Hampton Falls, New Hampshire.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Oak Knoll: Richard Cary says: "In 1875 Whittier's cousins, the Misses Johnson and Abby J. Woodman, purchased a farm of sixty acres in Danvers and invited him to make his home there whenever he wished. The place was notable for beautiful lawns, orchards, gardens, and grapevines. Whittier suggested the name of "Oak Knoll," which was immediately adopted."
hampered in the use of material: Pickard was preparing his Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier (1894).
Mr. George Stewart of Quebec: George Stewart (1848-1906) of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada was an editor, publisher, pharmacist, and author. His book, Essays from Reviews (1892) contains a critical and biographical paper on Whittier.
Cartlands: Richard Cary says: "Joseph Cartland (1810-1898) and Gertrude Cartland (1822-1911), ... accompanied Whittier on his summer vacations in Maine and New Hampshire for five decades, ... in whose home at Newburyport, Massachusetts, he lived most of his last fifteen winters."
This text is from transcriptions from mixed repositories, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, folder 63, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection. For more information about the individual transcription, contact the Maine Women Writers Collection. Notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mary O. Long to Sarah Orne Jewett
"Aunt Mary"*
Exeter Jan -- 31.st 1893.
My dear Sarah
What a splendid present! I thank you most warmly for so munificently remembering me. My stock in hand was getting low, & I was casting about in my mind how I was to replenish it when lo! the delightful solution came in this box of the real [ Simon ? ] Pure,* which of course I never dreamed would come within
[ Page 2 ]
my reach again. Pierce's 'Best Old Rye'* is what I have been living on. A table spoonful of which in a tumbler full of warm milk is my usual night cap. Before dinner I take a table spoonful of 'Old Medford'* -- & these homeopathic doses I consider have been the instruments that have kept me in health & strength.
[ Page 3 ]
I am so delighted to hear of your new stories in the near future!
I very much want another "dear little visit" from you & Mary,* & why cannot you both take your bags & come to me some day next week? Any day after Tuesday -- that the washing & ironing may be out of the way -- I will give you loving welcome. Choose your own time only let me
[ Page 4 ]
know the day before, that your room may be thoroughly warmed.
My dear love to the sisters three.
Always most affectionately
your aunt
Mary O. Long.
Notes
"Aunt Mary": This letter is in pencil; this line appears to be in another hand.
Simon Pure: This transcription is uncertain. If it is correct, then Long may refer to a patent medicine. The common term "simon pure" comes from a character in A Bold Stroke for a Wife (1718), a satirical play by British author and actor, Susanna Centlivre (1669-1723). Pure is an upright Quaker preacher in the play. Wikipedia.
Rye: Ray V. Pierce (1840-1914) was a New York politician and purveyor of patent medicines such as "Dr. Pierce's Favorite Prescription" and "Best Old Rye." The latter apparently was also used in cooking. Wikipedia.
Medford: This transcription is uncertain, and this patent medicine has not yet been identified.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. The third sister was Carrie Jewett Eastman. Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743 Box 3, Item 135 I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Dana Estes
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick Maine
[ End letterhead ]
[ To the right of the letterhead 3 Feby ]
[ 1895 ]*
Dear Mr. Estes
I cannot refuse to let my name stand on such a committee -- but I am afraid that I cannot promise to do much service. I am still very far from
[ Page 2 ]well, and find it most difficult to take up my affairs again. You give me great pleasure by what you tell me of Miss Hersey's* interest and kindness in speaking of my work and ^for^ reading Decoration Day. .*
In
[ Page 3 ]
fact the newspaper reports, brief as they were, gave me much pleasure. I do not stand exactly in the position of most of the members of the projected society of Daughters of Maine.* as I count myself entirely a Maine person
[ Page 4 ]
and not a (transplanted) Boston citizen [ even corrected ] though I may spend many weeks of the winter within the limits of Ward Nine!
I thank you for your kindness and interest and ^I^ congratulate you on the success of the Maine Dinner.*
Yours very truly
S. O. Jewett
Notes
1893: Cary assigned this letter to 1895. Presumably his rationale was that Jewett would have come to know about the Daughters club when it was incorporated in 1895. This conclusion is problematic.
Cary dates the club's beginning to 1892, and Jewett describes it here as "projected," as if Estes has just informed her about it in his letter to her. 1892 was the year "Decoration Day" was published and, therefore, the first year Hersey could have performed it.
I hypothesize, therefore, that Jewett wrote this letter in February 1893 in response to an invitation to participate in the establishment of the Daughters of Maine Club.
Hersey: Richard Cary identified Heloise Edwina Hersey (1855-1933), who was "born in Oxford, Maine, ... a professor of English at Smith College and a Browning scholar, an editorial writer for Youth's Companion, and a popular lecturer. At this time [ 1895 ] she was conducting a school for girls in Boston." Wikipedia.
Decoration Day: Jewett's story first appeared in Harper's Magazine in June 1892 and was collected in A Native of Winby (1893).
Maine Club: Cary says: "The Daughters of Maine Club was organized in Massachusetts in January 1892 and incorporated in July 1895. One stipulation of its constitution: 'Membership in this Club shall be restricted to women who were born in the State of Maine.' This society was the female counterpart of the Pine Tree State Club."
Maine Dinner: Estes invited Jewett to attend the Maine Dinner of the Pine Tree State Club in 1891; see Jewett to Estes of 22 January 1891.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, ME: JEWE.1. Richard Cary included his transcription in Sarah Orne Jewett Letters.
New transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Laighton Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett,
Portsmouth, February 5, 1893.
Oh, you dear and kindest, wisest and helpfulest! I thought I should remember every one and every word of your suggestions when you spoke them, but, alas! I rack my stupid and empty brain in vain for most of them, coming home to my turning, cleansing, ripping, patching, fixing-over dressmaker. These petty nothings have filled my head with only cobwebs, so that, when I begin my introductory chapter, those precious notes you gave me are vanished and I grope for them again in vain.* The Pinafore going down river like a May-day procession I remember; the flowers being always young; the fruits of sweet and bitter experience, and the Greek thing I was to ask Roland* for, but the others are all gone. Perhaps you may remember. I am ashamed to be so stupid, but so many little cares come bothering me and taking what little sense I had. Pardon your loving
SANDPIPER.*
Notes
those precious notes: Thaxter is evidently at work on An Island Garden (1894). For example, the Pinafore, mentioned later, was the steam tug by which Thaxter regularly traveled between Portsmouth and the Islands of the Shoals (see pp. 17, 125).
Roland: Thaxter's youngest son. See Correspondents.
Sandpiper: In notes to his collection of Sarah Orne Jewett Letters, Richard Cary says: "Miss Jewett almost always alluded to Mrs. Thaxter as "Sandpiper," after her well-known poem of that name, and Mrs. Thaxter reciprocated by signing her letters with a sketch of the small bird."
This extract from a letter appears in Letters of Celia Thaxter Edited by her friends, A. F. [Annie Fields] and R. L. [Rose Lamb], The Riverside Press, H. O. Houghton, & Co, Cambridge, Mass. 1895. Annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
George Du Maurier to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ Begin letterhead ]
New Grove House
Hampstead Heath.
[ End letterhead ]
Feb 5. 1893
Dear Mifs Jewett,
Many thanks for your kind letter -- which I should have answered sooner -- but we're only just come back from lecturing in Ireland.
I don't think there is any chance of my being able to lecture away from England for some long time to come -- as I have so much to do here --
[ Page 2 ]
The prospect you hold to us (including my daughter) is very delightful -- far more so than any lecturing. Perhaps someday we shall be millionaires enough to go over for mere pleasure -- altho* I don't see much chance of it!
I will will write to [ Mr ? ] [ unrecognized name ] Lowell.*
We may assuredly look to see you & Mrs. Fields* again
[ Page 3 ]
over here before very long -- with [ tender ? ] regards to you both I remain
Yours very sincerely,
[ George ? ] du Maurier
Notes
Lowell: I am not able to make out the title and first name that appear here. This may a family member of du Maurier's close friend, James Russell Lowell who died in on 12 August 1891. See Key to Correspondents.
Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence Series: I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett MS Am 1743 (53) Du Maurier, George, 1834-1896. 4 letters; 1891-1893. This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Box 4, Folder 159, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
February 7, [1893]
Dear Loulie:
I take up my pen without premeditation to say how much I like my barberries. The calendar 'does' even better for February than for January but I couldn't begin to say why. I am much at my desk these days -- my eyes still trouble me but I find it easier to write than to read, and certain sketches have the advantage. Yesterday I finished the better part of a perfectly new one, which is to be told you when I see you again{;} it has such a funny little plot, or no plot,1 just which you please to say. It has no name yet, which is sad and strange -- usually I know the name when I don't know anything else!
Somehow I enjoyed my last visit to Charles St. very much. I have been thinking about it a good deal today because I was writing to two friends at a distance. The shock and sorrow of Mr. Brooks's2 death only had the effect of inspiring everybody in a wonderful way. I find that this is too great a thing to write about in one short letter. I should rather talk about it when I come and we find a quiet time, but it seemed to make a new Boston, him going, it was a lovely trail of light that he left behind like a greater sort of sunset that somehow turned at once into dawn.
I hope things are going well with you dear Loulie and that your mother is much better.
Yours with love & affection,
S. O. J.
Notes
1 "A Lonely Worker," Far and Near, III (April 1893), 109-110.
2Phillips Brooks (1835-1893), rector of Trinity Church in Boston and Bishop of Massachusetts, died January 23, 1893. On February 12 Jewett utilized the same sunset-dawn metaphor in a detailed account of the funeral to Mrs. George D. Howe (Fields, Letters, 108). Jewett's unsigned sketch. "At the Funeral of Phillips Brooks," appeared in The Contributors' Club, Atlantic Monthly, LXXI (April 1893), 566-567.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Am 1743 (50). This transcription by Richard Cary appeared originally in "Jewett to Dresel: 33 Letters," Colby Library Quarterly 7:1 (March 1975), 13-49, which gave permission to reprint it here. Notes are by Cary, with additions by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett
Ports Feb. 8th '93
Dearest Pinny:*
Will this* serve? Please slash it, don't spare -- I shall be so grateful!
Have you "Cruise of the Mystery"?* Page 51 of that little vol. has a poem all about the garden and the friends that are no more. Half I had a mind to use some of it. I wish you would look at it, if you haven't it I'll send you one.
In haste with dearest love
[ drawing of a Sandpiper ]
Notes
Pinny: A nickname for Sarah Orne Jewett used by Thaxter and Annie Adams Fields. Sandpiper is their nickname for Thaxter. See Key to Correspondents.
this: Thaxter has sent Jewett something that she is considering for inclusion in An Island Garden (1894).
"Cruise of the Mystery": Thaxter's poetry collection The Cruise of the Mystery appeared in 1886. On p. 51 appears her poem, "My Garden."
This typescript is held by the Portsmouth Athenaeum MS129, Rosamond Thaxter's Papers for Sandpiper, Folder 12: Correspondence: Celia Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett, 1888-1893. The location of the original is not yet known. Edited and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett
Ports. 9th Feb. [ 1893 ]*
Kindest Pinny,* I feel as if you were just on the way, certainly not farther off than round the corner! How good you are to help this old bird! All your suggestions* I deeply prize* & will most gratefully accept. Bye & bye when I have got this fixed, may I send [ rest ? ] of it to you for some more friendly "smirch"? That wont be till I've got to the Shoals, I think I am going up to Mrs. Hemenway* with my papers next week. D.V.,* but I shall not leave them with her, because I have got so much work to do on them (except the little Prelude, perhaps) -- they can work on the illustrations without the ms. & it is going to take them a year to get them done..
My grateful love to you, Pinny dearest
your
[ Drawing of a sandpiper ]
Notes
1893: This date is given in her transcription by Rosamond Thaxter.
Thaxter writes from Portsmouth, NH. In early February 1893, Jewett and Thaxter met to discuss Thaxter's manuscript of An Island Garden, which was published in 1894. Thaxter wrote to Jewett on 5 February 1893 that she found herself unable to recall the details of Jewett's suggestions. This letter indicates that Jewett then wrote out the notes for which Thaxter thanks Jewett in this letter.
Pinny: A nickname for Sarah Orne Jewett used by Thaxter and Annie Adams Fields. Sandpiper is their nickname for Thaxter. See Key to Correspondents.
suggestions: At this time, Jewett was giving Thaxter advice for preparing An Island Garden (1894).
prize: Rosamond Thaxter reads this difficult word as "ponder."
Mrs. Hemenway: Mary Porter Tileston Hemenway (1820-1894).
D.V.: From Latin: Deo volente, God willing.
This manuscript is held in Colby College Miller Library Special Collections, Waterville, ME, but this manuscript is difficult, the script faded in some places. However, at some time when the ms. was in a better condition, Rosamond Thaxter obtained a more readable copy, which is now at the Portsmouth Athenaeum MS129, Rosamond Thaxter's Papers for Sandpiper, Folder 12: Correspondence: Celia Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett, 1888-1893. The latter ms. was transcribed by Rosamond Thaxter and is the basis for this text, edited and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Horace Parker Chandler
South Berwick Maine
9 February [ 1893 ]
Dear Mr. Chandler
I return the proof of Together* -- I had quite forgotten about it! There were some other verses of mine which some of their readers used to like -- Verses for a Letter* printed in the Atlantic soon after Together. They may possibly suit the scheme of one of your
[ Page 2 ]
collections.* It seems to me that the two verses of yesterday have more in them than Together but I shall not pretend to make you any suggestion. I am much pleased that you should care to use any of them.
Yours sincerely
S. O. Jewett
Notes
Together: "Together," first appeared in Atlantic Monthly in May 1875.
Verses for a Letter: "Verses for a Letter" first appeared in Atlantic Monthly in April 1880.
collections: In 1893, Chandler was compiling a multi-volume anthology, The Lover's Year-Book of Poetry.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Small Library, University of Virginia, Special Collections MSS 6218, Sarah Orne Jewett Papers. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Horace Parker Chandler
South Berwick Maine
11 February [ 1893 ]
Dear Mr. Chandler
You are quite welcome to use Discontent* so far as I am concerned and I do not think that Messrs Houghton & Mifflin will have any objection when you ask them.
As for the other verses I have no copy of them at hand -- perhaps you
[ Page 2 ]
will be so kind as to let me see the proof. I have never printed a volume of verses.
I have just returned from Boston and I shall be there again in about a fortnight.
[ Page 3 ]
Believe me with best wishes for you and your next book
Yours sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes
1893: This date is somewhat speculative. It seems likely that Chandler has queried Jewett about using some of her poetry in a compilation that he published in 1893. See note below, and her letter to Chandler of 9 February.
Discontent: Jewett's poem first appeared in St. Nicholas in February 1876. No evidence has yet been discovered to confirm that Chandler actually included "Discontent" in one of the volumes of his 1893 anthology, The Lover's Year-Book of Poetry, but he did include her poem, "Together," which had first appeared in Atlantic Monthly in May 1875.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Small Library, University of Virginia, Special Collections MSS 6218, Sarah Orne Jewett Papers. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to the Editors of The Century Magazine
11 February 1893The manuscript of this letter is held by the New York Public Library, Century Company records 1870-1930s [bulk 1886-1918], Series 1, General Correspondence 1870-1930, b. 51, Jewett, Sarah Orne 1889-1901.
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick, Maine
[ End letterhead ]
Editors of The Century Magazine
Gentlemen
I send you two sketches All My Sad Captains and A Day in June.* The longer one should be marked $300 -- and the shorter one $200 -- Will you be so kind as to write me at 148 Charles Street* Boston if you should be writing within the next fortnight?
Believe me yours sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes
June: Jewett's story, "All My Sad Captains," appeared in Century in September 1895. Jewett is not known to have published a story entitled "A Day in June." Possibly she refers to another story, "The First Sunday in June," which she may have retitled and placed much later, in The Independent for 4 November 1897. Of these two, "The First Sunday in June" is the shorter.
This manuscript contains several added annotations.
Penciled at the top left: AR Put with read.
Penciled to the left of the salutation, "Gentlemen": 4158- [59 / ? ] Sh J.
148 Charles Street: The home of Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Laighton Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett
Portsmouth [ February 1893 ]*
Thank you for your sweet letter and all your kind suggestions. I had already begun to "reef" my MS., and perceived at once, when I read it aloud, that it must be cut ever so much in places. Dear, you have given me a real helpful lift, because I have been doing this work without a particle of enthusiasm, in a most perfunctory manner, from the bits of notes I had made; and my mind has been so saddened by deep shadows* for many months, somehow I had no heart in it at all. I am hoping, when I go to the Shoals presently, to get some of the real flavor of the place and the work into it. It does n't satisfy me one bit. I began to write the introductory chapter right off, and shall I send it to you as you said? I am so glad for every bit of criticism. I was so happy when I wrote the Shoals book* -- it wrote itself. I seemed to have very little to do with it anyway. But now the shadows are so long, and it grows so lonesome on this earth, and there is such a chill where there used to be such warmth and bliss!
Notes
February 1892: This date is inferred from Celia Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett Portsmouth, February 5, 1893.
deep shadows: Thaxter had been in ill health since September 1889, including bouts of depression. She died 25 August 1894, months after the publication of An Island Garden (1894).
Shoals book: Thaxter is evidently at work on An Island Garden (1894). Thaxter's Among the Isles of Shoals appeared in 1873.
This extract from a letter appears in Letters of Celia Thaxter Edited by her friends, A. F. [Annie Fields] and R. L. [Rose Lamb], The Riverside Press, H. O. Houghton, & Co, Cambridge, Mass. 1895. Annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett and Carrie Jewett Eastman
Wednesday
[ February 1893 ]*
Dear girls
I must write my letters overnight -- I never have time in the morning to say half I want to. -- We are going to drive out to Mrs. Shaw's* to see the Millet's* at ten with the company. Mr. Warner* is staying on{,} having a beautiful time like a girl! The luncheon was very pleasant yesterday & we had him to it to everyone's great pleasure --& it stayed
[ Page 2 ] long. Mrs. Gilder* came too -- and came back to dinner after Mrs. Fields* had taken her and Miss Dunham to see Dr. Holmes.* We had got tickets to two plays later in the week of Madame Duse but we had begun to lament not being there the first night and its being too late to get tickets then, and Miss Dunham flew off and did a pretty [unrecognized word] somehow or other of getting a row of
[ Page 3 ] fine seats, so we whisked on in great joy as you may imagine ---- It is a great joy of a visiting occasion. My shortest story has just come back from The Century to be please made a little longer!* which is easier in some ways that trying to shorten one. You were righter than I about this writer's crop of tales [ Mary ?]!
[ Page 4 ] I was low in my mind and I still wish some were better than they be -- I hope you are getting to see the Port of York some of you, in company with Hattie.* Ever so much love & tomorrow I shall be [unrecognized word] & tell things proper. I have had to set the time of Miss Ticknor's* visit next Monday & Tuesday -- with every so much love
Sarah --
Notes
February 1893: The actress Eleonora Duse toured in the United States, playing in Boston on three occasions during Jewett's life: Her first two tours brought her to Boston in early February 1893 and the week of April 6, 1896. Her 1902 tour put her in Boston in October, while Jewett was confined at home after her September carriage accident. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., died in 1894. As he is mentioned in this letter, it must be from 1893.
Mrs. Shaw's ... Millet's: Mrs. Shaw may be Cora Lyman Shaw (1828-1922), who married Gardiner Howland Shaw of Boston (1819-1869).
Among the women acting in the Saturday Morning Club's February 1895 production of Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale was Emily Millet, who played the young girl, Perdita. It seems probable that the Millets are Josiah Byram Millet (1853-1938) and Emily Adams McCleary (1856-1941). They were married on 30 Oct 1883 in Boston. They had two daughters: Hilda, Mrs. William Harris Booth (November 1885-1966) and Elizabeth Foster, Mrs. Arthur Graham Carey, (November 1889 - 1955). He was a journalist and publisher, who managed the art department of Houghton, Mifflin and Company before becoming art editor at Scribner's and then beginning his own publishing business. In 1890, they were near neighbors of Fields at 150 Charles Street. See also Harvard Class of 1877 Secretary's Report, pp. 43-4.
Mr. Warner: Charles Dudley Warner. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Gilder: Probably Helena de Kay, wife of Richard Watson Gilder. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Dunham: Helen Dunham was the daughter of James Dunham of New York, one of four sisters. She married Theodore Holmes Spicer (1860-1935) of London, England, in 1910. She was a friend of the American painter, John Singer Sargent, who made portraits of Helen (1892) and of her sister Etta (1895). She also was a friend of Isabella Stewart Gardner. See Key to Correspondents.
Dr. Holmes: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. See Key to Correspondents.
two plays ... Madame Duse: Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) was an Italian actress. In February 1893, she was to appear in Boston in selections from her current repertoire: Fédora, La Dame aux Camélias, Fernande, Cavalleria Rusticana, Lo Locandiera, Divorçons, Francillon, and La Femm de Claude. See Forrest Izard, Heroines of the Modern Stage (1915), pp. 171-202.
My shortest story ... The Century: Jewett's only story to appear in Century Magazine in 1893 was "The Hilton's Holiday" in September.
Port of York ... Hattie: The identity of Hattie is uncertain. She may be Hattie Denny, sister of Augusta Maria Denny Tyler. See Key to Correspondents. The Port of York, in this case, is almost certainly the town of York, ME, a summer resort town with a long beach and the home of a number Jewett friends.
Miss Ticknor's: Richard Cary identifies Anna Eliot Ticknor (1823-1896). The eldest daughter of the American historian George Ticknor, she consorted with Jewett in Boston and in the Northeast Harbor-Mt. Desert region on the Maine coast. Miss Ticknor was one of the editors of Life, Letters, and Journals of George Ticknor (Boston, 1876), and sole editor of Life of Joseph Green Cogswell (Cambridge, Mass., 1874).
The manuscript of this letter is held by Historic New England in the Jewett Family Papers MS014.02.01. Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett and Carrie Jewett Eastman
[ February 1893 ]*Thursday morning
Dear Sisters
I thought as soon as I waked up this morning how glad I was that you and Hattie went to York yesterday{;} it is so cold and gray looking now out of these windows and so it must be at home. We have been having nice times. It was lovely driving out to Mrs. Shaws* yesterday and we had a good look at the pictures. Mr. Warner* went away at half past three so dear and pleasant. Miss Dunham & A. F.* had both
[ Page 2 ]
gone their ways -- and I saw him off. Cora* was here calling and had a pretty pleasure of seeing him, and afterward Lizzie Bartol* came in and Marie* followed her -- They are known to each other and it seems Marie & the Doctor ^(Bartol)^ are great friends, so that that was a good call. Afterward Miss Dunham and I raced over to the Sears's* to see a new picture in fact forher^Miss Dunham^* to see all the pictures, and afterward we went to Mrs Howe's* where we found many friends
[ Page 3 ]
and Mrs. Gilder* who came home again to dinner with us. We [meant corrected] to go to see Fédora* tonight but Mrs. Fields* has just discovered that Madame Duse* is sick & not going to play. I am not sorry about it. We have been scurrying and it is always so nice just to sit and talk with nice people! We are going to S.W.'s* to luncheon, and then I am going to take Mrs. Gilder to Roxbury where she wishes to call on the Percy Brownes* and I wish to go & see the
[ Page 4 ]
Garrisons* and have been trying to get a chance to do all winter.
I had such a nice dear [deleted word] ^letter^ [from corrected] Theodore,* with thoughts in it about a ramping Princess but I can always check her with the Curb on the bridle as I try to feel safe!! Love to all -- Oh Mary I wish you would look in the clutter on my little table and see if you can find Between Mass & Vespers.* The ink marked one that went to the magazine. I cant find it here and it must be at home -- but if you cant you will have to
[ Page 5 ]
put the one I showed you into an envelope & send it to Scribner & co 743 Broadway for the magazine -- & so deeply oblige a Sister. They have written me again about it -- it is to go to the [Fair ? ] with the rest of the manuscripts for that number.
Yours
(tho'
troublesome)
Seddy*
[Kitchen corrected ] has been pretty rich [Marie ? ] said -- they want you to come again --
Notes
February 1893: This letter is dated in relation to the anticipated publication of Jewett's "Between Mass and Vespers." See notes below.
Hattie: The identity of Hattie is uncertain. She may be Hattie Denny, sister of Augusta Maria Denny Tyler. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Shaws: Quincy Adams Shaw (1825-1908) was a businessman who became one of the wealthiest men in Boston. He married Pauline Agassiz (1841-1917), daughter of the Swiss born Harvard naturalist, Louis Agassiz. Among the couple's many philanthropic activities was collecting art that eventually became part of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts collection. Included in Shaw collection were many works by the French Barbizon school painter Jean-François Millet (1814-1875).
Mr. Warner: Charles Dudley Warner. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Dunham & A. F.: A.F. is Annie Adams Fields.
Helen Dunham was the daughter of James Dunham of New York, one of four sisters. She married Theodore Holmes Spicer (1860-1935) of London, England, in 1910. She was a friend of the American painter, John Singer Sargent, who made portraits of Helen (1892) and of her sister Etta (1895). She also was a friend of Isabella Stewart Gardner. See Key to Correspondents.
Cora: Cora Clark Rice. See Key to Correspondents.
Lizzie Bartol ,,, Marie followed her ... the Doctor: Lizzie Bartol is Elizabeth Howard Bartol (1842-1927). Her parents were Cyrus Augustus Bartol (1813-1900) and Elizabeth H. Howard Bartol (1803-1883), inheritors of a large art collection from Mrs. Bartol's grandfather. The "doctor," then, is Lizzie's father, Dr. Cyrus Bartol (1813-1900), graduate of Bowdoin College, a Unitarian clergyman influential in the religious life and thought of Boston for half a century. An associate of James Russell Lowell's father, Rev. Bartol became noted for his original, radical, epigrammatic sermons. See also The Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism, pp. 20-22.
The identity of Marie remains unknown.
the Sears's ... the pictures: This is pure speculation at this point, but there are two places in Boston in 1893 that might have invited visitors to look at "pictures."
The more likely would be the home of Sarah Choate Sears (1858-1935), a member of the It Club and an influential Boston artist, patron and collector, the wife of Boston realtor J. Montgomery Sears. She was an award-winning artist who exhibited internationally, working in painting, photography, metals and textiles.
But it is possible pictures would be on view at the home Willard Thomas Sears (1837-1920) was an important Boston architect, partnered with Charles A. Cummings. They may have designed the Sears Building (1869) in Boston. Sears married May Motte (1841-1930). The likelihood of the Sears's being known to Fields and Jewett is fairly high, as his firm designed their friend Isabella Stewart Gardner's Fenway Court (1896).
Because Jewett refers to the location as "the Sears's," it seems likely she refers to the W. T. Sears residence rather than the Sears office building or to the Sears and Cummings offices.
See also Wikipedia.
Mrs Howe's: Alice Greenwood Howe. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Gilder: Probably Helena de Kay, wife of Richard Watson Gilder. See Key to Correspondents.
Fédora ... Madame Duse is sick & not going to play: Fédora (1882), by the French playwright Victorien Sardou (1831-1908). Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) was an Italian actress. She was to appear in Boston performances of Fédora in the February of 1893. However in 1896, her repertoire did not include Fédora. See Forrest Izard, Heroines of the Modern Stage (1915), pp. 171-202.
S.W.'s: Sarah Wyman Whitman. See Key to Correspondents.
Percy Brownes: Almost certainly, this is the Reverend Percy Browne (1840-1901) an Irish-born Episcopalian clergyman, who served at St. James Episcopal Church in Roxbury, MA from 1872 until his death. Though it seems he was married and had at least one child, Percy Brown, Jr., little information has been located about his family. See Chapter 9 of Judith W. Rosbe, Marion in the Golden Age (2009). He was a close friend of Phillips Brooks. See Key to Correspondents.
Garrisons: Francis Jackson Garrison. See Key to Correspondents.
Theodore ...a ramping Princess: Theodore Jewett Eastman and a family horse. See Key to Correspondents.
Between Mass & Vespers: Jewett's "Between Mass and Vespers" appeared in Scribner's Magazine (13:661-676), May 1893.
The special May 1893 "Exhibition Number" of Scribner's Magazine was designed as the "Conductors' Point of View" column said, as a "representative number of an American magazine . . . [showing] to what these popular mediums of literary and artistic enjoyment and information have grown." Contributors to this number include George Washington (by means of a document), William Dean Howells, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, Bret Harte, Walter Besant, Thomas Hardy, Henry James, Robert Blum, Frances Hodgson Burnett, Jewett's story, "Between Mass and Vespers," Francisque Sarcey, and George Washington Cable. Among the popular illustrators to appear were Robert Blum, A. B. Frost, and Howard Pyle.
Seddy: A Jewett nickname. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Historic New England in the Jewett Family Papers MS014.02.01. Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
[South Berwick, Maine]
Sunday morning
[February 12, 1893]
Dear Loulie:
I am going to Worcester to spend tomorrow night and the next day to Cambridge to luncheon, and Wednesday and Thursday I shall be busy with Mrs. Hart's talk at the Studio.1 That is as far ahead as I can see now! But perhaps we shall find time for a passing word, on Wednesday, say; though I don't know that I can promise to be at home. I would if I could! but if you are going by, do stop to see if I am here, and forgive if I am not.
Dr. Holmes was seriously ill a while ago but is slowly getting better.2 Mrs. Fields sees him often now but I think that he doesn't try to see people usually yet.
I thought you would like Ships That Pass in the Night. I should really like to read it again myself. I hear that the young author is fatally ill. I wonder if it is true. She is an English girl. I mean really young which is surprising when one thinks of certain things in the book.3
Am glad that you are busy, Miss Dresel, it is a very good thing. I suffer the misfortune of the idle in these days -- with my eyes chiefly, but I hope soon for better things. This means that I am busy enough but not doing the things I wish to do most.
Yours affectionately,
S. O. J.
Cary's Notes
1This is almost certainly the studio of Sarah Wyman Whitman,* where she designed stained glass windows and where she entertained at parties that were "occasions." John E. Frost says the intellectual interests of this group were so diverse that one cannot necessarily assume Mrs. Hart's talk was on art.
2Oliver Wendell Holmes lived to October 7, 1894.
3Beatrice Harraden (1864-1936), a proponent of women's rights, wrote a score of other books but none that approached the popular success of this novel, which went into at least eleven editions before the year was out, and sold over a million copies. Jewett's curiosity about her fatal illness is ironic in that she outlived Sarah by twenty-seven years.
Editor's Notes
Mrs. Hart: This probably is Mrs. Alice Marion Rowland Hart (1848-1831), who with her husband, Ernest Abraham Hart (1835-1898), British surgeon and editor of the British Medical Journal, was a collector of Japanese and oriental art. The author of Picturesque Burma, Past & Present (1897) and other books, she regularly visited and lectured in the United States, including in early 1893, when she visited Chicago "to obtain from the directors of the World's Fair a concession for a typical Irish village on the grounds" (The Toronto Daily Mail, 21 January 1893, p. 13).
studio of Sarah Wyman Whitman: In A Studio of Her Own (MFA: Boston, 2001), Erica E. Hirshler says that after 1892, Whitman maintained the Lily Glass Works at 184 Boyston St., near Park Square, about half a mile from the Fields house at 148 Charles St. (p. 39). See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Am 1743 (50). This transcription by Richard Cary appeared originally in "Jewett to Dresel: 33 Letters," Colby Library Quarterly 7:1 (March 1975), 13-49, which gave permission to reprint it here. Notes are by Cary, with additions by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Alice Greenwood (Mrs. George D.) Howe
South Berwick, 12 February, 1893.
My dear Alice, -- It seems a very long time since I wrote to you, but these have been the chief reasons: two bothering eyes that won't always go when I most wish them to, and the following achievements of my pen mentioned in order and by name!
"The Flight of Betsey Lane,"
"Between Mass and Vespers,"
"All My Sad Captains,"
"A Day in June,"
"A Second Spring,"
and "A Lonely Worker,"*besides two or three short little things to give away, of a dozen pages of writing each all bran-fire new except the "Sad Captains," which I had written through before I went away, and have now done ever so much more work upon! Look at that for a combination of Idleness and a New England Conscience!
But if I haven't written, there have been few days when I haven't thought of you pretty often. I acknowledge to a pang of wistful homesickness when you first wrote from the Bristol, -- you can't think how I love the thought of my weeks there in spite of illness and sorrow and everything. I wish I could go to the Pincio with you, and wait in the sunshine until twelve o'clock, to hear all the bells, -- to see the great brimming fountains as I come away, -- to be with you, to lose Beppi# behind the hedge and find him again, about twenty feet away, and to see the roofs of Rome! How one keeps and loves a morning like that last morning! . . . Do you bless yourself a-going into the Sacristy at St. Peter's, and ever think of me a-seeing the lovely Forlis. That was a great morning, and I was just trying to remember how that mosaic of lilies went together in the chapel pavement. Don't you know we thought that S. W.* could do it in glass and you were going to sketch it out for her? I always wish that you had been with us that afternoon, when we went to St. Onofrio.* It was the dearest, most revealing place to me. I suddenly understood, as I never had before, just why persons could make themselves quiet and solitary nests in such places, and never wish to go out into the busy world again. I love St. Onofrio better than any little church in Rome, and there's the truth. I should have to look off and see hills and mountains, whatever my meetin' privileges might be! which comes of being brought up a Maine borderer.
So you have been cold? It has been freezing here; the longest stretch of very cold weather that I have known for years. I have been here most of the time, but going to town every two or three weeks, and last time I stayed ten days, a great visit if you please. Everybody felt Mr. Brooks's death tremendously.* I have never seen anything like the effect upon the city the day of the funeral -- the hush, the more than Sunday-like stop; the mighty mourning crowd about the church, and in the church a scene that thrills me now, as I think of it. The light kept coming and going, -- it was a spring-like day, with a sky full of shining white clouds, and on all the plain black hangings S. W. had made them put great laurel wreath, with a magnificent one of red carnations and green on the front of the pulpit, that was like a victor's trophy. When the coffin came up the aisle, carried shoulder high by those tall young men, the row of grave young faces, the white lilies and the purple pall! -- it was like some old Greek festival and the Christian service joined together. The great hymn as they went out again -- "For all thy saints who from their labours rest";* the people beginning it as if with a burst of triumph, and the voices stopping and stopping, until hardly anybody was left to sing at all, and all the people standing and crying as if their hearts would break -- you can't imagine what it was! But nothing has ever been such an inspiration, -- it has been like a great sunset that suddenly turned itself into dawn.
Yours most lovingly.
Fields's note
# a little dog
Notes
"A Lonely Worker": Jewett's stories appeared in print as follows: "The Flight of Betsey Lane," Scribner's September 1893, "Between Mass and Vespers," Scribner's May 1893, "All My Sad Captains," Century September 1894, "A Day in June," probably renamed "The First Sunday in June," Independent, November 1897, "A Second Spring," Harper's December 1893, and "A Lonely Worker," Far and Near April 1893.
In a later letter, Jewett says there were four short pieces written to give away. These likely included an essay to benefit The Women's Rest Tour Association and her sketches "Mrs. Osgood of Bar Mills" and "A Word from a Neighbor." See Chronological List of the Works of Sarah Orne Jewett.
Pincio ... St. Peter's ... Forlis ... St. Onofrio: All are sites in Rome. The Pincio is a large public garden on the Pincian hill, dating from the first century. St. Peter's in the Vatican City is the central cathedral of Roman Catholicism. At the Vatican and the Quirinal Palace are frescos by Melozzo da Forli (1438-1494). The church and monastery of St. Onofrio are just southeast of the Vatican City.
S. W.: Sarah Wyman Whitman. See Correspondents.
Mr. Brooks's death: Phillips Brooks (1835-1893) became rector of Trinity Church in Boston and became Bishop of Massachusetts. He died on 23 January 1893. Jewett's "At the Funeral of Phillips Brooks" appeared unsigned in Atlantic Monthly (71:566-567) in April 1893. His funeral took place on January 26.
"For all thy saints who from their labours rest": This line is from the first stanza of a funeral hymn entitled "Hymn" (1864) by William Walsham How (1823-1897).
This letter appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), Transcribed by Annie Adams Fields, with notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Annie Adams Fields
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
Paris, 19 February [1893 ]*
Thank you for your lovely letters, dear Mrs. Fields, dear friend; I can't tell you how it pleases me to see you so busily preparing for my coming to America. I can hardly leave before the end of May. I would stay only a few days in New York and then come immediately to Boston, as long as I would not interfere with any of your plans at that time. While awaiting the pleasure of seeing you, I will get hold of Harper's and read your piece on Whittier.* How much I regret having recommended poor S. H.* as he has caused you
[ Page 2 ]
so much trouble. I doubt not that he is very disorderly, nor that a strong dose of Japan dominates his yellow nature,* but he had interested many here. No doubt, in what he read to us, you were repelled by his inability to understand Christianity and his excessive sensuality, but I nevertheless found some beautiful things in it, and my friend Miss [ Bluid / Blind ? ],* who has more authority than an ignorant stranger to decide these questions, was of my opinion, (while having reservations,) when I showed her some pages where the Desert was painted most intensely.
[ Page 3 ]
S.H. has remained for me an almost Hoffmanesque* figure, filled with the bizarre and exceptional. I didn't think to ask myself whether he has any morals, but I believe that here, among the less than reputable group, from the point of view of character, that surrounds Verlaine, our contemporary Villon,* he would find his place. -- As for the McClure* articles, I say between us, that asking an author for articles on such extravagant topics (I saw the list) is to tempt him to be deceptive and not care about the public. You have, I fear, and I thank you with a thousand apologies, exceeded by much what little I dared to ask on S.H.'s behalf, which was a recommendation to an editor, perhaps; -- when he wrote to me
[ Page 4 ]
that you were in his eyes the admirable feminine type, I understood that you must have been too good to him and that his enthusiasm must have been based on your excessive generosity. Pardon me, and tell yourself that I hardly know him, that to me he is not that important. How sorry I would be if he were a burden to you! -- And let the wish to please me never again influence your dealings with him, if you must have any more.
Are you reading the Revue des deux Mondes? Did you see my son's article on Samarkand?* Setting aside maternal modesty, it was much noticed. The author is in Africa now for two months, and I want to see him again before
[ Page 5 ]
I depart in my turn. I will go to Barbizon. I will carry out your request, happy to be useful to poor Mr. Babcock* and serve as a link between him and his country.
I sent some copy to Mr. Johnson* and I hope to be able to contribute from time to time to American magazines at the same time as to French journals. Recently, I have occasionally seen a very charming American journalist, Miss Ida Tarbell,* who erased the unfortunate impression that some of her sister journalists made on me.
[ Page 6 ]
She's bright, smart, modest, knowledgeable, curious about everything, with excellent manners. I introduced her to Mme. Daudet.* Jephson,* the lieutenant of Stanley, whom I know, is here for a few months, while awaiting his marriage to an American, of whom he seems very fond. She returned to her country after their engagement, and, when she returns, he proposes to speak French as well as she does, meaning perfectly. Whenever I see him, he tells me how wonderful American women are. I always reply that I know the two most exquisite examples,* and Mme. Foulon de Vaulx and Mme de Sinéty* join me in chorus. The former is studying English vigorously. --
[ Page 7 ]
Of Miss King* I have good news. The Tales of Time and Place are in my view lovely, with a color and locale of their own, -- knowing as much as I do about creoles, who are the same everywhere, -- I find so much truth here. I am glad to see her talent develop.
I will write very soon to dear Miss Jewett, but severe laryngitis has put me behind in everything. I made it through a very harsh winter. The first humidity of spring made me ill.
[ Page 8 ]
And, by the way, I wanted to say something that may be valuable to one of your compatriots. Among my friends, M. and Mme Billecocq (the latter an English woman brought up in France and married to a Frenchman) have in Passy, at the entrance of the Bois de Boulougne, a large establishment to accommodate their big family, and M. Billecocq, formerly in foreign affairs and now having retired early at the rank of Consul General, would willingly take on a boarder to superintend and instruct. Janson College is a stone's throw away if the young man wanted to take courses; however, M. Billecocq would be a fine tutor. This is fully attested by the different careers of his three sons, all with names for brilliance. I can say that the Billecocq family presents the model of all the highest virtues; ever since my earliest years, I have learned to admire these excellent people, whom we have known for three generations. One can easily
[ cross-written down the left margin of page 8 ]
contact them through me; if one preferred to dispense with an intermediary, their address is 42 rue Boulainvilliers.
[ cross-written up the right side of page 8 ]
I embrace you dear friend with all my heart.
Regards to our friend. Th Blanc
Notes
1893: As indicated in her opening, Blanc was planning her first trip to the United States, which actually commenced in the autumn of 1893.
Whittier: John Greenleaf Whittier. See Key to Correspondents. Fields's "Whittier: Notes on his Life and of his Friendship" appeared in Harper's Magazine in February 1893.
S.H.: Japanese-German-American critic and poet, Carl Sadakichi Hartmann (1867-1944). See also Photography and Criticism CyberArchive, and especially Blanc to Fields of 19 May 1893.
yellow nature: For 21st-century readers, this phrase is problematic. Though it seems clear that Blanc made use of an Orientalist racial stereotype of her time, the phrase probably was not pejorative, as was the phrase "yellow peril," circulated in the 20th century. Indeed, Blanc's use of the stereotype probably is positive, reflecting a general contemporary appreciation in Europe and the West of a supposedly superior artistic sensibility in Japanese culture. Blanc attributes such a quality to Hartmann, supposedly deriving from the Japanese component of his ancestry. Like most of her best-informed contemporaries, Blanc tended to blend race and ethnicity in her thinking; for example, in her extensive studies of American culture, she sought to characterize an American ethnicity. See also, her claim on page 7 about her knowledge of creoles. And see William Chew, "Marie-Thérèse Blanc in America: A Fin de Siècle Perspective of the American Woman," in Re-discoveries of America, edited by Johan Callens, Brussels: VUB Press, 1993, pp. 17-62.
Bluid/Blind: This transcription is uncertain, and the person has not yet been identified.
Hoffmanesque: Ernst Theodor Amadeus Hoffmann (1776-1822), German author and composer, is best remembered for his fantasy tales that provided the plots for Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker (1892) and Jacques Offenbach's opera, The Tales of Hoffmann (1880).
McClure: Samuel Sidney McClure. See Key to Correspondents. Though Blanc seems displeased with McClure's business practices, she found him a very helpful host during her first tour in the U.S.
Verlaine ... Villon: French poets Paul-Marie Verlaine (1844-1896) and François Villon (c. 1431 - c. 1463). Both poets were morally disreputable in their times. Verlaine was involved in several scandals, including when he and Arthur Rimbaud (1854-1891) became lovers, and he suffered from drug and alcohol addiction, which contributed to his early death, and yet he was one of the most popular poets of late 19th-century France.
Samarkand: Samarkand, on the Silk Road in southeastern Uzbekistan, is one of the oldest continuously occupied cities of central Asia. Édouard Blanc's essay, "Notes de Voyage en Asie Centrale: Samarkande," appeared in Revue des Deux Mondes 115: 4 (15 February 1893).
Mr. Babcock: Probably this is William Perkins Babcock (1826-1899), a Boston-born American painter who lived most of his life in France.
Mr. Johnson: Robert Underwood Johnson, editor at Century Magazine. See Key to Correspondents.
Ida Tarbell: American journalist, Ida Minerva Tarbell, a regular contributor to McClure's Magazine. See Key to Correspondents.
Mme Daudet: Probably this is French author, Julie Rosalie Céleste Allard (1844-1940), spouse of French novelist Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897).
Jephson: Arthur Jermy Mounteney Jephson (1859–1908) was an English merchant seaman and army officer, who became an associate of Sir Henry Morton Stanley (1841-1894), Welsh-born American explorer and author, best remembered for his explorations of the Nile River and his search for the missionary, David Livingstone, in Africa.
Jephson's impending marriage proved problematic. Jephson's New York Times obituary (23 October 1908, p. 9) reports that he married the heiress Anna Head of San Francisco in 1904, twelve years after he proposed, because her father opposed the union.
examples: Presumably, Fields and Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Mme. Foulon de Vaulx and Mme de Sinéty: In 1872 Alice Devaulx married Henri Foulon (1844-1929). Shortly after they married, they changed their names to "Foulon de Vaulx." Henri Foulon de Vaulx was a Belgian industrialist and historian. Alice Foulon de Vaulx became a translator, notably of works by Hamlin Garland.
Madame Alice Marie Léonie Ogier d´Ivry Comtesse de Sinéty (1837-1924), wife of Count Joseph Louis Marie de Sinéty (1837-1915).
Miss King: Grace King. See Key to Correspondents. Her collection, Tales of Time and Place, appeared in 1892.
M. Billecocq: French diplomat Théophile Beguin-Billecocq (1825-1906). His wife was Marie-Amélie Billecocq, a cousin; whether she was English-born is not confirmed. They had four children. Two of their three sons also followed diplomatic careers, and one of these became a well-known entomologist, Louis Beguin-Billecocq (1865-1957).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda mss FI 1-5637, Box 5. Transcription, translation and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, with essential assistance from Jeannine Hammond, Professor of French, Emerita, at Coe College.
Transcription
In this letter, Blanc sometimes abbreviates "vous" to "vs" and "nous" to "ns." We have rendered all these abbreviations as "vous" or "nous."
Paris 19 fév.
Merci de vos charmantes lettres,
chère Mrs Fields, chère amie; Je
ne puis vous dire quel charme
l'est pour moi que de vous
voir ainsi occupée de mon
départ pour l'Amérique.
Il ne pourra guère avoir
lieu qu' à la fin de Mai.
Je m'arrêterais peu de jours
à N.Y. et j'irais tout de suite
à Boston si je devais vous y
trouver à cette époque sans
crainte de déranger aucun
de vos projets. -- En attendant
le plaisir de vous voir,
je vais me procurer le
Harper et lire ce que
vous dites de Whittier.
Combien je regrette de vous
avoir recommandé le pauvre
S.H. s'il vous a procuré
[ Page 2 ]
tant d' ennuis Je ne doute
pas qu'il ne soit très
désordonné et qu'une
très forte dose de Japon
ne domine dans sa nature
jaune, mais il nous avait
ici beaucoup intéressés.
Son incapacité à comprendre
le christianisme, sa sensualité
débordante vous répugnaient
sans doute dans ce qu'il
nous a lu, mais j'y trouvais
de belles choses cependant
et mon amie Miss [ Bluid / Blind ? ]
qui a plus d'autorité qu'une
ignorante étrangère pour
trancher ces questions, a
été de mon avis, (tout en
faisant ses réserves,) lorsque
je lui ai montré [ q. q. for quelques ] pages
où le Désert était peint de
la façon la plus intense.
[ Page 3 ]à dire, en perfection{.} Je ne le
S. H. est resté pour moi une
figure quasi hoffmanesque, tout
à fait bizarre, exceptionnelle.
Je ne songeais pas à me demander
s'il a une moralité quelconque,
mais je crois qu'ici au milieu
du groupe peu recommandable
au point de vue du caractère
qui entoure Verlaine, notre
Villon moderne, il aurait sa
place. -- Quant aux articles
McClure, je trouve entre nous
que demander ^à un auteur^ les articles
sure des sujets aussi extravagants
(j'ai vu la liste) c'est le
tenter de mentir et de se
moquer du public. Vous avez,
je le crains, et je vous en remercie
avec mille excuses, dépassé de
beaucoup le peu que j'osais
vous demander pour S. H. -- qui
était une recommandation à
un éditeur peut-être; -- quand il
[ Page 4 ]
m'a écrit que vous étiez à ses
yeux le type admirable de la
femme, j'ai compris que
vous aviez dû être trop bonne
et que son enthousiasme
devait être fondé sur votre
excès de générosité. Pardon,
dites-vous bien que je le
connais à peine, qu'il m'est
au fond indiffèrent, que je
serais désolée qu'il vous fût
à charge! --- Et que le pensée
de m'être agréable n'intervienne
jamais dorénavant dans vos
rapports avec lui si vous devez
en avoir.
Lisez-vous la Revue des deux
Mondes? Avez-vous vu l'article
de mon fils sur Samarkande?
Modestie maternelle à part,
il a été très remarqué. L'auteur
est en Afrique pour deux mois
et je tiens à le revoir avant
[ Page 5 ]
de partir à mon tour.
J'irai à Barbizon. Je ferai
le choix que vous demandez,
heureuse de pouvoir
être utile au pauvre M
Babcock et servir de
trait d'union entre lui
et son pays.
J'ai envoyé un peu de
copie à Mr Johnson et
j'espère pouvoir ainsi de
temps à autre contribuer
aux magazines américains
en même temps qu'aux
revues françaises [ deletion ].
En ces derniers temps j'ai
vu quelquefois une très
charmante journaliste américaine,
Miss Ida Tarbell qui en
effacé l'impression [ fâcheufe for fâcheuse ]
qu 'avaient laisée chez
[ Page 6 ]
moi [ q.q. for quelques ] unes de ses consoeurs.
Elle est brillante, intelligente,
modeste, bien informée
curieuse de tout, avec d'excellentes
manières. Je lui ai fait faire
connaissance avec [ Mme Daudet ? ].
Jephson, le lieutenant de Stanley
que je connais, est ici pour
[ q.q. for quelques ] mois en attendant son
mariage avec une Américaine
dont il paraît fort épris.
Elle est retournée dans son
pays après leurs fiançailles
et il se propose de parler
français quand il la retrouvera
[ ausfi for aussi ] bien qu'elle-même, c'est
vois jamais sans qu'il me dise
merveilles des femmes américaines.
Toujours je lui réponds que je
connais les deux plus exquises d'entre
elles et Mme Foulon de Vaulx, Mme de
Sinéty font chorus. La première étudie
l'anglais avec acharnement. ---
[ Page 7 ]Et à propos je voulais
J'ai de bonnes nouvelles de Miss King{.}
Les Tales of Time and Place sont à mon
avis [ q.q. for quelque ] chose d'adorable, d'une couleur
à [ port or part? ] et où, -- connaissant beaucoup les
créoles qui sont les mêmes partout, -- je
trouve tant de vérité. Je suis heureuse
que son talent grandisse ainsi.
J'écrirai très prochainement à la
chère Miss Jewett, mais une violente laryngite
m'a mise en retard pour tout. J'avais
bien passé un hiver très rigoureux.
La première humidité printanière m'a rendue
malade.
[ Page 8 ]
vous donner une indication
qui peut être précieuse
pour [ q.q. for quelqu' ] un de vos compatriotes.
Des amis à moi M. et Mme Billecocq
(celle-ci Anglaise élevée en France et
mariée à un Français) ont à Passy
^à la porte de bois de Boulogne,^
une très large installation à [ caufe for cause ]
de leur nombreuse famille, et
M. Billecocq, autrefois aux affaires
étrangères, ayant pris sa retraite,
très jeune encore avec le grade
de Consul général, se chargerait
volontiers d'un pensionnaire
à surveiller et à diriger. Le
collège Janson est à deux pas si
le jeune homme voulait suivre
les classes; de toute façon M. Billecocq
serait un excellent directeur d'études.
L'éducation de ses trois fils qui ont
passé dans trois carrières différentes --
de très brillants [ noms ? looks like namens ] l'atteste
suffisamment. La famille Billecocq
offre je peux le dire, le modèle de toutes
les vertus les plus hautes; depuis que j'existe
j'ai appris à admirer ces excellentes gens
que nous connaissons depuis trois générations.
En s'adressant à moi, on arriverait facilement
[ cross-written down the left margin of page 8 ]
à eux; si on préférait se passer de mon intermédiaire leur adresse: 42 rue Boulainvilliers.
[ cross-written up the right side of page 8 ]
Je vous embrasse chère amie de tout coeur
Amitiés à notre amie. Th Blanc
Louise Imogen Guiney to Annie Adams Fields
[ before 23 February 1893 ]*
Dear Mrs. Fields:
I am still deep in the affairs of the Women's Rest Tour Ass'n,* and both the rank and file thereof are begging me to ask a great kindness of you: and I wonder if you will feel in the least inclined to grant it! It is to come to Perkins Hall ^264 Boylston St.^ at half-past five of the afternoon of the 23rd,* and stand amid a small body-guard of us, with Miss Jewett,* for one half-hour, and allow various happy people to be presented to you. Can you find it ^in^ your heart to do as much as that for us? If so, I can't tell you how grateful we all should be; and I think the thanks should be spoken by Mrs. Howe* herself.
The good firm winter seems to have gone by; and I hope you were well and blessed through the whole of it. What opalescent sights there
[ Page 2 ]
must have been through the riverward windows!
I have been working very hard, in a real African-third-century desert seclusion,* on various things; some for love, and some, alas, for hire! Houghton Mifflin & Co.* are most benevolently printing me, (verses, too!) and I am to flutter forth like any Arabian-colored butterfly, in the early spring. The green acanthus-leaf is under my portrait of Keats, to remind me of your ^last^ Italian pilgrimage:* I have just reminded Miss Jewett that the 23rd* is his anniversary.
With a hearty hope that you may be able to come, (and have a cup of tea served as soon as your reign is over!) I am always
Your loving friend,
Louise I. Guiney.
Notes
before 23 February 1893: The first annual meeting of The Women's Rest Tour Association took place in Boston's Perkins Hall on 23 February 1893, 4-6 p.m. as reported in the Boston Daily Globe of 24 February, p. 9. Neither Jewett nor Fields appears on the list of those in attendance, though Fields later served on the board of the organization, according to Vinson (see below).
"The Women's Rest Tour Association of Boston, Massachusetts comprised a network of middle-class members who collected information about travel abroad and shared it among like-minded American women who required trustworthy non-commercial and unsolicited confidential recommendations suitable for women 'who desire to visit Europe at the least possible expense consistent with comfort'." The organization was founded in 1891. See also "A Summer in England" by Libby Bischof, chapter 9 of Transatlantic Women: Nineteenth-century American Women Writers and Great Britain. and "The Unprotected Females of the Women's Rest Tour Association," by Jodie Noel Vinson, The Massachusetts Review 58:1 (Spring 2017): 136-147.
Miss Jewett: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Howe: Julia Ward Howe. See Key to Correspondents. According to Bischof, Howe was president of the WRTA, 1891-1910 (pp. 161-2).
seclusion: Perhaps Guiney alludes to Augustine of Hippo (354-430) or to the desert father, St. Anthony (251-356).
Houghton Mifflin: Boston publisher of Jewett and Fields as well as of several of Guiney's books, including The Roadside Harp (1893).
Italian pilgrimage: Fields traveled to Italy with Jewett in 1882, 1892, and 1900. If this letter is correctly dated, then Fields and Jewett have recently returned from their 1892 journey.
English poet, John Keats (1795- 23 February 1821). Keats died in Rome, Italy, where he had traveled in the hope of treating his tuberculosis.
23rd: Guiney has placed a pair of horizontal dots beneath the underlining of her superscript.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields collection Box 25: mss FI 1548. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mary Augusta Ward to Sarah Orne Jewett
Feb 27. 1893.
[ Begin letterhead ]
STOCKS.
TRING.
[ End letterhead ]
My dear Mifs Jewett
I am indeed ashamed that all these weeks & weeks should have passed since your delightful present of Ticknor's Life & Letters* reached me. You must have thought me very ungrateful. But the fact is the kind gift reached me just as I had fallen
[ Page 2 ]
into another fit of illness as disabling as the summer attack but in some ways more acute. It specially affected my right arm & shoulder, & for weeks I was quite cut off from writing & carried my hand generally in a sling. Then we went back to London & I have been painfully trying to pick up all my arrears of letter work & social duties. But I have only been able to
[ Page 3 ]
do it very imperfectly alas! I trust this explanation dear Mifs Jewett will excuse me a little in your eyes. At least you must not think me for a moment insensible to your most kind letter & generous thoughts of me. The book is fascinating reading, especially the first volume. The young American's conquest of Europe by sheer force of brains & good manners makes really the most charming tale, & puts one in a good temper with one's kind.
[ Page 4 ]
I hope that you and Mrs Fields* are both well & that you will not be worn away in the coming months by Chicago [ visitors ? ] ! When you are next here, & in summer weather, I hope I may be a little better able to do the honours of Stocks. The dear place has beauty even on this gusty February day, & the woods spread snowdrops before one as one walks.
The new book I am glad to say is prospering. I venture to hope that it will be more generally liked than David.* I hope it will not cost me quite so much!
[ Cross-written through the top margin of page 1 ]
Believe me dear Mifs Jewett with my kindest regards to Mrs Fields
Most sincerely yours
Mary A. Ward
Notes
Ticknor's Life & Letters: Anna Eliot Ticknor. See Key to Correspondents. Her Life, Letters, and Journals of George Ticknor appeared in 1876.
Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents. The "Chicago" visitors Ward anticipates are people planning to make stops in Boston on the way to the 1893 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago.
new book ... David: Ward's new book in 1893 would have been Marcella (1894). Her previous book was The History of David Grieve (1892).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Ward, Mary Augusta (Arnold) 1851-1920. 7 letters; 1893-1904 & [n.d.]. bMS Am 1743 (228).
This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Box 2, Folder 97, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Loring Dresel
Monday [ late winter 1893 ]
Dear Loulie
Thank you so much for letting me see this delightful letter -- I thank you for your own letter. I haven't ten stories but I have finished five this winter beside four short papers which I have bestowed upon needy editors! of deserving small publications. = We ought to have a variety-show & call in friends, I am writing this right in the middle of a busy morning with my little desk-mill so cluttered that I dont get room to think! much less to grind!
Yours affectionately
S. O. J
I saw what a nice time the little Woodburys* were having -- dont think I didn't! -- Do you remember San Onofrio* --
itsit is such a dear place.
Notes
1893: This is a plausible date for this letter. As the note below indicates, Jewett had visited Italy the year before and, during 1893, wrote another letter in late winter in which she mentioned St. Onofrio. This guess is supported by the quantity of material Jewett published during 1893, her most productive year for short fiction and essays between 1892 and her death.
1893: 9 essays and 6 stories and sketches.
1895: 2 essays, 1 poem, and 9 stories and sketches.
The four pieces she gave away likely included an essay to benefit The Women's Rest Tour Association and her sketches "Mrs. Osgood of Bar Mills" and "A Word from a Neighbor." See Chronological List of the Works of Sarah Orne Jewett.
little Woodburys: Dresel wrote to Jewett on 11 April 1892, when Jewett was in Rome, about visiting "your little Woodberrys," clearly meaning Charles H. and Marcia Oakes Woodbury. The couple was married in 1890; their son, David, was born in 1895.
Onofrio: Wikipedia says: "Sant' Onofrio al Gianicolo is a titular church in Trastevere, Rome. It is the official church of the papal order of knighthood Order of the Holy Sepulchre." Jewett also mentions it in a 12 February 1893 letter to Alice Greenwood (Mrs. George D.) Howe. Jewett traveled in Italy in 1892. She seems particularly attracted to monastic life in part because she is frustrated by distractions that take her away from her writing at this productive period on her career.
The manuscript of this letter is in the collection of the Miller Library of Colby College, Waterville, ME. The transcription first appeared in Scott Frederick Stoddart's Ph.D. dissertation at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign: Selected Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett, copyright by Stoddart, 1988. Annotation is by Stoddart, supplemented where appropriate by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe
148 Charles Street
2nd March
[ 1893 ]*
Dear Mr Howe
I shall be very glad to do what you wish. I have been meaning to finish some pieces of work which seemed to relate themselves -- in my mind -- to your great audience, and when you find it convenient I should like very much to have a talk with you . . In the meantime you will not forget that there is a really charming new red volume of Charles Lamb* his letters! You may have
[ Page 2 ]
read them already but I am just going to begin. Believe me always
Yours sincerely
S. O. Jewett
And a new book of short historical essays by Carlyle:* does it not seem astonishing? But the world has refused to take any notice. I have been thinking that there would be some fine paragraphs for your 6th page!
Notes
1893: This date is supported by Jewett mentioning two new books she has been reading. In 1892, there were new volumes of Lamb's essays and of historical essays by Carlyle -- see notes below. It seems probable that if these titles are correctly identified, Jewett is likely to have obtained them late in 1892 and is reporting on her reading in early 1893. This date falls after what seems to have been the beginning of the Jewett-Howe correspondence in 1891.
Charles Lamb: British author, Charles Lamb (1775-1834). While this is not certain, it seems likely that Jewett refers to The Best Letters of Charles Lamb, edited by Edward Gilpin Johnson, 1892.
Carlyle: Scottish author, Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). While this is not certain, it seems likely that Jewett refers to Rescued Essays of Thomas Carlyle (1892) edited by Percy E. Newberry. While this title first appeared in London in 1880, it apparently was not published in the United States until 1892.
6th page: Jewett apparently refers to the 6th page of a typical issue of The Youth's Companion, which under Howe's editorship included, among other short items, excerpts on a variety of topics.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University in Mark Antony De Wolfe Howe additional papers, 1880-1959. MS Am 1524 (774). Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. 16 letters from; 1891-1903. Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
March 6, 1893.I think sometimes that I have no right to have dear friends who love me, for this strenuous life allows so little space for the acts or even the words of love. Work and incessant demands, together with the maintenance of habitual responsibilities and cares, preclude simple free action and make me seem a niggard.
Note
This transcription appears in Letters, Sarah Wyman Whitman. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1907, "Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett: 1882-1903," pp. 61-109.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Richard Henry Dana III
[Top of page 1 in another hand: Bought by H. W. L. Dana,* May 17, 1934, Anderson Galleries.
Top right corner of page 1 is a P inside a semi-circle]
7 March 1893
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
Dear Mr. [Mr ?] Dana
I have heard some things that interested me very much about Dean Lawrence's sermon about Bishop Brooks.* I wonder if you could tell me how to get a copy, as I think it was not published, but only printed; perhaps, if you have one of your own you would be so kind as to lend it to me?
[ Page 2 ]
I should thank you very much. I am very eager to have the help and pleasure of reading such a beautiful record and tribute as I know it must be --
Please give my love to Mrs. [M rs ?] Dana and the children.* I suppose that you are already busy with your summer plans? When I see you again I wish so much to know which summer school, or camp, it is to which you are sending Dick and Harry --
Yours ever sincerely[Bottom right corner of page 2 in another hand: LONG 18653]
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes
H. W. L. Dana: Richard Henry Dana III (1851 - 1931), was a lawyer and civil service reformer. The son of the author, Richard Henry Dana, Jr. (1815-1882), he married in 1878, Edith Longfellow (1853 - 1915), a daughter of poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882). The first two of their six children were Richard "Dick" Henry Dana IV (1879-1933) and Henry "Harry" Wadsworth Longfellow Dana (1881-1950).
See Longfellow.org, "Family of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow."
It seems likely that "Harry" purchased this letter at the Anderson Galleries of Park Ave. and 59th St. in New York City, a dealer in art and memorabilia, 1887-1934. Christine Wirth, Archives Specialist at Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters says: "This letter was part of a 1934 auction of the estate of Helen Mumford Dana, Richard Henry Dana's second wife, and his widow. The Jewett letter is one of a number of pieces that HWLD (Harry Dana), purchased from that auction. Harry was in the habit of purchasing from dealers and at auction when he felt something was related to the Longfellow House's collections. The letter is part of a small collection Harry called 'Miscellaneous Famous People.'"
Dean Lawrence's sermon about Bishop Brooks: William Lawrence (1850 - 1941) "was elected as the 7th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts (1893 - 1927). Lawrence was the son of the notable textile industrialist Amos Adams Lawrence and a member of the influential Boston family, founded by his great-grandfather and American revolutionary, Samuel Lawrence." Wikipedia
Prior to succeeding Phillips Brooks (December 13, 1835 - January 23, 1893) as Bishop of Massachusetts on 5 October 1893, Lawrence was Dean of the Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, MA (1888 - 1893).
Dean Lawrence delivered his Phillips Brooks Memorial Sermon at the Episcopal Theological School, in St. John's Memorial Chapel, on 29 January 1893.
Richard Dana was the right person for Jewett to ask for a copy, for he served on the chapel's Executive Committee, which arranged for the printing of this sermon.
Mrs. Dana and the children ... Dick and Harry: See first note above. Jewett may be interested in summer camp because her nephew, Theodore Eastman, is the same age as Dick Dana. She and Theodore's mother, Carrie, may have been thinking about summer plans for Theodore, whose father had died in March 1892.
The manuscript of this letter is held in the archives of Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters NHS; Correspondence of Sarah Orne Jewett. HWLD-B139-F94 1893-03-01 Sarah Orne Jewett to RHD III 001. Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Samuel Thomas Pickard
South Berwick
10 March [1893]*
Dear Mr. Pickard
I should be very glad if you could use this personal sketch in the Transcript among your sketches & stories. This would make me a Contributor which would give me pleasure and I think that I have said or tried to say of our friend is good for all us Maine people to remember.
With best regards believe me.
Yours sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes1893: As Pickard was editor of the Portland (ME) Transcript, it would appear that Jewett has sent him a sketch for publication. The phrase "our friend" strongly suggests their mutual friend and Pickard's relative by marriage, John Greenleaf Whittier. However, the only personal sketch Jewett is known to have published in the Portland Transcript is "Mrs. Osgood of Bar Mills" (56:51), March 22, 1893. Almost certainly, then, this letter accompanied a copy of that sketch.
This text is from transcriptions from mixed repositories in the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Folder 74, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection. For more information about the individual transcription, contact the Maine Women Writers Collection. Preparation by Linda Heller. Notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
South Berwick, Maine
Friday night
March 10, [1893]
Dear Loulie:
If it were not for the encouraging little final assurance in your letter, I might feel too severely commented upon and convicted to make such a speedy reply, but I feel like writing. I have been ast {asked} to take tea with a friend and neighbour and the tea happened to be coffee so that at the end of a long day of writing and 'works and ways'* I am {not} now in such a hurry as usual to get to my bed. I am not buried in a snowdrift at all nor do I clasp unfinished manuscripts to my breast as you prettily imagine -- the trouble is that I fail to like them well enough, but I am getting to the end of this spin of writing1 and must turn to other things. I was very tired when I went to Baltimore2 but I got quite refreshed, it was just the time for Mrs. Fields* and me to go away, and we had some delightful pleasures.
About Deephaven: it was as you imagine about the House of H. M. & Co.* -- and although I had not read Deephaven for a good while I felt as if I had come to be the writer's grandmother. I liked it better than I expected. It is the girlishness in it that gives it value, but I must be thinking about a new preface -- which will say a few things to the modern reader!3 It is curious to find how certain conditions under which I wrote it are already outgrown. The best thing that can be done for the inhabitants of a State, says Plato, is to make them acquainted with each other4 -- and my little story was written (in the main) by a girl not much past twenty, who nevertheless could see that city people who were beginning to pour themselves into the country for the summer, had very little understanding of country people. It is very different now, isn't it? I wish I could write such a preface as George Sand used to write for her country sketches!5
It is nice to think of your going on at the art school.* I do not forget that I have not seen your sketches yet, but I get very few free days somehow or other. Therefore I hope it is going to be otherwise before very long. I have to be in town next week on all sorts of business. It is too bad that Mrs. Dresel's eyes trouble her. I know how to pity her, indeed I do! Give my love to her, and say as --
Yours always affectionately,
S. O. J.
I am so sorry too about your throat. You had better ask Dr. Morton* to make you live upon a queer brown bread and little biscuits that she recommended to me. I have great faith in them, if your throats are a kind of rheumatism!
Cary's Notes
1The year 1893 was among Jewett's most prolific. Publications which may be presumed to have come out of this period are: a biographical sketch, a sociological essay, text for a series of portraits, and five short stories. Corroboration lies in this sentence from a letter, undated but otherwise identifiable as written in the winter of 1892 [or perhaps 1893]: "I haven't ten stories but I have finished five this winter beside four short papers which I have bestowed upon needy editors! or deserving small publications. The five stories are "Between Mass and Vespers," "Peach-tree Joe," "The Flight of Betsey Lane," "The Hiltons' Holiday," and "A Second Spring." The deserving small publications: a pamphlet of The Women's Rest Tour Association, The Artful Dodger, The Portland Transcript and Far and Near.2Jewett and Fields visited Baltimore at this time as guests of Mary Elizabeth Garrett.*
3Jewett's first book, Deephaven, originally published in 1877 by James R. Osgood & Co., was re-issued by the Riverside Press in 1894 in a Large Paper Edition limited to 250 numbered copies, illustrated by Charles and Marcia Woodbury; also simultaneously in a smaller format by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. The preface provided by Jewett for this edition contains close paraphrases of the sentiments in this letter on city-country relationships. It is dated October 1893.
4Jewett made multiple references to this aphorism: in letters to Frederick M. Hopkins, May 22, 1893 (Richard Cary, Sarah Orne Jewett Letters [Waterville, Me., 1967], 83-84), to Samuel Thurber, May 9, 1906 (Ibid., 164), to Elizabeth McCracken, December 28, 1907 (Fields, Letters, 228). and in the Preface to Deephaven, 1894.
5In her Preface to the second edition of Deephaven (1894) Jewett cites George Sand's "delightful preface for Légendes Rustiques" (Paris, 1858, 1888), and quotes two sentences from the French text.
works and ways: In her letters, Jewett several times repeats this phrase, sometimes within quotation marks. The actual phrase does not appear, as one might expect, in the King James Bible, though it is suggested in several places: Psalms 145:17, Daniel 4:37, and Revelations 15:3. In each of these passages, the biblical author refers to the works and ways of God. Jewett may be quoting from another source or from commentary on these passages, which tend to emphasize that while God's ways are mysterious, they also are to be accepted humbly by humanity.
Editor's Notes
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
H. M. & Co: Jewett's publisher, Houghton, Mifflin, and Company.
the art school: Which art school and in what capacity are not yet known.
Dr. Morton: Cary identifies Dr. Morton: Dr. Helen Morton (d. March 12, 1916) had offices successively on Marlboro, Boylston, and Chestnut streets in Boston. Jewett once characterized her as "touchy {touching?} in her doctorly heart and more devoted in her private capacity as a friend."
Baltimore: For an account of Jewett and Fields in Baltimore in March 1893, see New York Times, 5 March 1893, p. 11.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Am 1743 (50). This transcription by Richard Cary appeared originally in "Jewett to Dresel: 33 Letters," Colby Library Quarterly 7:1 (March 1975), 13-49, which gave permission to reprint it here. Notes are by Cary, with additions by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
[ March 10, 1893 ]
Dear Fuffatee --
And more sad news -- Dear old Dr Peabody gone too!* but let us be thankful that he could enjoy life so long and so late. Everybody remembers him here with such love and gratitude for the charming address that he made two years ago -- How many of the little New England towns have ^such^ pleasant memory!
Don't you remember that somebody, while we were away, -- oh, it
[ Page 2 ]
was Mr. Alden! -- told us how exquisite William Watson's A Prince's Quest was? Last night, after I came from my tea party I read most of it with great delight. I wish that we could read many of the poems together, but I still cling to my first love: the Dedication to James Bromley.*
(This is Saturday again and I suppose you will have your dozen of pleasant people come in. I love the Saturday
[ Page 3 ]
companies dearly -- (I have forgotten just when it was that you planned for Mrs. Warner's and Mrs. Cabell's* visit -- but indeed I hope that they will come. Was^nt^ it this next Thursday that you set for the music?
-- I quite long to hear all about the evening at Mrs. Higginsons* -- but what a lovely thing for Alice and Lilian* to do about the portrait! I dont know when anything done has given me
[ Page 3 ]
such a golden pleasure unless it is your having done the Tennyson & Whittier papers!*
Good bye dear Fuff from
Your loving Pinny*
Notes
March 10, 1893: Fields penciled "South Berwick 1891" in the upper right of page 1. However, as the notes below indicate, the actual composition date probably was March of 1893.
Fuffatee: Variation on "Fuff," a nickname for Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
old Dr. Peabody gone: Andrew Preston Peabody (1811-10 March 1893), pastor of South Parish Unitarian Church in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, in 1891 a professor and acting president at Harvard University. He was editor of the North American Review, 1853-1863. The address to which Jewett refers is likely to be the prayer he gave for the centennial celebration of the Berwick Academy in July 1891, which appears in thememorial booklet Jewett prepared, pp. 1-2.
Mr. Alden ... William Watson's "A Prince's Quest" ... the Dedication to James Bromley: Henry Mills Alden (1836-1919), editor of Harper's Magazine (1869-1919) probably refers to Sir William Watson (1858-1935), author of The Prince's Quest and Other Poems (1880) and verses on the death of Tennyson, Lachrymae Musarum (1902). Watson's "To James Bromley" appears in Wordsworth's Grave & Other Poems (1890), p. 7. Though there was more than one prominent James Bromley who was contemporary with Wordsworth and to whom Watson's poem may have been addressed, the more likely person seems to be James Bromley (1800 - 1838), an English mezzotint-engraver, who produced a well-known portrait of William Wordsworth in the National Portrait Gallery.
(This is Saturday: This parenthesis mark and the others in this letter were penciled in by Fields. This one is emphasized with multiple pencil strokes.
Mrs. Warner's and Mrs. Cabell's: For Mrs. Warner, see Charles Dudley Warner in Key to Correspondents.
The Warners resided in Hartford, CT, where they were acquainted with Mrs. Isaetta Read Carrington Cabell (1856-1923), journalist and short story writer, who, as literary editor (1889-1892), contributed a weekly column to the Hartford Courant.
Mrs. Higginsons: Probably Ida Agassiz Higginson. See Key to Correspondents.
Alice and Lilian: Lilian Aldrich and probably Alice Greenwood Howe. See Key to Correspondents.
Tennyson & Whittier papers: In 1893, Fields published in Harper's Magazine: "Tennyson" (January) and "Whittier: Notes on His Life and of His Friendship" (February).
Pinny: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Fields has penciled a large end parenthesis, setting off the final three lines of the letter.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Fields transcription
This passage appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), p. 86.
And more sad news. Dear old Dr. Peabody gone, too! but let us be thankful that he could enjoy life so long and so late. Everybody remembers him here with such love and gratitude, for the charming address that he made two years ago. How many of the little New England towns have such pleasant memory!
Don't you remember that somebody, while we were away, -- oh, it was Mr. Alden, told us how exquisite William Watson's "A Prince's Quest" was? Last night, after I came from my tea-party, I read most of it with great delight. I wish that we could read many of the poems together, but I still cling to my first love, the Dedication to James Bromley. This is Saturday again, and I suppose you will have your dozen of pleasant people come in. I love the Saturday companies dearly.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Annie Adams Fields
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
[ 28 March 1893 ]*
Dear Mrs. Fields
I was able to respond to your letter only when I returned home after taking a change of air for my poor state of health. The thought that you will have waited for this reply saddens and troubles me, but I hope this silence will have led you to understand that I had to decline the kind offer
[ Page 2 ]
which I wish wholeheartedly that I could have accepted. I will go to Chicago towards the end of the exhibition* only; when the crowds will be smaller, and as for you, my dear good friends, I hope to see you at the time of year you recommended, which is around about the month of September.
[ Page 3 ]
My wish to make my U.S. tour coincide with a stay with my brother* and the need to complete the tasks I've begun here force me to this delay. Many thanks for having thought of me, dear Annie. I embrace you very tenderly and send along to you best remembrances for the one* we love.
ThB
[ Page 4 ]
Did I mention that Mr. Johnson* has, in the most friendly way, accepted some articles I had sent him? For me, that is a great satisfaction.
The Dyer* household is here. We are speaking of you. They will stay a fortnight.
Notes
1893: Later in this year, Mme. Blanc made her first trip to the United States, which included a visit to the World Columbian Exposition in October. See notes below.
exhibition: World Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in the spring through early autumn of 1893. Perhaps Fields invited Blanc to join the planned trip with her, Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, and Jewett soon after the exposition opened in May.
brother: Blanc's only brother was Christian de Solms. See Blanc in Key to Correspondents. It appears that in 1893, he spent at least some time in the United States, but nothing has yet been learned about his activities there.
Johnson: Robert Underwood Johnson. See Key to Correspondents.
During the year after March of 1893, two pieces by Blanc appeared in Century Magazine:
"Notable Women: George Sand," v. 47 (1893-4) pp. 456-66.
"Conversation in France," v. 48 (1894) pp. 626-34.
Dyer: This family has not been identified. It is possible that these people were related to Elisha Dyer, Jr. (1839-1906), Republican politician who served as governor of Rhode Island (1897-1900).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda mss FI 1-5637, Box 5. Transcription, translation and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, with essential assistance from Jeannine Hammond, Professor of French, Emerita, at Coe College.
Transcription
28 Mars [ 1893 ]
Chère Mrs Fields,
Je n'ai pu répondre à votre lettre
qu'en rentrant chez moi,
après un changement
d'air motivé par le
mauvais état de ma
santé. L'idée que vous
aurez attendu cette
réponse me chagrine
et me trouble, mais
j'espère que le silence
gardé vous aura fait
comprendre qu'il me fallait
refuser l'offre aimable
[ Page 2 ]
à laquelle je me
serait rendue de
si grand coeur.
J'irai à Chicago vers
la fin de l'exposition
seulement; il y
aura un peu moins
de cohue et quant
à vous, mes bien
chères amis, j'espère
vous voir dans la
saison que vous
m'avez dit être la
meilleure, c'est à dire
vers le mois de Septembre.
[ Page 3 ]
Le désir de faire coïncider
mon voyage aux Etats
d'Unis avec une
visite à mon frère
et la nécessite d'achever
ici des travaux commencés
me contraint à retarder
ainsi. Mille remerciements
d'avoir pensé à
moi, chère Annie.
Je vous embrasse
très tendrement
et vous charge pour
celle que nous aimons
des meilleurs souvenirs
ThB
[ Page 4 ]
Vous ai-je dit
que j'avais envoyé
à Mr Johnson des
articles qui ont
été acceptés de
la façon la plus
aimable? C'est une
grande satisfaction
pour moi.
Le ménage Dyer
est ici. Nous parlons
de vous. Ils resteront
une quinzaine.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
Easter Monday, 1893. [ April 3 ]
Easter went as Easter must, well;* for is it not a day of the future? . . . Your letters . . . have been comfort and joy to me, and I count and know them every one, and need them; if indeed one dares say one needs anything.
Notes
Easter: Celebration of the resurrection of Christ in Christian cultures, in western Christianity falling on the first Sunday after the first full moon after 21 March.
This transcription appears in Letters, Sarah Wyman Whitman. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1907, "Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett: 1882-1903," pp. 61-109.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Saturday morning
[ March / April 1893 ]
My dear Fuff*
I had a prosperous journey home and immediately started forth again to a great musical entertainment given by a young music teacher and all the little neighbor children who "take lessons{.}" It was very pretty and three little brown heads together pounding out a trio was so pleasing! ---- a young [ creatur' revised from creature ] from the Great Falls, with a pretty -- fresh voice sang
[ Page 2 ]
Addio -- a Napoli!* as if she had learned it on the Grand Canal -- it carried me back to our moonlight evenings -- Do you remember the night we ran away after Miss Adams* went to bed and came, (for one thing,) through that little canal by the Salute* -- the bridge & the trees over the wall and such a big moon!
I am going to be busy finishing the Sad Captains* today{.}
[ Page 3 ]
To tell the truth, it is pretty cold outdoors in Barvick* -- and I am gong as far as the Bank with my Scribner plunder.* It is a nice bright day.
[ Penciled note, probably in Fields's hand: -- end here ]
(Coolidge writes about this plan of the Raymond Tour to Chicago* and I am inclined to think that it is the best thing we can do -- She wishes to gointhe second week in May or thereabouts. What
[ Page 4 ]
do you think?
Oh, ask Helen how she means to do it! and give my love to her and to Mr. Merriman and Roger.* How I wish that I were going to be there. I feel quite left out -- but indeed I am glad to be at home. I do so want to get Mary* out of her tired way -- I wish it weren't mid-winter -- I wish many things in fact!
Goodbye darling, from )*
your Pinny*
Notes
1893: Fields had penciled "Winter 1885?" in the upper right of page 1. But this is not correct, for Jewett writes of plans to attend the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which opened in May 1893.
Fuff: A nicknames that Jewett and Fields used with each other. See Key to Correspondents.
Addio -- a Napoli: "L'Addio a Napoli" or Farewell to Naples (English version, copyright 1880) is a song by Teodoro Cottrau (1827-1879).
Jewett and Fields traveled in Italy during the spring of 1892.
Miss Adams: Fields has deleted "dams" in pencil, leaving the "A."
Miss Adams is the eldest sister of Annie Adams Fields, Sarah Holland Adams (1823-1916). She moved to Europe after her mother's death in 1877, where she settled in Germany and became as translator into English of the works of Hermann Grimm.
Salute: Santa Maria della Salute in Venice.
Sad Captains: Jewett's "All My Sad Captains" appeared in Century Magazine (50:736-748) in September 1895. It is somewhat unusual for Jewett to be working on a story in late winter 1892 that did not see print until late summer 1895.
Barvick: An alternate spelling for Berwick, illustrating Jewett's belief that this was an archaic pronunciation.
Scribner plunder: It seems likely that Jewett had been paid by this time for "Between Mass and Vespers," which appeared in Scribner's Magazine (13:661-676) in May 1893.
Raymond Tour ... Chicago: According to Richard Cary, Jewett attended the Columbian Exposition with Annie Fields and "Susan Coolidge" (Sarah Chauncey Woolsey) soon after it opened in May 1893.
Raymond & Whitcomb, a New York travel agency, provided travel, hotel and tour arrangements for the exposition from various eastern starting points. Customers stayed at the Raymond and Whitcomb Grand Hotel in Chicago, which promised convenience, comfort, and pure Wisconsin water.
Helen ... Mr. Merriman ... Roger: Helen Bigelow Merriman, her husband Daniel and their son, Roger. See Key to Correspondents.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
from ): The parenthesis marks have been added in pencil, presumably by Annie Fields.
Pinny: Nickname that Jewett and Fields used with each other. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Robert Underwood Johnson
148 Charles StreetTimms* -- I perhaps yielded more to Nature than to Art in writing it -- The dramatic part -- if any -- had to come in the beginning -- it often does in country sketches. I suppose that they really came home humbled by defeat and saying little, but I can easily make more of the other woman & have her hail the stage and send for another trunk
Boston 8 April
[ 1893 ]*
Dear Mr. Johnson
Thanks for your most kind and friendly letter. I was so sorry to have troubled you with the telegram but there came a moment when I [ knew corrected ] that I had promised more stories than I ought! and I wished to know just where I was.
I will indeed reconsider The Guests of Mrs.
[ Page 2 ]
[ Page 3 ]and parley with the Guests. Would that do? And will you send it to me here? I shall be in town next week.
It is natural that I should wish to send you the best of my sketches -- I was sorry that I had not quite finished another which you would have liked better, I think, than the Sad Captains.*
[ Page 4 ]Notes
With my best thanks and regards believe me ever
Yours most sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett
1893: This date is supported by the negotiations about Jewett's "The Guests of Mrs. Timms," which other letters of this time continue. The story appeared in Century in February 1894.
Sad Captains: Jewett's "All My Sad Captains" appeared in Century in September 1895.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ: Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature RTC01, Box 10, Folder 12. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Henry Drummond to Sarah Orne Jewett
[This letter is on a printed letterhead that includes a seal upper left containing this information: The Brunswick, Copley Square, Boston, Barnes & Dunklee. Upper right is this information: P. O. Address, The Brunswick, Back Bay, Boston.]
April. 9. 1983.
Dear Madam,
Can you excuse this long silence? Unhappily I could not till now and see my way to avail myself of the pleasure you offer me, but I now write to say that the obstacle has been removed, and I shall be delighted to come this evening. With many thanks for your kindness.
Yours Sincerely,
Henry Drummond*
Notes
Drummond: In April 893 Henry Drummond delivered the Lowell Lectures at Boston. See The Evolution of Man, being the Lowell lectures delivered at Boston, Mass., Apr., 1893, by Professor Henry Drummond, edited by William Templeton.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: bMS Am 1743 (51). Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett and Carrie Jewett Eastman
Wednesday morning
[ April 12, 1893 ]*
Dear Girls
I send these Chicago letters to make up for any lack in mine. Sister was let sleep this morning and is more belated than usual! -- The little Dike's* letter was to S. Coolidge*. I send this note of Mr. Drummond's* just for you to see so please send it back when
[ Page 2 ]
you write again. I am going to "big Houghton's"* this morning and if I can find some tumblers I [shall written over something] send them down. Other things were desired and I being in the neighborhood proffered services. This card from Alice* sounds very well. I dare say her rheumatic attack was the kind like Seeger's* -- to leave her better
[ Page 3 ]
than it found her, but think of her going to Chicago! I am so glad. I met with no adventures on my journey -- but now I must fly.
Yours
Seddy
I hope to get the curtains from [unrecognized word].
Notes
April 12, 1893: This date is based upon Jewett's having just received Henry Drummond's April 9, 1893 letter accepting her invitation to the home of Annie Fields. See notes below.
little Dike's: No Jewett acquaintance of this name is known.
S. Coolidge: See Sarah Chauncey Woolsey in Key to Correspondents.
Mr. Drummond: Henry Drummond. See Key to Correspondents.
"big Houghton": Probably Houghton and Dutton Company on Boston's Tremont Street, a popular large, multi-story department store from the 1870s until the 1930s.
Alice: The Jewett's had too many friends of this name to allow certain identification in this case. Main candidates probably would be Alice Greenwood Howe and Alice Longfellow. See Key to Correspondents.
Seeger's: C. Carroll Hollis says that Seeger probably is Harriet Foot Seeger (b. 1843?), a schoolteacher friend of the Jewetts from Boston. She may be the daughter of Adonijah and Clarissa (Woodworth) Foot.
Chicago ... my journey: According to Richard Cary, Jewett attended the Columbian Exposition with Annie Fields and Susan Coolidge soon after it opened in May 1893.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Historic New England in the Jewett Family Papers MS014.02.01. Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Robert Underwood Johnson
[ 10 - 15 April 1893 ]*
did not fix any price, have steadily grown -- Last year before I went abroad I had the Sad Captains* in hand and I fell to musing upon the dangers of extortion, having promised it to a magazine which had asked my price. Mr. Warner* happened to be staying here, and I asked him what he thought I might properly ask for a story of that length, and he said $400. Then I wasn't quite assured, and I saw Mr. Aldrich* that same day, and I asked him as a
Dear Mr. Johnson
These re financial statements: for a good many years now I have had $200. for my shorter magazine articles -- When they ran beyond six or seven thousand words I always had more. Once I had five!* $500.! I mark it praise for you and me in figures!
I never like to take exceptional prices for granted -- but the cheques that I have had sent where I
[ Page 2 ]
[ Page 3 ]secret counselor -- and he said $400 -- and then I thought it was wise to tell my Editor,* who said it was satisfactory to him. But the sequel was that I didn't [ quite corrected ] suit myself with the Captains, and I sent another shorter story in its place just as I went away. And you see that I did not take the decision of my advisers because when I sent it to you I rated it at $300, and I sent one to Scribners at that price with a shorter one at $200, lately, which Mr. Burlingame* is to use in May & August --
[ Page 4 ]Notes
So I tell you frankly just how the matter stands -- if you think three hundred too much for the Captains I will say $250 -- which would be $450 for both. I should like to have $300 for it. But if you repent you of the bargain (--which perhaps I ought not to have called a bargain, and to forget [ the looks like and ? ] hope of "Mr. Frost's* illustrating" both) -- just let me keep Mrs. Timms which I will do -- or do any thing rather than have you and Mr. Gilder* feel a sense
[ Up the left margin and across the top margin of page 1 ]
of discomfort in the matter -- Will you say this to him and believe me yours most sincerely & [ truly ? ]
S. O. Jewett
Pray pardon my writing in such haste and let me hear again from you --
1893: This letter almost certainly is part of a group of letters from April 1893, in which Jewett and Johnson discuss what she is to be paid for recently submitted stories. This letter appears to come between those of 8 April and 17 April.
In the margin before Jewett's first sentence, circled in pencil: "RWG" for Richard Watson Gilder. See Key to Correspondents.
On the top right of page 4 appears "RHT", presumably for American bibliophile Robert H. Taylor (c. 1914-1985).
five: Not only is this word underlined; it also is written in large and darker script.
Sad Captains: Jewett's "All My Sad Captains" appeared in Century in September 1895, illustrated by Eric Pape. "The Guests of Mrs. Timms" appeared in Century in February 1894, without illustrations.
When Jewett speaks of going abroad in the previous year, she must refer to her 1892 trip to Europe.
Her first story in Scribners to appear after her departure was "Between Mass and Vespers," in May 1893, followed by "The Flight of Betsey Lane" in August. Next in Century was "The Hilton's Holiday" in September 1893.
Mr. Warner: Charles Dudley Warner. See Key to Correspondents.
Mr. Aldrich: Thomas Bailey Aldrich. See Key to Correspondents.
Editor: See William Dean Howells to Jewett of 8 February 1892. There, as Harper's Magazine editor, Howells agrees that Jewett's price is appropriate, but he is not perfectly satisfied with "All My Sad Captains." Probably the story submitted in place of "All My Sad Captains" was "Decoration Day" which appeared in the June 1892 issue of Harper's.
Mr. Burlingame: Edward Livermore Burlingame (1848-1922) was editor of Scribner's (1887-1914).
Mr. Frost's: American illustrator Arthur Burdett Frost (1851-1928).
Gilder: Richard Watson Gilder. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ: Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature RTC01, Box 10, Folder 12. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Robert Underwood Johnson
148 Charles Streetand under all the circumstances do you really think I am paid too much? I can only judge the prices that are sometimes made for my work, as I said when I wrote to you. The commercial side of story writing often tries me! --
Boston 17 April
[ 1893 ]*
Dear Mr. Johnson
I thank you for the cheque which comes safe to hand [ probably stray mark, an apostrophe ] this morning --
I am very sorry that you have been in the least annoyed; I fear that I discover a trace of it in your note, but did I not write a proper business letter when I sent the sketches
[ Page 2 ]
You asked me about The Atlantic: but that is
[ Page 3 ]another story. There is a reason why I have not cared to send any stories to The Atlantic lately -- but it is not a commercial or exactly a personal reason. I did not like something that The Atlantic did to one of my friends* two years ago -- so I sent two sketches
[ Page 4 ]Notes
to the Century instead, -- not long ago!!
I shall look over The Guests of Mrs. Timms* as soon as I can, but it has not been possible in a week when one was seeing La Locandiera* and things like that! I wonder if you really care about it?
You know that The Century has a sketch now beside these: The Hilton's Holiday* -- I think I sent it while you were so ill, and it is almost the best thing I have ever done -- at [ least ? ] I thought
[ Up the left margin and across the top margin of page 1 ]
so -- but "print settles all that" -- as Coleridge* truly said. I quite long to have it come to the magazine.
With best regards
yours sincerely
S. O. Jewett
Mrs. Fields's & my love to your Mistress Katharine.*
1893: Jewett was negotiating with Johnson about "The Guests of Mrs. Timms" during the spring of 1893. The story appeared in Century in February 1894.
Penciled in the upper right corner of page 4 is"RHT", presumably for American bibliophile Robert H. Taylor (c. 1914-1985).
friends: Paula Blanchard reports in Sarah Orne Jewett that in 1890, when editorship of Atlantic Monthly changed from Thomas Bailey Aldrich to Horace Scudder (See Key to Correspondents), bad feelings resulted, leading Jewett to avoid submitting to Atlantic for some time (p. 157). Jewett published "By the Morning Boat" in Atlantic in October 1890. Thereafter, she published no stories under her name in Atlantic until "The Only Rose" in January 1894.
Her anonymous memorial "At the Funeral of Phillips Brooks," appeared in April 1893, and other anonymous pieces may have appeared in the Atlantic's "Contributors' Club" during 1891-1894.
Also, Annie Fields published nothing under her name in Atlantic between November 1890 and February 1895.
La Locandiera: The original Italian title for "The Mistress of the Inn" by Italian playwright, Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793).
The Hilton's Holiday: Jewett's underlining in this letter is inconsistent and often partial. Here, for example, she seems to have underlined "The" but not the rest of her title. In other instances, I have underlined the whole title, e.g. The Atlantic, when her underlining was partial.
Coleridge: British author, Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834). While Coleridge is reported by several sources to have said something like "print settles it," it is not clear that he published the statement or that he was the first to express the idea. The statement is generally taken to mean that printing a text usually ends its revision.
Mrs. Fields's ... Katharine: Annie Adams Fields and Katharine McMahon Johnson. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ: Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature RTC01, Box 10, Folder 12. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
South Berwick, Maine
Wednesday
April 26, [1893]
Dear Loulie:
I was very sorry to miss you while I was in town and you were very good to come so many times. It was a fortnight or more of great busyness! and I may add, much busyness of pleasure. I stayed on until Saturday expecting to see Madame Duse again but I was disappointed with the rest of the world,1 and while Mrs. Fields went home to see the Saturday friends whom she had designed to run away from, my sister and I went to hear Rearig* and were much diverted and then took the five o'clock train home. The first of the week I made a two days visit with Miss Ticknor2 which has been arranged for some time and much looked forward to. I have usually been to see her in Newport. It seemed so funny to be making a little visit in Boston -- as if I went to stay with a neighbor here!
Chicago draws near3 and I begin to feel hurried. I am trying to get another story done before I go: it has a delightful motif of affectionate indecision! There was a plain old person who had 3 husbands and one day when she was making up bouquets to put on their graves (she is to have a friend to talk with who dropped in to call) there is one rose that has bloomed on one of her houseplants, and she doesn't know which husband she ought to give it to!! You can see that it is a story with large opportunities and I now leave you to ponder upon it.4
With love to Mrs. Dresel, I am yours ever most affectionately,
S. O. J.
Cary's Notes
1Originally scheduled at the Globe Theatre in Boston for "four appearances only" beginning April 11, 1893, Eleanora Duse consented to an additional series, the last performances of which had to be cancelled "owing to [her] continued indisposition."
2Anna Eliot Ticknor (1823-1896), eldest daughter of the American historian George Ticknor, also consorted with Jewett in the Northeast Harbor-Mt. Desert region on the Maine coast. Miss Ticknor was one of the editors of Life, Letters, and Journals of George Ticknor (Boston, 1876), and sole editor of Life of Joseph Green Cogswell (Cambridge, Mass., 1874).
3The World's Colombian Exposition, popularly called the Chicago World's Fair, opened May 1 and closed October 30, 1893. Jewett attended the Fair with Annie Fields and Susan Coolidge.
4 "The Only Rose," Atlantic Monthly, LXXIII (January 1894), 37-46: collected in The Life of Nancy (Boston, 1895). Jewett stayed true to this early conception. Miss Pendexter, "a cheerful, even gay little person who always brought a pleasant flurry of excitement," comes in "from the next house but one to make a friendly call" on the protagonist, Mrs. Bickford.
Editor's Notes
Rearig: This reference remains obscure. It is at least possible that Jewett has provided a phonetic spelling for Roehrig, in which case, she may refer to Frederick Louis Otto Roehrig (1819-1908). He was a German-born professor of languages, particularly Asiatic, at Cornell University. As a well-known expert on Asian languages and cultures, he may have offered public lectures, but this really is only speculation.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Am 1743 (50). This transcription by Richard Cary appeared originally in "Jewett to Dresel: 33 Letters," Colby Library Quarterly 7:1 (March 1975), 13-49, which gave permission to reprint it here. Notes are by Cary, with additions by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Robert Underwood Johnson
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick, Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
28 April 1893
Dear Mr Johnson
I am sending back Mrs. Flagg* and Mifs Pickett ^(as desired!)^ after putting several new pages to the stage episode, and I think it is much improved but I do not press these guests upon the Century lest they may be as unwelcome as they were to "Mis' Timms{.}"
I could hardly write the [ full ? ] sketch for laughing, but the more I read it over the more I see the pathetic side of their disappointed holiday but I saw only the amusing side at first and so both sides must be in the brief tale --- as they are in most tales!
[ Page 2 ]
[ Page 3 ]This must be near your time of flitting -- You must both have a great store of happy memories to carry to the new house. I shall have to think of you in the old one [ until corrected ] I see you in the new --
With all friendly messages to both -- believe me your sincere friend
Sarah O. Jewett
There is again a prospect of
[ Page 4 ]Notes
our dear Madame Blanc's* coming either in early June or sometime in July!!
Flagg: One of Jewett's characters in "The Guests of Mrs. Timms," which appeared in Century in February 1894.
Madame Blanc's: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents. She did, indeed, visit in the United States in 1893-4, attending the Columbian Exposition. However, she did not arrive in the U.S. until the autumn, probably in October.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Princeton University Library, Princeton, NJ: Robert H. Taylor Collection of English and American Literature RTC01, Box 10, Folder 12. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
[South Berwick, Maine]
Saturday morning
[April 29, 1893]
Dear Loulie:
I take my busiest pen in hand right in the middle of things to thank you for your letter and all it says, and to meekly state my firm belief that a story must stop somewhere, and that the best a person can do is to set her readers to wondering what happened next. To deal with such a figure as Danny Nolan's is to deal with uncertainties and one can do nothing more than take hope, or give it. Perhaps the priest could manage him, but it is the priest whose portrait I try to take: he is the hero not Danny, if I had made Danny assert himself you would have been speaking indeed of greens in my background! I think he and Dennis balance each other and are about equally distinct. I wonder if you won't read it so when you think it over? -- but I suppose they aren't or you would have been impatient to know how Dennis found his wife when he got back after the illustrious absence. You see my sense of composition in this story is clear to me, but alas how difficult it is to write and paint and play.1 I heard an old man who was a charming singer and whose voice was weakening, say, "Oh if I could sing it as well as I think it!" I suppose that it needs the perspective that you get when a thing comes back to you in print to make one feel the possibilities clearly and see what one might do.
It was lovely about the Sold sketch. I wish I could have seen it. Now I must fly back to my work again.
Yrs. affectionately,
S. O. J.
Notes
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Am 1743 (50). This transcription by Richard Cary appeared originally in "Jewett to Dresel: 33 Letters," Colby Library Quarterly 7:1 (March 1975), 13-49, which gave permission to reprint it here. Notes are by Cary, with additions by Terry Heller, Coe College.
1The story is "Between Mass and Vespers," Scribner's, XIII (May 1893), 661-676; collected in A Native of Winby and Other Tales (Boston, 1893). Danny, an Irish lad in New England, has turned criminal but Father Ryan guides him to regeneration through faith and love.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
Thursday
May 4 [1893]
Dear Loulie:
I think your letter needs an answer -- it is so full of disappointments that I feel quite tenderhearted over you. I can't quite make up my mind that having had a friend buy the sketch, instead of a stranger, is not much more of a tribute! I wish that you would reflect upon the transaction from this point of view! There is great sagacity in the saying about prophets and their honor in their own country. It applies just as well to the prophets' works and ways, and I do think that it is a lovely combination of feelings -- this liking the painter and the picture well enough to take the picture for better or worse! Reflect, Loulie!
But about the World's Fair, I am very sorry indeed. I still hope that Ellis may change his mind, or that you may go with an aunt or make some happy arrangement. People drop out of the Raymond parties continually,* so why don't you speak for an extra berth and be ready to fly at the last moment if there is one? I am glad to be going early -- the summer looks long and pleasant beyond the Exposition which I expect to enjoy very much.
And Mamma ill! which is a great pity. What a bleak seven days we have had, and if "the hot week in May" comes directly afterward how we shall all like it and put on our little gingham dresses and think that summer has come!
I don't quite dare to speak of the story again!! but indeed I wrote in the middle of a tired day and something must have crept into the letter. "The Bogans" had a kind of ideality and typical-ism about it, but perhaps this is as good.1 I can't tell myself, and I don't much care. It is a brick in the little wall, and I think about my wall more than about my bricks for it is my nature to!* Of all these great and little subjects we will speak when next we meet.
Yours most affectionately,
S. O. J.
Cary's Note
1Jewett is referring to "Between Mass and Vespers" (see August 29 letter) and "The Luck of the Bogans," Scribner's, V (January 1889), 100-112; collected in Strangers and Wayfarers (Boston, 1890). Both stories depict the moral decline of an Irish youth in America; the earlier ends in ruin, the later in rehabilitation.
Editor's Notes
prophets and their honor in their own country: See the Bible, Mark 6:4.
a brick in the little wall: Between 1889 and 1901, Jewett published eight stories about the Irish and Irish immigrants. Jack Morgan and Louis A. Renza have collected these into a single volume, The Irish Stories of Sarah Orne Jewett (Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1996). In their introduction, they contend that Jewett was successful on the whole at conveying affection for the Irish as a people and in the cultural work she undertook of subverting the "Paddy stereotype" so apparent in much contemporary writing and popular culture.
But about the World's Fair ... Ellis ... the Raymond parties: Cary points out that the World's Colombian Exposition, popularly called the Chicago World's Fair, opened May 1 and closed October 30, 1893. Jewett attended the Fair with Annie Fields and Susan Coolidge. Ellis Loring Dresel (1871-1925) is Louisa's brother. Raymond & Whitcomb, a New York travel agency, provided travel, hotel and tour arrangements for the exposition from various eastern starting points. As the letter suggests, the amenities included sleeping cars for the journey. Customers stayed at the Raymond and Whitcomb Grand Hotel in Chicago, which promised convenience, comfort, and pure Wisconsin water.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Am 1743 (50). This transcription by Richard Cary appeared originally in "Jewett to Dresel: 33 Letters," Colby Library Quarterly 7:1 (March 1975), 13-49, which gave permission to reprint it here. Notes are by Cary, with additions by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett
Friday
[ 5 May 1893 ]*
Dear Mary
Will you please get my thick white driving sack that Mrs. Fields* had made for me out of the entry closet? It isn’t clean and I have promised to lend it for travel!! -- A. F. was going right over to Boylston St. so she took the message to Hollander’s* & they said that the clothes had already gone. She has
[ Page 2 ]
just come back with word!
I had company of Sarah Butler* as far as Newburyport, and a few pleasant words with Mr. Yeaton* before we got to Boston. There is no news that I can hear, but everything is in good trim. I thought I wouldn’t go out this afternoon so long as the Hollander errand could be otherwise done, far all ^else^ that I need to do can be
[ Page 3 ]
done in the morning -- I may think of other things to bring but if I do I can write again in the morning. I hope you liked your hat & bonnet. I can put things in my trunk after you get here if yours is over full. John* was wondering if 'they' took baggage on Sunday but I am pretty sure 'they' do!
Yours with love
S
e
d
d
y*
Notes
5 May 1893: An envelope associated with this letter in the MWWC folder was cancelled in Boston on this date and addressed to "Mifs" Mary R. Jewett in South Berwick, ME.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields, A.F. See Key to Correspondents.
Hollander’s: This is likely L. P. Hollander & Co., Boston dealers in dry goods and men's and women's apparel, established in 1848 by M. T. Hollander. See The Book of Boston (1916), p. 335.
Sarah Butler: This may be Sarah Butler Wister (1835-1908), daughter of the British actress Frances Anne Kemble. She was the mother of American novelist, Owen Wister (1860-1938). However, it seems unlikely Jewett would use her maiden name.
Mr. Yeaton: Almost certainly, this is George Campbell Yeaton (1836-1918), a prominent South Berwick attorney, known locally for his prosecution of Louis Wagner in the Smuttynose murder case on the Isles of the Shoals, about which Celia Thaxter writes in "A Memorable Murder," Atlantic Monthly, May 1875
According to Dennis Robinson, Mr. Yeaton "was born in South Berwick, studied law when a young man, received a degree from Bowdoin College and was admitted to the York Bar in May, 1862. Thirteen years afterward he was made county attorney and attained widespread fame for his work in convicting Wagner, assisted by Attorney General Harold M. Plaistead, who afterward became governor of Maine."
John: John Tucker. See Key to Correspondents.
The Jewett sisters are preparing for the trip to the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893.
Seddy: One of Jewett's family nicknames.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the University of New England Maine Women Writers Collection: Jewett Correspondence MWWC0196_02_00_097_01.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Wednesday night)
[ May 1893 ]*
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
Dear Fuff*
(I hope you wont get too tired! I begin to worry about it and to hope that spring air is blowing well through the Charity Building.*
I have had a day of gardening and writing and a drive this afternoon with a long walk this evening -- and a most exquisite evening it is --)*
The country is all dandelions just now, and apple blossoms
[ Page 2 ]
of a sudden -- I passed such a beautiful pear tree in a lane this afternoon -- what lovely flowers they are!
(I am writing over night because I must go out early in the morning. I had a nice note from Katie Coolidge* this morning. I sent her Mrs. Oliphant's story* and she liked it very much and said that Templeman had got home
[ Page 3 ]
and that it was most lovely at the old place. I have been hearing from Katharine Loring* too -- a note in answer to mine yesterday and today one^ asking me about the Raymond Hotel -- )
Mary* is as busy as ten bumble bees with a belated garden, in fact we both are, but I dare say it will all turn out
[ Page 4 ]
just was well. My nasturtiums are way up that I planted before we went away. I wonder if yours are too? In this weather one wants to fly every way at once. I have got almost all my work done on Deephaven* -- just now I am busy with a preface for the new edition -- but I am not quite sure how it goes. I have pretty nearly made up my mind not to try to make a book of stories for this year (I
[ Up the left margin and then across the top margin of page 1 ]
should have to put in one or two that I dont feel quite sure about -- and I could make {a} much better collection by waiting until next year.
Good night darling from your Pinny*
Notes
1893: The date of May 1884, changed from 1894, appears in pencil and another hand, probably that of Annie Fields, in the upper right corner of page 1. However, as Jewett reports working on the preface for her October 1893 edition of Deephaven, it seems clear this letter was composed in 1893.
Fuff: A Jewett nickname for Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Charity Building: Annie Adams Fields worked with the Associated Charities of Boston, located in the Charity Building on Chardon St.
--): This parenthesis mark, like all those in this letter, is in pencil and in another hand. These two opening paragraphs within the parentheses also seem to be deleted with a penciled line through them.
Katie Coolidge: Katherine/Catherine Scollay Parkman Coolidge. Her husband was John Templeman Coolidge. See Key to Correspondents.
Oliphant's story: Scottish author Margaret Oliphant Wilson Oliphant (1828 - 1897). One cannot be sure which story by this prolific author Jewett may have sent to Mrs Coolidge. Oliphant published The Cuckoo in the Nest and Diana Trelawny in 1892 and The Sorceress in 1893.
Katharine Loring: Katharine/Katherine Peabody Loring. See Key to Correspondents.
Probably, the reference to the Raymond Hotel refers to the World's Colombian Exposition, popularly called the Chicago World's Fair, which opened May 1 and closed October 30, 1893. Jewett attended the Fair with Annie Fields and "Susan Coolidge."
Raymond & Whitcomb, a New York travel agency, provided travel, hotel and tour arrangements for the exposition from various eastern starting points. Customers stayed at the Raymond and Whitcomb Grand Hotel in Chicago, which promised convenience, comfort, and pure Wisconsin water.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Deephaven: Jewett published a new, illustrated edition of her 1877 novel, Deephaven, in October 1893.
Jewett apparently changed her mind about bringing out a story collection the same year. A Native of Winby and Other Tales appeared in late 1893.
Pinny: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Annie Adams Fields
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
19 May [ 1893 ]*
Dear Mrs. Fields,
With this I send you a letter that I ask you please to send on to Mr. Sadakichi Hartmann,* in response to his sending me his book, along with a printed recommendation by Th.
Bentzon, American literature critic at the Revue des Deux Mondes !!!! I am so painfully shocked by this incident that I would never want to have to explain twice
[ Page 2 ]
what he has put me through. Look over my letter to him and make sure people know, however you think fit in dealing with this strange matter, that I did not write this endorsement. Is it necessary to send a denial to the American press? Will the book itself get enough notice to require my taking action? In France, no one would believe I could author such a document.
[ Page 3 ]
But would Americans be fooled? Will I be suspected of collaborating in a scandal? I beseech you to consult with Miss Jewett* and, together, determine what I should do and then write to me frankly. I who delighted to see our protégé become an art critic! My health was barely restored when shaken harshly by this new blow.
[ Page 4 ]
Until I see you at the end of July* I hope, but please send the earliest possible reply! I defer to your judgment regarding a more or less public disavowal. I don't wish to harm this unfortunate person, who has already had so much trouble and whose conscience seems lost, but on the other hand, I can't allow myself to be seen in this way.*
Quick advice, and I am all yours, my dear friend.
Th Blanc Bentzon
[ Cross written down the left margin of page 4 ]
*I especially can't be thought to recommend something which could disgust or harm certain people.
Notes
1893: That the letter comes from 1893 is indicated by Blanc's reference to her problem with Sadakichi Hartman. See the note below.
Sadakichi Hartmann: Japanese-German-American critic and poet, Carl Sadakichi Hartmann (1867-1944). See also Photography and Criticism CyberArchive.
Almost certainly the incident to which Blanc refers is the publication of Hartmann's first book, Christ: A Dramatic Poem in Three Acts (1893).
Blanc's "recommendation" of the poem appeared at the very end of the text, along with other "puffs":
I shall never forget the impression "Christ" has made upon me. It is unique. Very strong, and particularly interesting in the glorification of physical love; even more audacious than Walt Whitman. It continually reminds one of Japanese art, also of Uhde's religious pictures -- only that Mr. Sadakichi Hartmann's pen-pictures are more passionate and life-like. The temptation scene (Act II,2) is more powerful than any episode in Flaubert's "St. Antoine." Zenobia is a character worthy of Victor Hugo, and Prince Parsondes is simply grandiose. -- Mme. Th. Bentzon, Critic of American Literature for the Revue des Deux Mondes, on "Christ."Comparing the style here with that of Hartmann's introduction likely would convince many readers that he, himself, was the author of "Bentzon's" effusion.
Blanc need not have worried much about having herself misrepresented in this work, as it seems to have received no reviews in major sources that would show up in a ProQuest search. However, in December of 1893, because of this book, Hartmann was arrested in Boston for "selling and circulating obscene literature": Boston Daily Globe (22 December 1893), p. 2. This report notes:
This book was published in the early part of the present year and was the subject of much discussion at the time on account of the peculiar ideas of the author.It seems clear that this newspaper account is based mainly on Hartmann's side of the story. Presumably, as a result of the recommendation falsely attributed to Bentzon, she could have been thought one of the "stanch advocates" to which the news story refers.
Although the book has been freely circulated for months, it was not until yesterday that the authorities discovered anything immoral in it .... Like many another literary man he has suffered many privations and what little money he managed to accumulate he spent in the publishing of his book. At this juncture the weekly paper on which he was employed failed and the combination was an unfortunate one for him.
Just what portion of the book is designated as obscene is not known at the present time, but the book as a whole has many stanch advocates.
Miss Jewett: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
way: This asterisk is Blanc's, pointing to the cross-written passage that follows.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda mss FI 1-5637, Box 5. Transcription, translation and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, with essential assistance from Jeannine Hammond, Professor of French, Emerita, at Coe College.
Transcription
Blanc sometimes abbreviates "pour" as "pr" and "vous" as "vs." These are rendered here as "pour" and "vous.".
19 MaiChère Mrs Fields,
Je vous envoie ci-jointe
une lettre que je vous
prie de faire parvenir
à M. Sadakichi Hartmann
en réponse à l'envoi
de son livre accompagné
d'une recommandation
imprimée de Th.
Bentzon, critique
pour la littérature américaine
à la Revue des Deux Mondes !!!!
Je suis si péniblement
émue de cet incident
-- que je ne [ looks like vourais; intends voudrais ? ] jamais expliquer
[ Page 2 ]
par deux fois ce
qu'il m'a fait éprouver.
Lisez ma lettre et démentez
comme vous le jugerez
à propos cette étrange
chose. Faut-il que
j'envoie un démenti
personnel aux journaux
américains? Le livre
fera-t-il assez de
bruit [ pr for pour ] motiver cette
démarche? En France
personne ne croirait
à la possibilité d'un
pareil document venant
[ Page 3 ]être soupçonne de collaboration
de moi. Mais en Amérique
sera-t-on dupe? Vais-Je
à un scandale? Je
vous prie de [ vs for vous ] concerter
avec Miss Jewett, de
voir ensemble ce que je dois faire
et de me l'écrire
franchement. ^Moi qui me
[ réjouissais ? ] de voir notre protégé
converti à la critique d'art!^
Ma sante à peine
rétablie a été rudement
secouée par ce nouveau
[ Page 4 ]
coup! --
Au revoir, fin Juillet
j'espère, mais un
mot le plus tôt
possible! -- Je m'en
remets à votre jugement
pour le désaveu
plus aux moins public.
Je ne voudrais pas
nuire à ce malheureux
qui s'est déjà fait
tant de mal et dont la
conscience me semble
oblitérée, mais d'autre
part je ne peux me
laisser afficher de la sortes.
*
Vite un conseil et tout à
vous de coeur, chère amie
Th Blanc Bentzon*Je ne peux surtout être censée recommander
[ Cross written down the left margin of page 4 ]
ce qui [ est susceptible ? ] révolter certaines âmes ou de leur nuire.
Sarah Orne Jewett to William Hayes Ward22nd May 1893*
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
My dear Mr. Ward
I am tempted to send you the enclosed slip from one of our Maine papers* because I think that it may give you reason for a little essay in the Sunday Herald. It seems to me that there is such a good chance just now for impressing our
[ Page 2 ]
architectural lesson upon the public mind!* and emphasizing our need for holding fast to whatever we have that is characteristic in our town and state [ deletion ] life.
-- The Philadelphia exposition* gave a new regard for our antiquities -- (our "Centennial" chairs and plates!), and, if I am not mistaken, the Chicago exposition* will teach us to be more careful
[ Page 3 ]
about our buildings -- both in preserving the old ones and in building after better fashions. I think one point that might be made is that nothing wins more praise and admiration at the World's Fair than the Hancock House --* and though those who destroyed it thought they were building finer houses in its stead, the day has come when to live in the Hancock House itself would be the most charming distinction -- and so there is a subtle revenge brought about
[ Page 4 ]
by time! -----
Forgive my writing such a long letter and forgive my suggestions about your writing on these points -- but indeed I feel very grateful to you and -- is it not? -- your daughter* for the thoughtful little papers which have had so much influence upon our New England life -- They have been a most refining force in our smaller towns and quieter neighbourhoods -- and many persons who can never thank you or even know whom they should thank are wiser
[ Page 5, on letterhead ]
and broader in thought for what you have said. I hope that you -- and the Herald generally! {--} will not let ^drop^ the Sunday question at Chicago* -- Last week when I was there I wondered if the Secretary of the Christian Endeavor Society knew what he was railing at -- It seemed to me that he himself would be better and more intent upon growth, and helpfulness to others even -- if he could
[ Page 6 ]
spend a few hours among those wonderful buildings -- It is certainly remote from anything trivial or degrading{,} that great enclosure whose gates he would bar to those who need the sight of it most.
-- I could not help thinking as I stood with tears in my eyes before the Statue of Lincoln in Lincoln Park this very last Sunday and saw the people scattered all about, that anything was better
[ Page 7 ]
than they should have been at home in their little houses, drowsing and chattering or spying their neighbours. I think as you do, that reverence and worship and serious thought are more likely to exist when Sunday afternoon at least is given wider outlooks and new experiences of nature and art, "the great revealer."* And if people are going to dress for going out in the afternoon they are twice as likely to be in [ trim ? ] to go to church in the morning!
[ Page 8 ]
And at Chicago nobody can see the great sights of the Exposition -- the great buildings and bridges and columns { -- } without being proud of his country -- which is in itself one of the best things in the world --
I have been wishing to see you to give you a message of kind remembrance which Mr. Arnold's daughter, Mrs. Wodehouse,* gave me last Autumn for you -- She spoke of her father's warm feeling for you and wished me to say that she and Mrs. Arnold remembered you most kindly. Mrs. Fields and I
[ Up the left margin of page 5 ]
were visiting Mrs. Arnold -- ^It was^ a most delightful thing to me to go into our friends quiet study which they
[ Up the left margin of page 6 ]
have kept as he left it.* Believe me with great regard Yours sincerely,
[ Top left margin of page 7 ]
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes
22nd May 1893: Jewett's handwriting is ambiguous for her date, the day having perhaps been corrected. Richard Cary read the date as 2 May. However, the World Columbian Exposition was open 1 May to 30 October, so Jewett could not have mailed this letter on 2 May. Further, when Jewett wrote to Louisa Dresel on 4 May, she implied that she had not yet been to the Exposition. Later in this letter, Jewett indicates that she has visited the fair the previous week. Jewett could not have reported on public reaction to the exposition until well after May 1, when it opened to the public.
papers: Jewett appears to have erred in writing this word, with the result that the first P appears capitalized with an extra line attached to the top of the letter.
Reliable information on the dates Jewett and Fields attended the fair is difficult to locate. Paula Blanchard in Sarah Orne Jewett (p. 265) reports that Jewett and a number of her friends attended the fair together in April 1893, but that is not possible, as the fair had not yet opened to the public. Rita Gollin in Annie Adams Fields (2002, p. 236) says that Madame Blanc attended the Columbian Exposition with Jewett, Fields and others. Blanchard reports that Blanc stayed at the Fields house in Boston during November - December 1893 (pp. 266-8). This would suggest that Jewett and Fields could have attended the fair with Madame Blanc shortly before her stay in Boston, perhaps in October of 1893. But Blanc's reports on the fair do not mention Jewett and Fields being with her.
This letter, then, seems the strongest evidence available about Jewett and Fields attending the fair, probably in mid-May 1893.public mind: Jewett has underlined the two letters twice.
Philadelphia exposition: The Centennial International Exposition of 1876. Wikipedia. See Jewett's short story, "The Flight of Betsey Lane" (August 1893), collected in A Native of Winby (1893).
Hancock House: John Hancock (1737-93) was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. In 1775-7, as presiding officer of the Second Continental Congress, he was called President Hancock. He chaired the Marine Committee during the American Revolution, and he was the first governor of Maine (then part of Massachusetts) under the Constitution of the Commonwealth (1780-1785). He also signed the incorporation papers for the Berwick Academy. (Research assistance: Wendy Pirsig.)
The John Hancock Manor in Boston was demolished in the summer of 1863, its loss stimulating the historic preservation movement, which Jewett supported, particularly in her activities on behalf of the Hamilton House in South Berwick at the end of the 19th century.
According to The Official Guide to the World's Columbian Exposition (1893, pp. 156-7), the Maine building was modeled after the Hancock Manor, and was known as "Hancock House."
daughter: Richard Cary identifies Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, who married Ward's son in 1888. Key to Correspondents. Cary says, "With common sense and a touch of humor, she frequently depicted the mores and amenities, the heroes and misfits of New England culture in the pages of the Independent.
Sunday question at Chicago: "The International Society of Christian Endeavor, original name United Society Of Christian Endeavor, was an interdenominational organization for Protestant youth in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. It was founded in 1881 by Francis Edward Clark, who served as president until 1927." Britannica
"Dr. John Willis Baer (March 2, 1861 - February 8, 1931) was an American official of the United Society of Christian Endeavor. H served as president of Occidental College in Los Angeles (then a Presbyterian school) from 1906 to 1916. In 1919 he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America." Baer was General Secretary of the Society in 1893. Wikipedia
Richard Cary reports:
For several weeks before and after the opening of the Columbian Exposition, the Boston Herald reported almost daily the controversy between politicians and sabbatarians as to whether the Fair should be open Sundays. Interest in the decision mounted as contradictory information reached the public. On May 4, 1893, the Herald stated: "Gates likely to be opened next Lord's Day"; on May 5, "Gates to be open -- World's Fair won't close Sundays"; on May 6, "Exposition will not be open next Sunday." The question was resolved by May 13: "Gates to be open every day after May 21st." For three years beginning January 8, 1891, the Independent kept up a running fire of commentary regarding Sunday operation of the Fair, highlighting the issue on April 23, 1891, with a nine-page symposium by representative clergymen of several sects.
"the great revealer": By putting this phrase in quotation marks, Jewett suggests that she is alluding to another text. Which text that might be is not clear, for it was used by number of 19th-century writers, making cases that art or nature or scripture is the main source of the spiritual truths that humanity seeks. Perhaps Jewett drew the phrase from Phillips Brooks, who uses it to refer to Christ in his sermon , "The Glory of Simplicity," collected in Sermons: New Starts in Life, and other Sermons (1910, p. 166).
visiting Mrs. Arnold: Jewett and Annie Adams Fields traveled in Europe for several months in the summer and autumn of 1892. Key to Correspondents.
Cary notes:
During his grand lecture tour of the United States, October 1883-March 1884, Matthew Arnold stayed for some time at Mrs. Fields's home in Boston. Miss Jewett met him there and cherished the memory of his sitting by the fire one evening, reading aloud "The Scholar Gipsy." Arnold died in 1888. In 1899 Arnold's daughter Eleanor married the Honorable Armine Wodehouse, an under-secretary in the British Foreign Office.This letter is held by Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, Maine: JEWE.1. It was originally transcribed, edited and annotated by Richard Cary for Sarah Orne Jewett Letters. New transcription and revised notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Frederick Mercer Hopkins
22 May 1893
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]My dear Sir
I often keep up to [ to repeated ] this average of writing but while I can keep even to a higher average for a week or so, I am not a steady worker like Mr Howells,* for instance -- and I am apt to have long spaces between these seasons
[ Page 2 ]
of writing -- when I do hardly any writing at all except many letters, and occasional pages of memoranda -- Sometimes I have written sketches of 6000 or 7000 words in a single day -- of course that is exceptional, but I am apt to be at work during five or six weeks and then stop,
forexcept that I am always thinking
[ Page 3 ]
about my work --
This is all I can say about my irregular fashions of getting my sketches done.
About the other matter -- I certainly never expressed myself in those words about my town friends and neighbours -- You know there is a saying of Plato's* that the best thing one can do for the
[ Page 4 ]
people of a State is to make them acquainted with each other, and it was some instinctive feeling of this sort which led me to wish that the town and country people were less suspicious of one another. When I was writing the Deephaven sketches not long after I was twenty and ^was^ beginning my Atlantic work,* it was just the time when people were beginning to come into the country for the summer in such great numbers. It has
[ Page 5, letterhead page ]
certainly been a great means of broadening both townsfolk and country folk. I think nothing has done so much for New England in the last decade; it accounts for most of the enlargement and great gain that New England has certainly made, as if there had been a fine scattering or sowing broadcast of both
[ Page 6 ]
thought and money! But twenty years ago city-people and country-people were a little suspicious of each other -- and, more than that, the only New Englander generally recognized in literature was the caricatured Yankee -- I tried to follow Mrs. Stowe in those delightful early chapters
[ Page 7 ]
of The Pearl of Orr's Island* in writing about people of rustic life -- just as they were. Now there are a great many stories with this intention, but twenty years ago there were hardly any. 'Human nature is the same the world over' but somehow the caricature of the Yankee, the Irishman, the Frenchman
[ Page 8 ]
takes its place first and afterwards comes a more true and sympathetic rendering. This is a most interesting subject, is it not?
Pardon so long a letter, which I have been obliged to write in great haste -- and believe me
Yours sincerely,
S. O. Jewett
To
F. M. Hopkins, Esqre
Notes
Howells: William Dean Howells. Key to Correspondents.
Deephaven: Jewett's first book. It began as a series of sketches in Atlantic that appeared 1872-1876. She worked these into a book, published in 1877.
Plato's: Ancient Greek philosopher (c. 428-348 BC). Wikipedia.
The quotation comes from Book V of "Laws," in which Socrates does not appear: "for there is no greater good in a state than that the citizens should be known to one another." (Research: Jack V. Wales, Jr. of the Thacher School, Ojai, CA.).
Stowe: Harriet Beecher Stowe. Key to Correspondents.
Richard Cary adds:Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811-1896) conceived the characters and began to write her oft-interrupted novel The Pearl of Orr's Island (Boston, 1862) while her husband was professor of Biblical literature at Bowdoin College. Miss Jewett read the book when she was thirteen or fourteen years old and was struck by its strength and pungency. Later she classified it as "an incomplete piece of work" and determined to write with greater simplicity and harmony about the lives of coastal and back-country New Englanders.
Miss Jewett evidently first saw Mrs. Stowe in late summer of 1878. Mrs. Fields, who was on more intimate terms with Mrs. Stowe and eventually wrote her biography, introduced Miss Jewett to her in Hartford in 1884. Miss Jewett subsequently met Mrs. Stowe several times at the Newton country home and Boston town house of Governor and Mrs. William Claflin ... In this interim Mrs. Stowe had been joined in her homely depiction of New England scene and character by Alice Brown, Rose Terry Cooke, Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, Lucy Larcom, and Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward, all of whom had established themselves in the rapidly growing ranks of American local colorists.The manuscript of this letter is held by Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, ME: JEWE.1. Richard Cary included his transcription in Sarah Orne Jewett Letters.
New transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields and Sarah Orne Jewett to Lilian and Thomas Bailey Aldrich
[ 21 June 1893 ]*
[ Page 4 ] *
[ Latest added in pencil ]
Dear friends: We come with delight on the 10th; or may we come one day earlier? -- I have written a long note on the reverse asking that we might come later but on the whole we accept your date with pleasure.butSarah* can only stay two days, he must return to join her sisters in York. I am sorry for this but I see no way out --
[ Up the left margin of page 4 ]
I can stay one day longer with pleasure ---- Yours A.F.
[ Page 1 ] *
June 21st [ 18 ? ]*
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick.
Maine.
[ End letterhead ]
Dear friends:
We have our faces turned your way and we are eager for our visit. Sarah* seems to find the 14th a little easier for her than the 10th and as we cannot stay a whole week, perhaps you will find the latter half as convenient as the first half; but please let us accommodate our-
[ Page 2 ]
selves to yourselves as far as possible. After leaving you we wish to go a little further down the coast and [ there ? corrected ] to fulfill one or two projects before returning, otherwise we must take the little journey twice; so if it suits you quite as well we will
[ Page 3 ]
gladly come the 14th but if not we will hold to your suggestion. We have made a kind of promise to be here on the the 13th but we can by no means lose the pleasure of going to you nor shall we do anything to disarrange your plans.
Affectionately yoursin recognition* of its [ unexpectedness ? ]
Annie and Sadie!*
[ Up the left margin of page 3 ]
Notes
1893: This date is a mere guess, limited by certain parameters. It has to have been written between 1883 and 1906 (before Aldrich's death), in a year when Jewett and Fields were residing together for parts of each year and were at home during the likely traveling months, from late spring to late fall. Also, I have accepted arbitrarily the date penciled in on page 1. If the letter was written on 21 June, then Fields must refer to dates in July. In likely years then, 10 July would fall on a Sunday or Monday. This occurred in 1887, 1892, 1893, 1898, 1899, 1904, and 1905. The most likely year, then, seems to be 1893. I eliminated 1887 because Jewett's uncle, William Jewett, was fatally ill during the month, and 1892 and 1898 because Jewett and Fields were in Europe those summers. In 1899, Jewett was at Mouse Island, Boothbay Harbor, ME, on 10 July. I eliminated 1904 and 1905 because Jewett's health minimized her traveling after 1902.
Page 4: It seems clear that Fields began her letter as expected on page one and completed it on page 3. A change in circumstances led her to add page 4, written upside down in relation to the other pages. Probably the letter was folded so that page 4 would be uppermost and read first.
18 ?: This line apparently was penciled in at a later date, probably in another hand. Whether it has any authority is not known.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Sadie: A nickname for Sarah Orne Jewett used by the Aldriches, Jewett and Fields, a reference to the American actress Sadie Martinot. See Key to Correspondents.
recognition: This line is penciled in, almost certainly in another hand, and its meaning seems unclear.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: MS Am 1429, Box 6, Items 1446-1538. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Mary Rice Jewett
NotesShoals. 22nd June (93
My dear Mary:
In the basket of hollyhocks which went to you this morning I put in some roots of Sweet Rocket,* -- if you havent any you'll love it, so fragrant & faithful & sweet & hardy, never dies! you'll only have to keep it down not try to make it lo\ive. Perhaps you have it, but I hope not, and that you'll welcome it, for I know you'll love it!
Good luck to your dear garden & do bring Sarah* over & take a peep at mine soon. Much love to all from
yrs ever affly
C.T.
Sweet Rocket: Hesperis matronalis.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. MS Am 1743, Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Correspondence Series: IV. Letters to Mary Rice Jewett from various correspondents, (377) Thaxter, Celia (Laighton) 1835-1894. 3 letters; 1891-1893. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Annie Adams Fields
Shoals. 26th [ June ]* (93
My dearest Annie
I just have your letter & wish so much I could send to you straight off in answer, but have to wait till the infrequent Pinafore* goes ashore. You have my hasty word in answer to your most kind summons to Paderewski* -- would I could go, but it isn't humanly possible. I thank you just as much.
About the Dr who made the little operation for Lupus,* (tuberculosis on the skin,) when you so kindly took me in, you dear hospitable Annie, & befriended me in my need that day so many years ago -- I must begin at the
2
beginning & tell you about it. The first operation Dr Arthur Cabot* performed, it was more [ serious corrected from seriously ?], because not knowing the dangerous disfigurement of the hateful thing, it had been let alone till it had quite a root, so to speak & Roland's attention being called to it, he said it must instantly be taken off. So I took ether & he & Dr Cabot took it off, & I had a banged up countenance for several weeks before the scars went off -- Then Roland bade me look out very sharp for it, & stop the first beginnings of a reappearance, & when the second spot began to show two years after, I fled to town & to you, &, time pressing, put myself under Dr Robert
3
Lovett 's care, recommended by Vincent Bowditch,* (you know Dr. Bowditch) he said young Lovett was a splendid surgeon & I went straight to his office, waited there an hour & a quarter, when he came told him what I wanted, -- he went for Vincent Bowditch & they both, then & there, performed the second little operation, applying cocaine, so that there was no pain or trouble whatever ^ no ether^ -- it was all over in a very short time, & I returned to you grotesquely sewed up between the eyes, & you were as good as an angel to me, & I went, home all right next day &
4
ten days after removed the stitches myself here, without much trouble. Then during that summer, I saw my friend Dr Frank P. Kinnicutt* of New York, here, & told him about it, & he said, "You must never have any more cutting done," & sent for a tremendously powerful acid which I use now at the slightest appearance of any discoloration of the skin & which checks the trouble at once. The prescription for this I will send you, but if you know any one who wants treatment ask Dr Vincent Bowditch about Dr. Lovett, who treated me by his advice, that is the
straightest way to get at it. I haven't an idea where Dr. Lovett is but Vin Bowditch will tell you
5
& I'm sure will remember all about it. The operation was a mere nothing -- I didn't mind it in the least.
If there is any thing else I can tell you about it, Annie dearest, do ask & I shall be so glad to answer.
I have another most moving appeal from Mr. Pickard for Whittier* traces. I want to ask your advice. I enclose a sonnet the dear poet wrote for me years ago, would you give it to Pickard for his book, "with"* a few words about how much we valued him here & what a pleasure his coming always was &c?
6
Do tell me frankly, do you think he himself would mind? Mr. Whittier, I mean? Please do tell me! I am so stupid & ignorant. I have no more wisdom than a fish.
Dear Annie have you sent back all those lovely embroideries & things you had for folk to look at when I was at your house? I should like so much to get two of those little round crocheted mats that were half a dollar each -- if you would let me have them I will send [ bill ? ] in letter at once -- I did so want to get them that evening, they will be so useful, but I didn't "darst" [ deleted word ]
7
but so many times since I have wished so much I had taken them. I had a present of a mileage ticket last Xmas, wasn't that a fine present! took me to town all winter -- I miss so much going to see my dear babies -- it is very remote across all this wild water. Tell me about your poppies -- the minute they show that they have germinated they should be removed to cool sunny window, at once.
When you have ^had^ filled this prescription will you please [ send corrected ] it back to me, dearest? Mr Whittier's sonnet keep if you like, dont trouble to return it -- but tell me what you think
Ever & ever your
C.
Notes
June: The Boston Public Library speculates that this letter was composed in May or June. Because Thaxter mentions that many people are beginning to arrive at the Appledore resort, it seems more likely that she wrote in June. Also, at about this time Ignacy Paderewski was touring and giving many performances in the United States, including at the Chicago World Columbian Exposition in May. However, it has not yet been established that he performed in the Boston area in June, though he was in the area in April.
Pinafore: The Pinafore was a small steamer that carried supplies and people between Portsmouth and Appledore in the Isle of the Shoals during the summer season.
Paderewski: Polish pianist, composer and statesman, Ignacy Jan Paderewski 1860 - 1941).
Lupus: Thaxter refers to Lupus vulgaris, a skin infection.
Arthur Cabot ... Roland: Thaxter's son, Roland, who studied medicine, but did not complete his training.
It is very likely that Thaxter refers to surgeon and author, Dr. Arthur Tracy Cabot (1852-1912).
Robert Lovett's: Dr. Robert Williamson Lovett (1859-1924), a Boston physician and orthopedic surgeon.
Vincent Bowditch: Dr. Vincent Bowditch (1852-1929) was a son of Dr. Henry Ingersoll Bowditch (1808-1892), who owned a cottage on Appledore, and Olivia Jane Yardley (1816-1890).
Dr. Frank P. Kinnicutt: Francis Parker Kinnicutt (1846-1913). See also Harvard Graduates' Magazine 21 (1913) p, 731. Dr. Kinnicutt also is remembered for serving as medical consultant to American author, Edith Wharton (1862-1937).
Mr. Pickard for Whittier: Samuel T. Pickard was preparing his Life and Letters of John Greenleaf Whittier (1894). See Key to Correspondents for both Whittier and Pickard.
"with": While it is not certain that Thaxter enclosed this word in quotation marks, it appears that she did, and her reasons are not clear.
sonnet: Pickard did include Whittier's sonnet in Life and Letters, v. 2, p. 521. It was collected in The Writings of John Greenleaf Whittier (1894) as "Lines on Leaving Appledore" p. 406.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Boston Public Library, Rare Books Department, Celia Thaxter correspondence with Annie Fields, 1869-1893,
MS C.1.38 Box 2 Folder 6 (250-269) https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/qb98p794m
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
[ After June 1893 ]*
[This penciled by Fields ] has been such a happening time somehow or other. I should like to go to the shore in the way I used to { -- }some one of the little hotels -- and have nothing to do -- but dear me how I should worry about what I had left behind! One has compensations! but I used to take to idleness and dreams like a duck to water. -- I was*
[ Page 2 ]
so touched by that letter of Mr. Childs's that you sent me -- It is an exquisite letter. I think his paper about Mr. Drexel* was most beautiful and full of the simplest and truest expressions. Goodnight darling. I shall have a word more to say in the morning --
Your Pinny*
Notes
After June 1893: This speculative date is based on the assumption that the Childs paper mentioned in the text was published after the death of Mr. Drexel in June 1893.
This note seems to have been written on two sides of a half-page scrap, the edges having been torn away before the note was written.
At the bottom of the second side, it appears that some text may have been lost in tearing from the bottom.
I was: Fields seems to have deleted these two words with her pencil.
Mr. Childs's ... Mr. Drexel: Wikipedia says "George William Childs (1829 - 1894) was an American publisher who co-owned the Philadelphia Public Ledger newspaper with financier Anthony Joseph Drexel [1826-1893, founder of Drexel University in Philadelphia, PA].... Childs was widely known for his public spirit and philanthropy. In 1884, for example, he loaned $500 to poet Walt Whitman to help him purchase his home in Camden, New Jersey. In addition to numerous private benefactions in educational and charitable fields, he erected memorial windows to William Cowper and George Herbert in Westminster Abbey (1877), and to John Milton in St. Margaret's, Westminster (1888), a monument to Leigh Hunt at Kensal Green, a William Shakespeare memorial fountain at Stratford-on-Avon (1887), and a monument to Richard A. Proctor. In 1875, he gave the final donation to complete the Edgar Allan Poe monument in Baltimore."
Mr. Childs's paper on Drexel has not yet been located, but presumably it would be a sort of memorial after his death.
Pinny: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Annie Adams Fields
Shoals -- July 1st (93
Will you pardon pencil dearest Annie, at early breakfast, the only time I can find to write a word of thanks to you for the beautiful book,* but some one gave it to [ me corrected from my ] Xmas & I want you to let me change it -- may I? I wish nobody had given it to me, for I shd so like to have had it from you! A thousand thanks & loves for your kindness, dear, & I think it is so sweet of you to remember my birth day -- I had one most welcome & wonderful gift & that was a bud on my big purple [ Zanzibar corrected ] waterlily! I am in such a state of joy about it! Did I tell you I have ten tubs of water plants, the easiest things to take care of in the world, for one can keep them in the piazza if necessary & they are the most breathlessly interesting things! I never saw any thing so fascinating! Water poppy, water hyacinth & lilies without end of every kind & color --
O Annie, the whirl wind has seized me & no more peace for me! People, people, most of them charming enough, but dear me, nothing else! I think of you on your hill top constantly & I am ever & always your loving & grateful
C.T.
Notes
book: Though this cannot yet be certain, it is possible that Fields gave Thaxter a copy of her own book of 1893, Whittier: Notes of his Life and of his Friendships.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Boston Public Library, Rare Books Department, Celia Thaxter correspondence with Annie Fields, 1869-1893,
MS C.1.38 Box 2 Folder 6 (250-269) https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/qb98p786x
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Thomas Bailey Aldrich
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick, Maine
[ End letterhead ]
27 July, 1893
My dear Friend
When I say that I turned to Her Dying Words* and read them before I looked at my own account of the expedition of Miss B. Lane,* it seems to me that I show you my feelings as plainly as possible! There can be
[ Page 2 ]
no doubt that I look upon you as a favorite author can there? -- I have been so eager to see your story ever since you told me about it here that rainy night last winter, and I find it just as good as I knew it would be then. It is one of your very best
[ Page 3 ]
and most charming pieces of work. I can tell when things are just as good as they can be as well as ever I could -- though I have had my standard lowered of late by reading Clarissa Harlowe{.}* I have always "had it before me" -- and now I have it behind me thank heaven!
Give me the writers of my
[ Page 4 ]
own day as far as C.H. goes{.}
That's what Mr. Howells* ought to have pitched into-- not Sir Walter* who blew such writing away with a wind right off his heathery moors. Give me Mr. T.B.A. to write my short stories! I am very modern in my tastes just now. Where are you since you went to Chicago? and where is Lilian* and how are you both? I send my love by this letter.
Yours ever sincerely
S. O. J.
Notes
Her Dying Words: Aldrich's short story, "Her Dying Words" appeared in Scribner's Magazine 14:204-11 (August 1893).
Miss B. Lane: Jewett's "The Flight of Betsey Lane" appeared in Scribner's Magazine 14:213-225 (August 1893). The story recounts in part a trip to the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition. Jewett indicates that she read Aldrich's story even before looking at hers in the same issue.
Clarissa Harlowe: The heroine of Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady (1748), a long epistolary novel by English writer Samuel Richardson (1689-1761).
Mr. Howells: William Dean Howells. See Key to Correspondents.
Sir Walter: The Scottish novelist and poet, Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). William Dean Howells saw Scott has suffering from a problem, common to English romanticists, of "perpetuating false ideals." See his Criticism and Fiction (1891), Chapter 15.
Chicago: In the summer of 1893, the Aldriches would have gone to Chicago to see the Columbian Exposition.
Lilian: Lilian Woodman Aldrich. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Thomas Bailey Aldrich Papers, 119 letters of Thomas Bailey and Lilian Woodman Aldrich, 1837-1926. MS Am 1429 (117). Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
At the bottom left of page one, in another hand, is a circled number: 2745.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Thursday morning
[ Summer 1893 ]
Dearest ( [ mouse in very small script ] )*
A more bustling day than usual -- Mary* going at ten and the workmen thick as crows in a cornfield -- but everything going on well and I hope to have Alice* tonight.
I wish I could send you a big bunch of lap lilies* and red lilies such [ beauties corrected ] that I got last night -- but the
[ Page 2 ]
shower of yesterday and the mower's scythes will make it unlikely that I shall find any more. These are well in bloom. Mary and I went off by ourselves to drive and had an enchanting evening with the cool air after the rain and the sunset, and the feeling is with me yet of one moment when we came down a long sloping hill and a great row of elms
[ Page 3 ]
stood high above us on the left bending over the road and catching the sunset on their great trunks. It was like the best of Wordsworth* in the best of moods. I never felt the beauty and mystery of any scene more deeply, and I wished for you with all my heart.
Dont take any trouble about "Many Inventions"* darling. I didn't mean that you should.
[ Page 4 ]
I told you not !!
What a delightful drive you must have had with Dr. Holmes.* It is the most delightful thing to think of it even. I should like to be a butterfly on that cart-wheel to hear as best I might. Do try to remember things, it is a perfect chance of talking and getting things said for Dr. James* knew when he wrote all that about 'one word standing' for so much between people on the same plane and conscious of the
[ Page 5 ]
same experiences. I feel as if I couldn't have you enjoy these talks and drives half enough! I am so glad to have you out in the air and having your drives so comfortably -- Which brings me to the subject of horses and of Sheila* who is doing proper well, and grows funnier day by day. Dear Fuff good-bye and please to find all the love I send in this letter --
( Your most loving*
P.L.
Notes
1893: This date is inferred from the probability that Jewett refers to a collection of Rudyard Kipling stories published in 1893 and to Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., who died in October 1894. While it is possible the letter was composed in 1894, the earlier year is more probable.
Mouse: Mouse is a nickname Jewett uses for Fields. Later in the letter, Jewett uses another such nickname: Fuff. And she signs with her own nickname, P.L. for Pinny Lawson. See Key to Correspondents.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Alice: Probably Alice Longfellow. See Key to Correspondents.
lap lilies: While the term "lap lily" does not appear in major dictionaries, it does show up in plant nursery advertisements, e.g. The National Nurseryman v. 18-19 (1910), pp. 204, 242, 316.
Wordsworth: British poet William Wordsworth (1770-1850).
"Many Inventions": It seems likely that Jewett refers to Many Inventions (1893) a collection of short stories by their friend, British author, Rudyard Kipling. See Key to Correspondents.
Dr. Holmes: Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. See Key to Correspondents.
Dr. James: William James. See Key to Correspondents.
Jewett's reference to James on communication has not yet been located.
Sheila: Jewett's first horse, purchased in 1877.
loving: The parenthesis mark in this line was penciled almost certainly by Fields.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett
So. Berwick, Maine
Tuesday morning
[ July 1893 ]
Dear Mary
……Do see the lovely picture of Betsy Lane* in Scribners!!
Notes
The line of points presumably indicates an omission from the manuscript.
Betsy Lane: Jewett's "The Flight of Betsey Lane" appeared in Scribner's Magazine (14:213-225), August 1893.
This text is from transcriptions from mixed repositories in the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Undated Letters, Folder 75, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection. For more information about the individual transcription, contact the Maine Women Writers Collection. Notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman
[ Page 2 ]Manchester Friday 28th July
[ 1893 ]*
The summer visit has at last begun and A.F.* and I have already taken one vacation from it in spending yesterday ^& last night^ at Newburyport with Mrs Spofford* -- a visit planned and re-planned these many years but not carried out and involving [ deletion ] all day yesterday on the water, [ sailing blotted ] about the lovely reaches between Plum [ Island blotted ] and the shore, seeing the hay making on the salt meadows and the tide go out and come in again. There are some lovely places for you to paint, but Mrs. Spofford has [ written blotted ] about it in a poem -- [ deletion ] There is nothing for me to do! -- But I never knew before that all these salt marshes and [ blotted word ]
shores are like Venice as you go out toward Torcello. Which, by the way, you must certainly do dear fellow -- and, if you can hire a sail to your gondola you certainly must. It ought to have red and yellow stripes and blue corners and be faded just right, but it will cost you ten cents . . . . [ and is a big sail so it appears ] and the gondolier dont know very well how to get the good out of it -- a sail to them being decorative and used banner-wise.
Last night -- night before last I mean, we went over to Alice Howes* to dinner and there was a great startling thunder shower and we passed the
[ Page 3 ]
time rather melancholy in its early appearance and didn't see a fearsome sunset as much as [ deletion ] we should have liked, any of us; but we had some proper champagne and took heart and Beppi* was peaceable owing to the thunder being for once the loudest of the two. It was a pleasant evening if only you could think so, and we read a little poetry: A.F. had got this poem of Kiplings* from Louise Guiney* (who has just [ been ? ] staying here) and none of us had ever known it. I send it to you because you will like to read it again if you [ haven't corrected ] read [ it penciled addition ] ever so often before. Alice looks pale -- not so well as the last time I was over, and this is all
[ Page 4 ]
true of A.F. It is a very hard summer as to weather and I am always saying to myself what a good summer it is for you to be away. Cars are hotter than common, and it is one long dogday except of late when east winds are beginning. Eke the aforesaid thunder shower has refreshed the earth -- As for Mr. Walker:*
2 August
Sabbaday brook falls -- and me a camping out with Helen and Roger and Dan and Mr. Binford and Theodore!* -- Just where Sabbaday brook is I dont know but about twenty miles by drive and three by foot = over between Albany intervale & Chocorua - It
[ Page 5 ]
is raining this day since five almost but not too fast and I am sitting under the tent fly, instead of going up the brook trouting. The loveliness of the night and the sound of the brook are something wonderful to remember.
(These be totems of Roger & Theodore and me also thumb marks of Roger whose hands were wet and you are confidently expected to know which is which -- ) The rain has stopped and I have been trouting way down the great hurrying brook which has[ Three penciled images ]*
[ Page 6 ]
risen with the rain -- not much luck [ out ? ] fishing but much in pleasure leaping from stone to stone across the clear swift water and seeing things and hearing things and watching things fly over as we stood still with the fly rod -- We camped right in the woods -- not a very good place -- I am back again at Stonehurst now -- and it is thought by D.M. that he never should arrange a camping project in this way again. Helen got rather done up but we got home last night in great state and were sharp for our dinners{.}
[ In the left margin and across the top margin of page 1 ]
I have got a new friend little Gwen Morse* = Jessie Morses little girl { -- } we are great pals.
Notes
1893: While this date is not certain, it has some support. A problem is that the transcription of "July" is uncertain, but if that is correct, then Gwen Morse would have turned 7 in 1893, when 28 July fell on a Friday. She would have been of an age to qualify as a "little girl."
A.F.: Annie Adams Fields. Key to Correspondents.
Spofford: Harriet Prescott Spofford. Key to Correspondents.
Which poem Jewett refers to is not yet known. Spofford published a number of works about the Newburyport area in Harper's New Monthly Magazine, including: a short story, "The Marshes" in July 1867; a sketch, "Newburyport and its Neighborhood" (July 1875); and a poem, "Inside Plum Island" (August 1877). Nearer the time of this letter was a story, "Tom's Way of Getting There" in Harper's Young People 13 (August 1892).
Jewett set her 1885 novel, A Marsh Island, in this area.
Alice Howe's ... Beppi: Alice Greenwood Howe. Key to Correspondents.
In a note for a Jewett letter to Howe of 12 February 1893, Fields identified Beppi as "a little dog."
Kiplings: The family of Rudyard Kipling. Key to Correspondents.
Louise Guiney: Key to Correspondents.
Mr. Walker: This person has not yet been identified. He is mentioned in other letters between Whitman and Jewett, and it appears that he worked with Whitman on stained glass. Boston architect and educator, Charles Howard Walker (1857-1936), was an active supporter of the Boston Museum of Fine Art and is mentioned often in documents related to the museum that show him having considerable interest in stained glass. Though this has not been confirmed, he might naturally have been consulted about designing and installing stained glass. Wikipedia.
At this point in the letter, Jewett shifts from ink to pencil, with her 2 August addition.
Helen and Roger and Dan and Mr. Binford and Theodore: See Key to Correspondents for Helen, Daniel, and Roger Merriman and for Theodore Jewett Eastman.
Mr. Binford has not yet been identified.
images: Jewett has drawn three objects in the middle of this page: a four-petal flower outline, a rifle, and what may be a riding crop or a golf club.
Gwen Morse: Jewett correspondent Frances Rollins Morse was the sister of Dr. Henry Lee Morse (1852-1929). He married Jessie Frances Lizzie Scott (1860-1909). Their only known child was Gwendolyn (1886-1968). Family Search.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743 Box 6, Item 277.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett
Saturday morning
[ July-August 1893 ]*
Dear Mary
Today is cooler, which is well! The travellers returned in good season after a Very Very nice time and a great deal to say about it. Carrie had a grand time with little Mary, and little aunt was in great trim. They drove up for the Grants* and took them to the station again. Aunt Bell felt the heat and well we might, for Carrie & Mrs. Sawyer* mentioned that it was one of the hottest Little Boars Head days -- though they complained but little owing to the good time -- They brought cake, and sat on the beach
[ Page 2 ]
in the evening while I went up to see Mrs. Lawrence* at last and had a delightful time. (Mosquitoes are fetched to York by this land breeze Mary. I wonder if it is the same in Manchester -- ) Captain Mercer told me that old Mr. Freeman* lived in Bangor now but had just been here with some one for a few days and seemed a good deal broken. I thought Mr. Mercer himself had changed a great deal though we were sitting out on the piazza all the time --
-- Stubby* had a great time in bathing in the temporary absence of his [ mothers ? ]! but was [ diverted ? ] on the whole. Luckily the
[ Page 3 ]
water is very warm and nice -- He is very friendly with several boys and it seems like a better time than last year to me. I humbly hope it is!
I was here by myself a good part of the time they were gone yesterday, though I got so hot and sleepy in the afternoon that I must have slept an hour. On the whole I am glad not to be starting for Helens* today. I think a great deal about a visiting sister and I was so glad to get your letter last night and to hear about going to Essex. Do give my love to Mrs. Ellis when you see her Monday, and to A.F. and Miss Lizzie.* I dont know what day
[ Page 4 ]
we shall go home. I heard Carrie speak about Monday, but if I can persuade ^her^ to continue longer I certainly shall. I only want to [ deleted words ] be at home long enough to "change clothes" -- I wish they would stay after I go -- Annie Lord thought she had better not come for Sunday -- She seems to be taking hold with Mrs. Rollins* and having some things done to the house, which is very nice. I have written all this before breakfast, in my nightgown, and I must now leave you, but with much love
from Sister Sarah
Notes
July-August 1893: This date is very speculative. Evidence from 1895 shows that Carrie Eastman and her son, Theodore, visited Little Boars Head in September, but during that month, Jewett was in Martinsville, ME, not in York, ME, from which she seems to be writing in this letter. Because Jewett expresses concern that Carrie prolong her stay at the shore, it may be that Jewett is concerned about the loss of Edwin Eastman, Carrie's husband, in the spring of 1892. And perhaps this is why she observes that Theodore seems to be doing better at enjoying himself in York than he did the previous summer, just after his father's death.
Carrie ... little Mary ... Grants ... Aunt Bell ... Mrs. Sawyer: For Carrie Jewett Eastman and Aunt Mary Elizabeth Gray Bell, see Key to Correspondents. Little Mary and little aunt may be Aunt Bell and her daughter Mary Persis.
Mary Abbott Gorham Sawyer (1831-1934). Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Lawrence: Mrs. Lawrence probably is Elizabeth Chapman (1829-1905), widow of T. Bigelow Lawrence and a correspondent of Sarah Wyman Whitman (see Key to Correspondents.) She was the subject of E.L., the Bread Box Papers: The High Life of a Dazzling Victorian Lady: a Biography of Elizabeth Chapman Lawrence (1983) by Helen Hartman Gemmill. Daughter of Henry Chapman (1804-1891), a Pennsylvania congressman, she was a popular and cosmopolitan woman who, after her marriage, moved in the same circles as Annie Fields and Jewett.
Captain Mercer ... Mr. Freeman: Possibly, Jewett refers to Captain Samuel Mercer, Jr. (1847-1896). Jewett has referred to a Mr. Freeman in other letters, but his identity remains unknown.
Stubby: Theodore Jewett Eastman, Carrie's son. See Key to Correspondents.
Helens: Probably Helen Merriman. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Ellis ... to A.F. and Miss Lizzie: Emma Harding Claflin Ellis, Annie Adams Fields, and her sister Elizabeth Adams. See Key to Correspondents.
Annie Lord ... Mrs. Rollins: The Lord family in New England was extensive, making it almost impossible, without more information, to know to which Ann or Hannah Lord this letter refers. Among Jewett's neighbors in South Berwick was Annie A. Peverly Lord (1865-1950).
Richard Cary says: "Ellen Augusta Lord Rollins (1835-1922) lived at Main and Young streets in South Berwick, within sight of Miss Jewett's home."
The manuscript of this letter is held by the University of New England Maine Women Writers Collection: Jewett Correspondence MWWC0196_02_00_130_01.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Lilian Aldrich
North HavenDear Lilian:
Saturday Eveg
[ 29 July 1893 ]*
Behold me! after the splendors of Bar Harbor safely [ ensconsed so spelled ] in my cottage attic at this place, where an exquisite yacht to like the Stellar* that I think it be be she, ^is^ sending a glow of light over the still water.
Tell dear T.B. that I look for you all next week, to come to dinner here. Perhaps you will be able to send a
[ Page 2 ]
telegram the morning you start. [ deletion ] It could come down on the Sylvia* which leaves Rockland at Seven -- but if you do not know your own minds at that early hour, just take us by surprise because Mrs Muller* seems to have a very good table{.}
[ Page 3 ]
Haven't you see stray away birds sometimes in queer places looking about them as if they didn't know where or who they were exactly?
I feel like one of those birds tonight!
Sarah* and I look back upon our visit to you with the greatest pleasure.
Your affectionateI have had no reply to my notes asking for women -- but we will speak of these things when you come. Sarah is very happy at York Harbor and "quite giddy{.}"
Annie Fields.
I have written to Farquhar Brothers* about trees -----! for September.
[ Up the left margin and across the top margin of page 3 ]
Ah! my object in writing was to say that I am anxious to know about the condition of affairs at Ponkapog.*
[ Page 4, turned so the left side becomes the top ]
Notes
1893: As indicated in the note below on the Stellar, this letter almost certainly was composed in 1893. Also, Fields indicates that she is writing in late July. According to Lilian Aldrich in Crowding Memories, p. 270, the Aldriches spent the summers of 1890-1892 traveling abroad. In the summer of 1893, they built a summer cottage, "The Crags," at Tenants Harbor, ME. At that time, they would not have been able to make Fields their guest as they did often in later years. Therefore, 1893 is a likely year for Fields and the Aldriches to be summering in this area, but not residing together.
29 July was the final Saturday of the month. It is about equally possible that Fields wrote on the previous Saturday, 22 July.
Stellar: The Stellar was a steam yacht owned by Boston theater manager, John Stetson (1832-1896). The yacht was new in the summer of 1893. In the Boston Daily Globe of 19 July 1893 (p. 5), he was reported to be cruising with his wife, actor Kate Stokes Stetson, and her sister and husband, having just arrived in Providence, RI from New London, CT. Presumably it was this cruise that took him to Bar Harbor a few weeks later, where Fields could observe the luxurious vessel. By 29 July 1894, he seems to have sold it.
See his obituary: Boston Daily Globe, 18 April 1896, p. 1.
Sylvia: A steamer that carried mail between Maine resort towns near Rockland during the summer.
Mrs. Muller: Presumably Fields's landlady in her North Haven vacation cottage.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Farquhar Brothers: R. & J. Farquhar Company of Boston, MA sold seeds and gardening supplies by mail order.
Ponkapog: The Aldrich's country home near Manchester, MA.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: MS Am 1429, Box 6, Items 1446-1538. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mabel Lowell Burnett to Sarah Orne Jewett
Saranac Lake House
Saranac Lake
N.Y.
M.L.B.
[ July 1893 ]*
Dear Sarah
In spite of all my doubts about this place, here I am back again -- but this year I have a much nicer room, with a piazza all to itself where I can sit and [ 'drowse' ? ] at my ease. I meant to have written you about Mr & Mrs [ Irwin ? ] -- but had so much to do, that* I really couldn't squeeze out a minute. They came, I am sorry to say, at a most unfortunate time -- on the day when the library was being spring cleaned. All the pictures & curtains had been taken down, in fact except the books, nothing was in its place. I had had a long tiresome day, the dinner bell had just rung -- for it was half past six
[ Page 2 ]
of the clock, the hottest day we have had this year, I in the melted [ bricks ? ] of a white muslin, also in one of my absent minded fits. My one idea was -- dinner, would there be enough -- and having given some hasty orders, I rushed to the library, forgetting the cleaning and literally fell upon [ Mr Irwin's back ? ], over a pile of curtain cords & tassels, which had been carefully spread just inside the door. When I had recovered from this shock somewhat, I found that I had entirely forgotten their names -- Macmillan I knew they were not -- but whether Sampson, [ how ? ] -- or what, I could not recall. Then I [ deletion ] [ duely so spelled ] -- (how queer that looks) invited them to dinner, but they said they couldn't stay in spite of which they did stay, while [ frantic ? ] children
[ Page 3 ]
surged outside the door [ raging ? ] for [ unrecognized word ] -- There was a [ unrecognized word ] procession of them and when Mrs Irwin asked me how many I had, I came very near saying "twenty-five" such was the over populated effect of the dining room door, which I could see from where I sat, uneasy and dripping on the [ edge of chair so it appears ]. I [ wish ? ], if you ever see them again that you would tell them there are moments rare and fleeting, when I have as many faculties as the average. I got the family all fitted out and packed and then just as I thought I was standing the hard work very well, I had a hemorrhage, not a bad one, but enough to prevent my coming up here on the day I had planned. Since I got here my lungs have felt better, and I think I shall have got on very well if I hadn't had dysentery
[ Page 4 ]
and then one of my fits of chills & fever. Now, these being apparently over, I am going to lie back and enjoy the air -- which is [ the ? ] very best I know of -- soft and cool -- Francis* went into camp with members of his school, under a [ sort ? ] of military system, which I think will be good for him --
Early in August when the camp breaks up -- he will come here, and then [ unrecognized name ], who is now with me, will go to his grandmother, in [ Boston ? ]. He is anxious to get off, so as to indulge in his favorite base ball. Lilian sent me notice of Mary Curtis' death* the day before I left home. And I went down to see her. I found them all much calmer than I had [ unrecognized word ], even Mrs Horsford --
Dr. [ Wolcott ? ],* who has seen Dr [ unrecognized name ] writes me that the cause of her death was as much an accident, as if she had tumbled down the side of a mountain, and totally unconnected with any previous troubles which she fancied she had -- This letter is for you [ both ? ] though I don't know whether [ you ? ]
[ Across the top margin of page 1 ]
are together,* the members of my scattered family keep me very busy writing to them. They seem well and happy. I shall [ hurry ? ] away [ unrecognized word ] the girls again. I am too lonesome. They are such nice girls -- I [ unrecognized word ] [ hotel ? ] life for them, [ not with ? ] this piazza to sit in secludedly{.} I don't think they take much [ hurt ? ] Dearest love to you both
Yours affectionately
M. L. B.
Notes
July 1893: While this remains uncertain, it seems likely this letter was composed shortly after the death of Mary Gardiner Horsford Curtis. See notes below.
that: Burnett's handwriting is eccentric in that she seems often to omit letters or parts of letters, so for example, "but" may appear as "bit" and "that" as "tat." I rendered these as whole words, when I believe I know what she meant.
Irwin: Despite multiple occurrences, this transcription remains uncertain, and the persons have not yet been identified.
Francis: Burnett speaks here of her children. They were:
James Burnett Lowell (1873-1947)
Joseph Burnett (1874-1909)
Francis Lowell Burnett (1878-1965)
Esther Lowell Burnett Cunningham (1879-1966)
Lois Burnett Rantoul (1881-1961).
Lilian ... Mary Curtis' death: Lilian probably is Eben Horsford's eldest daughter. See Key to Correpondents. It seems likely, therefore, that the Mary Curtis to whom Burnett refers is Lilian's sister, Mary Gardiner Curtis (1855- July 1893), who married Benjamin Robbins Curtis
Horsford ... Wolcott: For Mary Horsford, see Eben Norton Horsford in Key to Correspondents.
The transcription of Wolcott is very uncertain, but it if is correct, Burnett may refer to Dr. Grace Wolcott (1858-1915), a Boston physician. See Jewett to Guiney of 12 May 1894. Find a Grave.
together: Burnett presumably means both Jewett and Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett. bMS Am 1743.1 (14).
This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Box 2, Folder 99, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Lilian Woodman Aldrich
Monday
North Haven.
[ 31 July 1893 ]*
Dear -- I find that I must break up my camp here. There is no hotel and only this one little house and cottage in which I am. Unhappily one of my two rooms (both about the size of a picket handkerchief but well ventilated & pretty, taken together,) has been let, the good woman having an idea apparently
[ Page 2 ]
that one ought to be enough for me -- So I must [lose corrected ] the pleasure of seeing you here and break up my camp. I shall surprise Sarah* by appearing at York whither she has wished me very much to come, but if ^you^ happen to be writing her, do not mention me
[ Page 3 ]
please because I will give her the fun of a real surprise -- I wrote her on Saty I should be here until August 3d !!
"The best laid plans of mice and men"* etc.
I am more than sorry not to have a visit from the Stellar* -- Please remember me warmly to Mrs Anthony*
[ Page 4 ]
and to the Commodore* when he returns. As for our dear "T.B." please tell him that you both walked off so fast the other afternoon after the "Silver Star" departed that my love and regrets found it hard to keep up with you but if they got lost they will be found waiting steadfast among the firs just under the first Peabody bird* you will hear tomorrow!!
affectionately yours
Annie Fields
Notes
1893: As indicated in the note below on the Stellar, this letter almost certainly was composed in 1893. Also, Fields indicates that she is writing in late July. According to Lilian Aldrich in Crowding Memories, p. 270, the Aldriches spent the summers of 1890-1892 traveling abroad. In the summer of 1893, they built a summer cottage, "The Crags," at Tenants Harbor, ME. At that time, they would not have been able to make Fields their guest as they did often in later years. Therefore, 1893 is a likely year for Fields and the Aldriches to be summering in this area, but not residing together.
31 July was the final Monday of the month. It is about equally possible that Fields wrote on the previous Monday, 24 July.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
and men: This quotation is adapted from "To a Mouse" by Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796).
Stellar: The Stellar was a steam yacht owned by Boston theater manager, John Stetson (1832-1896). The yacht was new in the summer of 1893. In the Boston Daily Globe of 19 July 1893 (p. 5), he was reported to be cruising with his wife, actor Kate Stokes Stetson, and her sister and husband, having just arrived in Providence, RI from New London, CT. Presumably it was this cruise that took him to Bar Harbor a few weeks later, where Fields could observe the luxurious vessel. By 29 July 1894, he seems to have sold the yacht.
See his obituary: Boston Daily Globe, 18 April 1896, p. 1.
Mrs. Anthony: This person has not yet been identified. Among Annie Fields's acquaintance was Mary Aurelia Walker Anthony (1830-1913), a singer, the wife of artist Andrew Varick Stout Anthony (1835-1906).
Commodore: Probably Henry Lillie Pierce. See Key to Correspondents.
Silver Star: The Silver Star, with Captain I. E. Archibald, was a steamer in the Rockland and Friendship Line, serving: High Island, Spruce Head, Tenant's Harbor (near Martinsville), Clark Island, Port Clyde, and Friendship. Fields writes from North Haven, on an island in this area.
Peabody bird: The white-throated sparrow.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: MS Am 1429, Box 6, Items 1446-1538. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Annie Adams Fields (fragment)*
[ August 1893 ]*
3
Ap. Brown is here, the Rogers guest for awhile & the Hassams -- with all the Grossmans* & others whom you do not know but who [ turn ? ] to me. I have my hands head & heart too full -- I wish they could come by installments & not all at once -- it takes the life pretty nearly out of me to have everybody wanting all of me at once! But it doesn't last long, thank heaven --
O Annie, you would have laughed to see the box of toads which came for me night before last! Ninety toads, all wired over in a box, & wondering what fate was in store for them, no doubt. Soon as the mowing was done, all the million slugs in the grass charged into my poor garden & post haste, I sent for more of my little dusky pets, my friends, my saviors! And I turned the 90 loose in the fat slugging grounds & such a breakfast as they must have had! If there's one thing I adore more than another, it's a toad! They eat every bug in the garden! In France it is quite an industry, catching toads & selling them to gardeners, did you know it? I have only just found it out.
Notes
August 1893: This date is speculative. In Letters of Celia Thaxter, Fields and Lamb place a section of this letter with others from 1890-91. Summers during the 1890s Appleton Brown and Childe Hassam often were painting on the Isles of the Shoals. I have placed it in 1893 only because Thaxter mentions their presence in a letter to Sarah Orne Jewett in August of 1893. See notes below.
fragment: This letter was selected and edited for inclusion in Letters of Celia Thaxter, edited by her friends A.F. and R.L. (Annie Fields and Rose Lamb), where it was placed with letters of 1890-1.
The manuscript includes a number of marks and notes, presumably by Fields and Lamb to guide the publication. These are not included in this transcription.
Ap. Brown ... Rogers ... Hassams ...Grossmans: For John and Agnes Appleton Brown see Key to Correspondents.
American painter Childe Hassam (1859-1935) was a regular summer visitor at the Isles of the Shoals.
Edwina Booth (1861-1938), daughter of the American actor, Edwin Booth (1833-1893) and niece of the presidential assassin, John Wilkes Booth (1838-1865). Edwina Booth married Ignatius Grossman in May 1885.
The transcription of Rogers is uncertain. However there were several Rogers families who were mutual acquaintances of Fields and Thaxter and likely to spend some time at the Isles of the Shoals. Perhaps best fitting her characterization of this group of visitors were the British-born singer and author Clara Kathleen Barnett (1844-1931) and her husband, Boston lawyer and theater patron, Henry Munroe Rogers (1938-1937).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, California: James Thomas Fields Papers and Addenda (1767-1914), mss FI 1-5637, Box 63 FI 1- 4164. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields and Lamb Transcription for Letters of Celia Thaxter
You would have laughed to see the box of toads which came for me night before last! Ninety toads, all wired over in a box, and wondering what fate was in store for them, no doubt. Soon as the mowing was done, all the million slugs in the grass charged into my poor garden, and post haste I sent for more of my little dusky pets, my friends, my saviors! And I turned the ninety loose in the fat slugging grounds, and such a breakfast as they must have had! If there's one thing I adore more than another, it's a toad! They eat every bug in the garden! In France it is quite an industry, catching toads and selling them to gardeners; did you know it? I have only just found it out.
Celia Thaxter to Annie Adams Fields
[ 7 August 1893 ]*
Rose of Heaven, beloved Annie, that's the sweet name of the little flower -- isn't it dear? That is what I wanted you to have in your garden, dont you remember? how I tried to have you get seeds of it, & it all turned out the wrong color? Rose Campion is its other pretty name. I'm so glad you loved it as I do!
Annie dear I havent an instant of time to call my own & I am writing this scrawl when I ought to be asleep, but I had to send you one word -- The battle will be soon over now & [ peace corrected ] will descend on us, I hope! Tho' life is very charming -- full of beautiful music & everything pleasant, & oh the flowers! if you could only see!
[ Page 2 ]
We are looking forward with the greatest joy to Wm Winch* & the sound of his glorious voice presently & the sight of the dear charming Mrs. Winch & that lovely boy -- Ap. Brown & Hassam* are painting in & around my garden all day -- such heavenly pictures! It is most interesting.
My beloved children are just gone -- Little Eliot* called me his "darling love," & shouted down the stair every night, "goodnight, darling love! Laliot adores you, Granna! I love you every breff!" Such a heavenly time I had with him, & the little sister was like a pale pink princess Beatrice* sweet pea.
This is the 7th of August -- Dear Annie I think of you if I cant write just now, most kindly & faithfully. Give my love to the [ Winches ? ] please -- Much love to yourself from your
C.
Notes
1893: EKC, the previous transcriber of this letter, gives it this date, and it must be close to correct, as it was composed after the 1890 birth of Thaxter's granddaughter, Katharine.
Wm Winch: William J. Winch (1847- ), tenor, John F. Winch, bass, and Mrs. John Winch, alto, made up a musical family performing in Boston from the 1870s.
See "Sweet Boston Singers" Boston Globe (13 October 1895) p. 28.
Ap. Brown & Hassam: For John Appleton Brown, see Key to Correspondents.
American painter, Childe Hassam (1859-1935) produced a significant number of paintings of the Isles of the Shoals, including "Celia Thaxter in her Garden."
Little Eliot: Charles Eliot (1883-1906) and Katharine Thaxter (1890-1987), were Thaxter's grandchildren, children of Roland Thaxter and Mabel G. Freeman.
Beatrice: Probably Thaxter refers to a flower, the Princess Beatrice Sweet Pea. Possibly, she also refers to the youngest child of Queen Victoria of Great Britain, Princess Beatrice (1857-1944).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Boston Public Library, Rare Books Department, Celia Thaxter correspondence with Annie Fields, 1869-1893,
MS C.1.38 Box 2 Folder 6 (250-269) https://ark.digitalcommonwealth.org/ark:/50959/qb98p790h
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett
Sunday afternoon
[ 7 August 1893 ]*
Dear Mary,
I had a prosperous journey, changing at Newburyport and waiting at Beverly, so that there was only half an hour or so to wait. The Emersons are not coming until next week as Mr. E. wasn’t very well but Mr. Woods* of Andover-House whom we like very much, is here and Trina and Mifs Minns and Miss Grace Dana who are all at Mrs. Higginson’s came over to lunch today
[ Page 2 ]
and Mrs. Loring* brought up a friend who is staying with her to play for us, and we have had a lovely morning. I was so glad to hear some music again. I [ hated corrected ] to leave home as I always do but I felt quite hungry to come over. I didn’t take it in how long it was -- but now that I am here I feel as if there was a good deal too much going on and as if I never should get my preface* down & take it proudly to town. And this
[ Page 3 ]
pen is the worst leavings of a pen I ever had -- but it was a good pen when I put it away. [ Boylie ? ] is a pageant of happiness and much beseemed. We had a very nice time at breakfast which is all you see of him. He was so funny about Aunt Sarah H. Adams.* Everything looks so pretty and pleasant in the house, and Mrs. Fields is as dear as can be. She seems to have had such a nice visit to us with Sister Lizzie { -- }
[ Page 4 ]
it is much speaked of and she wants to know about everything. Coolidge* wrote her a great letter to say what a nice time she had in Berwick and how good 3 sisters were to 2 sisters. I must write to Helen Merriman and to Al ----- ice.* I send ever so much love to all -- Here is a note from S. W.* for me to come over to lunch tomorrow and Mrs. Morse* for the next day, but we haven’t settled
[ Page 5 ]
yet what to do. What a nice rainy day yesterday! I kept being reminded [ of ?] England as I came along in the cars with the wet roads & everything wet, and I couldn’t help laughing when I thought it was because we hadn’t had a real rainy day for so long! Shant you write to Mrs. Rice & Tat?*
With ever so much love
Sarah.
I have been wondering why you Carrie & Stubs don’t take Betty* to go to Y. Harbor* for a few days -- & Theodore could row "her & [ unrecognized word you ? ]" up river &c. to see [ friends ? ].
Notes
7 August 1893: The envelope associated with this letter was cancelled at Manchester, MA on 7 August 1893. The envelope has created confusion in other readers because the cancellation on the front seems clearly to be 1898, but Jewett couldn't have written this letter when she and Annie Fields were in Europe, during August of 1898. Probably the front cancellation is slightly smeared, making the 3 look like an 8. The second cancellation on the back of the envelope clearly reads 1893.
Penciled notes appear on the back of this envelope. On the flap is what appears to be "Mary." On the right side appear two columns of figures and a third single figure:
868 98
891 68 8
425
21.84
Penciled notes also appear on the manuscript, but these may be in another hand, identifying page numbers and, perhaps, library folder locations.
The Emersons: Probably Jewett refers to Sylvia Hathaway Watson Emerson and her husband William Ralph Emerson. See Correspondents.
Mr. Woods of Andover House: Robert Archy Woods (1865-1925). The Boston settlement house, Andover House, opened in 1892.
Trina and Miss Minns ... Miss Grace Dana ... Mrs. Higginson’s ... Mrs. Loring: While this is not certain, it is likely Jewett refers to Ida Agassiz Higginson. See Correspondents.
The identity of Mrs. Loring is uncertain, but Jewett and Fields were acquainted with the family of Caleb Loring and, therefore may have known his brother and sister-in-law, General Charles Greely Loring (1822-1869) and Mary J. Hopkins (1852–1914), who lived nearby in Beverly. MA.
The identity of Grace Dana also is uncertain. There was a Grace Dana (1866-1956) living in or near Boston, MA in the 1890s. Jewett and Fields were acquainted with the family of American author Richard Henry Dana, Sr. (1787-1879). Whether Grace Dana is related to this family is not yet known.
The transcription of "Minns" is uncertain. Trina and Miss Minns have not yet been identified.
my preface: In 1893, Jewett was working on a new edition of her first novel, Deephaven (1877), with a new preface. This volume appeared around 1 November 1893.
Sarah H. Adams: Sarah Holland Adams, sister of Annie Adams Fields. See Correspondents. Other family members mentioned in this letter are: Elizabeth (Lissie / Lizzie) Adams, and Zabdiel Boylston (Boylie) Adams, III, son of Field's brother, Dr. Zabdiel Boylston Adams, Jr.
Coolidge: This is not certain, but probably Jewett refers to Katherine/Catherine Scollay Parkman Coolidge. See Correspondents. Her sister was Grace Parkman Coffin (1851-1928). The three sisters were the Jewett sisters, Mary, Sarah, and Caroline.
Helen Merriman: Alice probably is Alice Longfellow. See Correspondents for both.
S. W.: Sarah Wyman Whitman. See Correspondents.
Mrs. Morse: Possibly this is Harriet Jackson Lee Morse. See Correspondents.
Mrs. Rice and Tat: Almost certainly, this is Cora Clark Rice. See Correspondents. The transcription of "Tat" is uncertain, and the person has not yet been identified.
Carrie & Stubs ... Betty: Caroline Jewett Eastman and her son, Theodore Jewett Eastman. It seems likely that Betty is either a Jewett family employee or a horse. See Correspondents.
Y. Harbor: York Harbor, ME.
The manuscript of the letter is held by the University of New England Maine Women Writers Collection, item MWWC0196_02_00_099_01. An excellent previous transcription from the Maine Women Writers Collection has been altered only slightly. Notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Laurence Hutton to Sarah Orne Jewett
Appledore
Isles of Shoals
Aug 9th 1893
My dear Miss Jewett
There came to me yesterday -- most opportunely on my Fiftieth Birthday -- a copy of your New England Tales* from their Old English publishers, and "with the Author's Compliments." Let me thank you for the kindly thought of me; & let me hope that you will, some day, add to the value of the volume by, by writing my name & yours on the fly-leaf.
I am sorry to say that [ unrecognized name M. ? Straun ? ] was not at all well when we left
[ Page 2 ]
[ left repeated ] him in London, a month or so ago. We are glad, after a year's experience in the South and East, to get back to our own country & to our own people.
Mrs Hutton writes with me in answer. Best regards to you and to Mrs Fields. Will you let us know when will you come to New York, that we may have the pleasure of seeing you both in our own house. And please tell us, some day, if Dr. Dunster did anything to help Peggy Bond's eyes.
Very sincerely yours
Laurence Hutton
Notes
New England Tales: Jewett's Tales of New England appeared in 1890, but this is not the book to which Hutton refers. Instead, he means A Native of Winby and Other Tales (1893), in which appears the story he alludes to at the end of the letter. Dr. Dunster and Peggy Bond are characters in "The Flight of Betsey Lane," which was collected in A Native of Winby.
The book was published simultaneously in the U.S. (Houghton, MIfflin) and England (Constable). As Hutton writes from New Hampshire, it seems odd that his copy seems to have come from London.
Straun: This transcription is very uncertain, and the person has not yet been identified.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Hutton, Laurence. 1 letter; 1893. (106).
This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Box 2, Folder 99, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Louise Imogen Guiney to Annie Adams FieldsMiss Jewett: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
[ 18 August 1893 ]
Dear Mrs. Fields:
Your delightful invitation finds me literally sunk to the eyes in work on Dr. Parsons' Dante,* with H.M. & Co. calling for copy. And in one other and profaner concern; i.e., rehearsing for my dear little Delavigne play at the Grand Opera House,* whither the Museum manager and the Museum actors have made a somewhat melancholy emigration. So that I am little short of a conscript with over 'a month hard' still to serve! And cannot, alas! take my pleasure in three glorious consecutive days at Manchester. But: --
May I come on the day you named, the 24th (rain or shine) taking the train which I think leaves the Eastern Station at 10:45, and remaining till about half-past seven? That, at least,
[ Page 2 ]
would give me the joy of seeing you both, and the rocks and trees, and the tide which waits for no man* may be persuaded to wait for this woman! even another month or year.
It will be my first vacation afternoon since I took up, for revision,
"Half-way on life's journey, in a wood,"
and turned my nights and days over to text-comparisons, with every bit of energy and attention in me. My best love ever to Miss Jewett.* A rivederci e felicità! e molte grazie.*
Your friend,
Louise Imogen Guiney.
18th August, 1893: Auburndale, Mass.
Notes
Dr. Parsons' Dante: Thomas William Parsons (1819-1892), American dentist and poet. He translated portions of Dante's Divine Comedy. Under the editorship of Professor Charles Eliot Norton, Parsons' translation was published posthumously in 1893.
In Canto 32 of Inferno, traitors are buried in ice, some up to their eyes. Guiney may allude to Purgatory as well as military conscripts when she says she must do more hard time before she will have heavenly leisure. In her final paragraph, she quotes the opening line of Inferno.
Opera House: Guiney's translation/adaptation of The Princes' Tragedy, (Les Enfants d'Edouard, 1833), a drama by French playwright Casimir Delavigne (1793-1843). Charles E. L. Wingate in his "Boston Letter," The Critic (2 September 1893) p. 157, discusses Guiney's work and the production.
tide which waits for no man: Though the proverb "Time and tide wait for no man," appears to be ancient, it may be best remembered from the prologue to the Clerks's tale in Canterbury Tales by British poet, Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400).
grazie: Italian: Until we meet again, and wishing you happiness, and many thanks.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields collection Box 25: mss FI .1571 Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Alice Morse EarleManchester, Massachusetts
18 August 1893
[ Begin letterhead, which has been lined through ]
South Berwick, Maine
[End letterhead ]
My dear Miss Earle
I thank you for your most friendly note and hasten to do what you ask. I send a copy of A Marsh Island* because I happen to have it at hand and to be in the region of Country which first suggested it. I shall be looking
[ Page 2 ]
out of all the windows for my copy of the Sabbath in Puritan New England.* I have taken so much pleasure in what you have written that it pleases me very much to have you think this a fair exchange and no robbery.
Believe me always
Yours most sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett
[ Page 3 ]
Forgive me if I am wrong in directing my cover -- I always hear your name spoken -- like authors names generally !. [So the punctuation appears ] without any prefix at all, and so I may be quite wrong in thinking of you as Miss Earle when I come to write my first note.
Notes
A Marsh Island: Jewett's 1884 novel.
Sabbath in Puritan New England: Jewett underlined only "in" and "Eng," but seems to have intended to indicate underlining of the whole title of Earle's 1891 title.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the American Antiquarian Society, Worcester, MA in Sarah Orne Jewett Papers, Misc. mss. boxes “J.” Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller. Coe College.
Alice Morse Earle to Sarah Orne Jewett
of 18 August 1893
[Penciled into upper right corner of page 1, probably in another hand: 1893]
[Letterhead "coat of arms" design with motto in a banner: ]
IN DEO NON ARMIS FIDO*
My dear Miss ^[Sarah inserted in pencil, in another hand]^ Jewett
Your book* and letter arrived safely -- and have given me much pleasure{,} I am such an amateur at authorship -- that any words of praise from a "really and truly" author are very sweet to me. I hope you will find a few
[circled 1 in left lower margin]
[ Page 4 ]*pages of interest in my book* which I send to you by this mail. I thank you most sincerely for your compliance with my request --
Most cordially yours
Alice Morse Earle
August 18th 1893.
I must tell you that I am a married dame not a spinster -- no longer young -- fat not fair and almost forty -- with three children living -- and that I know just how you look [too ?] for your friends have told me -- at Chicago.*
Notes
IN DEO NON ARMIS FIDO: Latin: "In God, not arms, I trust." According to Yale University's Morse College website, this is the Samuel F. B. Morse family motto. Alice Morse apparently was kin to the painter and inventor of the telegraph. The coat of arms design for the college and that of the letterhead are similar in the use of a battle axe image.
Your book: Jewett's letter to Earle of the same date indicates that she sent Earle a copy of A Marsh Island (1884).
Page 4: Between the first and final page of this letter, as held in the Houghton, is inserted a folded letter sheet; on the inside left leaf at the bottom, penciled in another hand is: "Taken from Home Life in colonial days. Alice Morse Earle."
Home Life in Colonial Days was published in 1898.
my book: Earle could have sent Jewett one of her first three books: The Sabbath in Puritan New England (1891), China Collecting in America (1892), Customs and Fashions in Old New England (1893). However, Jewett's letter to Earle of the same date indicates that she is looking forward to a copy of The Sabbath in Puritan New England.
at Chicago: Earle and Jewett both attended the the World Columbian Exposition, the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, though apparently not at the same time.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930, MS Am 1743, (55) Earle, Alice Morse. 2 letters; [1893] - 1896. Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Louise Imogen Guiney to Annie Adams FieldsPOWER: Guiney has printed these capitalized words.
Auburndale, Mass., 24th Aug. [ 1893 ]*
Dear Mrs. Fields:
I can't begin to say how sorry I am, and how aggravated with myself. I seems as if before you, of all people, I were doomed to play the rôle of equivocator and procrastinator; and if there be any one thing I pride myself upon doing, it is keeping my word in matters great and small. I wonder your kindness holds out! It was not the storm which kept me; that must have been very fine along the coast, and it would have secured to me afine^nice^ flavorsome indoor day with you and Miss Jewett.* Alas! it was ^a^ base matter: Cholera suburbanorum. I have been pretty well wearied out for a week back, and I awoke this morning, undone. And so vanished my hopes of reach-
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ing Manchester. I sent the telegram at nine o' clock; I write this at six. Please forgive me. My one last hearty hope is that,notreceiving my message in due time, you may not have sent to meet me at the station. I have been spending the blown day loafing on the sofa, and tomorrow, it must be "once more into the breach" of Dr. Parsons' Dante.*
My little play,* owing to the illness of Olive Homans, the truly charming child who is to be the boy Duke of York, is postponed until October. I am in no wise sorry, except for the cause. Tell Miss Jewett that her twenty-year-old effigy* in the Journal is far more like her than the other. My love to her always, and MORE POWER* to her powerful pen! Thanks to you, none the less, and more than ever, from
Your remorseful affectionate friend,
Louise I. Guiney.
Notes
1893: This letter follows up on Guiney to Fields of 18 August 1893.
Miss Jewett: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Dr. Parsons' Dante: Thomas William Parsons (1819-1892), American dentist and poet. He translated portions of Dante's Divine Comedy. Under the editorship of Professor Charles Eliot Norton, Parsons' translation was published posthumously in 1893.
For "once more into the breach," see Henry V Act 3, Scene 1 by British playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
play: Guiney's translation/adaptation of The Princes' Tragedy, (Les Enfants d'Edouard, 1833), a drama by French playwright Casimir Delavigne (1793-1843) that drew upon Shakespeare's Richard III. Charles E. L. Wingate in his "Boston Letter," The Critic (2 September 1893) p. 157, discusses Guiney's work and the production.
Olive Gertrude Homans (c. 1879- 25 April 1899) was a well-known child actor, famous for her performance of Little Lord Fauntleroy in the 1888 dramatization of the novel by British-American author, Frances Hodgson Burnett. (1849-1924). Homans was the daughter of Frank Belcher Homans (1841-1915) and Emma Ring of Hyde Park, MA. Her death record says she died of pulmonary tuberculosis in Hannibal, MO. However, contemporary obituaries place her death at her home in Hyde Park.
effigy: Guiney's reference is as yet unknown.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields collection Box 25: mss FI .1571 Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Celia Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett (fragment)
[ Late August 1893 ]*
[ missing material ]
from the garden book, to be printed in the spring -- the book is supposed to be out in the fall, in time for xmas. Mrs Hemenway* tho't it a good plan, so I am to do it & I do so wish you were near ^that I might^ [ deleted mark ] ask various questions about the business! For instance, if you think it a good plan to include the little preface or not, & so on. I expect to be over in Ports* in the course of a week or two, & then I shall feel as if you were quite near, in South Berwick!
I loved the Hilton's Holiday.* How you have a way of making dear every day, simple things like that, more precious & delightful than all the festivals & theatres & entertainments that ever refreshed the soul of humanity! It is so beautiful to do this in such an exquisite fashion.
[ Page 2 ]
Much love to you & yours -- your busy
[ drawing of a sandpiper ]*
Notes
Late August 1893: Thaxter has read a Jewett story that appeared in September 1893, suggesting that she is writing in August. In notes with her typescript, Rosamond Thaxter says that in spring 1893, Celia Thaxter sought help from Jewett with her work on An Island Garden (1894). Other Thaxter and Jewett letters from early 1893 confirm this date.
Though interpreting the opening sentence fragment must be speculative, one possible reading is that Thaxter is discussing the possibility of publishing a selection from An Island Garden during the coming spring in anticipation of the book's appearance the following autumn. Thaxter is not known to have published such a selection in 1894.
Mrs. Hemenway: Mary Porter Tileston Hemenway (1820-1894).
Ports: Portsmouth, NH.
Hilton's Holiday: Jewett's "The Hilton's Holiday" appeared in Century, September 1893.
In the left margin at the beginning of this paragraph is a pair of lines ( // ) probably in pencil.
sandpiper: Sandpiper is a nickname for Thaxter.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence MS Am 1743 Box 4, item 211. Thaxter, Celia (Laighton) 1835-1894. 10 letters to Sarah Orne Jewett; 1888-1890 & [n.d.], 1888-1890.
A typescript is held by the Portsmouth Athenaeum MS129, Rosamond Thaxter's Papers for Sandpiper, Folder 12: Correspondence: Celia Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett, 1888-1893.
New transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett
CLIFFS*
MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA
Cliffs -- Sunday afternoon
[ August - September 1893 ]
Dear O. P.*
------------------- Sandpiper* went to the Farms Station* right from the lunch. She sent her love to you several times and has got a parrot -- something or other she is going to give you to set in a tub of water and grow all over everything. It was described with deep emotion. We must go out all of us for a day as soon as I get home. Jessie* may now be expected toward the end of this week from Newport where she is staying now with Lily Fairchild.* Then there will be music a-going on, and I shall stay to see her a little while and then come home for a while and then come back again -- there are so many people and things that kindly advantage your sister, and pretty soon I shall have to blow up to begin again like the minister! they have printed up so many of the things already that I wrote this year. Betsey* is terribly well speaked of, you may be glad to know. -------
Sister Sarah
Notes
The hyphens at the beginning and end indicate this is an incomplete transcription.
Cliffs: Alice Greenwood Howe's summer home was "The Cliffs" in Manchester. MA. See Key to Correspondents.
O.P.: A family nickname for Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Sandpiper: Celia Laighton Thaxter. See Key to Correspondents.
Farms Station: The Beverly Farms station was for Jewett a main train station stop for travel between Boston and such frequently visited Massachusetts towns as Beverly Farms, Prides Crossing and Manchester by the Sea.
Jessie: Jessie Cochrane. See Key to Correspondents.
Lily Fairchild: Sally Fairchild's mother, Elizabeth Fairchild. See Key to Correspondents.
Betsey: Jewett's "The Flight of Betsey Lane" first appeared in Scribner's Magazine (14:213-225) in August 1893
This text is from transcriptions from mixed repositories in the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Folder 74, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection. For more information about the individual transcription, contact the Maine Women Writers Collection. Preparation by Linda Heller. Notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ About 1 September 1893 ]*
Your letter was passing good to get: darling -- & on Tuesday came the [ fair ? ] whiskey: it was that day made into a cocktail (with bitters already procured at the Shops)
[ Page 2 ]
and pronounced delicious by the Recipient! These things are not for thanks: but run in a deeper channel of recognition.
Meantime your tale of Katy* had a sound Arcadian -- and gave a [ show or shove ? ] of labor at this end! for I at once fell to making book-covers & did design many indifferent ones & one for Deephaven* quite different
[ Page 3 ]
hoping it will not displease.
I have now decided that (with your leave) the motif of all SOJ covers must have the May flower involved, in one way or other.
[ No signature, possibly incomplete. ]
Notes
About 1 September 1893: This manuscript is undated. See notes below for support for this date.
Katy: Probably Whitman refers to Jewett's story, "The Hilton's Holiday," which appeared in Century Magazine in September 1893.
Deephaven: Whitman is evidently working on the cover design for Jewett's 1893 illustrated edition of her first novel, Deephaven (1877).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Whitman, Sarah (Wyman) 1842-1904. 92 letters; [1884]-[1903] & [n.d.] Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 -107. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
[ 3-4 September 1893 ]*
[ No date or greeting, so presumably a missing page or pages. ]
I find it a great pleasure to have it. The use of English words is so fresh and good and the whole tone so manly and sailor like.
=( I thought that Lily* was going to stay for a good visit and now she will be gone already when you get this --
Monday morning
Another hot day but a deliciously cool night and the birthday* much pleased to be remembered) ) & sends thanks. I dreamed that I was staying with Mrs. Gardner* & ^she knew of a beautiful book!^ )
[ Page 2 ]
I think that strongminded lady he* drew a [ Punch corrected ] or two ago was so funny and a lesson to your poor Pin* with her little coat and her hands behind her. I wonder Fuff* didn't put a sly mark by-side of! ( There is one thing I want to say dear. If you find a [ cookey ? ] whom you like at a higher price than you want to pay -- you must depend upon my making it up with great joy -- I so often wish I could help you more about the housekeeping which is often as much for me as for
[ Page 3 ]
yourself -- and I should rather do this than most things. So if you hear through Charles* or anybody of an extra gilt edged lady for the summer ( or longer!)* just come on! )*
What do you think I am reading with deepest interest but Mahan's Influence of Sea Power on History* which is perfectly delightful. I dont know whether you would care much about it though it is not too technical & nautical -- but rather historical.
[ Page 4 ]
One thing is so nice, about the fleets that are attacked having the best chance (according to the French) They stay in their places while the enemy comes at them but wastes power in coming and then, the principle holding good from the days of the galleys until now the attacked fleet has [ kept corrected ] its power in reservedand its now fresh to resist -- You get so interested when you know it: I have been interested in what I saw about the book for a long time and
Notes
3-4 September 1893: This letter must have been composed between the 1890 publication of Mahan's book on sea power and the death of George Du Maurier in 1896. If the birthday Jewett mentions is her own, then she probably wrote on 3 and 4 September 1893, her birthday and the day after. I have assumed -- with little no other justification -- that this is correct.
Most parenthesis marks in this manuscript were penciled by Fields, some in green.
Lily: This could be Elizabeth Gaskell Norton or Elizabeth Fairchild, mother of Sally Fairchild. See Key to Correspondents.
he: Fields in pencil has deleted "he" and added an insertion mark. A line from the mark to top left points to "Du Maurier." She refers to the French British author and cartoonist for Punch, George Du Maurier (6 March 1834 - 8 October 1896).
Pin: Pinny Lawson (Pinny / Pin) was an affectionate nickname for Jewett, used by her and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Fuff: Nickname for Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Charles: There are far too many acquaintances of this name to be sure which Jewett might mean in this context.
( or longer!): These parentheses are by Jewett.
on! ): In the space between paragraphs, Fields has penciled an insertion mark and then: "Begin here".
Mahan's "Influence of Sea Power on History": Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914) was a distinguished American naval officer and historian. The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783, was published in 1890.
It is possible Jewett is reading in preparation for her work on The Tory Lover, which includes naval engagements during the American Revolution.
the French): These parentheses are by Jewett.
Mrs. Gardner: Isabella Stuart Gardner. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Fields transcription
This appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), pp. 213-14. This is an unusual case in which Fields has significantly altered Jewett's meaning by changing the order of the letter. The pages are scrambled in the manuscript images, but the order presented above almost certainly is correct. Fields's order works so smoothly, that a transcriber must feel uncertain. Still it is a little odd to comment on an American historian's use of "English words."
What do you think I am reading with deepest interest but Mahan's "Influence of Sea Power on History," which is perfectly delightful! I don't know whether you would care much about it, though it is not too technical and nautical, but rather historical. One thing is so nice, about the fleets that are attacked having the best chance (according to the French). They stay in their places while the enemy comes at them, but wastes power in coming, and then, the principle holding good from the days of galleys until now, the attacked fleet has kept its power in reserve and its men fresh to resist. You get so interested before you know it. I have been interested in what I saw about the book for a long time, and I find it a great pleasure to have it. The use of English words is so fresh and good and the whole tone so manly and sailor-like.
Celia Laighton Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett
Shoals, September 28, 1893.
I am pegging away hard on the book,* and I want to ask you lots of things. All you say is so precious, dear. I have got a little plan of the garden, as you suggested, with places of everything marked, -- a sort of little map. I have got the whole thing about done, the writing, but there is much copying and arranging of parts to make a proper unity. I have been so ill since the house closed, just about dead with the stress and bother of things and people, and feared to slip back to the hateful state of three years ago. The doctor said, "You are going to have the whole thing over again if you are not mighty careful," and mighty careful I have been and I am better.
I loved "The Hiltons' Holiday."* How you have a way of making dear, every-day, simple things, like that, more precious and delightful than all the festivals and theatres and entertainments that ever refreshed the soul of humanity! It is so beautiful to do this in such an exquisite fashion.
Notes
the book: An Island Garden (1894).
"The Hilton's Holiday": "The Hilton's Holiday" appeared first in Century Magazine (24:772-78) in September 1893. It was then collected in The Life of Nancy (1895).
This extract from a letter appears in Letters of Celia Thaxter Edited by her friends, A. F. [Annie Fields] and R. L. [Rose Lamb], The Riverside Press, H. O. Houghton, & Co, Cambridge, Mass. 1895. Annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to a book seller*
[ Early October 1893 ]*
Please send me at
The Spring House
Richfield Springs
N.Y.
a copy of Youth* just published in translation by Dodd Mead & Co --
[ Page 2 ]
also Mrs. Claflin's reminiscences of Whittier* --
S. O. Jewett
Notes
book seller: For titles such as those Jewett lists here, she typically wrote to Estes and Lauriat, a Boston publisher and book seller. There are other Jewett letters like this one addressed to Isaac R. Webber at Estes and Lauriat. See Dana Estes in Key to Correspondents.
1893: This date is supported by other letters showing that Jewett stayed at Richfield Springs during the first two weeks of October 1893. Also, see notes below.
Youth: French religious author, Charles Wagner (1852-1918) published Youth in 1891. The Dodd, Mead & Co. English translation by Ernest Redwood appeared in 1893. Jewett and Fields heard Wagner preach during their 1898 travels in France.
Whittier: For both Mary Bucklin Davenport Claflin and John Greenleaf Whittier, see Key to Correspondents. Claflin published Personal Recollections of John G. Whittier in 1893.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to H. O. Houghton & Co
[October 1893]*
[ Address side of post card ]
H. O. Houghton & Co
Riverside Press
Cambridge Mass
[ Message side of post card ]
Please send proofs & letters for me to
Spring House
Richfield Springs
New York
until further notice
S. O. Jewett
Notes
1893: Though the cancellation date cannot be seen, except to reveal that it was cancelled in South Berwick, the 1-cent card depicting President Ulysses S. Grant first appeared in 1891. It was replaced in 1894 with a Jefferson 1-cent card. See Metropostcard. Jewett is so far known to have visited Richfield Springs in October 1893 and August 1894, but Jewett is more likely to have used a Grant card in 1893.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Small Library, University of Virginia, Special Collections MSS 6218, Sarah Orne Jewett Papers. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Horace E. Scudder
South Berwick, Maine
October 16, 1893
My dear Mr. Scudder:
I am sorry that I could not get "The Only Rose"1 copied, or make a better looking manuscript myself, but I have had much trouble in using my hand, and I could not give it to some one who can usually do typewriting for me. I hope it is all plain if it is untidy! and that you will like it. I shall be here after this week in case of the proofs being ready. I do not suppose that will be at once. I am to be at Manchester over Sunday, (and at Naushon2 for a few days first). But after that anything may be sent here.
Yours sincerely,
S. O. Jewett
I should have sent a note in answer to yours, which came to Richfield,3 but I expected to see you at 4 Park St.4 on my way home.
Notes
1Atlantic Monthly, LXXIII (January 1894), 37-46; collected in The Life of Nancy.
2 Miss Jewett periodically visited the family of John M. Forbes, the railroad builder, who owned this island off the coast of Massachusetts. Emerson's daughter Edith was married to Forbes's son William. The island was a haven for summer and autumn guests who entertained themselves at boating, fishing, riding, and hunting. Miss Jewett relished most the invigorating cruises along the Maine coast in the Forbes majestic sailing yacht Merlin.
3 Miss Jewett, a lifelong sufferer from rheumatism of limbs and back, usually put up at the Spring House in Richfield Springs, New York, when seeking alleviation of her condition in the local waters. At other times she tried to find relief at Wells Beach and Poland Spring, Maine; at Hot Springs, Virginia; at St. Augustine, Florida; and at Aix-les-Bains, France.
4 Site of the Quincy mansion that now housed the publishing offices of Houghton Mifflin Company on the first floor and those of the Atlantic Monthly on the second.
This letter is edited and annotated by Richard Cary in Sarah Orne Jewett Letters; the ms. is held by Colby College Special Collections, Waterville, Maine.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
Chicago, October, 1893.
Chicago, and this is early of a Thursday morning having arrived over night late, but in good order: and having awaked this morning to find the brightest sunshine and warmth while the Hotel boasts fewer lions and more rocking chairs than we were led to suppose. The party is pretty large and I shall try to lose most of it whenever opportunity offers, and to find it again at hours of meat and drink.
But after all I shall care really for the main issue, which is to see that great general sight and to wonder and dream.
Notes
Chicago, October, 1893: Whitman is apparently attending the Columbian Exposition. She received a medal for her work exhibited at this celebration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus's voyage to the Americas.
This transcription appears in Letters, Sarah Wyman Whitman. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1907, "Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett: 1882-1903," pp. 61-109.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
October 30, 1893. Studio
I got very little at Cape Ann in my second day with everything gray and generally discrepant, but I am minded to throw it on a larger canvas and see what can be done with memory and hope, those potent factors of the spirit.
Notes
Cape Ann: A peninsula at the northern end of Massachusetts Bay, where the towns of Gloucester and Beverly Farms are located.
This transcription appears in Letters, Sarah Wyman Whitman. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1907, "Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett: 1882-1903," pp. 61-109.
Sarah Orne Jewett to William Hayes Ward
148 Charles Street,
Friday Morning [October 1893 - April 1894]*
Dear Mr. Ward,
I shall be very glad to tell you what I can of Madame Blanc 'Th. Bentzon'* and her coming to Boston, if it will be of service to you or to Miss Ward. I shall be here tomorrow and Sunday -- tomorrow before ten and after two.
Yours ever sincerely,
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes:
October 1893 - April 1894: According to Paula Blanchard in Sarah Orne Jewett (1994), Madame Blanc first visited Annie Fields at 148 Charles St. in Boston during November-December 1893 and, after touring elsewhere in the United States, returned for another stay during April 1894 (pp. 266-8). Rita Gollin in Annie Adams Fields (2002, p. 236) says that Madame Blanc attended the Columbian Exposition with Jewett, Fields and others. This would imply that Blanc's first stay began before the 30 October closing date of the fair. However, so far no corroboration has appeared to show that Fields, Jewett and Blanc traveled together to the fair or were there at the same time.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840-1907), See Correspondents.
Blanc and Jewett corresponded for eight years before they met for the first time in Paris in 1892 (see Fields, Letters, 91). In 1893-4 Madame Blanc stayed at Mrs. Fields's Boston home, and in 1897 at Miss Jewett's in South Berwick. In 1898 Mrs. Fields and Miss Jewett spent several weeks at Madame Blanc's country home in La Ferté sous Jouarre.
The manuscript of this letter is held in the Autograph Collection at the Loyola University (Chicago) Archives and Special Collections, item 1469, and may be viewed at Loyola University Chicago Digital Special Collections. Original transcription by Sarah Morsheimer. Slightly revised transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Charles Eliot Norton* to Sarah Orne Jewett
Shady Hill, Cambridge.
1 Novr. 1893.
Dear Miss Jewett, --
Your kind and cordial note gives me great pleasure, and I thank you for it.
So warm was Mr. Lowell's* regard for you, and so high an appreciation (as you know) did he set upon the qualities which your stories reveal, that I am sure it would
[ Page 2 ]
have pleased him to know that you would care so much ^for^ and be touched so deeply* by his letters.
I hope that you are soon coming to Boston, and that we may have the pleasure of seeing you before long.
I am
Very sincerely Yours
C. E. Norton.
Notes
Norton: See Sara Norton in Key to Correspondents.
With this letter is a penciled note: "Taken from Letters of James Russell Lowell, Edited by Charles Eliot Norton 2 vol."
Lowell's: James Russell Lowell. Key to Correspondents.
deeply: While this word probably is underlined, that is not certain.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence, bMS Am 1743 Box 4, Item 166. I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc tours the United States
October 1893 - May 1894
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (21 September 1840 - 5 February 1907), used the nom de plume "Th. Bentzon" derived from her grandfather Benjamin de Bentzon, a governor of the Danish Antilles.
Author of literary criticism and about thirty novels, three recognized by the Académie Française, Madame Blanc also translated German and American writers, including Bret Harte, Mark Twain, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, and Jewett. She became known in France as an interpreter of American culture, notably in The Condition of Woman in the United States (1895-6). Blanc and Jewett corresponded for eight years before they met for the first time in Paris in 1892. In 1893 and again in 1897 Madame Blanc made extended visits to the U.S. These included stays with both Fields and Jewett, and at Jewett's home in South Berwick in 1897. In 1898 Fields and Jewett traveled with Blanc in France and spent several weeks at her country home in La Ferté sous Jouarre.
During her 1893-4 tour of the U.S., Blanc wrote, for Revue des deux Mondes, a series of essays reporting on her travels and her meetings with prominent American women. These were collected into The Condition of Woman in the United States.
Shortly after her arrival in the U.S., the following article appeared in The Critic 20 (4 November 1893), p. 287.
Th. Bentzon in New YorkA most interesting French woman has just passed through New York on her way to Chicago. To her friends she is Mme. Blanc; but to the reading public of France she is known as Th. Bentzon. Over the latter name she is a regular contributor to the Revue des Deux Mondes, and she may be said to have done more than any other person to present the American woman, in her true light, to the French public. Mme. Blanc is not only a prolific writer of original stories and essays, but she is an exceedingly clever translator of English into French. Among those whom she has introduced to French audiences in the columns of the Revue is Miss Sarah Orne Jewett. She prefers to translate stories that are racy of the soil, rather than those which show merely the clever writer, and have nothing about them that is local or national.
To a representative of The Critic Mme. Blanc said that her object in coming to America was to see the Americans at home, and to learn at first-hand what progress American women have made in the arts and professions. She has already gone to Chicago, to see that wonderful city and also the wonder city just below it on the lake-front. She will visit Boston as the guest of Mrs. James T. Fields, and then return to New York. While in the West she will visit some typical American towns-one, in particular, where there is a co-educational college, a novelty that cannot fail to interest a Frenchwoman. Indeed, Mme. Blanc is interested in everything that she has seen in this country, in which she arrived on Saturday last. Under the guidance of one of her old friends, Mr. August Jaccaci, art director of McClure's Magazine, she saw some of the sights of this city on Sunday -- High Bridge, the Riverside Drive, the East Side, and the Brooklyn Bridge. The latter she considers magnificent beyond description, and as for the harbor of New York, she was not prepared for its beauty. Mme. Blanc speaks English with fluency, and one is astonished in talking with her to see how well-read she is in English and American literature.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Annie Adams Fields
Chicago FridayDear Mrs Fields
[ 3 November 1893 ]*
Many thanks for your kind little word but I fear I cannot go to you as soon as you suggest to Mr Jaccaci. That is to say next week. I have a good opportunity of seeing something of western country life near a sister in law of Mr McClure* who
[ Page 2 ]
kindly invites me and I shall go there to morrow if nothing happens to prevent my doing so. Afterwards I must stop for a day or two again at Chicago. Consequently it [ can corrected ] only be at the very end of next week that I shall have the
[ Page 3 ]I have stood like a Parisian badaud* that I am for one hour at a street's corner waiting ^for^ Mr Harrisson's funeral* and so have seen a bit of the American army. The crowd so very composite,* so suggestive of a quantity of different races mixed ^up^ together has above all interested me. [ I corrected ] live two or three lives at once and feel not a little ashamed with my slowness and backwardness. ^Near you I shall be at home -- Affectionately your dear friend
great happiness of seeing both of* you again.
The life I had is rather rough and fatiguing for me, notwithstanding Mr Jaccaci's perfect kindness which I shall never forget. The wind hurts my eyes; [ however corrected ] I manage to go through it and greatly admire some of Chicago's buildings
[ Page 4 ]
Th B^
[ Cross-written from right to left margin on the whole of page 1 ]
Yesterday I dined at a Club with a young Miss Munroe who writes poetry. She and her sister, a critic, are friends of Miss Gilder* who received me most gracefully at New York.
The World's fair is dying out [ fast ? ]. I can well imagine the beauty of it in summer. It is too big, but* [ all ? ] those white buildings against the blue sky ^and^ near the blue waters are like a dream of fairy land.
Notes
3 November 1893: Though this letter is undated, it probably was composed on the Friday after the memorial service of Carter Henry Harrison, Sr. See notes below.
Jaccaci: Auguste Jaccaci (1857-1930) at the time of this letter was art director for McClure's Magazine. He was born in France of Hungarian ancestry. After immigrating to the U.S. he became a decorative artist and an art dealer. In the U.S., he Americanized his name, and so sometimes is referred to as August Iaccaci. See Robert Sellwood, Winged Sabres (2018), the opening of Chapter 20.
Mr McClure: Samuel Sidney McClure. See Key to Correspondents.
both of: These two words probably were inserted in the margin. Blanc means Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
badaud: French: onlooker.
Harrisson's funeral: Blanc spells "Harrison" so. Carter Henry Harrison, Sr. (1825- 28 October 1893), an American politician who served as mayor of Chicago until his assassination in 1893. He was to lead a public celebration of the closing of the Columbian Exposition on 29 October, but instead a public memorial service was held, including a day-long funeral procession. See also Judith Ann Schiff, "His Fair City" in the Yale Alumni Magazine (Jan/Feb 2019).
composite: Conveying the sense of the French composé, meaning compounded or mixed.
Munroe ... Gilder: American author and editor, Harriet Monroe (1860-1936), publisher and editor of Poetry magazine.
Miss Gilder is American journalist and critic, Jeannette L. Gilder (1849-1916), sister of the poet Richard Watson Gilder. See Key to Correspondents.
World's fair: World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in the spring through early autumn of 1893.
but: Blanc seems to have inserted the words "it is too big, but."
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda Box 5: mss FI 5637. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman
[ Page 2 ]South Berwick
Saturday --
[ November 1893 ]*
My dear young friend
I didn't get to see you in town because of the shortness of time and now I [ feel ? ] so sorry and must write things -- I saw Helen* who came in on a rainy Thursday morning as if she lived in Berwick and* could come as well as not and [ stay corrected ] as long as she liked. She was after a Chef for Stonehurst and was [ as corrected ] well and dear as I
ever I beheld her -- She had great hopes and plans about Stonehurst and the Birthday. So when you make your plans you must remember that Berwick is on the way and tell me, and if you go in the morning I do not think [ that corrected ] you need take the 7.30 train but a later one that starts at 8:30 ^western division^ and catches the mountain train at Somersworth. This I will make sure of: the railroads do not consider that any
[ Page 3 ]
one may wish to go to the mountains at this season -- only to Town. Madame Blanc says now that she is planning to reach this part of the Country on the 29th which you may take to be a 9 when it is a 5 . . . . .
This day Theodore is coming home to spend Sunday with a boy in tow and I am glad that the sun is pleased to shine. This is all the news that there is to tell.
-- I wish that I was coming of age
[ Page 4 ]
and that you were coming to Berwick but then one wishes a great many things. I thought at one time that French ladies would be here and I was going to stop you on your way but all that is past as a Dream{.}
I send you my love: the Box has wintered well in Berwick -- "Ah me the Mallows!"* ---- how one remembers that touching verse year by year!
Yours with dear love
[ S. O. J so it appears ]
Notes
November 1893: This date is speculative, based upon mentioning that Madame Blanc is expected to arrive in South Berwick near the 25th of the month. In 1893, Mme. Blanc was able to spend Thanksgiving (30 November) with Jewett's family, arriving in the area possibly as early as 20 November. See Blanc to Fields 3-20 November 1893.
Helen: Helen Bigelow Merriman whose home was Stonehurst in Intervale, NH. Key to Correspondents. If the date of this letter is correct, then it seems likely that "the Birthday" was that of Merriman's husband, Rev. Daniel Merriman, 3 December.
and: Jewett often writes "a" with a long tail for "and." I render these as "and."
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. Key to Correspondents.
"Ah me the Mallows!": This is the translated opening of a poem by the ancient Greek poet, Moschus (c. 150 BC). While there are multiple translations, Jewett may have seen it as "Ah me! the Mallows, Dead in the Garden Drear", which appeared in Littell's Living Age 141: No. 1824. (May 31, 1879).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743 Box 6, Item 277.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Thomas Bailey Aldrich
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick, Maine
[ End letterhead ]
6 November 1893
My dear Friend
I have taken great pleasure in Her Book* -- that is to say His Book, and find it prettier reading than ever. I meant to thank you before although I thanked you in Charles Street when I had the book in prospective. I
[ Page 2 ]
always wished that Mr Douglas* would print some of my stories in this charming shape, but he never did and A Native of Winby* has gone to a Second Edition pretty quick in Mr. McShraine's hands so that proves I have been a safe investment! and foreign relations will come up.
I have been taking fresh pleasure in
[ Page 3 ]
an old town by the Sea. What a charming book it makes! I think it is a lovely cover and it came to me (quite proud)* named in the text.* It gave me real pleasure to be in one of your books.
Do you know the great fact that Madame Blanc* is now in this country and coming to Boston shortly?*
[ Page 3 ]
We must have a feast mustn't we? -- I am coming to town within a few days and we must talk about things. I send my love by this letter to you and Lilian.
Yours affectionately
S. O. J.
Notes
Her Book: Aldrich published An Old Town by the Sea in 1893. There he says:
Everywhere in New England the impress of the past is fading out. The few old-fashioned men and women – quaint, shrewd, and racy of the soil -- who linger in little, silvery-gray old homesteads strung along the New England roads and by-ways will shortly cease to exist as a class, save in the record of some such charming chronicler as Sarah Jewett, or Mary Wilkins, on whose sympathetic page they have already taken to themselves a remote air, an atmosphere of long-kept lavender and pennyroyal. (pp. 121-3)The Hathi Trust on-line copy of the 1893 edition, shows a black or dark brown cover with no title, only with "T. B. Aldrich." in gold script, centered.
Mr. Douglas: Jewett was acquainted with the Scottish editor and publisher, David Douglas, who published American books. See Key to Correspondents. Jewett's wish is somewhat puzzling. I have found no evidence that Jewett could have had a Douglas or a foreign edition of Aldrich's new book in 1893. But she seems clearly to wish that her friend, David Douglas, would bring out her new book in Scotland and Britain.
A Native of Winby ... Mr. McShraine's: Jewett's collection A Native of Winby and Other Tales appeared in 1893. The transcription of Mr. McShraine's name is uncertain, and he remains unidentified.
(quite proud): It is not very clear whether Jewett intended to set off this phrase in commas or parentheses.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
shortly: Jewett's punctuation is unclear, though presumably she intended a question mark.
Lilian.: Lilian Woodman Aldrich. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Thomas Bailey Aldrich Papers, 119 letters of Thomas Bailey and Lilian Woodman Aldrich, 1837-1926. MS Am 1429 (117). Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
At the bottom left of page one, in another hand, is a circled number: 2746.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
November 14, 1893.
Then came Edward Cabot's funeral.* Your thoughts and mine are not far from each other's; for this mighty Herald comes on either hand and fills one with hope and with grief both at once. . . . I wish the day might bless you as it did those who stood around Mr. Parkman's grave * last Saturday (the first day of St. Martin's Summer)* with gold and violet and deepest red over all the Earth, and in the Sky - heaven.
Notes
Edward Cabot's funeral: I have found only fragmentary information on this; therefore, it may well need correction. Dr. Richard Clarke Cabot (1868-1939) was one of Whitman's correspondents, a particularly interesting one, judging from her letters to him. He is the author of several pieces listed in WorldCat, including, Foregrounds and backgrounds in work for the sick: an address delivered at the forty-third annual meeting of the New England Hospital for Women and Children (1906). It appears that Edward Twiselton Cabot (1861-1893) was Richard's older brother. A Memorial of Edward Twisleton Cabot: prepared for his brothers and intimate friends from his letters and other sources was published in 1899. And it is at least possible that their father or grandfather was the artist, Edward Clarke Cabot (1818-1901).
Mr. Parkman's grave: Francis Parkman (1823-1893), American historian. Parkman died on November 8, 1893 and is buried at Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, MA. Research: Gabe Heller.
first day of St. Martin's Summer: St. Martin's Summer traditionally follows St. Martin's Day or Martinmas, which is 11 November. Wikipedia
This transcription appears in Letters, Sarah Wyman Whitman. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1907, "Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett: 1882-1903," pp. 61-109.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Annie Adams Fields
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
[ 3- 20 November 1893 ]*
Dear friend, I have so much to do here that I have given up stopping at Niagara Falls.* I will have to get by with seeing them from the train, when it passes by in broad daylight
[ Page 2 ]
at 3 p.m. So I count on leaving Chicago on Wednesday at 10 p.m., and I will then be in Boston on Friday at 10 a.m.
[ Page 3 ]
I hope that will not seem inconvenient to you.
A thousand tendernesses to you both.
Th Blanc
Notes
1893: This note presents two main problems, the addressee and the date.
Because Mme. Blanc refers to her anticipated arrival in Boston, it is probable that she writes to Fields, who would be her host in Boston. At the end of the letter, she sends greetings to "you both," meaning both Fields and Sarah Orne Jewett, but the opening addresses just one friend.
Blanc was in Chicago during the autumn of 1893, for the World Columbian Exposition, and again during the spring, as she toured the U.S. and worked on the articles that would become her book, The Condition of Woman in the United States (1895). During her spring touring, she became quite ill. As she says nothing of illness in this note, it seems likely that she writes in the autumn, when she traveled to Boston from Chicago in time for Thanksgiving, which fell on 30 November. The last 1893 letter we currently have between Blanc and Fields is dated from Chicago on 3 November. A letter from Jewett to William Hayes Ward of 20 November places Blanc in New England by that date.
Niagara Falls: Now a National Heritage Area, Niagara Falls, near Buffalo, NY, had long been a major American tourist attraction. In 1893, trains through New York passed near enough to the falls to allow a view. In "Franz Ferdinand's World Tour," the Archduke writes of his Michigan Central Railroad train stopping briefly at the falls in October 1893, allowing him a view that he found disappointing:
Since my earliest childhood I had imagined this natural wonder that stood in stark contrast to its reality. The river falls in a completely flat area out of which rise cities, hotels and smoking factory stacks from a rocky ledge that is quite similar to a giant dam. Nevertheless I can not deny that this mightiest waterfall of the world has a quite great character that however loses much in my eyes by the absence of a scenic landscape. The dignified frame is missing in this picture.
This letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: b MS Am 1743.1, Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence I. Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Blanc, Thérèse (de Solms) 1840-1907. 4 letters; [n.d.] Identifier: (9) Box 1. Transcription, translation and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, with essential assistance from Jeannine Hammond, Professor of French, Emerita, at Coe College.
Transcription
Blanc sometimes abbreviates "pour" to "pr" and "vous" to "vs." Such instances in this letter are rendered as "pour" and "vous."
Lundi
Chère Amie, J'ai
tant à faire ici
que je renonce à
m'arrêter aux ^Chutes du^ Niagara.
Je me bornerai à les voir du train
qui passe devant
elles en plein
[ Page 2 ]
jour à 3 h. de
l'après-midi. Je
compte donc
partir de Chicago
Mercredi, à 10 heures
du soir et je
serai à Boston
Vendredi à 10 h.
du matin.
[ Page 3 ]
J'espère que ce moment
ne vous paraîtra
pas incommode.
Mille tendresses à
vous deux
Th Blanc
David Douglas to Annie Adams Fields
[ Begin Letterhead
Underlined portion filled in by hand. ]
DAVID DOUGLAS[ End Letterhead ]
PUBLISHER
10 Castle Street
Edinburgh Nov 16 1893
Dear Mrs Fields
I send you by mail a copy of Scott's* "Familiar Letters" which will be published here & in America on the 22d inst{.} Its preparation has been to me a very great delight for the last three years as it compelled me to undergo a great amount of fresh reading on subjects which interested me. I don't know how the general public will like the book. I fear it is too fragmentary to compel [ continual or continued ? ] interest
[ Page 2 ]
and there is nothing to reveal regarding the great man himself -- I would like you, at any rate, to turn to the index & read the letters to and from Joanna Baillie, Lady Louisa Stuart & Lady Abercorn.* These I know will interest and (sometimes) amuse you -- Though the book is published in America yet I would like you to have one of my own publishing & editing --
If Miss Jewett* is with you remember my wife & me to her very kindly -- we often talk & still oftener think of the few days you & she spent in Edinburgh --
[ Page 3 ]Notes
I suppose all the world went to its Fair* last season as we saw no one from your side, save one, but he was a host in himself -- John Muir* --. He spent some pleasant days with us & carried us off our feet with his wonderful descriptions of Californian & Alaskan scenery. ---
I hope you have had a pleasant summer & are now enjoying your quiet home in Boston -- I am my dear Mrs Fields --
Yours [ affectionately ? ]
David Douglas
Scott's: Scottish author, Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832). Douglas published his edition of Familiar Letters of Sir Walter Scott in Edinburgh and in Boston (Houghton Mifflin) in 1893.
Abercorn: Probably Douglas refers to the Marchioness of Abercorn, as listed in the index.
Miss Jewett: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Fair: World's Columbian Exposition, held in Chicago in the spring through early autumn of 1893.
John Muir: Scottish American naturalist and author, John Muir (1838-1914).
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields Papers and Addenda, Box 16: mss FI 5637. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to William Hayes Ward
148 Charles Street
Monday 20 Novr -- [ 1893 ]*
Dear Mr. Ward
Madame Blanc* would be very glad to see you tomorrow afternoon at about five o'clock.
Yours very truly
S. O. Jewett
Notes
1893: Blanchard in Sarah Orne Jewett reports that Madame Blanc stayed at the Fields house in Boston during November - December 1893 (pp. 266-8).
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held in the Abernethy Collection; Special Collections and Archives, Middlebury College Library, Middlebury, VT, aberms.jewettso.1890.08.21. It may be viewed here. Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Henry Oscar Houghton
Notes
148 Charles St.
Wednesday evening [ 22 November 1893 ]*
Dear Mr. Houghton
I did not think to tell you that Madame Blanc* will be away all next week, or nearly all, as she and Mrs Fields* are going down to Berwick with me. So that the plan for going to see the Riverside Press
[ Page 2 ]
will have to be considered later on, or sometime early in December. Madame Blanc is very much interested in the idea the idea of going: I think you will find her a very intelligent looker on at your great works and ways at Riverside -- I haste
[ Page 3 ]
I am ever
Yours sincerely
Sarah O. Jewett
1893: Almost certainly this letter was composed the Wednesday before the week of Thanksgiving in 1893. During Blanc's extended tour of the United States in 1893-4, she spent Thanksgiving (30 November) with Jewett and others in South Berwick, ME.
Written at the top right, in another hand: Sarah O. Jewett.
Madam Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Henry Oscar Houghton papers III. Letters to H. O. Houghton from various persons, Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. 7 letters; 1894 & n.d. Box: 9 MS Am 1648, (513).
This transcription is from a photocopy held by the Maine Women Writers Collection, Burton Trafton Collection, Box 2, folder 88.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Katharine McMahon Johnson
148 Charles Street
23 November 1893
[ Begin letterhead ]
South Berwick, Maine
[ End letterhead ]
Dear Mrs Johnson
I have been wishing to answer your most kind and affectionate letter but my hand which has been lame since midsummer is only just now getting well and I have had to be very careful about using it --
So I have sent messages in Mrs. Fields or in my sisters*
[ Page 2 ]
letters until I grow quite ashamed and call myself lazy no less than lame! I hoped so much that I should see you when you came to Manchester this summer and then you did not come and I had gone to Richfield* at the same moment -- I shall be looking forward to seeing you in your new house and home by and by, but just now I cannot make any plans about visits -- Madame Blanc*
[ Page 3 ]
has come to stay with us for some time and I must be going back and forth between here and Berwick. After so long a pull of illness I find myself very busy, but even if I only come to New York for a day or two I shall report myself --
It is perfectly delightful to see Madame Blanc again -- we are always talking about Barbizon. She is more charming than ever -- and has enjoyed her
[ Page 4 ]
flight to Chicago.* She is looking forward to seeing New York and her friends there but you can believe that we do not mean to let her go away sooner than we can help -- Next week both she and Mrs. Fields are coming into the country with me --
Did Mr. R. Underwood Johnson get a volume of sketches* from Miss S. Orne Jewett, sent within this last day or two? I hope so and that he will give an Autumn Hour or two to it for a friends sake -- and you too -- with kindest
[ Up the left margin of page 1 ]
remembrance always believe me yours affectionately
Sarah O. Jewett
Notes
Mrs. Fields or in my sisters: Annie Adams Fields and Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Richfield: Jewett often went to Richfield, NY, seeking relief from rheumatism using the local water.
Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc.See Key to Correspondents.
Chicago: Jewett refers to the Columbian Exposition that opened in Chicago, IL in May 1893.
sketches: Jewett's new book in 1893 was A Native of Winby and Other Tales.
This manuscript is held by the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, University of Texas at Austin. MS Johnson, RU Misc. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 2 ALS to Johnson, [Katharine (McMahon)]. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
William Dean and Elinor Howells to Sarah Orne Jewett
40 W. 59th st.,Dear Friend:
Nov. 28, 1893.
The other night I read your Second Spring* to Mrs. Howells, and we rejoiced in it, and loved every touch and tint of it, [ wh. ? ] we always do with your work. What a divine creature you are in it, and how you do make other people's joinery seem crude and clumsy! No, you are too friendly and kind for that, butthey^it^ seems so, out of a mere shame and a sense of its unworthiness. That boy, whom no success^ive^ pieces of pork would fill, where is he that I may go and sit at his feet forever?
We read that you have
[ Page 2 ]
been very sick and we are sorry for you with all our hearts.
Love to Mrs. Fields* from
Yours sincerely,
William & Elinor Howells.
Notes
Second Spring: Jewett's "A Second Spring" appeared in Harper's Magazine in December 1893. This December issue would have gone on sale in late November.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of the letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Howells, William Dean, 1837-1920. 16 letters to Sarah Orne Jewett; 1875-1908. Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (105). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Another transcription appears in Life in Letters of William Dean Howells, edited by Mildred Howells. New York: Doubleday, 1928.
Sarah Orne Jewett to William Dean Howells148 Charles Street.
1 December. [ 1893 ]*
Dear Mr. HowellsHow can I thank you and Mrs. Howells* for the dear and near pleasure that your letter gives me! I find it this gray afternoon when I come up from Berwick where Thanksgiving Day was pretty gray itself yesterday, even though A. F. and Madame Blanc* -- our charming French friend -- were there to talk about other things and keep us from being silent at table and thinking too much of missed faces. -- -- I do not know that I ever could have valued the kindness of your letter so much as on this very afternoon. It was you who made me feel so long ago that it was worth while to start, and it is still you who say that it is worth while to go on which sometimes of late has seemed difficult. I look back to certain hours in Cambridge and at Belmont* with more and more gratitude to you both as years go on. And I thank you, dear friend and Writer, for the noble lessons you have taught your countrymen.
I remember years ago that Miss Preston* read me something from a letter that spoke of some writers as being connected with thoughts of the sea and others as but land-locked pools and it often falls to my sad lot to remember it! but never to my envious lot. I am more proud every year of what you have done because I see every year more clearly how difficult it was and is.
I am nearly well again after a wicked war of lameness and pain. I found myself able to attend a football match (which you would have liked to see too) yesterday afternoon. Theodore and his mother* and I were going anyway but we took the others along and they liked it too. Mrs. Fields sends her love with mine to you both. We wish so much to have Madame Blanc see you when she goes to New York by and by.
Your faithful friend
Sarah O. Jewett.
Notes
1893: As the notes below indicate, the visit of Madame Blanc to South Berwick took place at Thanksgiving in 1893. Also, this letter seems to follow nicely from the Howells letter above.
Mrs. Howells: See William Dean Howells in Correspondents.
A. F. and Madame Blanc: A. F. is Annie Adams Fields. Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc traveled to the United States for the World Columbian Exposition in the fall of 1893. Paula Blanchard in Sarah Orne Jewett says that Blanc and Fields made a short stay in South Berwick for Thanksgiving that year (p. 267). See Key to Correspondents.
Belmont: Howells at various times had homes in Belmont, MA and in Cambridge, MA.
Miss Preston: Harriet Waters Preston. See Key to Correspondents.
Theodore and his mother: Theodore Jewett Eastman and Jewett's sister, Carrie Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
There are three typescripts of this letter that vary at a few points in punctuation. This transcription is from one of the two held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA. bMS Am 1743.1 Sarah Orne Jewett Additional Correspondence II. Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, Box 4 (120).
Another appears in transcriptions from mixed repositories in the Maine Women Writer's Collection, University of New England, Letters from Sarah Orne Jewett, 1875-1890, Folder 72, Burton Trafton Jewett Research Collection.
This text was digitized by Linda Heller. Notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett and Carrie Jewett Eastman
Friday Afternoon
[ 1 December 1893 ]*
Dear Sisters
Your sister seems to have nothing better to do than to sit down to write a letter. The ladies are resting preparatory to going to Cambridge at four o'clock. Luncheon was all ready when we got here a little belated, and what do you think we had? My advice was asked so hopeful and I said yes -- and so we eated the nice pie Mary, large helps and have got a piece saved to enjoy later unless others have by this time enjoyed it before us. It was the Best Pie and entirely appreciated. Madame Blanc* found the desired letter from her new daughter in law and it was begun ^Ma^ Chére Mére* and
[ Page 2 ]
was much beseemed and laughed at a little on account of their not having her address, 'which was to be found in many places in Pari' ' only they were smiled at indulgently for being on their wedding journey in Nivernais.* Both the company had beautiful times in Berwick.* Yesterday seems to grow pleasanter and pleasanter in their remembrance. Thérèse has got a headache and is frightened to go to the Annex* but is going. I guess it will be better when she comes back. Sister knows what [ unrecognized word ] headache is! but poor thing, she didn't get her sleep last night as we know.
I send you this letter from Georgie* which I shall answer as soon as I can. You will be so pleased with
[ Page 3 ]
this dear letter from Mr. Howells.* I dont know when any words of praise have moved me more, and his putting their names together. I cant see anything yet of the Pilot.* I shall get Haggerty* to hunt me up the copy -- he probably takes it! and write to R. P. Sekenger.* We found little Mr. Hill a-tuning the Piano* when we came in and he is still at it at nearly four. He asked for Mrs. Eastman's health with deep interest. He quite lighted up when I appeared along side the instrument.
-- I have made what I could of some remembrances of the Tennyson visit* which you can slip right in
[ Page 4 ]
with yours. It will save the trouble of your writing down just what I would have told you. There are often things I could tell but they would take explaining. I should like to have a little part in the paper!* I thought you might be thinking of it Sunday.
Love to all. I hope you will feel to go to Portland{.} It would be so nice to see Nelly & all.* and pleasant to go without an occasion! as Nelly said in Exeter. Tell Stubs I read the Herald account of the Game with great pleasure this morning -- as I came up. There were sights-o' folks in the car.
Your Seddie --*
Notes
1 December1893: The likelihood that this letter was composed on this Friday is high, though not absolute. Madame Blanc was in Boston some of the time that fall, W. D. Howells wrote Jewett an especially complimentary letter dated 28 November, and there is evidence that Jewett and her nephew, Theodore, attended football games in Boston, probably at Harvard, that fall. See notes below.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
new daughter-in-law: Richard Cary in "Miss Jewett and Madame Blanc" (1967, pp. 468, 480) says that Madame Blanc married the banker Édouard Alexandre Blanc (b. 1834) in 1856; their son was Édouard Blanc (1858-1923). When she was 19, they were divorced. Cary quotes from Grace King, Memories of a Southern Woman of Letters (1932), for a description of the younger Edouard: ". . . noted as a traveler and lecturer, and a distinguished member of the Geographical Society. He was known for his new discoveries in the country of the Pamirs. He was a tall man, a giant in frame, but not at all handsome. He talked well, with much of his mother's charm of manner. His apartment was in the story above his mother's. His large salon was. filled with bookcases. In.a particular case were books bound especially according to his own design, in white parchment, with his monogram on the back. They were all rare and on scientific subjects. He led, we were told, the life of a recluse; he seemed perfectly indifferent to every subject except literature" (139-40).
No record of his marriage has yet been located.
Chére Mére: French, Dear Mother.
Nivernais: Nivernais is a former French province, now the Department of Nièvre.
beautiful times in Berwick: Fields and Blanc celebrated Thanksgiving at Jewett's home in South Berwick in 1893.
the Annex: The Harvard Annex for women's education at Harvard University, which eventually became Radcliffe College.
Georgie: Georgina Halliburton. See Key to Correspondents.
Mr. Howells: William Dean Howells. See Key to Correspondents. Jewett thanks Howells for an especially kind letter in hers of 1 December 1893.
the Pilot... Haggerty ... R. P. Sekenger: The Pilot, founded in 1829, is the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of Boston.
Haggerty has not been identified, but appears to be someone regularly around the Fields home at this time, perhaps a Catholic employee?
R. P. Sekenger also remains unidentified.
Mr. Hill a-tuning the Piano: Mr. Hill's identity remains unknown.
remembrances of the Tennyson visit ... a little part in the paper: Jewett reports meeting Tennyson at his home in a letter of 25 June 1882. It appears that Mary is preparing a paper on Tennyson, who died in October 1892. for the South Berwick Woman's Club.
Portland ... Nelly & all: This is likely to be the family of Helen and John Gilman of Portland, ME. See Key to Correspondents.
Stubs ... the Herald ... the Game: Stubs is Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents. He and his aunt presumably have been reading the Boston Herald, perhaps for an account of a football game, of which Theodore was a fan. Jewett mentions attending football matches with Theodore and Carrie in her letter to W. D. Howells of 1 December 1893.
Seddie: One of Jewett's family nicknames. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by Historic New England in the Jewett Family Papers MS014.02.01. Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
Monday night
[ December 1893 ]*
Dear Mouse*
So you are a-writing too! Good luck to you then -- and Pinny* to be there to hear the paper please Ladies -- and to tell Fuff it is good because she will think it isn't, she always does, you know -- Now be like Pinny -- a-bragging of her success as a historian --*
Another good day's work, and half of this evening spent in tinkering over the library -- I think I shall have to do pretty much of the work
[ Page 2 ]
myself, but it is 'a change'. I made out part of the catalogue and did a good deal else tonight. Here is a verse* about yesterday -- I seem to have taken to verses again lately -- but they do not keep the memory of such days [ perhaps there is a comma here ] fresher than anything else -- Jock* has got a horrid cold tonight, poor little dog -- and I must take him to bed and try what homepathic
[ Page 3 ]*
treatment will do for him -- what a glrious night, so bright and clear and just cold enough! I had a lovely little walk up the street under the bare elms. (It is so strange to [ see corrected ] no lights in Mrs. Nason's house* -- It is cleaned and empty and sold even, and there is an end of all that.)* I have taken the greatest
[ Page 4 ]
joy in reading Wordsworth lately. I can't get enough of him! and I take snatches of time for The Leech Gatherer, and the other short ones and feel as if I had lived a week in going through each one of them(. God night dear darling -- I feel more grateful for you every day, and that is the truth -- I do love you more and more and more --
(Yours always
Pinny -- )
[ ink marks beneath the signature ]
Notes
December 1893: This date is speculative, based upon the likelihood that Jewett refers to the time after she completed work on the British edition of The Story of the Normans and when she was working on establishing the new Fogg Memorial Library at the Berwick Academy. See notes below.
Mouse: Like Fuff, a nickname for Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Pinny: For Pinny Lawson (P.L.), a Jewett nickname. See Key to Correspondents.
historian: Jewett may to the success of her popular history, The Story of the Normans (1887). This suggests that she is writing at a time when the book's success has been particularly affirmed, such after she completed revisions for a British edition, which appeared in 1891 to reasonably good reviews.
Perhaps more likely, if the December 1893 date is correct, she refers to the placing of her local history essay, "The Old Town of Berwick," which appeared in July 1894.
library: Jewett may refer to her part in establishing and organizing events for the dedication of the Fogg Memorial Library at the Berwick Academy. She was involved in this work in 1893 and until the dedication in July of 1894.
verse: If this letter was composed near the end of 1893, then it seems unlikely that Jewett published the poem she has sent Fields. She published only one poem in 1894-5.
Jock: Jewett's dog also is mentioned in a letter probably composed in the autumn of 1890.
Mrs. Nason: This person has not yet been identified.
that): The parenthesis marks around this passage were penciled by Fields, as are all the remaining such marks in this letter. Following this is an "X" also by Fields that marks a point at which she apparently planned to begin a quotation in her letter collection. From this X is line to a penciled note at the top of this page: "p. 66 1890 The little bit about Wordsworth at the bottom of this page is all to copies from this letter."
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Annie Fields (Adams) 1834-1915, recipient. 194 letters; 1877-1909 & [n.d.] Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (255). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Fields Transcription
In Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), Fields includes a passage from this letter, p. 66.
I have the greatest joy in reading Wordsworth lately. I can't get enough of him, and I take snatches of time for "The Leech-Gatherer," and the other short ones, and feel as if I had lived a week in going through each one of them.
Celia Laighton Thaxter to Sarah Orne Jewett
Portsmouth 1893. [ December ]
How good you were to copy for me, and all! All this time and I have not audibly and visibly thanked you for "Deephaven"! but really and truly in my heart I have thanked you every day for the lovely thing.* I never did see anything so enchanting, and the illustrations! every one so charming! Those Woodburys* must be wondrous clever people. Karl says: "Will you please write to Miss Jewett and tell her there never was anything quite so delightful as 'The Only Rose' story?"*
I am waiting for the proofs of my small "garden" book,* and I am the tiredest bird that ever scratched for worms. Haven't had any "girl" since I came from the Shoals, except a little slip as goes to school, and isn't much more than a rag-baby anyway. Have written to Flower* to see if she has n't some young and needy being who wants to earn something and have a good home and be befriended. There must be plenty such, if one could find them. I don't care a bit whether she knows anything or not: I have infinite patience to teach any honest creature.
Don't you and Mary* ever come down to Portsmouth any more? Do come!
Notes
December: If this letter was indeed composed in 1893, it would have to have been written after the appearance of "The Only Rose" in the January 1894 Atlantic.
Deephaven: Jewett's first novel, Deephaven, appeared in 1877. A new illustrated edition appeared in 1893.
Woodburys: Charles H. and Marcia Oakes Woodbury. See Correspondents.
Karl ... "The Only Rose": Karl Thaxter, Celia's son, was injured at birth in 1852; he limped and suffered emotional problems, requiring constant care throughout his life. "The Only Rose" first appeared in Atlantic Monthly (73:37-46) in January 1894 and was collected in The Life of Nancy (1895).
"garden" book: An Island Garden (1894).
Flower: It appears that Thaxter is using a nickname for one of her common correspondents with Jewett. This circle of friends regularly referred to each other by nicknames, but which was "Flower" does not seem commonly known. One might guess at Rose Lamb, but assistance is necessary.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Correspondents.
This extract from a letter appears in Letters of Celia Thaxter Edited by her friends, A. F. [Annie Fields] and R. L. [Rose Lamb], The Riverside Press, H. O. Houghton, & Co, Cambridge, Mass. 1895. Annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Adams Fields to Phoebe Dayton Gardiner Horsford*
[ 25 December 1893 ]
Dear Mrs Horsford
I am not sure that you have this little book and it will give me pleasure to think that you sometimes read the ballads* to your grandchildren. So I send it with tender love and many a thought of you and yours.
Affectionately yours
Annie Fields.
Christmas 1893
Notes
Horsford: The second wife of Eben Norton Horsford. Fields writes her near the first anniversary of Mr. Horsford's death on 1 January 1893. See Key to Correspondents.
ballads: The title Fields sends Horsford is not known. One may speculate that in 1893, Fields may have thought of sending Horsford a volume of the poems of John Greenleaf Whittier (see Key to Correspondents), who wrote a number of ballads appropriate for young readers and who had died a year earlier. In 1893, Fields published her book: Whittier: Notes of his Life and of his Friendships.
The manuscript of the letter is held by the Fales Library and Special Collections, Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, New York University. Sylvester Manor Archive 1649-1996, MSS.208, IV: Horsford Family, Box 59: Folder 35. Fields, Annie Adams: Connecticut, Maine & Massachusetts. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
[ Near Christmas 1893 ] *Ah! What pleasure your good and delicious last letter has given me, following the little notice from the first evening of your arrival in my room at the inn,* so to speak. -- You will never know how much this letter has helped me, along with that of our friend, to counterbalance the mail from France, which is so painful in several ways. I must return there within two months at the latest, and perhaps that date is too far off. M. Blanc* understands very well that I want
[ Page 2 ]
to take full advantage of this trip, but the children need me, she* tells me with worrying frankness, -- for at this point in their lives, they should be completely able to take care of themselves. I will take the last ship in February, at the latest. Meanwhile, I will go south; the climate of New York would, I fear, be even more trying for me than that of Boston, although I am well settled
[ Page 3 ]
and the good M. Jaccaci* attends to me well. He came to meet me, giving up a business appointment. When you are better,* do me the favor of visiting his wife; he will be pleased with this, and I believe that these poor folks are weighed down with grave worry: the health of their eldest son is more threatened than they realized.
Miss Cochrane* came this morning,
[ Page 4 ]
very affectionate, and met Miss Dunham* here. I will have tea with her tomorrow, and then lunch at Miss Dunham's home on Saturday. Today, I am not moving, my first walk on Broadway did not go well. Goodbye, my dear friend. I knew you wouldn't want my little note if I didn't leave it as a surprise.* What you say made me cry, but please don't speak of it as you do; all the humility must be on my side: I bless the
[ Cross-written down the left side of page 4 ]
God who led me to this double friendship with you two.*
[ Cross-written up the center of page 1 ]
My ^New England^ rug is before my bed and makes
me feel at home ----
[ Cross-written up the left side of page 1 ]
a happy Christmas to you both and to
your sister, without forgetting your
dear nephew.*
Th B
Notes
1893: This date is supported by Blanc's references to her 1893-4 visit to the United States. As she wishes her reader a "happy Christmas," she must have written in late December 1893. The circumstances in which she writes are somewhat obscure.
It is not perfectly clear whom Blanc addresses. Parts of the letter seem directed toward Jewett, notably the final sentence, and parts toward both Jewett and Fields. Blanc clearly writes from New York City, but the location of her reader or readers is less clear, as the notes below illustrate.
Mme. Blanc's movements at the end of 1893 have not been documented in detail. Letters from Jewett to William Dean Howells and to her sisters on 1 December show that Blanc and Fields spent Thanksgiving with Jewett in South Berwick. In the Howells letter, it is clear that Blanc plans to go to New York City before too long.
inn: This sentence is quite puzzling. It seems likely that Blanc refers to her room either at Jewett's home in South Berwick or at Fields's home at 148 Charles St. in Boston. Since Fields infrequently visited South Berwick, and she had just been there with Blanc at Thanksgiving, it seems probable that this sentence is addressed to Jewett and refers to her recent arrival in Boston. There is very tentative evidence that Jewett spent Christmas at Fields's home in 1893, a letter to Lilian Aldrich.
If that letter is correctly dated, then Jewett traveled to Boston on Christmas Eve, when she may have sent a note to Mme. Blanc. That would indicate that this letter was written soon after Christmas.
M. Blanc: Mme. Blanc's estranged husband. See her entry in Key to Correspondents.
Though they were estranged, they seem to have developed a friendship in their later years, and he stayed with her often when she was in the country, where he enjoyed hunting.
Presumably the children are their son, Édouard, and daughter-in-law, Madeleine. whose marriage often was troubled. If that is correct, then "she" probably is Madeleine.
Notable is Jewett's report in her letter to her sisters of 1 December, that Blanc had what she considered good news from her daughter-in-law in a letter received in South Berwick at Thanksgiving. That letter had been mailed rather long before it was received.
Jaccaci: Auguste Jaccaci (1857-1930) at the time of this letter was art director for McClure's Magazine. He was born in France of Hungarian ancestry. After immigrating to the U.S. he became a decorative artist and an art dealer. In the U.S., he Americanized his name, and so sometimes is referred to as August Iaccaci. See Robert Sellwood, Winged Sabres (2018), the opening of Chapter 20.
better: In her 1 December letter to Howells, Jewett reported having suffered a severe bout of rheumatism.
Miss Cochrane: Jessie Cochrane. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Dunham: Probably, this is Etta Dunham, the daughter of James Dunham of New York, one of four sisters. American painter, John Singer Sargent made a portrait of her in 1895.
surprise: This sentence mystifies us, and we remain uncertain how to translate it.
two: Jewet and Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
nephew: Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
This letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: b MS Am 1743, Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett, Blanc, Thérèse (de Solms) 1840-1907. 10 letters; 1892-1906 & [n.d.], 1892-1906, Identifier: (23). Transcription, translation and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, with essential assistance from Jeannine Hammond, Professor of French, Emerita, at Coe College.
Transcription
Blanc sometimes abbreviates "pour" to "pr" and "vous" to "vs." Such instances in this letter are rendered as "pour" and "vous."
Ah! quel plaisir m'a
fait votre délicieuse et
si bonne lettre suivant
cette dépêche qui dès le
premier soir vous aménagez
pour ainsi dire dans ma
chambre d'auberge! -- Vous
ne saurez jamais de quel
secours elle m'a été, ainsi
que celle de notre amie
pour faire contrepoids
au courrier de France
bien pénible par plusieurs
côtés. Il faut que je
m'en retourne là-bas dans
deux mois au plus tard
et peut-être même
cette date est-elle bien
éloignée. M. Blanc comprend
à merveille que je tienne
[ Page 2 ]
à profiter de mon
voyage, mais les enfants
ont besoin de moi;
elle me le dit avec
une franchise presque
inquiétante, --- car, au
point où ils sont, ils
devraient se suffire
absolument à eux-mêmes.
Je prendrai
le dernier bateau de
février au plus tard.
En attendant j'irai
au sud; le climat
de N. Y. serait plus trying
pour moi j'en ai peur
que celui de Boston,
quoique je sois bien installée
[ Page 3 ]
et que le bon M.
Jouais me comble Jaccaci
d'attentions. Il est venu à ma rencontre, renonçant
pour cela à un rendez
vous d'affaires. Quand vous
irez mieux, faites-moi
l'amitié de voir sa
femme; il y sera très
sensible et je crois que
les pauvres gens sont
sous le poids d'une grave
inquiétude: la santé
de leur fils aîné plus
menacée qu'ils ne le
pensent.
Miss Cochrane est
venue ce matin,
[ Page 4 ]
bien affectueuse;
elle a rencontré ici
Miss Dunham. Je
prendrai demain le
thé avec elle et
je luncherai samedi
chez Miss Dunham.
Aujourd'hui je ne
bouge pas, ma
première promenade
sur le Broadway ne
m'ayant pas réussi.
Au revoir mon amie
chèrie. Je savais que
vous ne voudriez pas ^de^ ma
pauvre petite feuille
si je ne la laissais pas
en surprise. Ce que vous me
dites m'a fait pleurer, mais
de grâce ne parlez pas comme
vous le faites; toute l'humilité
doit être de mon côté: Je bénis
[ Cross written down the left side of page 4 ]
Dieu qu m'a fait rencontrer une double
amitié comme la vôtre. Je vous embrasse.
[ Cross written up the center of page 1 ]
My ^New England^ rug is before my bed and makes
me feel at home ----
[ Cross written up the left side of page 1 ]
a happy Christmas to you both and to
your sister, without forgetting your
dear nephew.
Th B
Sarah Orne Jewett to Lilian Woodman Aldrich
148 Charles St. Monday
[ Christmas 1893 ]*
Dear Lilian
Thank you many times for this nice little glass. It is so pretty and take up so little room among ones dressing things "which is why" I always am without my own unless I am at home! This makes me feel as big and equal to emergency as if I were Mrs Gulliver!*
[ Page 2 ]
I like to see myself like a big map for once. I shall go about thinking that my nose is just that splendid size, and be afraid to get into a bob-tailed herdic* for fear of breaking it down!
I came up last evening just to have a little bit
[ Page 3 ]
of Christmas with Mrs. Fields,* but I must go home tomorrow. Love and Christmas blessings to you and T.B.A.* and all your dear household --
from your affectionate & thankful friend
S. O. J.
Dear Lilian! Did the parrot arrive? If so, I will show him my glass some day and let himbelieve^see^ that he is as grand as he thinks himself --
[ Up let left margin of page 3 ]
Thanks indeed and love to both
Notes
1893: This letter could have been composed in most years between 1883 and 1908. It currently appears with letters of 1893 because of Jewett's use of the word "herdic," which so far appears only one other time in her letters --to her sister Mary of 14 January 1894.
Mrs Gulliver: Possibly, Jewett asks Lilian to imagine Jewett as a giant woman, as Mrs. Gulliver would have been, had she accompanied her husband to the land of the Lilliputians. See Gulliver's Travels by the British author Jonathan Swift (1667-1745).
bob-tailed herdic: Wikipedia says that a herdic was a closed, two-wheeled carriage with an entrance at the back and seats on the sides, used as taxis in several eastern U.S. cities. Jewett invites one to imagine it as "bob-tailed."
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
T.B.A.: Thomas Bailey Aldrich. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. Thomas Baily Aldrich Papers, 119 letters of Thomas Bailey and Lilian Woodman Aldrich, 1837-1926. MS Am 1429 (117). Transcribed and annotated by Terry Heller, Coe College.
At the bottom left of page one, in another hand, is a circled number: 2724.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
4 a.m. Sunday
[ December 1893? ]*
Just a perfectly beautiful [ rose ? ] and most beautiful story, O dear friend. It is a cup of America's best wine -- [ home= ? ]
[ Page 2 ]
[ brewed ?], yet fit for Gods. And I love it and you.
_Sw_
Notes
December 1893?: This speculative date is based upon the possibility that the 5th word in the letter is "rose." It could about as easily be "rare." If Whitman has written "rose," then it seems likely she has just read Jewett's "The Only Rose," which first appeared in Atlantic Monthly in January 1894. Whitman could have read it at the end of December 1893.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University. Whitman, Sarah (Wyman) 1842-1904. 92 letters; [1884]-[1903] & [n.d.] Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 -107. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
From "The Edge of the Future:
Reflections, Sentiments and Mottoes for the New Year
from Many Famous People."
San Francisco Chronicle* (31 December 1893, p. 41)
Herewith are given the New Year thoughts, forecasts and suggestions of nearly two score of men and women who are counted among the world's most famous people. These sentiments, written for this publication, may be fairly taken as signs of the times -- indications to show the drift of the world's opinions and to show, as well, the lines along which the progress of the immediate future is to be made. They form, too, a New Year's greeting to all the race: ....
Mrs. James T. Fields
The controlling thought of the era upon which we are entering -- the distinguishing mark -- would seem to be a ripening sense of the value of the individual. Carlyle* has already said: "Men are not saved by bundles: God sayeth to each one, how is it with thee!" Here and now this thought is beginning to develop; the rights of the defective, of the downcast, of the stranger, are at length recognized as the voice of divine law.
ANNIE FIELDS.
Sarah Orne Jewett
Even in the next year we are sure to see some effects of the great lesson in architecture at Chicago.* I look for more beautiful and simple public buildings and far better taste in the building of houses; for new appreciation of what is really good and new contempt for what is unrepresentative and unworthy, even in our smallest towns.
SARAH ORNE JEWETT.
Notes
Chronicle: Versions of this article appeared in other papers as well. Those currently known are: The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois, 31 December 1893, p. 27) and Auckland Star (New Zealand, 17 February 1894, p. 12). The Jewett and Fields quotations did not appear in every version; they are absent from the Aukland text.
Carlyle: Fields has incorrectly named her source as the Scottish author, Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). Actually, she paraphrases from American poet and philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), "The Conduct of Life" VI, "Worship": "Souls are not saved in bundles. The Spirit saith to the man, ‘How is it with thee? thee personally? is it well? is it ill?’ For a great nature it is a happiness to escape a religious training,—religion of character is so apt to be invaded."
Chicago: Jewett refers to the World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, which opened in May 1893.
Edited by Terry Heller, Coe College.
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