Sarah Orne Jewett
European Tour 1898
From April through September of 1898, Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields traveled in England and France. For both, much of the trip was taken up with visiting old friends, especially in England. However, nearly two full months -- mid-May to late July -- went to traveling in France, where they spent a good deal of time with Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc, at her home and traveling with her. Fields was particularly taken with Provence, and her journal contains many pages on their time in southern France. Late in July, Jewett's sister, Mary Rice Jewett, and their nephew, Theodore Eastman, arrived in England and then joined the two women in Paris for a few days, before the whole party returned to England.
This file blends together correspondence from this trip and selections from Fields's travel diary. Comparing the two writers helps to see the ways in which they were different people, despite their deep sympathy and affection for each other. Both celebrated birthdays during the trip, Fields turning 64 on June 6 and Jewett turning 49 on September 3. Both witnessed and reflected upon the outbreak of the Spanish American War and were affected by the perspectives of their European friends.
Note that page numbers in the diary entries are for convenience only; they do not necessarily indicate page numbers Fields actually used. I have use 3 asterisks (* * *) to indicate omissions from Fields's journal entries -- usually of repeated or deleted material. To read a complete transcription, see Fields's Diary of a Trip to France.
The original of the Fields diary is in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society: Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221. This transcription is from a microfilm, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462 1986, Reel 2.
April
18 -- Arrival at Plymouth in Devon, UK
19 -- Jewett writes Sara Norton from London
22 -- Jewett writes Georgina Halliburton from London
25 -- Fields writes that from this date until probably about 9 May,
she made no daily entries
29 -- Fields and Jewett travel from London to Paris
May
1 -- Jewett writes Halliburton from Paris
6 -- Jewett writes to Theodore Eastman from Paris
9 -- At about this time, Fields summarizes their activities in London at the end of April and their departure for Paris
12 -- Fields and Jewett spend several weeks in Provence
16 -- Jewett writes Louisa Dresel & Sara Norton from St. Rémy de Provence
19 -- Jewett writes Theodore Eastman from Nîmes
20 -- Jewett writes Sarah Wyman Whitman from Nîmes
June
6 -- Jewett writes Norton & Whitman from La Ferté
10 -- Jewett writes Halliburton & Norton from La Ferté
14 -- Fields's diary resumes from Paris
17 -- Depart Paris for La Ferté to stay with Madame Blanc until 28 June
23 -- Day trip to Meaux
24 -- Rheims
28 -- A night in Paris
29 -- Depart Paris to Vitré, beginning a tour of Brittany
30 -- Arrive at Mont Saint Michel
July
2 --Saturday -- another day at Mont St. Michel
3 -- St. Malo
Fields has eye trouble & stays in all day, while Jewett cares for her. Jewett writes Whitman
4 -- arrive in Dinan
Jewett writes to Halliburton, reporting a side-trip from Dinan
5 -- Tréguier
9 -- Quimper in Brittany
13 -- Mary Rice Jewett informs them that she and her nephew Theodore, who have arrived in England, are tempted to postpone coming to Paris. Jewett and Fields, however, wish to be settled in Paris before the 14th, Bastille Day
20 -- Mary and Theodore expected to arrive in Paris, from England
August
2 -- Jewett writes to Sarah Wyman Whitman from Paris
14 -- Cambridge in England
18 -- With Brother Robert Collyer in Yorkshire
21 -- Jewett writes to Halliburton from Ilkley, Yorkshire
22 -- Jewett goes to Edinburgh, Scotland, with Mary and Theodore, while Fields travels to visit the Kate Bradbury family at Ashton-Under-Lyne
September
3 -- Blanc writes to Jewett at London hotel
8 -- Mary & Theodore go to Salisbury.
Jewett & Fields to the Humphry Wards, Arnolds & Huxleys for several days
9 -- Mrs. Rudyard Kipling invites Jewett and her party to spend a day with the Kiplings
10 -- All return to London
11 -- day trip to Alice Marion Rowland (Mrs. Ernest) Hart in Totteridge
12 -- day trip to Henry James at Rye
13 -- day trip to Eversly -- the Kingsley family
22 -- Fields writes final diary entry after boarding ship for home
European Tour 1898
Introduction
From April through September of 1898, Sarah Orne Jewett and Annie Adams Fields traveled in England and France. For both, much of the trip was taken up with visiting old friends, especially in England. However, nearly two full months -- mid-May to late July -- went to traveling in France, where they spent a good deal of time with Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc, at her home and traveling with her. Fields was particularly taken with Provence, and her journal contains many pages on their time in southern France. Late in July, Jewett's sister, Mary Rice Jewett, and their nephew, Theodore Eastman, arrived in England and then joined the two women in Paris for a few days, before the whole party returned to England.
This file blends together correspondence from this trip and selections from Fields's travel diary. Comparing the two writers helps to see the ways in which they were different people, despite their deep sympathy and affection for each other. Both celebrated birthdays during the trip, Fields turning 64 on June 6 and Jewett turning 49 on September 3. Both witnessed and reflected upon the outbreak of the Spanish American War and were affected by the perspectives of their European friends.
Note that page numbers in the diary entries are for convenience only; they do not necessarily indicate page numbers Fields actually used. I have use 3 asterisks (* * *) to indicate omissions from Fields's journal entries -- usually of repeated or deleted material. To read a complete transcription, see Fields's Diary of a Trip to France.
The original of the Fields diary is in the collection of the Massachusetts Historical Society: Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221. This transcription is from a microfilm, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462 1986, Reel 2.
A Rough Chronology of the Tour
April
18 -- Arrival at Plymouth in Devon, UK
19 -- Jewett writes Sara Norton from London
22 -- Jewett writes Georgina Halliburton from London
25 -- Fields writes that from this date until probably about 9 May,
she made no daily entries
29 -- Fields and Jewett travel from London to Paris
May
1 -- Jewett writes Halliburton from Paris
6 -- Jewett writes to Theodore Eastman from Paris
9 -- At about this time, Fields summarizes their activities in London at the end of April and their departure for Paris
12 -- Fields and Jewett spend several weeks in Provence
16 -- Jewett writes Louisa Dresel & Sara Norton from St. Rémy de Provence
19 -- Jewett writes Theodore Eastman from Nîmes
20 -- Jewett writes Sarah Wyman Whitman from Nîmes
June
6 -- Jewett writes Norton & Whitman from La Ferté
10 -- Jewett writes Halliburton & Norton from La Ferté
14 -- Fields's diary resumes from Paris
17 -- Depart Paris for La Ferté to stay with Madame Blanc until 28 June
23 -- Day trip to Meaux
24 -- Rheims
28 -- A night in Paris
29 -- Depart Paris to Vitré, beginning a tour of Brittany
30 -- Arrive at Mont Saint Michel
July
2 --Saturday -- another day at Mont St. Michel
3 -- St. Malo
Fields has eye trouble & stays in all day, while Jewett cares for her. Jewett writes Whitman
4 -- arrive in Dinan
Jewett writes to Halliburton, reporting a side-trip from Dinan
5 -- Tréguier
9 -- Quimper in Brittany
13 -- Mary Rice Jewett informs them that she and her nephew Theodore, who have arrived in England, are tempted to postpone coming to Paris. Jewett and Fields, however, wish to be settled in Paris before the 14th, Bastille Day
20 -- Mary and Theodore expected to arrive in Paris, from England
August
2 -- Jewett writes to Sarah Wyman Whitman from Paris
14 -- Cambridge in England
18 -- With Brother Robert Collyer in Yorkshire
21 -- Jewett writes to Halliburton from Ilkley, Yorkshire
22 -- Jewett goes to Edinburgh, Scotland, with Mary and Theodore, while Fields travels to visit the Kate Bradbury family at Ashton-Under-Lyne
September
3 -- Blanc writes to Jewett at London hotel
8 -- Mary & Theodore go to Salisbury.
Jewett & Fields to the Humphry Wards, Arnolds & Huxleys for several days
9 -- Mrs. Rudyard Kipling invites Jewett and her party to spend a day with the Kiplings
10 -- All return to London
11 -- day trip to Alice Marion Rowland (Mrs. Ernest) Hart in Totteridge
12 -- day trip to Henry James at Rye
13 -- day trip to Eversly -- the Kingsley family
22 -- Fields writes final diary entry after boarding ship for home
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ 11 Apr 1898 ]*
Just a word of love and of blessing as you set sail dearest friend. Tell dear A.F.* that I brought away some of that [ sustaining ? ] perfume which exhales from the [ Convent Garden* ? ] , & shall keep it intact till you two come sailing back
These [ unrecognized word, little ? ] roses came from Old Farm,* and seem to me to be flowers of a celestial garden "plucked today". With them goes the [ remembering ? ] heart of your
Just a word of love and of blessing as you set sail dearest friend. Tell dear A.F.* that I brought away some of that [ sustaining ? ] perfume which exhales from the [ Convent Garden* ? ] , & shall keep it intact till you two come sailing back
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These [ unrecognized word, little ? ] roses came from Old Farm,* and seem to me to be flowers of a celestial garden "plucked today". With them goes the [ remembering ? ] heart of your
_SW_
77 Mount Vernon Street.
Notes
11 Apr 1898: This date is penciled in another hand in the upper right of page 1. The associated envelope, cancelled on this date, is addressed to Jewett as "passenger on S.S. Wilhelm der Grosse, Care [ unrecognized word, Mr ? ] Oelrichs & Co, 2 Bowling Green, New York."
Oelrichs & Company were general agents for the North German Lloyd Steamship Company (NDL). The steamship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a German transatlantic liner that entered NDL service in 1897, serving the route from Bremerhaven, Southhampton and New York.
A.F.: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Convent Garden: If this transcription is correct, it seems likely that Whitman has given this name to the garden at 148 Charles St. She refers to it again in an undated letter to Jewett of October 22.
Old Farm: Mentioning Old Farm suggests that Whitman writes from the Bar Harbour, Maine summer home of a Boston neighbor, Mary Gray Ward Dorr (1820-1901), widow of Charles Hazen Dorr (1821-1893).
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.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sara Norton
Bucklands Hotel, Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, W. 19 April, 1898.*
I have seen all your primroses* today and thought of you, too! Devonshire and Somerset were all a-bloom, and the brooks were fresh, and I heard a black-bird as the train went by, and I saw by this morning's Plymouth paper that the cuckoo had come and been heard in Brixham; which sounded homelike, because Brixham is a parish of the town of York next Berwick. And the fields were green and the trees showed all their lovely outlines under a mist of brown buds and small green leaves. They never will be so lovely again all summer. Oh, yes, I thought of you, dear! and it really seemed at one moment as if you were looking out of the car window with me.
It was a dull voyage and I rejoiced when it
was ended, though I never had so much fresh air as on this new
big steamship which brought us over. That is saying much, but
going to sea is going to sea in spite of everything. This time I
read almost constantly, which one cannot always do at sea, and I
liked very much coming into Plymouth, and spending the night
there, and walking on the Hoe* this morning, with thoughts of
Sir Francis Drake* and other great persons; but most of all of
my poor great-grand-father, who was so unlucky as to be taken by
privateers and shut into the wretched prison at Dartmoor, to
know all the horrors of those dark days.* You will know how
eager we were to get news from home, and how disappointing it
was to find that nothing was yet settled and that war still
seemed near.*
Notes
Bucklands Hotel, Brook Street, Grosvenor Square, W. 19
April, 1898: This hotel was in London.
primroses: Wikipedia says: "Primrose Day is the anniversary of the death of British statesman and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, on 19 April 1881."
Hoe ... Sir Francis Drake ... my poor great-grand-father: Jewett walked on the Hoe at Plymouth in Cornwall, Great Britain.Sir Francis Drake (1541-1596) was an English adventurer, explorer and naval hero. His family home was at Plymouth, where he spent several periods of his life. Privateers were privately own ships licensed by a national navy to capture enemy commercial ships during wartime. The United States and the British employed privateers in the War of 1812. In "The Old Town of Berwick," Jewett says, "This region bore its part in all the wars with generosity and bravery. The famous crew of John Paul Jones and the "Ranger" was mainly gathered from the shores of the river. One of the last of his sailors was, in his extreme old age, my father's patient." See also, "River Driftwood" in Country By-Ways and The Tory Lover.
Regarding the imprisonment of Jewett's ancestor, there is considerable confusion. While she specifies her "great-grandfather," in fact Dearborn Jewett was not a sailor but a soldier in George Washington's army. Her grandfather, Theodore Furber Jewett, ran away to sea, and, during the War of 1812, he was captured running the British blockade in 1813 (Paula Blanchard, p. 8). Where he was imprisoned has proven difficult to determine as well. The History and Genealogy of the Jewetts in America reports that T. F. Jewett, "at the time of the Embargo ran a vessel to the West Indies, was captured by an English vessel and confined on the famous Dartmour Prison Ship"; but there were no Dartmoor prison ships. Graham Frater has researched this problem, and he writes:
Paula Blanchard (Sarah Orne Jewett, 1994, p.8) records that Theodore Furber Jewett was held on the infamous Dartmoor prison ship at Bristol. In addition to Plymouth's Mill Prison, American prisoners were held in Bristol (in the Stapleton Prison, now Blackberry Hill Hospital, source: John Penny), and in Dartmoor Prison in Devon (still in existence). John Frost's Sarah Orne Jewett, (1960, p.13) records that 'During the War of 1812, [ T. F. Jewett's ] brig was seized, and he was placed in Dartmoor Prison in England, and forwarded to the prison at St George's, Bermuda, before he could be exchanged with a prisoner of equal rank.' Grandfather Jewett might have been held first in Bristol, forwarded to Dartmoor, and thence to Bermuda.
war still seemed near: Jewett refers to the approaching Spanish American War of 1898.
This letter appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), Transcribed by Annie Adams Fields, with notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Theodore Jewett Eastman
April 21st
[ 1898 ]*
[ Begin letterhead, telephone
number stamped to the left
Address to the right. ]
Address to the right. ]
Telephone
No 35119
Buckland's Hotel,
Brook Street,
Grosvenor Square. W.
Brook Street,
Grosvenor Square. W.
[ End letterhead ]
Dear Theodore --
It would be so much more convenient to have you here now, than to think that I must wait until July! I think of you and wish for you at every turn, and whether it is that I hear a blackbird singing in Devon or see a horseless cab going along in Pall-mall or a Blue-coat boy proceeding into Westminster Abbey -- I feel that I must have Mr. Stubbs right at hand! -- I got my first letter from Aunt Mary* this morning in which she said that the papers spoke well of the French play in Cambridge* the
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night before, especially of the dancing, so that I long to get the next letter with further particulars of the success of the play in town. We are greatly excited about the war:* I send you a cutting from the
[ Page 3 ]
over -- Mr. Aldrich* said once that it "was like being a stranger in your native land" -- Before the Revolution* and before the time of the Colonies we were England and Dr. Johnson and Shakespeare* and everybody else are as much ours as if we had always lived here! You will say Of Course but what I mean is: you have a new sense of it -- just as when you go to the old houses in Exeter* something comes over you as if a little bush felt its roots stir in the ground! ---- "The Season" is just beginning as gayly as possible. Everybody is coming back to town ^now^ just as they go to Boston in November and the houses are beginning to open
[ Page 4 ]
and [ fine corrected ] carriages grow thick in the streets. Brook Street where we are is quiet enough but one end is New Bond St. where an [ ant so spelled ] is put to terrible temptations by the shops! And that leads down to Piccadilly where further nets are set for her! and yet nothing in London is half so [ deleted word ] interesting as London itself -- I am so sorry that you will see it for the first time a little out of bloom, but you will like it! ---- Just as I was writing Miss Rose Kingsley* came hurrying in the same as ever, so tall and so friendly and warm hearted -- and she stayed for an hour or more
[ Page 5 ]
until we could hardly let her go, we were having such a nice time -- This is our only chance of seeing her now, for she is going over to France in a very few days, but we shall be meeting again later on. Then Aunt Annie* and I drove to Chelsea in a hansom to see her old friend Miss Hogarth* (Dickens's sister-in-law) but she was away for a few days and so we went into the Carlyle House* close by -- it has been kept as a memorial you know, with as many of the old furnishings as possible and we found it very interesting. The narrow street comes out on the Embankment -- a great
[ Page 6 ]
avenue that runs a long distance on the banks of the Thames, and the river looked cold enough today but when you come we shall get into [ little corrected ] steamers and ply up and down from Kew Gardens to the Greenwich hospital ( August 4th!) Miss Kingsley was full of excitement about the war, as we are: you cant think how it troubles us, and being so far away and all. I hate to think of our northern men going down into those steaming islands this summer -- I do hope that it will not have to be. But "there's a providence in it" as old Mrs. Raynes*
[ Page 7 ]
used to say, and I try to think that a good stirring up will be good for some who might drift along comfortably -- The aimless people sometimes get an aim thrust upon them -- -- I [ can corrected ] imagine how excited you and all the fellows must be -- What would the fellows in the Naval Academy have done if there had been no [ deleted word ] war and they had to
[ Page 8 ]
of older men -- You will see soldiering enough and plenty of gay uniforms in the London streets -- I think you will like to see the horse guards on sentry duty as you go down [ St James's corrected ] -- Goodbye dear Stubbs -- I know how busy you are but do write now and then what is going on -- I shall so like to hear about college, but first of all what you did in vacation.
Aunt Annie sends much love to you with mine.
Yours most affectionately
S.O.J.
S.O.J.
Notes
1898: As the notes below indicate, Jewett composed this letter during her 1898 trip to Europe.
Stubbs: Nickname of Theodore Jewett Eastman.
aunt Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
French play in Cambridge: The Harvard Cercle Francais performed Moliere's Le Médecin Malgré Lui in April of 1898. See Cambridge Tribune 21 (16 April 1898), p. 2.
About a month later, a "French play" also was performed at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Racine's Les Plaideurs. The chair of the Committee of Arrangements was Theodore Eastman's friend, Bertram W. B. Greene. See The Tech XVII (14 April 1898) p. 207. See Jewett to Eastman of 6 May 1898.
the war: The Spanish-American War began in late April of 1898 and lasted for about 10 weeks. Though the U.S. Navy defeated the Spanish at Manila in early May, conflicts continued until December, when a Philippine war for independence began.
always thought: In the manuscript these words are reversed in order, with marks indicating Jewett's wish to transpose them.
Mr. Lowell: American poet and critic, James Russell Lowell (1819-1891) served as Minister to England (1880-1885).
Mr. Aldrich: Thomas Bailey Aldrich. See Key to Correspondents.
Revolution: The American Revolution for independence from England (1776-1781).
Exeter: Jewett refers to Exeter, NH, where a number of her relatives resided.
Dr. Johnson and Shakespeare: British authors, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) and William Shakespeare (1564-1616).
Rose Kingsley: Eldest daughter of British author, Rev. Charles Kingsley (1819-1875), Rose Kingsley (1845-1925) also authored of books on travel, art and gardening.
Aunt Annie: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Hogarth: Georgina Hogarth, (1827-1917), "the sister-in-law, housekeeper, and adviser of English novelist Charles Dickens and the editor of two volumes of his collected letters after his death." Wikipedia.
Carlyle House: The home of Scottish historian and author, Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881).
Miss Raynes: Olive Raynes, operator of and teacher in the popular South Berwick private elementary school that Jewett attended.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University MS Am 1743.1 Box 4: 116, 3 letters to Theodore Jewett Eastman.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
[ Page 1; 144 in microfilm,
May be the opening page ]*
[ damaged page with at least two obscured lines of text at the
top. ]May be the opening page ]*
ship K. W. der Grosse* [ damaged text ]. April 18th P.M. found us at the pier in Plymouth [ town ? ]. The sky was grey and a cool sea wind was blowing but nothing could exceed the beauty of the scene. Mrs Anna Lea Merritt* came to the pier to meet Miss Travers* and ourselves; the first by appointment because they are going at once for a tour in Cornwall -- Mrs M. & I climbed the steep hill steps leading from the shore to the Grand Hotel, turning to watch the beautiful scene around us. I was rather out of breath after six days of rocking on the sea and scarcely [ standing ? ] otherwise; but [ it was ? ] a great refreshment.
Tuesday 19th
Pale gleams of yellow English sunshine lighted up the scene from our windows which overlook the great bay with Eddingstone Light* in the distance. We walked on the Hoe and saw Drake looking out to where the Spanish Armada* rounded the cape three hundred years ago, also we saw the beautiful monument in honor of the Victory by the English [ missing text ] monument saying no more of Drake
[ Page 2 ]
[ missing text ] God for the winds of heaven which blew to us the victory. E. R. is inscribed below and still below that the name of Victoria{.}* The whole air is full of spring today and primroses not only decorate every hedge and wayside slope but every house and garden and button-hole. To account for the latter we discover
[ Page 3 ]
and clear water. Finally we turned inland to Exeter where the express stopped for a few moments and where we saw the towers of the Cathedral; then on again, always with the great speed of the English express past the greenest of fields full of sheep and young lambs, past flowery spots and now & then with a [ garden ? ] getting ready for the market. It was the very perfection of spring beauty and we were never tired of looking; our eyes grew tired before the desire to see could pall.
It was scarcely dark when we reached London and found ourselves once more in a hansom rolling quickly to the hotel. (Bucklands, Brook St. Grosvenor Square) It is overwhelming in coming freshly to London, the sense of masses; of vastness; of the powerlessness of individuals yet the power and worship [ accorded corrected ] to those who have the strength to rise.
We were too tired to sleep! We tossed and fretted the livelong night; partly, on my part because I was disturbed to find that a very
[ Page 4 ]
suite of rooms, engaged for us by Mrs. [ missing text, unrecognized name ]. Of course we must remember that we are to be her guests in Paris and therefore can say nothing, but I much prefer a simpler mode of life and to be on my own basis. However, some things cannot be helped and if any misapprehension arises because of this I can explain to our friends if [ I ? ] cannot to others. This is one of the difficulties such as married women experience, who often find themselves in luxurious surroundings for which they do not care a penny, in [ comparison ? ] with the pleasure they could have in using a little extra money for some good end.
Wednesday morning -- April 20th
To the National Portrait Gallery* where we stayed absorbed in interest of those great portraits until we were ready to drop with fatigue! Though we felt ourselves to be highly self-denying in coming away at all! Thence to an a. b. c. shop* to recuperate, and where we saw young women waiters who never could sit down! It was a shocking sight and an evil to be ameliorated if possible. I want to see Lady Henry Somerset* to ask if something may not be done -- Thence to [ deleted words ] Westminster Abbey* where we passed a glorious hour --
[ Page 5 ]
There is nothing to approach that shrine for the reverence it excites and the stimulus it must give to every true nature.
Thence [ deleted words ] ^home^ back to the hotel -- tired enough -- no not yet -- we were left at Hatchards book shop Pall Mall* thinking to ramble home from there. Alas! we walked amused [ but corrected ] far too tired and at length took a cab for we had wandered out of the way -- For the rest of the day we "lay low."
Thursday 21st
To the National Gallery* -- and having learned a lesson yesterday -- straight home again -- lunched in the coffee rooms rested and after a very interesting visit from Rose Kingsley* who is just off for a vacation in France, took a hansom to Chelsea -- Not finding Georgina Hogarth* we walked on past Rossetti's and George Eliot's and Mr Grosse's to Carlyle's house. We found a sorrowful widow, but an excellent and [ unrecognized word ]
[ Page 6 ]
widow of her class in charge who most patiently showed us over, from attic to cellar, and out into the garden. We were alone with her and she told us what she had to say which was not too much. We felt nearer to these wonderful human creatures than ever. How simple yet how refined it all was. We gazed at the kitchen chimney corner where he sat with Tennyson to smoke, with deep reverence and I tried to find a stain on the uncarpeted dining-room ^floor^ under the spot where Browning* put the tea-kettle down on the new carpet.
Home just before seven and again too tired alas!
Friday 22d
Determined to do nothing this morning -- Helen Herford,* the eldest daughter of our old preacher made us a most interesting visit --
War, war with Spain* -- Alas! alas! The English papers are very comforting. The first result is good -- that is -- for greater good feeling between E. & A. than has existed for years. Indeed the harmony is [ missing text ], if sudden, very admirable.
Notes
opening page: The beginning of the diary is missing in the microfilm copy. It seems likely that there is at least one missing page, in addition to the torn off lines at the top of this page.
K. W. der Grosse: The steamship Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a German transatlantic liner that entered service in 1897, serving the route from Bremerhaven, Southhampton and New York.
Mrs Anna Lea Merritt ... Miss Travers: Wikipedia says: "Anna Massey Lea Merritt (1844–1930) was an American painter. She made portraits, landscapes and religious scenes.... Merritt worked as a professional artist for most of her adult life, 'living by her brush' before her brief marriage to Henry Merritt and after his death."
Susan B. Travers (d. 1904) of Newport, RI. The New York Times (December 8, 1904) p. 9, reports the death of Miss Susan Travers of Newport, RI on 7 December. According to the Times (December 11, 1904) p. 34, she was the daughter of William Riggin Travers (1819-1887). Her sister, Matilda (d. 1943), married the artist, Walter Gay. Though a biographical sketch is difficult to locate, Internet searches indicate that she was an art collector and a patron of the Boston Museum of Art, the New York Botanical Garden, and various philanthropic organizations. She assisted Sarah Porter (1813-1900) in founding the Farmington [ Connecticut ] Lodge Society to bring 'tired and overworked' girls from New York City to Farmington during their summer vacation." This would likely have interested Annie Fields in relation to her work with the Associated Charities of Boston. See "William B. Travers" in Wikipedia for more information about her family.
Eddystone Light: The Eddystone Lighthouse on the Hoe at Plymouth in Devon is now called Smeaton's Tower, after its designer. Wikipedia.
Drake ... the Spanish Armada ... monument: Wikipedia says that Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596) was a English "sea captain, privateer, slave trader, naval officer and explorer of the Elizabethan era." He was second in command when the English repelled the Spanish Armada in 1588. A monument to Drake in the form of a bronze statue was unveiled on Plymouth Hoe in 1884. The Armada Memorial on Plymouth Hoe was completed in 1888. A panel on the monument reads: "He blew with his winds and they were scattered." See also Wikipedia on this phrase.
Victoria: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom (1819-1901). E.R. -- Elizabeth Regina -- refers to Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603).
Primrose Day: Wikipedia says: "Primrose Day is the anniversary of the death of British statesman and prime minister Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, on 19 April 1881."
National Portrait Gallery: Wikipedia says: "The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people."
a. b. c. shop: The Aerated Bread Company ran a large chain of tea rooms in Great Britain in the late 19th Century, serving tea and baked goods. Wikipedia.
Somerset: Lady Henry Somerset (1851-1921) was a British philanthropist who focused on women's rights and temperance. Presumably Lady Somerset would be interested in reforming the situation of female waiters in tea-rooms both because of her concern with women's rights and with temperance, as tea-rooms offered alternatives to pubs. Wikipedia.
Hatchards book shop Pall Mall: Wikipedia says: "Hatchards is a branch of Waterstones, and claims to be the oldest bookshop in the United Kingdom, founded on Piccadilly in 1797 by John Hatchard. After one move, it has been at the same location on Piccadilly next to Fortnum and Mason since 1801."
National Gallery: Wikipedia says: " The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900."
Rose Kingsley: Eldest daughter of British author, Rev. Charles Kingsley (1819-1975), Rose Kingsley (1845-1925) was the author of books on travel, art and gardening.
Georgina Hogarth ... Rossetti's and George Eliot's and Mr Grosse's to Carlyle's house: At various times, all of these people were residents of Chelsea, an affluent area of South West London. Georgina Hogarth, (1827-1917), "the sister-in-law, housekeeper, and adviser of English novelist Charles Dickens and the editor of two volumes of his collected letters after his death."
Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (1828- 1882), poet and artist.
George Eliot, Mary Anne Evans, (1819-1880), author and journalist.
While Fields appears to have written "Grosse," this is not certain. It seems more likely she means Edmund Gosse (1849-1928), British poet, author and critic.
Scottish historian and author Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881). The identity of the widow living at his home in 1898 has not yet been discovered.
Tennyson ... Browning: Wikipedia says: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) "was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets."
Robert Browning (1812-1889), English poet and playwright.
Anne Thackeray Ritchie repeats the story of Browning placing a hot tea kettle on the Carlyle's new carpet in Records of Tennyson, Ruskin, Browning (1892) p. 157.
Helen Herford: Reverend Brooke Herford (1830-1903) was a British Unitarian minister and author, who immigrated to the United States, serving in Boston after 1881. In 1892, he returned to England to serve at the Rosslyn Hill Chapel in Hampstead. Helen Brooke Herford was the minister's eldest daughter and a founder of the national Unitarian Women‘s League in Britain (1908).
war with Spain: The Spanish American War commenced in April 1898, beginning with Congressional action on 20 April and the American declaration of war on 25 April. Wikipedia.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Georgina Halliburton
[ Top left ]
Care of Baring
Brothers, Bankers
London
[ Top right ]
Dearest Georgie
I have had you so much in mind all these days in following you home and living with you in these first sad weeks of change and loss.* But I am sure that the love of your friends will bring you great comfort -- one is rich in a sense of their unselfish thought and nearness -- alas if it should not be so! -- I long to hear from you. Mary* meant to stop on her way home if it seemed ^right or^ good -- or at any rate to go down
[ Page 2 ]
to see you within a very few days. I hope that "Auntie"* was soon to feel better -- oh you dont know how I have thought and thought about everything in those long days on shipboard.
One is always a child as long as she has her mother to go to -- but it seemed to me that I felt "grown up" and older for the first time, then.
I do so long to have you feel clear and free in your new conditions dear! It seems to me that with all the difficulty of adjustment, you are going to have a gift of new possibilities, and a certain kind of joy in standing on your own ground{.}
[ Page 3 ]
I dont know whether it will seem the best thing to "take Grandma's house"* as you said one day, but I find that my thoughts fly back all the time to your having spoken of it or rather to the thought that lay under it: of this very standing on your own ground and living your own* life. One must* do that [ as corrected ] one grows older, and make ones own decisions. One can have all the sweetness of being a kind of tributary to the lives one loves and can flow into those lives with all the stronger impulse. You will find your self taking a new attitude now, and with all the
[ Page 4 ]
loss & pain you will have some-[ thing corrected? ] that is new and sweet to you.
---- But I am writing just as I should talk if we were together and by the time my letter reaches you, it may be only tiresome and going over what has been already settled. It will show you at any rate how [ much corrected ] you are in my heart. Do* write me soon! --
We had a good voyage and a quick one but a voyage is a voyage after all, and I was glad when it was done. We are only staying for some days longer here, interesting and delightful as it is. We landed in Devonshire, in Plymouth -- and it was perfectly lovely to
[ Up the left margin and then down the top
margin of page 1 ]
see the English spring with all the primroses which I had never seen before.
Goodbye dear Georgie. I send you so much love
Sarah
with love from Mrs Fields*
Mrs Black* said such dear things of you when I went to say good bye. She
[ Up the left margin and then down the top
margin of page 2 ]
enjoyed the day you came to luncheon and said you were so* pretty and so pleasant and agreeable and that she had a beautiful time with you.
[ From left to right down the top margin
of page 3 ]
with much more praise than I can remember or write. She had had a real pleasure{.}
Notes
change and loss: Susan Halliburton Peters Haven, Georgina's mother, died in Portsmouth, NH on 9 April 1898. See Georgina Halliburton in Key to Correspondents.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
"Auntie": This person remains unidentified.
Grandma's house: Though this is uncertain, this seems likely to be the former residence of Mary Ann Halliburton in Portsmouth, NH, which she had inherited from her parents, Andrew Halliburton (1771-1846) and Elizabeth Underwood (d. after 1813). His second wife was Sarah Ann Manning (c. 1802-1877).
own: In the manuscript, Jewett has underlined this word three times.
must: In the manuscript, Jewett has underlined this word twice.
Do: In the manuscript, Jewett has underlined this word twice.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Black: Probably this is Mary E. Peters Black (1816-1902), with her son, a summer resident of Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts.
so: In the manuscript, Jewett has underlined this word twice.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (260).
Fields Diary
Saturday [ April ] 23d
Last night, Susan Travers arrived after a journey in Cornwall, with Mrs. Merritt.* She was looking in better condition for the fresh air. The weather was [ warmer ? ] in London but usually clouded and every day except one or two we had sunshine. We went to see Mrs. Allinghams pictures* and found her there. It was a pleasant meeting. We found Mrs. [ Ritchie ? ] had bought one of her pictures and Sarah bought one. It was a delightful morning --
Sunday --
Walked in the Park{.} Sarah was not very well and although we had planned to go to church we did not get there.
Monday 25 --
I did not write up this little record at the time unfortunately and I can no longer remember the [ sequence ? ] of our pleasant London doings. We saw Sargent* in his [ studio ? ] and took tea there with Dr. Cazalis (Jean Lahore) another French gentleman whom he was painting -- Saw his sketch of Duse* and heard him say his [ descriptions ? ] for the Library were [ just ready for the ? ] [ unrecognized word ]. We took tea with his mother and his sister Emily also [ in the ? ] pleasant apartment at 10 Carlyle building.
-- Saw Georgina Hogarth and Albert Parson [ missing text ] Mrs. Janvier* -- took tea and [ luncheon ? missing text ] afterward with Mrs. [ deleted word and missing text ]
Stratford Dugdale* where we met Mr George Russell, Mrs Henneker{,} daughter of Lord Houghton and Mr.H.
^[ deleted word ^ L. C [ unrecognized
inserted word, and possibly missing text ] formerly
engaged to Miss Ferguson who died last year. We just missed
Anne Thackeray who came with her son & daughter to see us.
We dined out with the Fisher [ Unwins' so punctuated ]*
who invited a good many well known persons to meet us and were
most hospitable but there was nobody there who made a very
deep impression{.} ^I went to the Private view of the Kent and
the New Gallery* by special favor{.}^*
Friday [ April ] 29th
We left at about 2:30 for Paris {--} arriving at the Hotel Bristol at Midnight --
Saturday 30th
This is a beautiful place to stay! Looking upon the lovely Place Vendome. We stayed until [ Monday ? ]* May 9th{.}
We saw Madame de Beaulaincourt [ né Castellane so spelled ], and Madame la Comtesse de Sinéty, Madame Foulon de Vaulx who played for us exquisitely Mozart & Chopin{,} Mlle Blaze de Bury -- all through our dear Thérèse* who came at once & every day to see that we had everything to enjoy{.}
Notes
Last night, Susan Travers arrived after a journey in Cornwall, with Mrs. Merritt.* She was looking in better condition for the fresh air. The weather was [ warmer ? ] in London but usually clouded and every day except one or two we had sunshine. We went to see Mrs. Allinghams pictures* and found her there. It was a pleasant meeting. We found Mrs. [ Ritchie ? ] had bought one of her pictures and Sarah bought one. It was a delightful morning --
Sunday --
Walked in the Park{.} Sarah was not very well and although we had planned to go to church we did not get there.
Monday 25 --
I did not write up this little record at the time unfortunately and I can no longer remember the [ sequence ? ] of our pleasant London doings. We saw Sargent* in his [ studio ? ] and took tea there with Dr. Cazalis (Jean Lahore) another French gentleman whom he was painting -- Saw his sketch of Duse* and heard him say his [ descriptions ? ] for the Library were [ just ready for the ? ] [ unrecognized word ]. We took tea with his mother and his sister Emily also [ in the ? ] pleasant apartment at 10 Carlyle building.
-- Saw Georgina Hogarth and Albert Parson [ missing text ] Mrs. Janvier* -- took tea and [ luncheon ? missing text ] afterward with Mrs. [ deleted word and missing text ]
[ Page ? probably 8
131 in microfilm ]
131 in microfilm ]
Stratford Dugdale* where we met Mr George Russell, Mrs Henneker{,} daughter of Lord Houghton and Mr.
Friday [ April ] 29th
We left at about 2:30 for Paris {--} arriving at the Hotel Bristol at Midnight --
Saturday 30th
This is a beautiful place to stay! Looking upon the lovely Place Vendome. We stayed until [ Monday ? ]* May 9th{.}
We saw Madame de Beaulaincourt [ né Castellane so spelled ], and Madame la Comtesse de Sinéty, Madame Foulon de Vaulx who played for us exquisitely Mozart & Chopin{,} Mlle Blaze de Bury -- all through our dear Thérèse* who came at once & every day to see that we had everything to enjoy{.}
Notes
Mrs. Allinghams pictures: This
transcription is uncertain, but seems likely. Wikipedia
says that Helen Paterson Allingham (1848-1926) was a British
watercolorist and illustrator.
Mrs. Ritchie: This transcription is uncertain. Fields and Jewett were acquainted with British novelist William M. Thackeray's daughter, Anne Isabella Thackeray, Lady Ritchie (1837-1919), also a novelist. She married Sir Richmond Thackeray Willoughby Ritchie (1854-1912). Their children were: Hester Helena Makepeace Ritchie (1878-1960) and William Thackeray Denis Ritchie (1880-1964).
Sargent: The American painter, John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), according to Wikipedia was the leading portrait painter of his generation. He eventually maintained a studio in London. His mother was Mary Newbold Singer (1826-1906). He had two surviving sisters, Emily (1857-1936) and Violet Sargent Ormond ( 1870-1955). According to Corsano and Willman, Mary and Emily Sargent took up residence in London in the 1890s, in a fourth-floor flat "looking over the Thames at 10 Carlyle Mansions" (John Singer Sargent and his Muse, 2014, p. 47). He had painted a portrait of Annie Adams Fields in 1890.
Dr. Cazalis (Jean Lahore): Presumably, Fields refers to Henri Cazalis (1840-1909), French physician and Symbolist poet, who wrote under the name, Jean Lahor. The portrait mentioned here has not yet been identified.
his sketch of Duse: Wikipedia says that Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) as an internationally famous Italian actress. Sargent completed her portrait in about 1893.
Albert Parson: Because the manuscript page is damaged, Parson's last name is clipped. It may be Parsons. In either case, he remains unidentified.
Mrs. Janvier: The American-born artist, author and translator, Catharine Ann Drinker Janvier (1841-1923)
Stratford Dugdale ... George Russell, Mrs. Henneker, daughter of Lord Houghton ... Miss Ferguson: In the absence of context, it is difficult to be sure how to interpret Stratford Dugdale. It is possible, Fields refers to Harriet Ella Portman (d. 1903), wife of William Stratford Dugdale (1800-1871), a British politician.
However, Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman of 20 June 1894 indicates that Fields was acquainted with Alice Frances Trevelyan (1843-1902), the wife of William Stratford Dugdale (1828-1882), son of the politician, who died heroically attempting to rescue miners after a British mine explosion. He was a beloved pupil of Benjamin Jowett at Oxford, who maintained a friendship with Mrs. Dugdale after her husband's death. See The Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett (1897).
Mr. George Russell also is difficult to identify. George W. E. Russell (1853-1919) was a British politician as well as a writer, whom they could have met at the home of Stratford Dugdale. But perhaps they ran into George William Russell (1867-1935), the Irish poet, or George Russell (1857-1951), the British horticulturalist.
Mrs. Henneker is Florence Ellen Hungerford Milnes Henniker (1855-1923) a British novelist, the daughter of the poet Richard Monckton Milnes (1809-1885), 1st Lord Houghton. She married a British army officer, Arthur Henry Henniker-Major (1855-1912).
The deceased Miss Ferguson and her betrothed are not yet identified.
Fisher Unwins: This transcription is uncertain, but it seems likely that Fields refers to Thomas Fisher Unwin (1848-1935) an English publisher who founded the publishing house T. Fisher Unwin in 1882. His wife was Jane Cobden. He was the British publisher of Jewett's The Story of the Normans (1887).
Kent ... New Gallery: The transcription of "Kent" is uncertain, and the item remains unidentified. Though this seems unlikely, perhaps Fields had been invited to an event at Kent House, the home of Louisa Caroline Baring, Lady Ashburton (1827-1903), a Scottish art collector and philanthropist. She and Harriet Hosmer became lovers in 1867, after the death of Ashburton's husband, a relationship that lasted until the 1890s. By 1898, they were living apart, Ashburton in London at Kent House, Hosmer in Massachusetts. Kent House, Knightsbridge eventually became a synagogue.
The New Gallery was a London art gallery from 1888 to 1910. A "private view" in the 19th century was an opening for a new exhibit, usually by invitation only and possibly with refreshments. Given the date, it is likely Fields attended the opening for the New Gallery's annual Summer Exhibition. The Art Journal of June 1898 indicates that this show included work by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, John Singer Sargent, Alfred East, and George Frederic Watts. Wikipedia.
favor: At about this point is an insertion in the right margin, most of which has been lost with the frayed paper. The words "We saw the" are visible.
Monday: May 9 fell on Monday in 1898. It is not clear what day Fields wrote.
Madame de Beaulaincourt ... Madame la Comtesse de Sinéty, Madame Foulon de Vault who played for us:
French Wikipedia says that Sophie de Castellane, Marquise de Contades, then Beaulaincourt, Countess Marles (1818-1904) was a writer and kept a salon. Her father was Esprit Victor Elisabeth Boniface de Castellane, Comte de Castellane (1788-1862), a French military officer and ultimately a Marshal of France. Madame Blanc included an account of the Marquise in an essay that Sarah Orne Jewett helped to translate, "Conversation in France," Century 48:4 (Aug 1894): 626-634.
Madame la Comtesse de Sinéty probably is Madame Alice Marie Léonie Ogier d´Ivry Comtesse de Sinéty (1837-1924), wife of Count Joseph Louis Marie de Sinéty (1837-1915).
Whether Fields spelled "Foulon de Vaulx" correctly is not clear. 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 born industrialist and historian. Alice became a translator, notably of work by Hamlin Garland.
Mlle Blaze de Bury: Anne Emilie Rose Yetta Blaze de Bury (c. 1840-1902) is the author of French Literature Today: A Study of the Principal Romancers and Essayists (Houghton Mifflin 1898). She was the daughter of Marie Pauline Rose (Stuart) Blaze de Bury (1813-1894 ). The senior Blaze de Bury was born in Scotland and moved to France at an early age. She became a writer of fiction and essays in French and in English, publishing sometimes under the name, Arthur Dudley. See also Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction p. 71 and Library of Congress.
Thérèse: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840- 1907), used the nom de plume "Th. Bentzon." Richard Cary says "In 1893 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." Wikipedia and Cary, "Miss Jewett and Madame Blanc" (1967).
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Mrs. Ritchie: This transcription is uncertain. Fields and Jewett were acquainted with British novelist William M. Thackeray's daughter, Anne Isabella Thackeray, Lady Ritchie (1837-1919), also a novelist. She married Sir Richmond Thackeray Willoughby Ritchie (1854-1912). Their children were: Hester Helena Makepeace Ritchie (1878-1960) and William Thackeray Denis Ritchie (1880-1964).
Sargent: The American painter, John Singer Sargent (1856-1925), according to Wikipedia was the leading portrait painter of his generation. He eventually maintained a studio in London. His mother was Mary Newbold Singer (1826-1906). He had two surviving sisters, Emily (1857-1936) and Violet Sargent Ormond ( 1870-1955). According to Corsano and Willman, Mary and Emily Sargent took up residence in London in the 1890s, in a fourth-floor flat "looking over the Thames at 10 Carlyle Mansions" (John Singer Sargent and his Muse, 2014, p. 47). He had painted a portrait of Annie Adams Fields in 1890.
Dr. Cazalis (Jean Lahore): Presumably, Fields refers to Henri Cazalis (1840-1909), French physician and Symbolist poet, who wrote under the name, Jean Lahor. The portrait mentioned here has not yet been identified.
his sketch of Duse: Wikipedia says that Eleonora Duse (1858-1924) as an internationally famous Italian actress. Sargent completed her portrait in about 1893.
Albert Parson: Because the manuscript page is damaged, Parson's last name is clipped. It may be Parsons. In either case, he remains unidentified.
Mrs. Janvier: The American-born artist, author and translator, Catharine Ann Drinker Janvier (1841-1923)
Stratford Dugdale ... George Russell, Mrs. Henneker, daughter of Lord Houghton ... Miss Ferguson: In the absence of context, it is difficult to be sure how to interpret Stratford Dugdale. It is possible, Fields refers to Harriet Ella Portman (d. 1903), wife of William Stratford Dugdale (1800-1871), a British politician.
However, Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman of 20 June 1894 indicates that Fields was acquainted with Alice Frances Trevelyan (1843-1902), the wife of William Stratford Dugdale (1828-1882), son of the politician, who died heroically attempting to rescue miners after a British mine explosion. He was a beloved pupil of Benjamin Jowett at Oxford, who maintained a friendship with Mrs. Dugdale after her husband's death. See The Life and Letters of Benjamin Jowett (1897).
Mr. George Russell also is difficult to identify. George W. E. Russell (1853-1919) was a British politician as well as a writer, whom they could have met at the home of Stratford Dugdale. But perhaps they ran into George William Russell (1867-1935), the Irish poet, or George Russell (1857-1951), the British horticulturalist.
Mrs. Henneker is Florence Ellen Hungerford Milnes Henniker (1855-1923) a British novelist, the daughter of the poet Richard Monckton Milnes (1809-1885), 1st Lord Houghton. She married a British army officer, Arthur Henry Henniker-Major (1855-1912).
The deceased Miss Ferguson and her betrothed are not yet identified.
Fisher Unwins: This transcription is uncertain, but it seems likely that Fields refers to Thomas Fisher Unwin (1848-1935) an English publisher who founded the publishing house T. Fisher Unwin in 1882. His wife was Jane Cobden. He was the British publisher of Jewett's The Story of the Normans (1887).
Kent ... New Gallery: The transcription of "Kent" is uncertain, and the item remains unidentified. Though this seems unlikely, perhaps Fields had been invited to an event at Kent House, the home of Louisa Caroline Baring, Lady Ashburton (1827-1903), a Scottish art collector and philanthropist. She and Harriet Hosmer became lovers in 1867, after the death of Ashburton's husband, a relationship that lasted until the 1890s. By 1898, they were living apart, Ashburton in London at Kent House, Hosmer in Massachusetts. Kent House, Knightsbridge eventually became a synagogue.
The New Gallery was a London art gallery from 1888 to 1910. A "private view" in the 19th century was an opening for a new exhibit, usually by invitation only and possibly with refreshments. Given the date, it is likely Fields attended the opening for the New Gallery's annual Summer Exhibition. The Art Journal of June 1898 indicates that this show included work by Sir Edward Burne-Jones, John Singer Sargent, Alfred East, and George Frederic Watts. Wikipedia.
favor: At about this point is an insertion in the right margin, most of which has been lost with the frayed paper. The words "We saw the" are visible.
Monday: May 9 fell on Monday in 1898. It is not clear what day Fields wrote.
Madame de Beaulaincourt ... Madame la Comtesse de Sinéty, Madame Foulon de Vault who played for us:
French Wikipedia says that Sophie de Castellane, Marquise de Contades, then Beaulaincourt, Countess Marles (1818-1904) was a writer and kept a salon. Her father was Esprit Victor Elisabeth Boniface de Castellane, Comte de Castellane (1788-1862), a French military officer and ultimately a Marshal of France. Madame Blanc included an account of the Marquise in an essay that Sarah Orne Jewett helped to translate, "Conversation in France," Century 48:4 (Aug 1894): 626-634.
Madame la Comtesse de Sinéty probably is Madame Alice Marie Léonie Ogier d´Ivry Comtesse de Sinéty (1837-1924), wife of Count Joseph Louis Marie de Sinéty (1837-1915).
Whether Fields spelled "Foulon de Vaulx" correctly is not clear. 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 born industrialist and historian. Alice became a translator, notably of work by Hamlin Garland.
Mlle Blaze de Bury: Anne Emilie Rose Yetta Blaze de Bury (c. 1840-1902) is the author of French Literature Today: A Study of the Principal Romancers and Essayists (Houghton Mifflin 1898). She was the daughter of Marie Pauline Rose (Stuart) Blaze de Bury (1813-1894 ). The senior Blaze de Bury was born in Scotland and moved to France at an early age. She became a writer of fiction and essays in French and in English, publishing sometimes under the name, Arthur Dudley. See also Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction p. 71 and Library of Congress.
Thérèse: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840- 1907), used the nom de plume "Th. Bentzon." Richard Cary says "In 1893 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." Wikipedia and Cary, "Miss Jewett and Madame Blanc" (1967).
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Henri-Raymond Casgrain to Sarah Orne Jewett
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
Paris, 26 April1898.
Miss S. O. Jewett. London.
Mademoiselle,
I don't want to delay in thanking you for your most friendly letter. How I regret that my departure from Paris coincides with your arrival, but too late for me to have the honor and pleasure of meeting you. Mme. Blanc* had assured me that you would remain in Paris during the last fortnight in April. When I
[ Page 2 ]
visited her at La Ferté-Sous-Jouarre 12 days ago, she told me you would be staying in England until the beginning of May. I hope you will still be in France when I return at the end of the summer. Then we will be able to converse at leisure about all the topics on our minds, and I would also have the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Mrs. Fields,* to whom I ask that you convey my deep respect.
What you say about Mrs. Coolidge* leads me to surmise that she is now in England.
[ Page 3 ]
Would you please thank her sincerely for thinking of me.
Please accept, Mademoiselle, this expression of my profound esteem.
HR Casgrain
Notes
Mme. Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Coolidge: Almost certainly Katherine Scollay Parkman Coolidge (1858-1900), 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, Casgrain, Henry Raymond, 1831-1904. 4 letters; 1897-1901. Identifier: (38). Transcription, translation and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College, with essential assistance from Jeannine Hammond, Professor of French, Emerita, at Coe College.
Transcription
Paris, le 26 Avril 1898.
Miss S. O. Jewett. Londres.
Mademoiselle,
Je ne veux pas tarder à vous
remercier de votre très amicale lettre.
Combien je regrette que mon départ
coïncide avec votre arrivée à
Paris, mais trop tard pourque
je puisse avoir l'honneur et
le plaisir de vous rencontrer.
Mme Blanc m'avait assuré il y
a quelques temps que vous seriez
à Paris durant la dernière
quinzaine d'Avril. Lorsque je
[ Page 2 ]
suis allé lui rendre visite à
La Ferté-Sous-Jouarre, il y a
une douzaine de jours, elle m'a
appris que vous seriez retenue en
Angleterre, jusqu'au commencement
de Mai. J'espère que vous serez
encore en France, quand j'y reviendrai
à la fin de l'été. Alors,
nous pourrons causer à loisir de tant
de choses qui nous restent à dire et
j'aurais aussi le plaisir de faire
connaissance avec Mme Fields, à
qui je vous prie de présenter mes
plus respectueux hommages.
Ce que vous me dites de Mme Coolidge
me fait supposer qu'elle est en ce
moment en Angleterre. Vous
[ Page 3 ]
voudrez bien, s'il vous plaît, la
remercier sincèrement de son bon
souvenir.
Veuillez agréer, Mademoiselle,
l'expression de mes sentiments les
plus respecteux.
Georgina Hogarth* to Sarah Orne Jewett
30h April 1898
Dearest Sarah --
So* many loving [ thanks ? ] for the most [ pretty ? ] [ unrecognized word ] Basket ! I will put it away now, and bring it out as a fresh [ unrecognized word ] -- and [ unrecognized word ] [ work ? ] basket, in the Drawing Room, of my new small house -- It was most kind of you to bring it to me! I shall hope to see you again before you go back to America -- You may be sure I will give the sweetest flowers I can
find for you both,* -- the dear [ stone ? ] is [ 9h June ? ]!*
I hope you will have a happy time on the continent --
Always yours affectionately
Georgina Hogarth
For dear Sarah
Notes
Hogarth: According to Wikipedia, Georgina Hogarth, (1827-1917), was "the sister-in-law, housekeeper, and adviser of English novelist Charles Dickens and the editor of two volumes of his collected letters after his death."
so: This word is underlined twice.
both: Jewett and Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
June: Probably Hogarth refers to the anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens, which falls on 9 June.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Hogarth, Georgina, d. 1917. 1 letter; 1898. (97).
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.
voudrez bien, s'il vous plaît, la
remercier sincèrement de son bon
souvenir.
Veuillez agréer, Mademoiselle,
l'expression de mes sentiments les
plus respecteux.
HR Casgrain --
Georgina Hogarth* to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ Begin Letterhead ]
55. Oakley Street,
Chelsea. S. W.
Chelsea. S. W.
[ End Letterhead ]
30h April 1898
Dearest Sarah --
So* many loving [ thanks ? ] for the most [ pretty ? ] [ unrecognized word ] Basket ! I will put it away now, and bring it out as a fresh [ unrecognized word ] -- and [ unrecognized word ] [ work ? ] basket, in the Drawing Room, of my new small house -- It was most kind of you to bring it to me! I shall hope to see you again before you go back to America -- You may be sure I will give the sweetest flowers I can
[ Page 2 ]
find for you both,* -- the dear [ stone ? ] is [ 9h June ? ]!*
I hope you will have a happy time on the continent --
Always yours affectionately
Georgina Hogarth
For dear Sarah
Notes
Hogarth: According to Wikipedia, Georgina Hogarth, (1827-1917), was "the sister-in-law, housekeeper, and adviser of English novelist Charles Dickens and the editor of two volumes of his collected letters after his death."
so: This word is underlined twice.
both: Jewett and Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
June: Probably Hogarth refers to the anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens, which falls on 9 June.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University: Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Hogarth, Georgina, d. 1917. 1 letter; 1898. (97).
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.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Georgina Halliburton
[ Letterhead, placed top left of the page, a
blue medallion with lions ]
Hotel Bristol
Paris
[ End Letterhead ]
Hotel Bristol
Paris
[ End Letterhead ]
[ To the right of the letterhead ] First of May 1898
Dearest Georgie
I must send you one word to tell you how much I have thought of you and what affectionate wishes I send you on your birthday.* And Auntie* is going to be with you this summer which comforts me in the uncertainty I felt when I was writing you last. I was just going to write "now you must drive up often to see Mary* and me!" quite
[ Page 2 ]
forgetting that I was in Paris instead of Berwick! It seems like a dream still that I should really be so far away from home. We had a very pleasant ten days in London seeing a great many friends and alas! missing others who have gone since we were here before. On Friday we crossed the Channel on a most peaceful afternoon and are here for another ten days. I look forward to a lovely long visit in the country with
[ Page 3 ]
my dear Madame Blanc whom I grow fonder and fonder of. I was thinking just now that we have known each other fifteen years but it always keeps something of the pleasure of a new friendship but all true friendships should do that shouldn't they? -- and do!
Mrs. Fields* has caught a French cold -- I having been laid up for two or three days with a great round London one, but I hope that she will be all right after keeping in bed today. I love the old Place Vendôme* where we are
[ Page 4 ]
with the great column and the flocks of cabs with their two shining eyes come out of the opposite street at dusk -- in fact Paris is always more enchanting to me and I see new beauties in the great streets with their high roofs and gay colours.
-- So we begin your new year together this Sunday morning dear. I am glad at any rate to know that your summer is going to be companioned ^and that you will be in the old house^. You and Aunty [ so spelled ] can be so much to each other I feel very sure. Give my love to Grace* when you see her. I suppose she will be soon going to the mountains now. -- You must think of me some times in the garden Georgie -- we have had
[ Up the left side of page 1 ]
so many happy hours there, haven't we?
Yours affectionately
Sarah
Notes
birthday: Halliburton's birthday is 1 May.
Auntie: This person remains unidentified.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents
Place Vendôme: Wikipedia says "Place Vendôme ... is a square in the 1st arrondissement of Paris, France, located to the north of the Tuileries Gardens and east of the Église de la Madeleine."
Grace: Grace Gordon Treadwell Walden. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (260).
Mary Augusta Ward to Sarah Orne Jewett
Grand Hotel
Locarno
Locarno
May 1, 1898
Dear Mifs Jewett
I am so very sorry that we shall just miss you and Mrs Fields* in London this time; but it is delightful to hear that you are coming back for the summer. Then you must really both come down to Stocks* and let us have a quiet sight of you. Will you let us know a little in advance when we may hope to see you in town again, that we may try and get some friends that you would like, to meet you & Mrs Fields
[ Page 2 ]
at Stocks -- just a [ unrecognized word -- Tring or tiny ? ] party when the lawns are shady, and the evenings are long!
We are in these parts, Dorothy* & I for about a fortnight longer. Alas! -- I am afraid there is no chance of our being in Paris. I am so tired after my year's work that we are now avoiding towns as much as possible & trying to get complete rest. Tomorrow we are going to my little place on Lucerne. -- But a letter to Grosvenor Place* will always find me.
[ Page 3 ]
The war* is very perturbing to nations, persons & books! Dorothy is afraid she will hardly see her Sally -- and my husband will have told you that "Helbeck"* is postponed. -- How much I should like to have a talk with you about it all!
May you have a very pleasant time in Paris -- and enjoy Cyrano de Bergerac* -- all but the death scene! -- as much as we did!
Ever dear Mifs Jewett, with love from Dorothy & myself, & kindest remembrances to Mrs Fields
Yours affectionately
Mary A. Ward
Mary A. Ward
Notes
Mrs Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Stocks: The Wards's country home was Stocks House in Aldbury, Hertfordshire. Old Stocks was the local manor house before Stocks House. Tring is a nearby market town.
Dorothy: Dorothy Ward, Mrs. Ward's daughter. "Her Sally" probably is Sarah Norton. See Key to Correspondents.
Grosvenor Place: The Wards's London address, 25 Grosvenor Place.
The war: The Spanish American War commenced in April 1898, beginning with Congressional action on 20 April and the American declaration of war on 25 April. It ended with the Treaty of Paris in December 1898, but hostilities ended in August. Wikipedia.
"Helbeck": Ward's novel, Helbeck of Bannisdale appeared in 1898.
Cyrano de Bergerac: This very popular play by Edmond Rostand opened in Paris on 28 December 1897. The verse drama ends with the pathetic death of Cyrano, the protagonist poet. Wikipedia.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the the Colby College Library, Special Collections, Sarah Orne Jewett Materials, JEWE.1, Subseries: Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary Augusta (Mrs Humphry) Ward. 1894-1898. 2 ALS. London, England. 7 p. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
May 2. 1898*
Helen's birthday*
gives the local color!
Darling your little ship letter came by [ unrecognized word ] yesterday: and though I am not breathing just now -- neither day nor night -- I'll just send a word of love in the midst of everything -- and you will understand & forgive. Since my return, after being with Owen & Molly* [ married ? ] and [ despatched or dispatched ] first for Butler Place
[ Page 2 ]
[ Page 3 ]
true feasts -- and [ for the ? ] rest [
we ? ] played together & thought of absent friends
and felt that all the oceans could not separate us quite. ----
and tonight it is two [ o - clk so spelled
] & I am reduced to dust: but I send this [ first or
just ] for love.
Mrs Crafts is [ "3o Avenue Heuri Chartres," so this appears ] and the Hotel at Bourges was called -- save the mark "Central Hotel"* in just plain English -- or
[ Page 4 ]
something just like that
And you are going there: ---- ah France . . .
You will Know what to tell A.F.* [ from ? ]
_SW_
I have not spoken of Jack's marriage* of which you will doubtless have heard. I had long known it would be: and I do not doubt it would [ Page 5 ]
have been longer delayed if Margaret Chanler had not decided to go to Cuba as a Red Cross nurse. And in a day it was decided to have it 'done quickly'.
If a thing can be, it matters little when: and one only catches one's breath, holds one's own ideals a little closer to one's naked heart and ------ wishes them all good.
But ah!
_SW_
Notes
1898: The envelope associated with this letter was cancelled first in Boston May ? 1898 and again several times on the reverse side, in London on 12 May, at Seine et Marne on 14 May, and at Vaucluse on 15 May. It was originally was addressed to Jewett "Care of [ Msser ? ] Baring Bros & Co, London, England." In this address, "London" has been deleted. This transcription is uncertain at several points, but almost certainly Jewett and Fields while traveling abroad used the Baring Brothers Bank of London to forward their mail.
The following notes appear on the front of the envelope in various hands.
This note is deleted, and "Avignon" is double underlined: "hotel de l'Europe Avignon."
This note also has been deleted: "c/o Mme Blanc Bentzon La Ferté Sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne, France."
A final note on the front appears bottom right, underlined in dark ink, but the transcription is uncertain: "au dos" (French: on the back).
On the back, in addition to the many cancellations, is a new address in the same hand as the French note on the front: "Hotel Leston, Saint-Remy de Provence, B. de th".
Helen's birthday: Helen Choate Bell was born on 2 May 1830. See Key to Correspondents.
Owen and Molly: Owen Wister and Molly (Mary) Channing were married on 21 April 1898. See Key to Correspondents.
Window: In 1898, Whitman likely was at work on the central panel of the Lowell Memorial Window at First Parish Unitarian Church in Brookline, MA, donated by John Lowell and Lucy Buckminster Lowell, "in memory of their three deceased children," completed in 1899.
W. Walkers or the Welders: This transcription is uncertain. If she has written "Walkers," the persons have not been identified. Welders may be working with her on the window.
Walter [ Gays ? ]: This transcription is uncertain. Perhaps the American painter, Walter Gay (1856-1937) and his wife, Matilda Travers, though based in Paris, were visiting Boston in the spring of 1898.
the Festival & the Class Tea-Party: Probably Whitman refers to the Bible class she taught at Trinity Church in Boston. Church festivals typically were fund-raising events for special causes.
Mr. Franklin: This attendee of the soggy tea party has not been identified. Whitman may refer to the father of one of her correspondents, Elizabeth Franklin, who was a member of the Bible class Whitman taught at Trinity Church in Boston. In a letter of 14 June 1890, Whitman writes to Miss Franklin about her father's health.
Mrs Crafts ... Central Hotel: Mrs. Crafts may be their mutual acquaintance Clemence Haggerty (1841-1912), wife of James Mason Crafts (1839-1917), an American chemist, who taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Whether she was in France during 1898 has not been established.
Le Central Hôtel remains a major hotel in Bourges, France.
Jack's marriage: Jack is the American author, John Jay Chapman (1862-1933). Trained at Harvard Law School, he practiced law in New York City while achieving distinction as an essayist. He was for a few years editor of the journal, The Political Nursery (1897-1901). Whitman came to know him when he married her protégée, Minna Elisa Timmins (1861 - 25 January 1897) in 1889. Timmins was the adopted child of Martin Brimmer (1829-1926), first director of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Chapman and Timmins had three children.
More than a year after his first wife's death, Chapman married Elizabeth Astor Winthrop Chanler (1866-1937) in April 1898. Sources disagree about the dates of Timmins's death and Chapman's remarriage, but this letter seems to confirm that "Find a Grave" is correct, while Wikipedia is not (as consulted on 2 April 2019).
Elizabeth Chanler's sister was Margaret Livingston Chanler Aldrich (1870-1963), who, before she married, served as a Red Cross nurse in the Spanish-American War.
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 Theodore Jewett Eastman
[ Letterhead with stamped decoration ]
Hotel Bristol
Paris
[ End letterhead ]
6 May 1898
Dear Mr. Stubbs*
I was much pleased at
getting your nice letter from home, and deeply gratified by
the usefulness of S. Fanny.* What kind of a war-horse do you
think she would make with proper training? I was watching an
officer come into the Place here yesterday and evidently take
dispatches or something to the war office which is at one side
and he was riding such a hard little trotter &
doing his best to sit close and keep erect at the same moment.
It is very picturesque to meet the little troops of soldiers
in these deep streets. I quite long to have you see Paris --
it never looked as beautiful with its high roofs and green
trees and all sorts of interesting things going on. Day
[ Page 2 ]
before yesterday Aunt Annie* had gone to see Mrs. Greene, Bertram's grandmother, and Mifs Travers* and I did an errand and then she took me where I had never been -- to the old cemetery of Picpus* away at the other end -- the old end -- of Paris an hour's drive through the quaintest & [ least corrected ] changed streets{.} It is a very old convent of white nuns (les Dames Blanches) and not far from the Bastille region or the guillotine of 1793 { -- } over 1300 people were thrown together into the fosse -- Lavoisier -- the great chemist and André Chénier -- the poet and all the lords & ladies who lost their heads! This is walled off [ as ? ] quiet green garden with a few trees -- just beyond the famous old cemetery where Lafayette & his family sleep under great stones and all the great French families of the Montmorencys and their kind lie in solemn rows -- it
[ Page 3 ]
is a little [ place corrected ] but very high company [ indeed corrected ]!! and there are long rows of lindens cropped & trimmed so that they meet over head & make a pretty light as you go along the long alleys (allées) {.} We went into the convent chapel -- it is all as quaint and turreted and stone walled as can be -- like the bent little grandmother of some places you saw in Quebec -- The white ladies were saying & singing their vespers in a pretty flock together, and one very old one got out her snuff box and took a great pinch and shut it with a click.
-- I wished for you very much the night I went to see Coquelin in Cyrano de Bergerac* -- It is a delightful play & I dare say it will be running when you arrive -- for it is so pleasing to the French and to foreigners alike. Of the time of Lois XV (I think) with charming costumes &
[ Page 4 ]
Cyrano loves a lady but has so* long a nose (very neatly made in wax that matches well) that he has no hope of winning her fair hand, especially as she confides to him at a solemn rendezvous in a cake shop that she loves another, a beautiful young Baron. She begs for Cyrano's friendly assistance & it is granted most unselfishly. Then the Baron is very dull of speech, though so beautiful, and Cyrano goes & makes love for him under a balcony in the moonlight -- telling the Baron ^who is [ blindly ? ] accepted, just^ what to say! There is a call to war & the Baron & Cyrano go, the latter writing love letters twice a day. The Baron is killed, & ^much^ mourned by the lady. Last Act 15 years after: Scene in a convent garden ^with nuns &c.^ the lady discovers the whole. Cyrano dies and she says, "I have loved but one man & have lost him twice!" In the mean time you have grown so attached to faithful old Cyrano & his nose begins to seem just beautiful -- and you have had the most
[ Page 5, with the Hotel Bristol
letterhead ]
picturesque scenery of old Paris & the cake shop with Gascon soldiers & the baker of cakes who writes poetry & the camp [ where corrected ] the sentinels are most effective, and they are all [ staring ? ] & the Lady comes in a ^green^ coach & brings a beautiful dejeuner to those she loves !!! -- you would love it as much as I. It is the season's great play. & -- the old theater is crammed every night.
---- I cant * think for a moment that everything will not be settled at home so that you & aunt Mary* will come. I feel more & more sure, but the great sea fight* we are all looking for has not come off yet, though [ Manilla so spelled ] seems to have been settled so promptly. I do miss you so much while all these great things are happening -- we should have such talking! Indeed I feel very sorry to have been away through it all
[ Page 6 ]
for many reasons, but it is also very good to be here and to miss certain worries and [ deleted word ] frets. You seem to see the great things rather than the little ones and there has certainly been a smaller side to this war . . .
All Paris is sweet with lilacs -- the air was full of them when I opened a window last night, and the great gardens by the Tuileries are so fresh with the historic orange-trees all out in their great square tubs and the [ laburnums corrected ] bright yellow and every kid employing himself with a game of marbles & tops -- I am always wishing that you & aunt Mary were here.
I am not half done writing but I must skip this off to catch the Saturday mail
with best love
S.O.J.
S.O.J.
Notes
Stubbs: Nickname of Theodore Jewett Eastman.
S. Fanny: This transcription is uncertain. Presumably this is a Jewett family horse.
Aunt Annie: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Greene ... Bertram ... Travers: For Susan B. Travers, see Key to Correspondents.
Bertram William Batchelder Greene (1878-1909) was a friend of Theodore Eastman. He completed a degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1902. Bertram's grandmother probably was Anna Blake Shaw Greene.
old cemetery of Picpus: A private Paris cemetery dedicated to the 1,306 victims of the Reign of Terror in the French Revolution that were executed between 14 June and 27 July 1794. Only these victims and their descendants may be buried in this cemetery.
Among the more famous people buried there are:
Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743- 8 May 1794), French chemist.The French military officer Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (1757-1834), though not executed in the French Revolution, also is buried with his wife in this cemetery.
André Chénier (1762–1794), French poet, guillotined on 25 July 1794.
The House of Montmorency was "one of the oldest and most distinguished noble families in France."
so: Jewett has underlined this word 3 times.
Coquelin in Cyrano de Bergerac: Cyrano de Bergerac (1897) is a verse play by French dramatist and poet Edmond Eugène Alexis Rostand (1868-1918). It begins during the reign of King Louis XIII (1610-1743). Wikipedia says: "On 27 December 1897, the curtain rose at the Théâtre de la Porte Saint-Martin, and the audience was pleasantly surprised. A full hour after the curtain fell, the audience was still applauding. The original Cyrano was Constant Coquelin, who played it over 410 times at said theatre and later toured North America in the role." Benoît-Constant Coquelin (1841-1909) was a renowned French actor.
cant: Jewett has underline this word twice.
aunt Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
sea fight: The Spanish-American War began in late April of 1898 and lasted for about 10 weeks.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University MS Am 1743.1 Box 4: 116, 3 letters to Theodore Jewett Eastman.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sara Norton
St. Rémy en Provence, 16 May, 1898.
I send you a leaf that you will know from this most lovely
place, and whereas I last spoke of primroses (I am sorry to
think how long ago!), I can now speak of the golden lilies of
France, which grow wild along these roadsides, and scarlet
poppies and young vine leaves and old mulberry-trees, that look
rueful as if they thought it very hard to put out nice leaves
every year with the other trees, only to have them picked for
silkworms.* Provence is in full flower and leaf otherwise. We
have seen a good bit of it, with several days at Avignon, and
some good drives across country. I wish that I could have had
you with me one long day, when Miss Travers and I went on
pilgrimage to Grignan, where Madame de Sévigné spent her last
days with her daughter, and died at last, and was buried.* It
took us eleven hours to make the not very long journey from
Avignon and back again (a rainy morning forcing us to give up a
drive and wait for a branch train instead), and we had only half
an hour to see the ruined château and exquisite old French
gardens; but it was one of the most delightful things I had ever
done. The château rises high out of lovely green plain like a
very small Orvieto,* and a solemn little old tiled village
clusters under it, with a tiny market-place where Madame de
Sévigné sits in her best clothes and her best manner, so gay, so
Parisian, so French, so enchanting and so perfectly incongruous!
You feel as if it had not been kind to make her permanent in
bronze, -- that some of the crumbly limestone of the village
would have been a kinder material by far, except that it is,
after all, the crumbling old village that must some day go, and
she forever stay. Her little garden, under a bit of high wall,
with the fig-tree she writes about, are still there as if she
had left them yesterday. The pastures were all covered with
thyme, in bloom just now, and the air was blowing down from the
snow mountains which shut the valley in; and after the wind and
rain of the morning, the sun had come out and cleared a blue sky
like Italy. One thinks of Italy always here. I have left myself
no time or room on this crumply sheet of paper to tell you of a
most enchanting farandole* which we saw yesterday, in a
village near by, where all the dancers of different parishes had
come together. There was never anything more exquisite than the
whole thing, the open arena with the afternoon light through the
trees and all the country people so gay, so delighted. The
costumes and the grace of the whole thing; the Provençal
dance-tune would have delighted you.
Notes
silkworms: According to A treatise on the Mulberry
tree and Silkworm: and on the Production and Manufacture of
Silk (1839) by John Clarke, mulberry trees and
silk worms were brought to France in the 15th century and
well-established in Provence during the 16th century (70-4).
Miss Travers: Susan B. Travers. See Key to Correspondents.
Grignan ... Madame de Sévigné: Grignan is in
southeastern France, between Marseille and Lyon.
Jewett refers to Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné
(1626-1696). Her correspondence with her daughter, more than
1500 letters, was published between 1725 and 1734.
Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné
Bronze statue in Grignan
Courtesy of Region Rhône-Alpes
Orvieto: A town in central Italy.
farandole: a Provençal dance in which men and women hold hands and form a line, following a leader through a serpentine course.This letter appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), Transcribed by Annie Adams Fields, with notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Journal
Provence
May was cold and rainy in Paris and we determined to strike for sunshine and the south as soon as possible. Therefore we found ourselves one delicious evening drawing near to Avignon{.} The mountains rose around us, the fields blossomed with flowers, the Rhone rushed with an impetuosity seldom seen except in the early spring or late autumn. It was evening and very [ dark corrected ], and cold still, when we came rattling into the gates of the city, making the only noise there was in the sleeping town; but what with the cracking of the driver's whip, the [ heavy corrected ] feet of the horses and the rumbling of clumsy wheels our noise seemed quite sufficient to waken the whole place. The streets were narrow and unlighted save by occasional lamps each of which almost disappeared in turn before another came insight and our huge vehicle seemed as if it were going to be a tight fit between side and side of stone buildings which recalled the dim half ruined palaces of Florence and of Rome. Finally with additional clatter [ deleted word ] we turned into the paved courtyard of our hotel which was itself formerly the house of a cardinal.
Here with the fatigue which overtakes the traveller we went to bed to dream of Popes and prisons and awoke in sunshine to hear the nightingales.
* * *
[ Page 2 ]
[ Page 2 ]
When we arose we leaned out of the old casement window and saw the laurel trees below and listened to the drip-drip of the old fountain which had been greening the same old stones and
My attention was at length attracted to a small book-shop with Roumanille* in
[ Page 3 ]
that moment know that there were hundreds of families in Provence bearing that name. I only remembered happily that Roumanille was a living spirit of Avignon [ several deleted words ] publisher and poet [ several deleted words ] not now living in the body but one of the earliest to form that national society of the Félibres [ so spelled ] ^for^ the [ preservation ? ] ^of^ the language of Provence and to prove the continued [ deleted words ] ^and [ characteristic ? ]^ existence of the Provençal people. I stepped into the shop
As I walked away I found Avignon no longer a city of the past. Here [ deleted words ] Aubanel and Roumanille had revived or given voice once more to the life of the people. Aubanel with his lovely songs to whom Mistral wrote on his wedding day;
"Envolez-vous là-haut vers les étoiles"*
and Roumanille whose ^poems and^ stories of the people [ have corrected ] embalmed [ deleted word -- life or light? ] ^their nature and^ manners [ deleted word ] in a [ deleted word ] ^way^ which Daudet{,} their still more famous compatriot did not fail to study, to admire, and to reproduce.
Here decidedly was life
[ Page 4 ]*
translation of a second story of which "Reds of the Midi" was but the first of a trilogy and that he was sure to increase the sense of [ two deleted words ] life in Avignon if we should by chance fall in with him.
It was no chance but the pleasant deliberation of hospitality which as we sat in Madame Roumanille's little parlor the following day caused
[ Begin a deletion of several lines ]
It was a pleasure to him to know that his story was liked
[ End of long deletion ]
We left Avignon with the feeling that living hearts and purposes were astir there: the old things of the past were but the background, the picturesque surface upon which the real development and progress of the people were grafted, making them richer instead of poorer for the old stem. Nor did we go to a station and coolly turn our back upon the place, but we [ drove corrected ] away as if ^we had deceived ourselves with thinking^ we might return in a night or two and had only [ deleted word ] gone to St. Rémy* for
[ Page 5 ]
One is able to feel oneself in the heart of Provence in driving across the plain from Avignon to St. Rémy. The fields are crossed by fences of
[ deleted word,
followed by an unrecognized inserted word
and another unrecognized word
and then begins a long deletion. ]
followed by an unrecognized inserted word
and another unrecognized word
and then begins a long deletion. ]
[ acres ? ] of ground in every direction enhanced the beauty beyond words. It was such [ unrecognized words a scene ? ] which surrounded us.
[ End of long deletion ]
The Cevennes mountains girding the horizon
^plain^ on one side and the Alpilles on the other as we
advanced ^toward St. Rémy^. To those who care
nothing for Provence as the land of the finders or
"Trouvéres": of the sun and ^of^ beauty and
song; as the country of ^all^ the [ deleted insertion ]
world ^the most renowned for^ real beauty of
character, as well as beauty of force
strength and health, names and descriptions
signify little; but as ^for those who care
for^ the land where ^as^ Mistral says in his "Lion d'Arles",
(the mountain overlooking St. Rémy shaped like a lion) it
is
that
speaks [ Fields draws a line around the right
side of the quotation from Mistral and inserts the
continuation of this sentence. ] there is still a spirit
peculiar to itself; for such persons [ = seeming to intend
a colon ] Provence possesses the same power as poetry
itself. The mountain speaks:
"Maintenant, écoute:
La Provence
Pour défense
N'a plus d'ongles. comme moi ....
Et, sans cesse, pourtant, elle pense
À Sauter Sur l'échelon.
---------------------------------------
"Par la ruse ou l négoce
Que s'élève qui voudra;
Par les armes et [ les ? ] tumulte
Que triomphe qui pourra;
Toi, Provence, trouvé et chante!
Et Marquante
Par la lyre ou le ciseau.
Répands-leur tout ce qui charme.
The Cevennes mountains gird
"Maintenant, écoute:
La Provence
Pour défense
N'a plus d'ongles. comme moi ....
Et, sans cesse, pourtant, elle pense
À Sauter Sur l'échelon.
---------------------------------------
"Par la ruse ou l négoce
Que s'élève qui voudra;
Par les armes et [ les ? ] tumulte
Que triomphe qui pourra;
Toi, Provence, trouvé et chante!
Et Marquante
Par la lyre ou le ciseau.
Répands-leur tout ce qui charme.
[ Page 6 ]
Et qui monte dans le ciel."
This is the key-note of the Provence of today. [ Deleted word ] ^Her^ people and [ deleted word ] ^her^ singers still uphold worthily and steadily its character and its beauty. Of the tomorrow of Provence we may not prophecy; today she is still [ deleted words ] peculiar to herself. St. Rémy is [ deleted insertion of perhaps three words ] more nearly the center of the true life of the people as it was of old, than Avignon. It is a little mountain
In the [ sunset corrected ] we walked up the mountain-side past small houses and farms on either side of the way. The fields were shining with ripening grain bordered with poppies, the
[ Page 7 ]
a great mind will sometimes review in stillness the foolish gayety of the young. There, century after century they have [ made the ? ] rugged mountain sides repeat the story of power and splendor which once dwelt among them -- This was the kind of song the Roman people
Sunday at St. Rémy was kept in the church going fashion in the morning. The women from the neighboring farms wore a gay kerchief over a black corsage* and a gay petticoat. On their heads they wore chiefly a ^small^ white lace cap [ three deleted words ] with a ribbon folded round which hung at [ one corrected ] side{,} a very becoming dress attributed chiefly to the Arlesiennes* [ the rest of this sentence is inserted in the right margin ] but used much by the peasant women of the countryside. We heard that the "farandole" was to be danced at Château Renard,* ^near^ the ruins of a mediaeval castle which [ crowned one corrected ] of the spurs of the Alpilles several miles away{.} "La Farandole" is not ^now^ an affair of every day occurrence ^and by no means to be lost^. The afternoon was like a day in early June in New England and the roads as we drove over them beautiful as well as interesting avenues leading to a ^most^ novel scene{.} There were not many persons going from a distance ^to see the dance^ and there were no foreigners save our small group. As we approached the village of Château Renard ^however^ the excitement began. Everybody was getting ready for the occasion. We were greatly disappointed to hear that only men were to dance and as we came out to the other side of the town and entered an avenue of plane trees and heard that the dancers were [ several deleted words and a deleted insertion ] in the cafés our idea of the matter sank lower still{.}
[ Page 8 ]
[ Fields places an asterisk here. She has inserted: "see page
[ Page 8 1/2 ]
The seven
[ Page 8 continued ]
^[ two unrecognized words ]^ When the first group ended it withdrew
[ Page 9 ]
district where Frederic Mistral* lives. They were somewhat imperfect in their dancing but the child was so engaging that they also ended with the applause of the people. The child wore little buskins on his feet not unlike an indian [ not capitalized ] moccasin with straps which would untie. When he saw his strings hanging with utter unconsciousness of
As we returned through the villages we sometimes saw dancing going on in the public
Notes
Roncesvalles: This Spanish village near the French border is perhaps most famous in history and legend for the death of Roland in 778 at the battle of Roncevaux Pass. Roland, a Frankish military leader under the Holy Roman Emperor Charlemagne, became a figure of legend, notably in Chanson de Roland, an 11th-century epic poem.
Mistral: Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) was "a French writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature." Wikipedia.
Fields quotes from "L'Hymne Au Soleil" in Mistral's Lis Isclo D'or: Recuei de Pouesio Diverso (1875). The original shifts between Provençal and a French translation. Fields's quotation includes a part that seems not to be in the original, making it difficult to determine her source. Jeannine Hammond of Coe College notes that there are several variant versions of this poem in print.
The passages Fields quotes appear as follows in The Isle of Gold:
Fais briller ta blonde lampe! -- Chasse l'ombre et les fléaux --- Vite! vite! vite! -- Montretoi, beau soleil!Grand soleil de la Provence, -- gai compère
du mistral, -- toi qui taris la Durance -- comme
un flot de vin de Crau,
The following passage does not appear in the original in French:
fais-tois voir, beau soleil, Leu! Leu!Instead, it appears as part of a refrain in Provençal:
fais-toi voir, beau soleil!"
Fai Lusi toun blound calèu!Translation by Arthur Symons in "Frederic Mistral,"
Coucho l'oumbro emai li flèu!
Lèu! Lèu! Lèu!
Fai te vèire, bèu soulèu!
The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science and Art 43 (March 1886) p. 310
Mighty sun of our Provence,Hammond provides a more literal translation and notes:
Gay the Mistral's boonfellow
Thou that drainest the Durance
Like a draft of wine of Crau,
Light thy shining lamp on high,
Let the shade and sorrow fly
Soon, soon, soon,
Rise, fair sun, into the sky!
Beautiful Provençal sun, gay comrade of the Mistral,In this stanza, the Mistral is the cold, dry northerly winter/spring wind that blows down the Rhone valley, with sustained speeds often greater than 40 miles / hour and gusting as high as 115 mph. The strong wind may sometimes continue for more than two days. The Durance is a major river flowing from the Alps through Provence to the Mediterranean. The Crau is a commune in southern Provence, at the confluence of the two chief rivers, the Durance and the Rhone.
You dry up the Durance, as if it were an out-flowing of Crau wine.
Make your blond flame shine!
Show yourself, beautiful sun!
Quick! Quick! Show yourself, beautiful sun!
King Francis: Presumably, Fields refers to King Francis I of France (1494-1547), who invaded the Papal territory at Avignon in 1536.
Roumanille: Joseph Roumanille (1818 -1891) was a French Provençal poet.
Wikipedia says that he, along with Mistral, the poet Théodore Aubanel (1729-1886) and others, undertook the challenge of making his Provençal language respectable as a literary medium, in part by forming the Félibrige, a literary and cultural association "to defend and promote the Provençal language (also called the Occitan language or langue d’oc) and literature."
He married Rose-Anaïs Gras (1841-1920), sister of Provençal poet and novelist Félix Gras (1844-1901). Their daughter was Thérèse, who married the author, Jules Boissière (1863-1897).
Wikipedia says that Félix Gras achieved popular success in 1896 with the novel Li Rouge dou Miejour, which was translated into French as Les Rouges du Midi (English Title, translated by Catharine A. Janvier: The Reds of the Midi). The American-born artist, author and translator, Catharine Ann Drinker Janvier (1841-1923) also translated Gras's The Terror (1898) and The White Terror (1899).
les étoiles: This line appears in the French translation of Mistral's "Les Noces D'Aubanel" ("The Wedding of Aubanel"), which opens: Dans les bras d l'autre envolez vous, -- Envolez-vous là-haut vers les étoiles; (In each other's arms, fly away. Fly up there toward the stars.) See Lis Isclo D'or: Recuei de Pouesio Diverso (1875), p. 451. English translation by Jeannine Hammond, Coe College.
Daudet: Wikipedia says Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) "was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée Daudet, and writers Léon Daudet and Lucien Daudet." Wikipedia takes note of Daudet's connections with the literature and culture of Provence and of his conservatism and anti-Semitism.
Page 4: The microfilm copy of the journal is interrupted at this point. Following in that copy are unnumbered and numbered pages, not in chronological order that represent Fields working over her description of a visit at the home of Frédéric Mistral (1830- 1914). I have deviated from the order of the pages in the microfilm copy, to continue the journal in chronological order. Fields's work with the Mistral visit appears below, where it belongs in the chronology.
St. Rémy: This is a very common village name in France. Fields refers to Saint-Rémy-de-Provence.
"Lion d'Arles": Mistral's "Le Lion D'Arles" appears in volume 2 of his collected works (1899), pp. 315-22. Fields seems, somewhat confusingly, to introduce her quotation twice. The French translation from which Fields quotes reads:
" ... Maintenant, écoute: la Provence, -- pour défense, -- n'a plus d'ongles, comme moi ... -- et sans cesse, pourtant, elle pense --à sauter sur l'échelon.Fields's choices of line breaks do not match either the original Provençal or the translation in this edition. Likewise, the changes in capitalization and punctuation seem to be hers.
"Par la ruse ou le négoce, -- que s'élève qui voudra; -- par les armes et le tumulte, -- que triomphe qui pourra: -- toi, Provence, trouve et chante! -- et, marquante -- par la lyre ou le ciseau, -- répands-leur tout ce qui charme -- et qui monte dans le ciel!"
Jeannine Hammond, Coe College explains that in this poem, the narrator asks the old lion of Arles about the future of the people of Provence. The ancient lion has observed the history of Provence through the Roman occupation and to the present, but, now tired and worn, has petrified into a statue. Like Provence, he no longer has real claws, no military power. But the lion assures the narrator that the destiny of Provence is to attain glory not through unwinnable war, but through the cultural glory of its art.
Hammond offers this English translation of the passage Fields quotes:
"... Now, listen: Provence for defense, like me, no longer has claws; however she constantly thinks about jumping into the fray.les Antiquités: Fields refers to the antiquities at Glanum, the ruins of a fortified Roman town in Provence, and to the Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct across the Gardon River. She compares them to the Colosseum, the great amphitheater in Rome. Nîmes also was, historically, a Roman city and contains a number of significant ruins.
By deception or negotiation, which elevates whoever desires
– by arms and conflict -- which brings triumph for the capable.
You, Provence, create and sing! And, celebrating, with the lyre or the chisel, radiate all that charms, and that rises into the heavens!"
corsage: Presumably, Fields is using the French word meaning bodice.
Arlesiennes: This transcription is uncertain. Presumably, Fields refers to residents of the town of Arles in Provence, rather than to the type of fictional character: Arlésienne.
Château Renard: The farandole is a Provençal traditional, community folk dance, usually accompanied by flute and drum. Châteaurenard is a French village about 12 km north of St. Remy-de-Provence. Over the village stands the Châteaurenard Castle.
music of "La Farandole": Fields places the asterisk at this point. At the bottom of the page is another asterisk followed by this note: For the notes of this music see p. 55 of Play in Province by J. and E. Pennell. Fields seems clearly to have written "Province," though she intends "Provence." All of this material seems to have been inserted at a later date than the original entry. Play in Provence (1892) by Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Pennell consists of written and visual sketches, and p. 55 presents the tune of the farandole.
district ... Mistral: Mistral resided in the village of Maillane (Malhana in Occitan). Fields does not seem to have written either of these words in naming the district.
joke: Fields revised this sentence by circling and indicating a phrase should be moved. The original was: it was a kind of joke appreciated ....
cochers: drivers.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Louisa Dresel
St. Rémy de Provence
May 16, [ 1898 ]
Dear Loulie:
I got your nice letter a day or two ago in Avignon1 and I had been thinking of you just then and wishing that I knew where you were and had not for the moment forgotten and mislaid your banker's address. It is so long that your own letter has been following me that I don't dare to write to Venice now. I am so glad that things had gone so well on the whole, certainly they went well when they brought Miss Brockhaus to join you!* I find that Switzerland and Venice itself are much harder to stay away from than I expected, especially as we have had very cold, rainy weather most of the time since we came South. Mrs. Fields has been croaking just as if it were in January at home -- in fact her throat has been so troublesome and she has had a way of looking so pale that I have about made up my mind to take her under my arm and go to Aix-les-Bains for a little while. The waters there did her so much good once before in just such a hoarseness.
We had a lovely ten days in London and it was very pleasant in Paris except for the dark weather and her illness. I was so glad to see Madame Blanc* as you may suppose. We go to her the first week in June for a few weeks and during that time she promises to go down into Touraine with us which will be delightful. I should like to have her know Nelly Prince2 and to have Nelly know Madame Blanc.
Didn't Dr. Robert Collyer3 come with you on the Aller? He was going to sail on the 16th and I fancied you and Miss Clark4 having a delightful time with him. Perhaps the war prevented his starting,* or perhaps you forgot about our knowing him so well, as you wrote. I hope that you will have the best of summers, dear Loulie. Do write again and let us know. We are both so glad to hear from you. La Ferté sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne is Mme. Blanc's address. Nearer than London!
Yours most affectionately,
S. O. J.
We saw a beautiful farandol yesterday.* I wish you had been with us! The Provencal music was enchanting.
I am sorry to be so hard up for writing materials but you will
forgive them.5
Cary's Notes
1This was the third trip to Europe that Jewett
took with Fields. In England they visited Henry James, Rudyard
Kipling, Mrs. Humphry Ward, and Edward Garnett. Jewett's sister
Mary and nephew Theodore joined her in France in July.
2Helen Choate Prince, (1857-1943), granddaughter of Rufus Choate, and wife of Charles Albert Prince the Boston lawyer, spent summers at the Higginson cottage in West Manchester. After 1893 she removed to Paris, publishing The Story of Christine Rochefort (1895) and three other novels.
3Robert Collyer (1823-1912), English-born Unitarian clergyman of New York City, wrote extensively on theological subjects, as well as verse, and biographies of Hawthorne, Whittier, Thoreau, Lamb, and Burns. He had a long correspondence with Jewett, and came annually for a stay with Annie Fields at Gambrel Cottage in Manchester.
4Despite the dissimilarity in spelling, this is evidently the same person Jewett referred to an earlier letter, March 4, 1891.
5This letter is not on the sturdy stationery
ordinarily used by Jewett but on two thin, translucent sheets
over which she has written vertically in the left margin of the
first page and on the reverse of the second page, making for
some difficulty of perusal.
Editor's Notes
Brockhaus: Marianne Theresia Brockhaus. See Key
to
Correspondents.
Aix-les-Bains: This town in southeastern France was
known mainly for its thermal baths at the end of the nineteenth
century.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
Miss Clark: Probably Natalie Lord Rice Clark. See Key
to
Correspondents.
the war: The Spanish-American War lasted about 10
weeks: April 25, 1898 - August 13, 1898. Wikipedia.
farandol: Wikipedia says "The farandole is an open-chain community dance popular in Provence, France."
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.Fields Journal
A Visit with Frédéric Mistral*
Another fair cool day, A Visit with Frédéric Mistral*
The first considerable house we reached was the home of the poet. A pretty garden
* * *
[ Page 8 ]
The dining-room was still more Provençal if possible than the rooms we had visited. The walls were white which with the closed green blinds must give a pleasant [ light corrected followed by several deleted words ] ^ [ when the day is ? ]
These details are all pretty enough but they proved how sincerely Mistral and his wife love their surroundings and endeavor to ennoble them and make the most of them. After sitting at table and sharing their hospitality we went out again into the garden where Madame [ text breaks off ]
In a more personal vein, the address to Lamartine by Mistral expresses better his mood of the afternoon when we stood together looking at the bust and recalling each our personal remembrance of the man.
[ Page 9 ]
[ Begin long deletion ]
We were sitting in our little room at St. Rémy with the writing-table in the window looking [ deleted word ] on the mountain, radiant in the spring cloud and sunlight, when a note was handed me from Frederic Mistral inviting us [ deleted word ] to drive to his home at Maillane in the afternoon. The day was fair and cool fresh the
[ End of long deletion ]
^A perfect time and^ perfect weather in which to see the country of Provence. [ One and a half lines deleted ] Fields of great white poppies and other flowers planted for seed in this district ^made the way beautiful on either hand^. [ Several deleted words ] Olive trees with rows of black cypresses and old tiled-roofed farm houses, and the mountains always on the horizon filled the landscape. The first considerable house we reached was the home of the poet. [ Several deleted words ]
A pretty garden which attracted our attention with a rose eglantine called La Reine Joanne, and other charming things hanging over the wall ^made us suspicious of the poet's vicinity^. Turning the corner of this garden and driving up a short road we found the courtyard and door on the inner side as it were. We heard a barking dog. Take care, said the driver, there is a dangerous dog inside; [ deleted word ] ^therefore^ we waited until Mistral himself came to meet us from the garden. When we told him what the man had said, he was much amused. There was an
[ Page 10 ]
"and the reason is because I happened to be in the neighborhood of Paris once just after Buffalo Bill had passed on [ deleted word ] ^toward^ Calais with his troup [ so spelled ]. I saw a little dog, unlike
[ Page 11 ]
garden. Unhappily, they have no children. Evidently they are exceedingly happy together and naturally do not miss what they have never had. She opened the [ drawing-room corrected ] for us, which is [ deleted word ] the room of state. It is full of interesting things connected with Provence and their own life but perfectly simple, in accord with the country-like fashion of their existence. There is a noble bas-relief of the head of Mistral by Amy{,} the drum or "tambour" of the Félibre,* or for the Farandole,* and without overloading, plenty of good things; photographs, one or two pictures, not many, for the house is not that of a rich man, plaster casts, and one or two busts, perhaps the presents of artists, illustrations of "Mirèio,"* and things associated with their individual lives or the life of Provence. Presently Mistral gave me his arm and we went across the hall. [ Deleted sentence ] Standing ^in^ the place of honor opposite the [ deleted word ] front door and in the large [ corner ? ] made by the staircase, is a fine copy of the bust of Lamartine,* crowned with a^n^ [ deleted word ] olive wreath. We paused a moment here while Mistral spoke of
[ Page 12 ]
Mistral
We cannot forget [ two deleted words ] those two picturesque beings
[ Page 13 ]*
The afternoon was fading when we left Maillane and the roses and "Nerto"* with which our hands were filled have long ago perished, but there are moments which do not fade out of the memory and the hours at Maillane are among them.
It is not given to all travellers to deceive themselves into thinking that shops, however amusing, antiquities
It was
It is but a poor
Notes
Mistral: Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) was "a French writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature." For another description of Mistral's home, see Old Provence (1905) by Theodore Andrea Cook, pp. 122-4.
Fields worked over in her diary the account of the visit to Mistral, apparently thinking that she might turn it into a publishable sketch. Here, I have put together several pieces from her journal to form a straightforward narrative of the visit. Still, there is some repetition of material.
Beel: Buffalo Bill, William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846-1917), was an American scout, bison hunter, and showman. His "Wild West" show at the 1889 Paris Exposition rivaled the new Eiffel Tower in popularity.
Amy: An image of this relief of Mistral by the French sculptor Jean Barnabé Amy (1839-1907) appears in the Wikipedia article on Mistral.
the drum or "tambour" of the Félibre, or for the Farandole: Probably this is an instrument from the 1895 Felebrigian festival, which included a program of music and dance. However, this is not certain, but an extrapolation from Fields's suggestion that there was a special reason for preserving this particular drum.
The farandole is a Provençal traditional, community folk dance, usually accompanied by flute and drum.
illustrations of "Mirèio": Wikipedia says Mirèio (1859) is Mistral's most important work. This "long poem in Provençal consisting of twelve songs, tells of the thwarted love of Vincent and Mireille, two young Provençal people of different social backgrounds."
bust of Lamartine: Wikipedia says that Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, (1790-1869), "was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic." Mistral dedicated Mirèio to Lamartine.
Mistral's copy of a bust of Lamartine has not been identified. The more likely possibilities are:
Jean-Louis Brian (1805 – 1864), 1843 in marbleNone of these, however, includes an olive wreath. Perhaps, if Mistral owned a copy of one of these, he had placed the wreath upon it himself.
François Jouffroy (1806 – 1882), 1843 in marble
Samuel Adam-Salomon (1818-1881), 1854 in marble.
For Mistral's "Elegy upon the death of Lamartine," see Lis Isclo D'or: Recuei de Pouesio Diverso (1875), pp. 385-9.
Nerto: Mistral's verse narrative, "Nerto," (English, Myrtle) appeared in 1884 and was dedicated to Madame Mistral. Perhaps because Fields was unfamiliar with it as yet, she seems not to grasp Madame Mistral's interest in the book. Harriet Waters Preston had published an extended discussion of the work, translating large sections in "Mistral's Nerto," Atlantic Monthly 54 (November 1884), pp. 595-610.
friendly home: In the microfilm manuscript, the next page returns to and continues the journal's account of the visit with Madame Roumanille in Avignon.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Theodore Jewett Eastman (fragment)
Nimes - 19 May [ 1898 ]*
Dear Theodore
[ Ants so spelled ] have just been to a Bull-fight! and I wished much for you and send you a few handbills of the next one to [ distribute corrected ] among chosen friends. . When we were in Avignon somebody told us that occasionally the Spanish bull fighters came over the border and that all the world flocked to see and the first thing my eye fell upon when I got out of the train here yesterday & was waiting for the omnibus to start for the hotel -- was a large poster speaking of a great affair this day to celebrate the great church festival of Ascension Day! It seemed a very unbefitting ceremony, but quite characteristic of this part of the world. And
[ Page 2 ]
moreover what particularly interested me was this: the Grande Course was to be held in the old Roman [ amphitheatre corrected and so spelled ] here, which is much [ like corrected ] the Colosseum at Rome -- only smaller, and it has been used for such outdoor shows ever since Roman times. All this part of the south of France was full of rich Roman colonies as I dare say you know far better than I, and even in the little Provençal town of St Rémy where we have just been there was a really exquisite Roman monument and triumphal arch -- This morning we went out to see the famous Pont du Gard which is a huge slender Roman [ acqueduct so spelled ] -- three stories of arches -- crossing a valley, and here in Nimes are most elaborate Roman baths and
[ Page 3 ]
the famous Maison Carée like a Greek temple which is one of the most lovely things I ever [ saw corrected, probably from say ] --
Well! we were a little late and the six matadors had made their entrance and were engaged with a lively black bull who gave them plenty of work with hopping over the high fence and clipping across the arena to get out of his way. The matadors were perfectly splendid looking fellows{ -- } one of them was a head taller than the others and quite princely in his behavior but he saved himself a little more than the rest. They were all dressed in red or blue or green of different shades with solid embroidery of gold & silver that glittered well in the sun and their picturesque black hats! [ We corrected possibly from I ] saw five of the
[ Page 4 ]
six bulls and then it began to get chilly as it does here when the sun gets low ---- but all the afternoon it was [ really corrected ] a most brilliant sight -- the gay colors of the womens dresses against the old gray stone work and the crowd of faces and the edge of old crumbling [ deleted word ] masonry up against the blue sky. And little boys would sneak down to the first class front seats next the arena and be spied presently by a terrible old person with a long whip and sent back to their proper ten-cent places with awfully convicting remarks and there would be great yells of joy when one of the bulls took to his heels in an emergency with the picadors and leaped clean over the barriers -- There was no
[ End of the manuscript ]
Notes
1898: As the content indicates, Jewett wrote this letter during her 1898 trip to Europe with Annie Adams Fields.
In this letter, Jewett often renders "and" in a shortened form, looking like an "a" with a long tail.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University MS Am 1743.1 Box 4: 116, 3 letters to Theodore Jewett Eastman.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman
Nimes. 20 May [ 1898 ]
Dearest S. W. I have been thinking letters to you and not writing them, -- you will have to take my word for it, there being no other sign! We have been loitering through this lovely country of Provence with its young vines and old olive trees and we have lived in Avignon and at St. [ Remy so spelled ] and spent an afternoon with M. Mistral* who lives in a great house behind fields of grain and grass and poppies and rows of mulberry trees and grey olives line his own Mireio. And as you drive along the road to go and see him golden lilies of
[ Page 2 ]
France grow in the brooks and beyond the hedgerows [ there corrected
] are acres of big white poppies, a crop of white nuns, one
might say they looked like, all standing in pious rows in the
sun. But of all the things I have seen, I wished for you
yesterday the most; I was walking along a shady road by the
riverside, above the Pont du Gard,* (that masterful old Roman [
ruin corrected ] which you must know better than I did
before I came). It was a very shady road, and the only
travellers besides A. F.* and me were nightingales, singing most
cheerful and rustling in the branches overhead. And
[ Page 3 ]
now just let me tell you something: the underbrush was box,
growing in great bushes, and the air was about as sweet as it
could be with that dry strange, sweet, old scent that tries to
make you try to remember things long before you were born. And
we went walking on and presently we came to great gates and
still walked on with innocent hearts and a love of pleasure and
we crossed a moat full of flowers and green bushes, and the
other side of the old bridge beyond two slender marble columns
with exquisite capitals was another gateway and a courtyard and
an old chateau asleep in the sun. All the great windows
[ Page 4 ]
and the hall door at the top of the steps were open and round
the three sides and up to the top of the tower green vines had
grown with room enough to keep themselves separate, and one of
them near by was full of bees and you could hear no other sound.
It was La Belle au Bois Dormante:* you just kept as still as you
could and looked a little while and came away again. And the
stone of the chateau was reddish, and the green was green and
the sunshine was of that afternoon softness that made the whole
sight of the old house flicker and smile back at you as if you
were trying hard to look at something in a
[ Page 5 ]
dream. It was in a lovely corner of the world far out from any
town -- as we drove back to the -- world! we came over
high pasture lands, where [ wild corrected ] thyme was
growing, (own cousin to the box in the woods) and we could look
off at little high brown [ cities corrected from city ]
on the hills with one campanile, as if they had been [ cities corrected
from city ] in Italy.
----- And one day, from Avignon I went to the old Chateau de
Grignan, where Madame de Sévigné* used to come to stay with her
daughter and where she died at last and was buried. The chateau
was ruined in the Revolution,* but
[ Page 6 ]
there is the dear lady's little garden as if she had gone to
heaven and left it only last year. Her fig-tree that she writes
about sometimes looks very flourishing, and all her wallflowers
are tumbling over the battlements like a brook. I shall have a
great deal to tell you some day about Chateau de Grignan!
Wild thyme grows in that country too; it is a very, very
out of the way corner of the world, and we were all day getting
there and getting home again to Avignon. And besides all this we
have seen Arles and seen Tarascon and [ other corrected
]
[ Page 7 ]
towns of Provence, and we saw a farandole* a-dancing on a
happy Sunday afternoon.
Now we are going to Aix-les-Bains because dear A.F. is still
so hoarse, and once it did her a great deal of good there, and
for me, I shall like to see Aix again and to rest a while, and
Susy* will take a look at things and then go back to Paris.
Soon after the first of June we shall
follow on, and begin our visit to Madame Blanc* which seems
something like going home.
I am beginning to feel better than when I
came away, and things are getting on well and so far
[ Page 8 ]
for a rainy month of May indeed, we had considerable pleasant weather! And all this French sight-seeing is full of delight -- as you know, and I cannot forget. Good-bye, darling! I think of you pretty
often and I was as glad to get your letter in Avignon as
(most as glad!) as if you had come walking in yourself.
Tell me about the great window, for indeed I try very hard to
see it as it goes up into place.*
Yours most truly
S. O. J.
Notes
M. Mistral: Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914), a Provençal
poet, author of Mireio (1859), leader of a movement to
revive Provençal language.
Pont du Gard: Wikipedia says: "The Pont du Gard
is an ancient Roman aqueduct that crosses the Gardon River in
southern France. Located near the town of Vers-Pont-du-Gard, the
bridge is part of the Nîmes aqueduct, a 50-kilometer system
built in the first century AD to carry water from a spring at
Uzès to the Roman colony of Nemausus (Nîmes)."
A. F.: Annie Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
La Belle au Bois dormante: "The Sleeping Beauty," French
title of the famous fairy tale. (Source: Carla Zecher)
Madame de Sévigné: Grignan is in southeastern France,
between Marseille and Lyon.
Jewett refers to Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné
(1626-1696). Her correspondence with her daughter, more than
1500 letters, was published between 1725 and 1734.
the Revolution: The French Revolution of 1789.
farandole: a Provençal dance in which participants hold
hands and form a line, following a leader through a serpentine
course.
Susy: Susan B. Travers. See Key to Correspondents.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc . See Key to Correspondents.
the great window: In 1898, Whitman likely was at work on the central panel of the Lowell Memorial Window at First Parish Unitarian in Brookline, MA, "donated by Judge John Lowell and Lucy Buckminster Lowell in memory of their three deceased children," completed in 1899.The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge. MA: Whitman, Sarah (Wyman) 1842-1904, recipient. 25 letters; 1892-[ 1900 ] & [ n.d. ]. Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 (126). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Annie Fields included part of this letter in Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911). Her transcription follows.
Dearest S. W., -- I have been thinking letters to you and not writing them, -- you will have to take my word for it, there being no other sign. We have been loitering through this lovely country of Provence, with its young vines and its old olive trees, and we have lived in Avignon and at St. Rémy and spent an afternoon with M. Mistral, who lives in a great house behind fields of grain and grass and poppies and rows of mulberry-trees and grey olives line his own Mireio. And as you drive along the road to go and see him, golden lilies of France grow in the brooks, and beyond the hedgerows there are acres of big white poppies, -- a crop of white nuns, one might say they looked like, all standing in pious rows in the sun. But of all the things I have seen, I wished for you the most to see those of yesterday. I was walking along a shady road by the riverside, above the Pont du Gard (that masterful old Roman ruin, which you must know better than I did before I came). It was a very shady road, and the only travellers besides A. F. and me were nightingales, singing most cheerful and rustling in the branches overhead. And now just let me tell you something: the underbrush was box, growing in great bushes, and the air was about as sweet as it could be with that dry, strange, sweet, old scent that tries to make you remember things long before you were born. And we went walking on, and presently we came to great gates, and still walked on with innocent hearts and a love of pleasure, and we crossed a moat full of flowers and green bushes, and the other side of the old bridge, beyond two slender marble columns with exquisite capitals, was another gateway and a courtyard and an old château asleep in the sun. All the great windows and the hall door at the top of the steps were open, and round the three sides and up to the top of the tower green vines had grown, with room enough to keep themselves separate, and one of them near by was full of bees, and you could hear no other sound. It was La Belle au Bois dormante. You just kept as still as you could and looked a little while, and came away again. And the stone of the château was reddish, and the green was green and the sunshine was of that afternoon softness that made the whole sight of the old house flicker and smile back at you as if you were trying hard to look at something in a dream. It was in a lovely corner of the world, far out from any town. As we drove back to the -- world, we came over high pasture lands, where wild thyme was growing (own cousin to the box in the woods), and we could look off at little high brown cities on the hills with one campanile, as if they had been cities in Italy. And one day, from Avignon, I went to the old Château de Grignan, where Madame de Sévigné used to come to stay with her daughter, and where she died at last and was buried. The château was ruined in the Revolution, but there is the dear lady's little garden, as if she had gone to heaven and left it only last year. Her fig-tree, that she writes about sometimes, looks very flourishing, and all her wallflowers are tumbling over the battlements like a brook. I shall have a great deal to tell you some day about Château de Grignan. Wild thyme grows in that country too. It is a very, very out-of-the-way corner of the world, and we were all day getting there and getting home again to Avignon. And, besides all this, we have seen Arles and seen Tarascon and other towns of Provence, and we saw a farandole a-dancing on a happy Sunday afternoon.
I am beginning to feel better than when I came away, and things are getting on well, and so far, for a rainy month of May indeed, we had considerable pleasant weather. And all this French sight-seeing is full of delight, as you know, and I cannot forget.
Good-bye, darling! I think of you pretty often, and I was as glad to get your letter in Avignon (most as glad) as if you had come walking in yourself. Tell me about the great window, for indeed I try very hard to see it as it goes up into place.Fields Diary
Southern France
A few days later we found ourselves en route for Arles and waiting to change cars at Tarascon.* Wherever one is obliged to go by trainto in Province
which no traveller should do if { he }can help himself, he
seems to be obliged to wait [ deleted word ] at
Tarascon and the waits are by no means brief. We can fancy
that Daudet* in some such idle hour found Tarascon. It is
a quaint town enough but after a few one
visit of an hour or two its sight-seeing properties are
exhausted. To be sure there is the old city of Beaucaire
also at the end of the bridge with the ^ancient^ tower of
the Montmorency crowning its height{,} but beautiful as
this view is, its external interest is even more quickly
exhausted than that of Tarascon. Have we not La Tarrasque
to be seen in the [ latter corrected ]? After
viewing a most ancient cathedral porch and dark remains of
antique life and passing a nun as ^with
a face^ comely as a dream, after observing the
preternatural self-esteem and consciousness of which fashion
was simple follies [ Tarascon ? ] was
^the somewhat^ cruelly ironic ^presentiment^, we were
asked in a tentative manner ^by our "cocher"^ giving us to
understand that he was a rare exception [ in written
over another word ? ] wisdom and knew "La
Tarrasque' to be but a dream of Don Quixote,* [ deleted
words ] if we should like to visit it. There was
still a long hour to be sp ^at our^
disposition before the train for Arles should appear,
therefore we gladly assented. He The
monster has a house all to himself{,} the monster
a huge ridiculous thing with red jaws and stuffed skin
doubtless built up partly with a memory of Victor Hugo's
sea-devil and partly to amuse their famous countryman
Daudet whose satire they did not after all take too
seriously*
Who should we find at the
station but ^In spite of the Tarrasque and the
wonders of Tarascon we time was still to
spare when we returned to the station to find there^ our
poet Mistral* once more. He was
are the people true to Mistral, Mistral true to them. He could not, even when he sang the tragic love of his Provençal maid, suppress the light laugh, which, là-bas, goes with every sentiment the most tender, (*the most passionate. The spirit of his country -- âme de Provence, -- which he invokes, is joyous and proud and gay, and is heard in the noise of the Rhône and its wild wind. Every Frenchman wants all the pleasure the world can give. But the Provençal takes it with that gladness he inherits from remote Greek ancestors whose beauty survives in the Arlésienne and the Martigau."
The broad highway of Arles on the day of our visit was bristling and bustling with life and with colour. Sheep, vegetables, stuffs{,} every variety of goods were hospitably offered. It was the day of the grand spring fair! Booths lined the waycrowded with
things to see ^of the^ in endless varieties
while we walked or drove between them listening and
observing. The weather was perfect. and
The idea of even fancying one could
^can^ see Arles ^at all^ in rainy weather is not to be
tolerated. It is impossible. Let the wise traveller retire
himself to the museum at Nimes, or to his good hotel and
his books at Avignon, but let him not think to see Arles
until the sun shines and the women put on their costumes
and the old cloisters of their beautiful St.* are streaked
with light.
AThe fair was
^is^ the great point of attraction on a "fair" day and we
wandered slowly down its length until we suddenly found
all the chatter and gayety behind us. [ deleted word
] [ Rows corrected ] of ancient ^[ plane ?
]^ trees lined the way ^growing more
ancient as we descended{,} made a dark shade on either
side^ and huge stone tombs with silent [ gaping mouths ?
] succeeded ^to the [ opening of the vaults? ].
Some of these sarcophagi were covered ^with the antique [
stones or stories ]^ and [ the ? ]
"wonderful* preservation, but the larger number ^were^
left ^empty and open with^ their tale untold. This is the
Alyscamp* or Roman "burial place. Further
Finally the sad procession ends in an antique church,
partly Roman, partly medieval, with ^mostly modern^
inscriptions relating to almost every period in the
world's history. Nothing is very well preserved in Arles,
I was glad to find! The old ground really looks old and is
not smeared ^all^ over with [ modern corrected ]
plaster, nor filled with restored tombs. They are left
with the aspect of decay with which time has crowned them.
It is probably owing to this power of letting things alone in a measure that the Roman theatre and the arena at Arles* are so much more interesting than the remains at Nîmes. In the theatre where two [ deleted word ] columns [ deleted word ] stand{,} between whichperhaps ^it would seem^
the actors spoke their part, their figures thus framed in
a setting worthy of the noblest poetic conception, one can
seem to reconstruct the world whole and
people it with living faces listening to the great words
of Sophocles or Eschylus.* There was no danger of dancing
dogs on alternate da nights which
subjected Goethe to a feeling of degradation where his
"Tasso" was put upon the stage!* One could almost hear the
poet's verse declaimed and see the stately figures move.
Those two superb columns, the semi-circle of stone seats,
the sky of summer above all give the scene as if it were
yesterday. There are few remains of Rome which speak to us
so vividly as the theatre at Arles. The arena is not far
behind. The seats of the Caesars are there unbroken. The
dungeons are unchanged; "here were the Christians, there
were the beasts." It is indeed a place to visit and to
remember always.
The distance from Arles to Nîmes is not great in these days of railroads and Nîmes is a large and beautiful city. It has lost much of the quaintness of the past but happily it contains the Roman "Maison Carrée"* which will continue to attract many a traveller who may know little and care not at all for the songs
and story of the Trouvères{,}
[ Begin long deletion ] who knows and cares little [ for corrected ] the songs of the Trouvères. [ End long deletion ] The arenatoo
as I have said is well preserved and is still used for an
occasional bull-fight. The people however begin to revolt
against ^be ashamed of^ the savagery of the
ancient [ contests possibly written over conflict
] and content themselves with milder sights -- A [ deleted
word,
possibly
corrida ] ^bull fight^ was advertised to our great
satisfaction for one sunny afternoon where "no one was to
be killed" as our informant assured us. It was too great
an opportunity to lose and we found ourselves sitting ^in^
the Roman seats with a large ^restless^ audience filling
the great circular space and ^sometimes
crowding into the seats and sometimes^ wandering about in
the intervals up high against the sky just as they
people must have filled those seats and stood or wandered
^outlined^ against the blue sky
centuries ago when Christians confined in the now empty
dungeons were "butchered to make a Roman holiday{.}"* [ Begin
long deletion ] In the arena at Arles the seats of
the Caesars are still to be seen. At Nîmes [ End long
deletion ] Common seats have been put in,covering
the broken surfaces of the past
centuries ^and wooden gates and fences give a sordid
aspect in detail but the grandeur of the whole cannot be
lost while the great stones remain.^ Presently at the
sound of the music the low gates flew
open and a bull came ^in [ pawing ?
]^ head down into the arena. From the opposite side
Matadors and Picadores, young athletes
very Spanish in appearance [ ran corrected ]
forward to challenge him to combat. We held our breaths.
The first man waved a cloak before the bull who ran at it
furiously and not hitting the man rushed for him but he [
dextrously so spelled ] evaded the horns &
vaulted over the high fence ^which surrounded the
enclosure^ {--} meanwhile another teased
the bull with a second [ cloak corrected ]. Some
of them ^men^ escaped with difficulty,
but
in the end [ deleted words ] owing to their great agility and alertness no one was injured. Six bulls in succession were brought into the arena and each one was grappled with successfully; thepicadores
Spaniards managing to stick their bristling rods upon
^in the^ creatures sides before they were suffered
^allowed^ to depart. The [ men corrected ] showed
astonishing agility ^activity and
strength^ but it was evidently not at all the ^same^
exciting affair that as [ deleted
word ] the branding of the bulls because
in the Camargue country, ^nor was it whetted^ [ deleted
words ] ^with^ the horrors of a genuine Spanish
bull fight ^where horses are mangled and men sometimes
injured.^
Sometimes it appears that.
The memory of a day at the Pont du Gard* was
^[ deleted words ] seems^ only a delicious dream,
one of those glimpses of a world seen in sleep which we
never forget and yet can never know in waking hours. It
was like a June day again in New England. "When clouds are
highest in the air"* and the sun is warm. When every
flower that one has ever known is either just ready to
bloom or is already in perfection; nothing is over ripe;
nothing is tired, when a river wears the colors of the
peacock's neck and rocks are dark and the [ may ?
] is white. How majestic the arches rose, three deep above
the stream; high they seemed as the sky itself and strong
as if they were the rocks of ages and not the
[ deleted words ] placed one upon another by the
hand of man. We felt like children, like ants, like one of
the vast army of builders who once swarmed ^[ swarmed inserted
above the original to clarify difficult handwriting
]^ here and builded and then vanished forever. Forty miles
away other arches of this great [ deleted word ]
^aqueduct^ have been found and for
^discovered.^ Forty miles ^away^ the people drank the
water brought from clear springs and were refreshed. It
was inconceivable. We wandered about the place and
gathered the most perishable and exquisite of white roses
that faded in an hour in memory of the spot. We wandered down the river bank; we saw the water glimmering in sunlight below us on the one side while the nightingales sang in a [ thick ? ] laurel hedge on the other; we strayed on in this dream of the past until we found ourselves at the open courtyard gate of a château sleeping in the Sunshine. It was a mediaeval tower, with immemorial ivy but the door of the salon was half open andI
am sure ^we felt [ deleted word ]^ the
Sleeping Beauty* was within. We did not waken her; we only
stood in our dream watching the birds and the butterflies
as they rose from the green tangle into the blue sky and
then we turned to [ retrace ? ] our steps. A
friendly old dog came out to companion us until at the
sound of a whistle he returned again; then all was as
before. Presently the vast arches dawned upon us again,
again we watched the dissolving river and distant towers
appear beneath them, again they all sank as we turned the
[ spur ? corrected ] of the hill and we found
ourselves wondering if it were all true indeed this vision
of the Pont du Gard.
From Nîmes again the journey is not long to Aigues-Mortes* -- that city of dead waters utterly unchanged since the day of itsbirth and building
under ^creation by^ Louis the Eleventh; nor is
it [ for ? ] a point of distance from there to
Saintes-Marie to Les Martigues and La Camargue; but far be
it from any pen to write of these places which Mistral has
[ made corrected ] alive again. [ several
deleted words ] Frederic Mistral is the first living
poet of Provence. [ And written over another word ] [ altogether corrected ] the most vivid pictures of the land and its people can be found by the readers of his books. [ An insertion mark appears here, but there is no insertion ] It was at the church of Saintes-Marie{s} whither holy pilgrims still go in crowds that Mirèio found her death{.} And it was through the wild country[ found or bound
] by the mouth of
the ^ of the [ deleted words ] Rhone
that he describes her flight.* Hawthorne has embalmed the
old early New England forever in his Scarlet
Letter; Cooper [ deleted words ] ^[ unrecognized
words,
one
or more deleted ] life and^ struggles with the
Indians; Irving and Miss [ Mitford? ] the days of
old England; Lamartine in his Raphael the romantic land of
Savoy at Aix les Bains, and Mistral not least has [
pertuated meaning perpetuated ] the country he
loves so well in his spontaneous and enduring poetry.
[ After a blank space on this page are Fields's asterisk and this note. ]
There is a sacred legend of this country which need not pass as a fable or a dream. Why may it not be true? "The Jews did themselves exactly and without wishing it what was needed to send missionaries to this land. After the Ascension of our Lord they seized Lazarus, Martha, Magdalen, Marcella, their servant, and Maximus, one of the Seventy-two disciples of our Lord, put them into a boat without sails or oars and abandoned them thus to certain shipwreck upon the vast sea. But guided by the hand of God, the bark brought them safe and sound to Marseilles where they landed. This miracle and the preaching of the holy strangers converted to the Christian religion first thethe inhabitants of Marseilles and
later those of Aix and the neighboring districts."*
Notes
Tarascon: The route from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to Arles via Tarascon is about 35 km. All are towns in Provence.
Daudet: Wikipedia says Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) "was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée Daudet, and writers Léon Daudet and Lucien Daudet." Wikipedia takes note of Daudet's connections with the literature and culture of Provence and of his conservatism and anti-Semitism.
Wikipedia also says that Tarascon offers tourists the old church of St. Martha and a medieval castle, along with other interesting architectural sites. Across the Rhône is Beaucaire, a town with Roman history and medieval buildings, among other sites of interest. Henri I de Montmorency, the tolerant Roman Catholic governor of Languedoc, held the town in the 1570s.
cocher: driver.
Don Quixote: Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) is the creator the character Don Quixote of La Mancha, in his novel of that name (1605-15). Quixote is represented as having gone mad as a result of reading chivalric romances. His dreams and hallucinations become a main factor in his extraordinary adventures.
Tarrasque: Wikipedia says "The Tarasque is a fearsome legendary dragon-like mythological hybrid from Provence, in southern France, tamed in a story about Saint Martha ... in the Golden Legend."
Wikipedia also says Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was a French romantic author remembered for such novels as Les Misérables (1862) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). His sea-devil (an octopus) appears in Toilers of the Sea (1866).
Mistral: Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) was "a French writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature." He used his Nobel Prize money to found a Provençal ethnographic museum in Arles, Museon Arlaten. This museum eventually contained both Roman antiquities and artifacts from the more recent history of Provence.
^a^ sign: Fields may have deleted the inserted "a," but it doesn't seem she would have intended this.
sheep: Fields has written this long insertion between lines and in the right margin.
Mrs. Pennell ... Mistral: Fields refers to Play in Provence (1892) by Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Pennell, a collection of written and visual sketches. See p. 22. Fields made minor alterations in copying.
(: This approximates a mark that appears at this point, as if perhaps someone marked this passage.
St.: Fields leaves a blank in the manuscript, presumably intending to fill it in later. Probably, she meant to mention the Church of St. Trophime.
"wonderful: Fields's revisions of this paragraph are difficult to sort out, and the resulting sentences are less than certain. The mark before "wonderful" may be an insertion mark or a quotation mark; in neither case, however, does it seem meaningful. She may have meant "wonderfully preserved."
Alyscamp: Wikipedia says: "The Alyscamps is a large Roman necropolis, which is a short distance outside the walls of the old town of Arles, France. It was one of the most famous necropolises of the ancient world." This also is the location of the medieval Church of Saint Honoratus, an early Archbishop of Arles.
Sophocles or Eschylus: Both are Greek playwrights, Aeschylus (c. 525-455 BC) and Sophocles (c, 497-406 BC).
Goethe... "Tasso": Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749- 1832), a German writer and statesman, completed Torquato Tasso in 1790. Goethe disliked performing dogs. See The works of J.W. von Goethe: Letters from Switzerland. Letters from Italy. Iphigenia in Tauris. Torquato Tasso. Goetz von Berlichingen, (1902) pp. 219-20.
Arles: Arles in Provence is particularly known as an important city in the ancient Roman empire, with a canal to the Mediterranean to make it a useful port. Many Roman ruins remain. Nîmes, about 35 km northwest of Arles, also was a colony of the Roman Empire, with many remaining ruins.
Maison Carrée: An ancient Roman temple at Nîmes. A Trouvère or troubador was an itinerant poet or entertainer in France in the Middle Ages, 12th-14th century.
Roman holiday: Fields quotes from the narrative poem by British Romantic poet, George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824), Canto IV of Child Harold's Pilgrimage stanza 141 (1812-1818).
Pont du Gard: The Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct across the Gardon River in Provence.
highest in the air: Fields paraphrases the second stanza of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's (1809-1892) romantic ballad of 1842, "Lady Clare": It was the time when lilies blow, / And clouds are highest up in air.
Sleeping Beauty: From the classic fairy tale by the French author, Charles Perrault (1628-1703).
Aigues-Mortes: Aigues-Mortes is about 40 km south of Nîmes in Provence. The town's name translates in English to "dead waters." Wikipedia says the town's founding may have been Roman and dates a monastery at the site to Charlemagne. Louis IX established a port there in 1240. Fields appears to be in error when she names Louis XI of France as a founder of the town.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and La Camargue, both are within 50 km easterly from Aigues-Mortes. By Les Martigues, presumably Fields means Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, another coastal town about 110 km east of Aigues-Mortes, near Marseilles. Wikipedia says that the Camargue also is the name of a "natural region" south of Arles, now a regional park.
Mirèio: Wikipedia says Mirèio (1859) is Mistral's most important work. This "long poem in Provençal consisting of twelve songs, tells of the thwarted love of Vincent and Mireille, two young Provençal people of different social backgrounds."
flight: Fields inserts an asterisk here which points to the note that follows the end of this paragraph.
Hawthorne ... Scarlet Letter ... Cooper ... Irving and Miss [ Mitford? ] ... Lamartine ... Raphael ...land of Larou at Aix les Bains:
Wikipedia says: American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) published The Scarlet Letter in 1850.
Of the American author, Jams Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), Wikipedia notes his series of novels, The Leatherstocking Tales, as among those that deal most extensively with interactions of European colonists and Native Americans.
Fields's references to Irving and Mitford are somewhat puzzling. Most American readers would assume she means the American author, Washington Irving (1783-1859), but he is not especially known for depictions of "old England." Whether Fields refers to some other Irving is not clear.
Fields's handwriting creates doubt that "Miss Mitford" is the correct transcription. If it is, perhaps she refers to Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855), an English author best remembered for her vivid sketches of village life in rural England.
Wikipedia says that Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, (1790-1869), "was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic." Mistral dedicated Mirèio to Lamartine. He published his semi-autobiographical romance, Raphaël, in 1849. It is set in the region of Aix-les-Bains in Savoy.
districts: This tradition of St. Martha as the bringer of Christianity to southern France appears in The Golden Legend and other sources of legend and tradition. These sources seem to agree in asserting that Jews, rather than the Romans, attempted to kill the group of future missionaries, inadvertently sending them on their mission. Hence, the seeming anti-Semitism of the legend, though not questioned by Fields, was not invented by her.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Southern France
A few days later we found ourselves en route for Arles and waiting to change cars at Tarascon.* Wherever one is obliged to go by train
[ Page 15 ]
also on his way to Arles where he is
building a museum of old Provence, not the Roman
Provence this time but a museum which shall
^to^ preserve the beauty ^memory^ of
the antique [ people ? ] & life. [ Deleted
word ] It must be admitted ^that this life^ is
changing [ deleted words ] in more
than one ^many^ ways; the comparative
variety of the peasant woman's costume being only
^a^ sign.* ^Mistral hastened to put us into his
railway carriage and to continue the conversation of a
few days previous.^
"No book I have written" saidMistral
he has given me the pleasure and satisfaction in the
doing which I get from [ this written over the
]
Museum
now being made ^beginning^ at
Arles." [ Deleted word ] It will preserve the memory
of the life of his fathers and of his own youth, the
memory of his country in short. We asked after the
beautiful and congenial wife. "Ah! She is very busy
today," he said "in her peasants' dress superintending
the shearing of the sheep."^*
There was a fair going on in the city when we arrived; more costumes than usual were to be seen in the busy streets and men and women from distant farms were crowding in, some by the railroad{,} some on foot bearing their bundles and some with donkeys which appeared quite as burdensome ^a^ method of travel as any. Monsieur Mistral was bound to his museum where he invited us presently to follow, but Arles was an unknown land to us and he was full of affairs, therefore we parted in order to see the city and to join him again later. When were
reached the Museum [ deleted word ] after our
[ deleted words ] sightseeing, he had already
finished his work and had been carried off ^by
friends^ to breakfast. and [ We written
over we ] did not see him again. We saw the
beginning of his pious work however which is
established in rooms made fresh and bright for the
purpose [ in ? ] the old "Tribunal."
Everything calculated to preserve the memory of the
past faithfully, is ^to be^ assembled here. Already and
a picturesque aspect is given to the whole by the
introduction of a huge fireplace at one end of the
great hall where two old people are sitting in the
dresses of their day. Evidently he intends to make the
place express the humanity of Provence as well as its
history. This gives an air of gayety to the old place
[ deleted word ] which reminds one of what Mrs
Pennell* has said, one of the charmed and most
charming of modern writers on Provence: "In nothing so
much as in their gayety
"No book I have written" said
There was a fair going on in the city when we arrived; more costumes than usual were to be seen in the busy streets and men and women from distant farms were crowding in, some by the railroad{,} some on foot bearing their bundles and some with donkeys which appeared quite as burdensome ^a^ method of travel as any. Monsieur Mistral was bound to his museum where he invited us presently to follow, but Arles was an unknown land to us and he was full of affairs, therefore we parted in order to see the city and to join him again later. When we
[ Page 16 ]
are the people true to Mistral, Mistral true to them. He could not, even when he sang the tragic love of his Provençal maid, suppress the light laugh, which, là-bas, goes with every sentiment the most tender, (*the most passionate. The spirit of his country -- âme de Provence, -- which he invokes, is joyous and proud and gay, and is heard in the noise of the Rhône and its wild wind. Every Frenchman wants all the pleasure the world can give. But the Provençal takes it with that gladness he inherits from remote Greek ancestors whose beauty survives in the Arlésienne and the Martigau."
The broad highway of Arles on the day of our visit was bristling and bustling with life and with colour. Sheep, vegetables, stuffs{,} every variety of goods were hospitably offered. It was the day of the grand spring fair! Booths lined the way
A
[ Page 17 ]
It is probably owing to this power of letting things alone in a measure that the Roman theatre and the arena at Arles* are so much more interesting than the remains at Nîmes. In the theatre where two [ deleted word ] columns [ deleted word ] stand{,} between which
The distance from Arles to Nîmes is not great in these days of railroads and Nîmes is a large and beautiful city. It has lost much of the quaintness of the past but happily it contains the Roman "Maison Carrée"* which will continue to attract many a traveller who may know little and care not at all for the song
[ Page 18 ]
[ Begin long deletion ] who knows and cares little [ for corrected ] the songs of the Trouvères. [ End long deletion ] The arena
[ Page 19 ]
in the end [ deleted words ] owing to their great agility and alertness no one was injured. Six bulls in succession were brought into the arena and each one was grappled with successfully; the
[ Page 20 ]
that faded in an hour in memory of the spot. We wandered down the river bank; we saw the water glimmering in sunlight below us on the one side while the nightingales sang in a [ thick ? ] laurel hedge on the other; we strayed on in this dream of the past until we found ourselves at the open courtyard gate of a château sleeping in the Sunshine. It was a mediaeval tower, with immemorial ivy but the door of the salon was half open and
From Nîmes again the journey is not long to Aigues-Mortes* -- that city of dead waters utterly unchanged since the day of its
[ Page 21 ]
poet of Provence. [ And written over another word ] [ altogether corrected ] the most vivid pictures of the land and its people can be found by the readers of his books. [ An insertion mark appears here, but there is no insertion ] It was at the church of Saintes-Marie{s} whither holy pilgrims still go in crowds that Mirèio found her death{.} And it was through the wild country
[ After a blank space on this page are Fields's asterisk and this note. ]
There is a sacred legend of this country which need not pass as a fable or a dream. Why may it not be true? "The Jews did themselves exactly and without wishing it what was needed to send missionaries to this land. After the Ascension of our Lord they seized Lazarus, Martha, Magdalen, Marcella, their servant, and Maximus, one of the Seventy-two disciples of our Lord, put them into a boat without sails or oars and abandoned them thus to certain shipwreck upon the vast sea. But guided by the hand of God, the bark brought them safe and sound to Marseilles where they landed. This miracle and the preaching of the holy strangers converted to the Christian religion first the
Notes
Tarascon: The route from Saint-Rémy-de-Provence to Arles via Tarascon is about 35 km. All are towns in Provence.
Daudet: Wikipedia says Alphonse Daudet (1840-1897) "was a French novelist. He was the husband of Julia Daudet and father of Edmée Daudet, and writers Léon Daudet and Lucien Daudet." Wikipedia takes note of Daudet's connections with the literature and culture of Provence and of his conservatism and anti-Semitism.
Wikipedia also says that Tarascon offers tourists the old church of St. Martha and a medieval castle, along with other interesting architectural sites. Across the Rhône is Beaucaire, a town with Roman history and medieval buildings, among other sites of interest. Henri I de Montmorency, the tolerant Roman Catholic governor of Languedoc, held the town in the 1570s.
cocher: driver.
Don Quixote: Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616) is the creator the character Don Quixote of La Mancha, in his novel of that name (1605-15). Quixote is represented as having gone mad as a result of reading chivalric romances. His dreams and hallucinations become a main factor in his extraordinary adventures.
Tarrasque: Wikipedia says "The Tarasque is a fearsome legendary dragon-like mythological hybrid from Provence, in southern France, tamed in a story about Saint Martha ... in the Golden Legend."
Wikipedia also says Victor Hugo (1802-1885) was a French romantic author remembered for such novels as Les Misérables (1862) and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame (1831). His sea-devil (an octopus) appears in Toilers of the Sea (1866).
Mistral: Frédéric Mistral (1830-1914) was "a French writer and lexicographer of the Occitan language. Mistral received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Literature." He used his Nobel Prize money to found a Provençal ethnographic museum in Arles, Museon Arlaten. This museum eventually contained both Roman antiquities and artifacts from the more recent history of Provence.
^a^ sign: Fields may have deleted the inserted "a," but it doesn't seem she would have intended this.
sheep: Fields has written this long insertion between lines and in the right margin.
Mrs. Pennell ... Mistral: Fields refers to Play in Provence (1892) by Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Pennell, a collection of written and visual sketches. See p. 22. Fields made minor alterations in copying.
(: This approximates a mark that appears at this point, as if perhaps someone marked this passage.
St.: Fields leaves a blank in the manuscript, presumably intending to fill it in later. Probably, she meant to mention the Church of St. Trophime.
"wonderful: Fields's revisions of this paragraph are difficult to sort out, and the resulting sentences are less than certain. The mark before "wonderful" may be an insertion mark or a quotation mark; in neither case, however, does it seem meaningful. She may have meant "wonderfully preserved."
Alyscamp: Wikipedia says: "The Alyscamps is a large Roman necropolis, which is a short distance outside the walls of the old town of Arles, France. It was one of the most famous necropolises of the ancient world." This also is the location of the medieval Church of Saint Honoratus, an early Archbishop of Arles.
Sophocles or Eschylus: Both are Greek playwrights, Aeschylus (c. 525-455 BC) and Sophocles (c, 497-406 BC).
Goethe... "Tasso": Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749- 1832), a German writer and statesman, completed Torquato Tasso in 1790. Goethe disliked performing dogs. See The works of J.W. von Goethe: Letters from Switzerland. Letters from Italy. Iphigenia in Tauris. Torquato Tasso. Goetz von Berlichingen, (1902) pp. 219-20.
Arles: Arles in Provence is particularly known as an important city in the ancient Roman empire, with a canal to the Mediterranean to make it a useful port. Many Roman ruins remain. Nîmes, about 35 km northwest of Arles, also was a colony of the Roman Empire, with many remaining ruins.
Maison Carrée: An ancient Roman temple at Nîmes. A Trouvère or troubador was an itinerant poet or entertainer in France in the Middle Ages, 12th-14th century.
Roman holiday: Fields quotes from the narrative poem by British Romantic poet, George Gordon, Lord Byron (1788-1824), Canto IV of Child Harold's Pilgrimage stanza 141 (1812-1818).
Pont du Gard: The Pont du Gard is a Roman aqueduct across the Gardon River in Provence.
highest in the air: Fields paraphrases the second stanza of Alfred, Lord Tennyson's (1809-1892) romantic ballad of 1842, "Lady Clare": It was the time when lilies blow, / And clouds are highest up in air.
Sleeping Beauty: From the classic fairy tale by the French author, Charles Perrault (1628-1703).
Aigues-Mortes: Aigues-Mortes is about 40 km south of Nîmes in Provence. The town's name translates in English to "dead waters." Wikipedia says the town's founding may have been Roman and dates a monastery at the site to Charlemagne. Louis IX established a port there in 1240. Fields appears to be in error when she names Louis XI of France as a founder of the town.
Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer and La Camargue, both are within 50 km easterly from Aigues-Mortes. By Les Martigues, presumably Fields means Châteauneuf-les-Martigues, another coastal town about 110 km east of Aigues-Mortes, near Marseilles. Wikipedia says that the Camargue also is the name of a "natural region" south of Arles, now a regional park.
Mirèio: Wikipedia says Mirèio (1859) is Mistral's most important work. This "long poem in Provençal consisting of twelve songs, tells of the thwarted love of Vincent and Mireille, two young Provençal people of different social backgrounds."
flight: Fields inserts an asterisk here which points to the note that follows the end of this paragraph.
Hawthorne ... Scarlet Letter ... Cooper ... Irving and Miss [ Mitford? ] ... Lamartine ... Raphael ...land of Larou at Aix les Bains:
Wikipedia says: American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) published The Scarlet Letter in 1850.
Of the American author, Jams Fenimore Cooper (1789-1851), Wikipedia notes his series of novels, The Leatherstocking Tales, as among those that deal most extensively with interactions of European colonists and Native Americans.
Fields's references to Irving and Mitford are somewhat puzzling. Most American readers would assume she means the American author, Washington Irving (1783-1859), but he is not especially known for depictions of "old England." Whether Fields refers to some other Irving is not clear.
Fields's handwriting creates doubt that "Miss Mitford" is the correct transcription. If it is, perhaps she refers to Mary Russell Mitford (1787-1855), an English author best remembered for her vivid sketches of village life in rural England.
Wikipedia says that Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine, (1790-1869), "was a French writer, poet and politician who was instrumental in the foundation of the Second Republic." Mistral dedicated Mirèio to Lamartine. He published his semi-autobiographical romance, Raphaël, in 1849. It is set in the region of Aix-les-Bains in Savoy.
districts: This tradition of St. Martha as the bringer of Christianity to southern France appears in The Golden Legend and other sources of legend and tradition. These sources seem to agree in asserting that Jews, rather than the Romans, attempted to kill the group of future missionaries, inadvertently sending them on their mission. Hence, the seeming anti-Semitism of the legend, though not questioned by Fields, was not invented by her.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
On the train from
South Berwick!
May 31
South Berwick!
May 31
[ 1898 ]*
How does that strike you darling? and will you forgive this crooked pencil if it tells you that I have just had a morning of hospitality and green fields & blue sky (with the white rolling clouds I saw once with you) and walking in the garden to see the tulips and borders and lovely green things
[ Page 2 ]
[ Page 3 ]
finding it not to be very long to wait:
especially as tulips and lilacs is [ so it appears ]
blooming. -- Mrs. Tyson's house is a fine specimen as a
house, & what a situation! really a perfect one. And do
you remember that you took me there darling? The various
details which she wanted to see me about [ unrecognized
word settled ? ] themselves very comfortably [
up to ? ] the point of a new kitchen to be built:
and that is a good
[ Page 4 ]
deal of a [ course ? ]: but it [ must ? ] be done, somehow -- anywhere it would interfere with a square house unless it could be built where it would not catch the eye: which [ there or then ] is [ unrecognized word ].
[ Deleted word ] But we shall see. -----
Now I am returning from this most [ impossible ? ] trip -- a day out of this week is not to be imagined, only done -- and I [ report or expect ? ] I shall find old Coolidge come up
[ Page 5 ]
for Ruth Loring's wedding* tomorrow -- and yesterday was Memorial Day,* and I went first to see some parts of the window freshly put in, and then it was Prof. Shaler for the oration: I had thought of him as a brilliant -- & perhaps somewhat erratic lecturer on scientific [ themes or things ? ]. This was on the whole the most restrained, impassioned & wholly noble address upon this theme which I
[ Page 6 ]
have ever heard. I will send it to you if it is printed whole -- (one wants every word of it) & if not I will keep it in my heart & tell you some good day. ---
It is supposed that I shall see the whole window* on the 12th -- & then I shall see "what [ flaws ? ] are in the work" -- and what can be done about them. ----
[ Page 7 ]
Meantime I am told that you & dear A.F.* have been in Provence of all places: and have [ drunk ? ] -- at lovely fountains.
Tis well so -- and I am glad with you.
Ever yours
_SW_
Notes
1898: The envelope associated with this letter was first cancelled in Boston on 31 May 1898. On the front is a second cancellation, the place not readable, on 9 July 98. Also on the front is a blue ink stamp: "B.B. Jun 9 1898" presumably indicating when Baring Brothers received the letter. There is yet another cancellation that is not readable.
On the reverse side is another Boston cancellation on 31 May, and one at Ferté Sous Jouarre on 24 June 98, and another almost unreadable, also for 9 June or July 1898, possibly a duplicate of the unreadable cancellation on the front.
The envelope was originally was addressed to Jewett "Care [ Msser ? ] Baring Bros & Co, London, England." In this address, everything except Jewett's name has been deleted in red. This transcription is uncertain at several points, but almost certainly Jewett and Fields while traveling abroad used the Baring Brothers Bank of London to forward their mail. The envelope has been re-addressed in red ink: "c/o Mme Blanc Bentzon La Ferté Sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne, France."
On the back, in addition to cancellations, is a note by Whitman: "I have an awful feeling that I have sent letters to [ two unrecognized words Brown Shipley ? ] & Co or have I not?" If this transcription is correct, Whitman may refer to Brown Shipley & Co Limited, a London private bank.
Hamilton House ... Mrs Tyson & Elise: Emily Davis Tyson and her daughter. See Key to Correspondents.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Coolidge ... Ruth Loring's wedding: Ruth Loring (1877-1964) married Boston merchant William Whitman, Jr. (1874-1958) on 1 June 1898, according to the Third Report of the Harvard Class of 1897, p. 273. Whether William Whitman was related to Mrs. Whitman's husband has not been determined.
Coolidge probably is either Katherine Coolidge or Sarah Chauncey Woolsey, who wrote under the name Susan Coolidge. See Key to Correspondents.
Memorial Day: Traditionally on 30 May, the holiday was established in 1868 for remembering soldiers killed in United States Wars.
Prof. Shaler: Nathaniel Shaler (1841-1906) was a Harvard paleontologist and geologist, who wrote about the theological implications of the theory of evolution. A popular teacher, he was a proponent of "Scientific Racism." His 1898 Memorial Day Address at Harvard was entitled "True Response of Valor." It appeared in the Harvard Graduates Magazine in December 1898.
window: In 1898, Whitman likely was at work on the Lowell Memorial Window at First Parish Unitarian Church in Brookline, MA, "donated by Judge John Lowell and Lucy Buckminster Lowell in memory of their three deceased children," completed in 1899.
A.F.: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
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 Sarah Wyman Whitman
La Ferté sous Jouarre,* [ Seine et Marne added
probably
by
Fields ]
6 June [ 1898 ]
6 June [ 1898 ]
Dearest S. W.,
It is almost like getting home to find myself here with Madame
Blanc* at last, and this day is A. F.'s* birthday and the big
fountain is making all the noise there is, and all the birds are
singing in the big walled garden and beyond that, from my window
in a little room out of my bedroom where I can write you a
letter, one can look off over the most lovely piece of French
country; a long slope of a hill going up to the sky muffled in
green trees
[ Page 2 ]
with here and there a line of [ gray corrected ] wall
or the sharp gable of an old farmhouse. And an interruption to
the green with a piece of old weather-beaten red tiling of a
roof. Which is to say that this is a quiet corner of old France,
and the oldest bells in the world ring now and then very sweet
and far off. Thérèse says that they sound as they do because
they are the other side of the Marne, and "have to come through
the water"! At any rate they are like a dream of bells and I
heard them first early on Sunday morning, yesterday, when I
waked up. The old town of Jouarre is on another hill
[ Page 3 ]
a mile or two farther down the river and there is a square
tower of the convent as old as the time of Charlemagne.* Meaux
is between us & Paris with the grave of Bossuet* in the
cathedral, and beyond us is Rheims. I do not think it is very
far away -- and Nancy, where we mean to go by and by. I look
forward to some delightful ^still^ weeks now before Mary &
Theodore* come, and we go off on longer journeys. Perhaps we may
go to on to Touraine first where Mme Blanc promises to go
too. And A.F. is chirping from time to time about Brittany, so
perhaps I shall have fewer days of doing nothing in La Ferté
than I am pleased
[ Page 4 ]
to suppose. And Paris is a little too near: it constantly
beguiles three ladies, and I hate to hear of a dinner to go to
and quite resent Thérèses going to see her publisher.
We had a good fortnight at Aix les Bains
and A.F.'s throat is so much better that I no longer consider
it, or think she is going to keep me up at night with an attack
of croup! She had been so hoarse and looked so pale that I did
not know what to do with such a sad little person, but now the
fine, bright French sunshine has come it might cure her at any
rate. We have had a very
[ Page 5 ]
rainy weather I can tell you. [ were meaning We're?
] none the better for it. I thought of buying a sufficient
pair of sticks for myself I got so lame and [ despondent ?
].
As for Aix -- it was as amusing and oddly
English as ever, and I found my old friends all alive, the funny
old peasant women at the baths and in the market with their
brown smiling faces and white caps. I went to the Grande
Chartreuse* again, that lonely place in the mountains and slept
in a cold convent cell and thought that the cliffs overhead
might tumble down in the night. It is a wonderful piece of [ deleted
word ] France and when one thinks of disappointed
[ Page 6 ]
lovers and courtiers going there to end their days and to keep
silence and wear the white Cistercian habit{,} of their leaving
the Paris of that day for the Grande Chartreuse it seems
something amazing -- human enough one may say, but first a
refuge and place of comfort, and then a prison and place of long
despair. I wish that you could see it as one comes to it up the
long, deep, forested valley, with its gay light tourelles*
and peaked roofs, as unexpected against the solemn mountain side
as the statue of Mme de Sévigné that I told you about in
the grim little
[ Page 7 ]
place at Grignan,* but when you get nearer there are terrible
walls and you feel that many a heart has broken behind them in
winter weather and loneliness.
Dear me! how one goes writing on idly and
clinging to the half thought of seeing you, of speaking to you,
and getting closer with every step of the pen, as if one wrote
oneself nearer with a pen's journey along the page. How I think
of you and of the Window!* how I wish for you and for the sight
of you is beyond me to say -- You will read all this
[ Page 8 ]
I know and find the love I send. I am always
longing for a letter and when it comes I wish more and not less
for the next. What about dear Sally Norton* -- have you seen her
lately? -- I hear of her being ill with colds, and her last
letter sounds very tired and downhearted about the war* with a
sort of despair, poor little Sally as if it were a thing that
she and I ^or somebody^ ought to have helped and not a
war that in the great mysterious march of things had to
be. Nobody knows why there had come a frightful thunderstorm
into a good summer day and nobody knows other things! but
certain ^uncontrollable^ forces brought this war about -- it was
not
them to many foolish person who would make things worse if they had their way. But this part of [ my ? ] letter is [ idler than any ? ] so good bye, with my love and blessing.
S.O.J.
[ Up the left margin and then down the top margin of page 5 ]
exactly anybody's bringing nor could it be anybody's hindering. I believe that Mr. Norton was right too in many things he said, and that he did good by saying[ Up the left margin of page 6
and then down the top margins of pages 6 and 7 ]
and then down the top margins of pages 6 and 7 ]
them to many foolish person who would make things worse if they had their way. But this part of [ my ? ] letter is [ idler than any ? ] so good bye, with my love and blessing.
S.O.J.
Notes
La Ferté sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne ... Madame Blanc: Wikipedia says: "La Ferté-sous-Jouarre is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne département in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Here was the birthplace and home of Thérèse Blanc (1840-1907). The accent mark in "Ferté" probably was added by Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
A. F.: Annie Fields. See Correspondents.
the time of Charlemagne: Charlemagne (c. 742-814), "or
Charles the Great, Carolingian king of the Franks, came to rule
over most of Europe and assumed (800) the title of Roman
emperor. He is sometimes regarded as the founder of the Holy
Roman Empire." (Source: Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia)
Mary & Theodore: Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
grave of Bossuet: The Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia says "Jacques Benigne Bossuet, b. Sept. 27, 1627, d. Apr. 12, 1704, was a French Catholic orator and theologian who dominated Paris preaching for a decade (1659-69). While he was tutor to the dauphin (father of Louis XV) from 1671 to 1681, he wrote his trilogy on history, politics, and the knowledge of God. In addition to his scholarly writings, his meditations are considered classics of French devotional literature."
Grand Chartreuse ... Cistercian habit: Jewett had
previously visited the Grande Chartreuse in 1892. See her letter
to
Alice
Greenwood
(Mrs.
George
D.)
Howe of Sunday June 1892.
Cistercians are members of a Roman Catholic religious order
founded in 1098 by St. Robert, abbot of Molesme. The Grande
Chartreuse, however, is a Carthusian monastery. According to the
Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia, "The Order of
Carthusians is a Roman Catholic religious order of monks, lay
brothers, and nuns founded (1084) by Saint Bruno in the
Chartreuse mountains near Grenoble, France. The order grew
slowly and reached its greatest strength in the early 16th
century, when it numbered nearly 200 houses. By the 20th
century, however, the number had decreased to about 30.
Carthusians are contemplatives who live solitary lives in
hermitages and come together only for certain religious
ceremonies. Their house in Chartreuse manufactures a well-known
liqueur."
By Floriel - Own work, CC BY 2.5
tourelles: turrets (French).
Grignan: Grignan is in southeastern France, between Marseille and Lyon.window: In 1898, Whitman likely was at work on the central panel of the Lowell Memorial Window at First Parish Unitarian in Brookline, MA, "donated by Judge John Lowell and Lucy Buckminster Lowell in memory of their three deceased children," completed in 1899.
Sally Norton: Sara Norton. See Key to Correspondents.
war: The Spanish-American War lasted about ten weeks during the spring and summer of 1898. Two main areas of fighting were Cuba and the Philippines, both of which became United States possessions along with other islands in the Caribbean and the Pacific. Rebecca Walsh points out that the Nortons were vigorous opponents of the war. Mr. Norton became a vocal member of the Anti-Imperialist League (which was just beginning to form in June 1898). See Jewett's letter to Sara Norton of 10 June 1898. And see Rebecca Walsh, "Sugar, Sex, and Empire: Sarah Orne Jewett’s 'The Foreigner' and the Spanish–American War," in A Concise Companion to American Studies, Edited by John Carlos Rowe (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p. 304.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge. MA: Whitman, Sarah (Wyman) 1842-1904, recipient. 25 letters; 1892-[ 1900 ] & [ n.d. ]. Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 (126). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Transcription
Annie Fields included part of this letter in Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911). Her transcription follows.
I am writing all my address at the beginning, because I am to be here for five or six weeks (I hope!) with occasional flights to Paris and to Rheims and so on, -- and I think in that time you will be finding time to write to me how it looks in Ashfield. I was very glad to get your letter, but it made me wish that you were here, too. I felt sure as I read that you were tired with that early summer-tiredness, that belongs to New Englanders of the old stock. I think there are moments when one is sure that we have not had time even yet to get acclimated, and the spring weather in Old England has a kind of hereditary ease for us, and superiority. I am a grand-child of Mary Chilton, who came to Plymouth (like half the old-fashioned persons of Massachusetts and Maine!), but I can wilt in a May sun as if I had just landed.
When I read your letter again, just now, there was not a word in it that told me how you felt, but I have long believed that one folds up a bit of what we are pleased to call personal atmosphere into one's note-paper and that it always gets safe to the journey's end. It is a fresh cool day here, with a lovely French sky and bright sun, and this is such a lovely place! I am delighted to be with Madame Blanc, and it is almost like coming home. You would like the old walled-garden, with its "pleached walks" and great fountain, and prim box-borders, and the dwarf fruit trees with young fruit, and the bird's nest where the bird is "anxious when you look at her, but not frightened enough to fly away," as Madame Blanc said yesterday. The nightingales twitter and talk a good deal by day, and at the foot of their garden you can unlock a door and find yourself in a country lane that leads up the long slope of a great green hill. There are two dear little brown hunting-dogs -- bassets -- who live like lords in a neat yard at the garden foot, by this same door, and you can take them with you if you watch them well, and remind them not to kill marketable chickens at the first farm-house. This is a country of wide views; you see three or four brown villages at a glance; two of them have only a couple of fields to separate them, but I suppose when a person marries and goes to the other village it is like going among strangers altogether, just as they say good-bye, almost forever, when they marry in another island in Venice. You see that I have great pleasure in being here. One loves a bit of real country, or else one is indifferent, -- it is much more exciting to know a new piece of country than to go to a new large town.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sara Norton
La Ferté sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne, France,* June 6, [ 1898 ].
I am writing all my address at the beginning, because I am to be here for five or six weeks (I hope!) with occasional flights to Paris and to Rheims and so on, -- and I think in that time you will be finding time to write to me how it looks in Ashfield.* I was very glad to get your letter, but it made me wish that you were here, too. I felt sure as I read that you were tired with that early summer-tiredness, that belongs to New Englanders of the old stock. I think there are moments when one is sure that we have not had time even yet to get acclimated, and the spring weather in Old England has a kind of hereditary ease for us, and superiority. I am a grand-child of Mary Chilton,* who came to Plymouth (like half the old-fashioned persons of Massachusetts and Maine!), but I can wilt in a May sun as if I had just landed.
When I read your letter again, just now,
there was not a word in it that told me how you felt, but I have
long believed that one folds up a bit of what we are pleased to
call personal atmosphere into one's note-paper and that it
always gets safe to the journey's end. It is a fresh cool day
here, with a lovely French sky and bright sun, and this is such
a lovely place! I am delighted to be with Madame Blanc, and it
is almost like coming home. You would like the old
walled-garden, with its "pleached walks" and great fountain, and
prim box-borders, and the dwarf fruit trees with young fruit,
and the bird's nest where the bird is "anxious when you look at
her, but not frightened enough to fly away," as Madame
Blanc said yesterday. The nightingales twitter and talk a good
deal by day, and at the foot of their garden you can unlock a
door and find yourself in a country lane that leads up the long
slope of a great green hill. There are two dear little brown
hunting-dogs -- bassets -- who live like lords in a neat yard at
the garden foot, by this same door, and you can take them with
you if you watch them well, and remind them not to kill
marketable chickens at the first farm-house. This is a country
of wide views; you see three or four brown villages at a glance;
two of them have only a couple of fields to separate them, but I
suppose when a person marries and goes to the other village it
is like going among strangers altogether, just as they say
good-bye, almost forever, when they marry in another island in
Venice. You see that I have great pleasure in being here. One
loves a bit of real country, or else one is indifferent, -- it
is much more exciting to know a new piece of country than to go
to a new large town.
Notes
La Ferté sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne: Wikipedia says: "La Ferté-sous-Jouarre is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne département in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Here was the birthplace and home of Thérèse Blanc (1840-1907). See Key to Correspondents.Ashfield: A town in the Berkshire mountains of western Massachusetts, where the Norton family had a summer cottage.
Mary Chilton: Wikipedia says: "Mary Chilton (1607 - c.April 1679) was a Pilgrim and purportedly the first European woman to step ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts."
This letter appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), Transcribed by Annie Adams Fields, with notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sara Norton
10th of June.
I am afraid that this long and dull beginning of a letter had better be torn in two, but I have only time to write half a letter, and not a whole one, before the post goes out. I wish that I could take you to see the brown old town of Jouarre,* on a hill near here, with one of its convent towers as old as Charlemagne's time,* and a curious old crypt, covered in the days of the Revolution and forgotten, and then rediscovered some years ago. There are some wonderful old tombs of the lady abbesses,* and one of them was a young Scottish Princess who looks as if she had just climbed to the top of her high tomb and fallen asleep there, -- a most dear and touching shape, -- so young that time itself has looked on all these years and never laid a finger on her, or a troubling thought of age. Then, in a very old little church close by, is some old glass. One bit of a window is King David playing on a harp,* and I am sure that you would say that it is exquisite as it can be in colour and feeling, and the sense it gives of great rapture, as with music. I long for some kind of copy of it to take away; if ever you can find an afternoon to spare in Paris, you must come to see so beautiful a thing. I cannot forget it; but all this beauty is in a corner of an old grey village church, where the windows have been mended with glass of another sort, and hardly anybody comes from the outside world. Madame Blanc had long ago discovered this wonderful old window with the King David, and was so glad when we found it, too, and cared about it as she did. I wish that Mr. Ruskin* could have seen it and written about it.
I have not left myself half room to tell you of some old French ladies, who interest me very much. There is one -- Madame de Beaulaincourt -- who is the subject of much affectionate delight! She is the daughter of the Maréchal de Castellaine, who was a famous soldier in his day, and this dear person is a great soldier, too, by nature; with a wonderful distinction and dignity as she sits in her house with all her old portraits, and (I am sure) some friendly ghosts who come and go and remind her of great French histories of courts and camps. She was the friend of Madame Blanc's mother, and is very fond of my friend. One so easily can see today in a strange country, but yesterday is much harder to come at, -- so that I delight in going to some very old houses in Paris, and especially to Madame de Beaulaincourt. But La Ferté and the garden, and the old church bells, and the towers of Jouarre, are very hard to leave.
I hope now, more than ever, for some better news of the war.* I feel quite as you do, but I think I can see better and better every day that it was a war which could not be hindered, after all. Spain has shown herself perfectly incompetent to maintain any sort of civilization in Cuba, and things are like some sultry summer days, when there is nothing for it but to let a thunder-shower do its best and worst, and drown the new hay, and put everything out of gear while it lasts. The condition is larger than petty politics or mercenary hopes, or naval desires for promotion, or any of those things to which at one time or another I have indignantly "laid it." I feel more than ever that such a war is to be laid at the door of progress, and not at any backward steps toward what we had begun to feel was out of date, the liking for a fight. I think that it is all nonsense to talk about bad feeling here in France, as it is certainly in England; for however people deplore the war in general and pity Spain, they generally end by saying that it was the only way out -- that we had to make war, and then we all say that it must be short! If we could drown a few newspapers from time to time, it would keep up our drooping hearts and make us willing to bear the hearing of foolish details, and even painful details. It seems like a question of surgery, this cure of Cuba -- we must not mind the things that disgust and frighten us, if only the surgery is in good hands. You know how much I saw of those islands two years ago?* I cannot feel that the natural conditions of life are hard in the way they can be hard to poor Russians, for instance: a West Indian cannot freeze -- he is impatient of clothes -- he can pick a good dinner at almost any time of year off the next bush. But he can suffer in other ways, and Spain has made Cuba suffer in those ways far too long.
But how long I am writing these small
thoughts about great things! You will say as the Queen did once
in old times about Gladstone, -- "He speaks to me as if I were a
public meeting."* Forgive me, dear Sally, and remember that I
shall not be writing about the war again!
Notes
La Ferté sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne: Wikipedia
says: "La Ferté-sous-Jouarre is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne
département in the Île-de-France region in north-central France.
Here was the birthplace and home of Thérèse
Blanc (1840-1907). See Key
to
Correspondents.
convent towers: Jewett presumably refers to the
Benedictine Jouarre
Abbey, founded according to tradition in 630.
lady abbesses: Wikipedia lists the abbesses of Jouarre
Abbey. It appears that the first two or three were from the same
family and had origins in the British Isles, but this is not
clear in documents available on-line. Whether any was a Scottish
princess is not evident. See also The
Companion
Guide
to
the
Country
Round
Paris (1996) by Ian Dunlop, p. 216.
David playing on a harp: See 1 Samuel 16:22-23. Jewett
may be referring to a window in the Church
of
Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul
at Jouarre. A representation of a harpist appears in the
lowest right panel of a 10-panel
window in the choir of the church.
Possibly the David Playing a Harp Panel
Church of Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul at Jouarre
from
Bleiglasfenster im Chor der katholischen Pfarrkirche Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul in Jouarre, Darstellung.
30 May 2011
by Reinhardhauke
Mr. Ruskin: Wikipedia
says: "John Ruskin (8 February 1819 – 20 January 1900) was the
leading English art critic of the Victorian era, also an art
patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social
thinker and philanthropist. He wrote on subjects as varied as
geology, architecture, myth, ornithology, literature,
education, botany and political economy."
Madame de Beaulaincourt ... daughter of the Maréchal de Castellaine: French Wikipedia says that Sophie de Castellane, Marquise de Contades, then Beaulaincourt, Countess Marles (1818-1904) was a writer and kept a salon. Her father was Esprit Victor Elisabeth Boniface de Castellane, comte de Castellane (1788-1862), a French military officer and ultimately a Marshal of France. Madame Blanc included an account of the Marquise in an essay that Jewett helped to translate, "Conversation in France," Century 48:4 (Aug 1894): 626-634.
Madame de Beaulaincourt ... daughter of the Maréchal de Castellaine: French Wikipedia says that Sophie de Castellane, Marquise de Contades, then Beaulaincourt, Countess Marles (1818-1904) was a writer and kept a salon. Her father was Esprit Victor Elisabeth Boniface de Castellane, comte de Castellane (1788-1862), a French military officer and ultimately a Marshal of France. Madame Blanc included an account of the Marquise in an essay that Jewett helped to translate, "Conversation in France," Century 48:4 (Aug 1894): 626-634.
news of the war: The Spanish-American War lasted about
ten weeks during the spring and summer of 1898. Two main areas
of fighting were Cuba and the Philippines, both of which became
United States possessions along with other islands in the
Caribbean and the Pacific.
Rebecca Walsh points out that the Nortons
were vigorous opponents of the war. Mr. Norton became a vocal
member of the Anti-Imperialist League (which was just beginning
to form in June 1898). See Jewett's letter to Sara Norton of 10
June 1898. And see Rebecca Walsh, "Sugar, Sex, and Empire: Sarah
Orne Jewett’s 'The Foreigner' and the Spanish–American War," in
A Concise Companion to American Studies, Edited by John
Carlos Rowe (Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), p. 304.
This letter appears in Annie Fields, Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911), Transcribed by Annie Adams Fields, with notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Georgina Halliburton
10 June [ 1898 ] La Ferte
Sous Jouarre
Seine et Marne France*
Seine et Marne France*
My dear Georgie
When I sent you a post card from Saint Remy I think -- I meant to write a letter very soon and now three weeks at least have slipped by. Mrs. Fields's* cold, or bronchitis, grew so troublesome that we turned our backs upon a rainy South after we had seen Arles and Nimes with their wonderful Roman ruins, and went up to Aix les Bains in the Savoy mountains where you remember that I spent a good
[ Page 2 ]
many weeks once the last time I was over here. Then Mrs. Fields had the same trouble and went to a wonderful spring which is good for throats, so we thought of it again and again it did her much good. Aix is the same bright, amusing little town with lovely drives and interesting people. Many English & some Americans but the lazy go to Aix as well as the lame! -- They have made a railway to the top of a mountain since we were there, and one day when the clouds were gone we went up and spent one of the most lovely afternoons of my life -- The range
[ Page 3 ]
of mountains looks very bleak from the valley, as if you would find splintered rocks like the top of Mt. Washington* but when you get quite to the top you find the most lovely pasture country with flocks feeding and some little houses beside the chalets which were built for hotels. It is like a beautiful quiet piece of valley lifted right up into the sky, and you see all the snow mountains! even Mont Blanc shining with all its whiteness and
We gathered some lovely little mountain flowers -- and I wished that I could stay a long time, the air was so clear and bracing, warmed with summer sun and cooled by the clean snow that looked so very near.
Now
[ Page 4 ]
we are staying in the country with Madame Blanc* and it is almost like coming home to be with her again. This part of France is very green and pleasant with its great fields and park and a convent with old towers on the hill and little brown villages scattered only a few fields apart in the low lands along the river Marne. We have a most enchanting old walled garden where I like to stay a great deal -- better than to go to Paris ^an hour away^ to drive, and do errands and go sightseeing next day! I am so* looking forward to Mary's coming & Theodore's & perhaps my cousin Will,* and then we are going to take a little tour before we go back to England. Do write as often as you can. I remember that we always say that we dont write each other
[ Up the left margin and down the top
margin of page 1 ]
in summer, partly because we are always hoping to meet I suppose -- but this summer I cant drive down to Portsmouth, can I? Perhaps you and Auntie* can drive up before Mary comes over here. She would be so glad. How is she? Auntie I mean. I hope much better than when I heard last.
[ Up the left margin and down the top
margin of page 2 ]
Is Cora going to be in York this summer & Miss Loring?* I hope she will have a good summer. Mrs. Fields would send you her love I know. We both often think and speak of you. I wish I could
[ Up the left margin and down the top
margin of page 3 ]
see you Georgie dear. -- Yours always lovingly
Sarah.
Notes
France: La Ferté sous Jouarre, Seine et Marne is the address of Madame Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Mt. Washington: Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, is the highest peak in the White Mountain range of New England.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
so: This word is double-underlined in the ms.
Mary's coming & Theodore's ... cousin Will: For Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Jewett Eastman, see Key to Correspondents. The identity of Cousin Will is uncertain. A likely candidate is William Furber, though it appears that he did not actually join the party. See Cynthia Elvira Irwin Furber in Key to Correspondents.
Auntie: This person remains unidentified.
Cora ... Miss Loring: Cora Lee Clark Rice and Katharine Peabody Loring. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (260).
Fields Diary
Paris
Paris
Paris June 14th 1898-
S.* and I went with Thérèse last evening to one of the somewhat celebrated Monday dinners of M. et Mme Delzant.* They call those dinners "Les Celibatains". They have continued every winter for fifteen years and are a kind of home-like refuge for men of talent who would otherwise have no such glimpse of life, no such sympathy in the great world of Paris. Once a week [ deleted word ] ^certain^ writers and artists who have made themselves known to M. Delzant, or whom he has sought, are made to feel sure of a dinner here on Monday and a warm welcome. Nobody dresses: the ladies wear their everyday clothes, Madame Delzant habitually affecting a nun-like costume which suits her style very well. Her life is nun-like ^literally^, wasted in good deeds; her health is very delicate yet she imposes every task upon herself for the poor and suffering. Therefore her plain black dress with muslin collar and cuffs not stiff [ deleted words, including a deleted insertion ] as if they were just put on, or startling in form, but of the most refined simplicity, makes it easy for the ladies who frequent
The hour was half past seven and we
[ Page 2 ]
arrived punctually, but we took our
[ Page 3 ]
[ Unrecognized word ] [ critic
The dinner was good and sufficient but plain as possible, no flowers, no decorations; the maid waited with another to help. The talk was however very lively and good. The Woman's Conference at Versailles* was alluded to but I fancy nobody knew much about it there except perhaps Mme Berenger and ourselves. Of course the talk was chiefly absorbed by the men whom Madame Delzant kept going in quite a masterly fashion. Some one had alluded to the paper on astronomy read by Miss Klumpke* at Versailles, whereupon M. Rosny bound to converse on some topic began to speak of the elevating effect on character produced by the study of astronomy. After a while the topic changed by M. Rosny but not his manner which was that of being expected to talk to the table which was not the case because M. Aicard, M. Vanor & M. & Mme Delzant were all quite ready -- not to speak of the callers! but although
[ Page 4
This page contains a fragment, seemingly pasted in and not belonging to this diary. Fields numbers the next diary page as 5 ]
This page contains a fragment, seemingly pasted in and not belonging to this diary. Fields numbers the next diary page as 5 ]
Miss Palfrey made a short visit here yesterday. She said she attributed her failure in the millinery department to the fact that she omitted to study the bonnets of others in the sanctuary! [ several deleted words ]
[ Page 5 ]
much excited but our hostess soothed the troubled waters not by turning the conversation but by asking questions of one and the other. She has very positive views of her own but she does not always express them, preferring to call out the views of her guests. I thought her conversation and manners delightful. As for M. Delzant, who is a large blustering kind of man, full of bonhommie, he is always cheerful and kindly but has nothing of much importance to say. M. Aicard was too far from me to make it easy to understand him but like all Provençals he is inclined to be very expressive and hot in talk. Those of us who did not smoke went to the drawing room again -- the others were shut up in an adjoining salon. M. Rosny came with us and shortly after M. Delzant also.
Very soon a few other guests came in -- a Greek gentleman who had been in Boston -- a friend of the Feltons, Howes, Miss Calliope* etc. Miss Blaze de Bury* followed{,} a poseuse, full of wit and keenness and self-esteem. She has grown up with the idea that the world turns in her orbit. She is said to have talent, but her mind has a sloppy quality which is not fruitful of good.
Dr. & Madame Maillet came next. He is the great grandson of Madame Roland.* She is of an
[ Page 6 ]
excellent Boston family. He is pledged to the cause of temperance in France; not total abstinence. They are poor and of simple outspoken manners but highly intelligent. She told a very pretty story of a young deaf mute in whom she is interested and who wished very much for a silk petticoat. As she spoke she touched in illustration the plain little woolen skirt she was herself wearing, and said, "the sense of touch was so keen in this poor friend that she longed to have silk about her.{"} Mme M's own fine fingers resting on the little woollen dress as she spoke [ added corrected ] much to the pathos of the story. It reminded me of Walter Savage Landor's* saying to me once "I would ask the Devil for the sake of another, I would only ask God for myself!" Madame M. begged a little dress from a friend and gave it to the girl. She then proceeded to describe the joy of the entire family. "I could only wish,{"} she added, "that the giver could have seen the happiness her dress gave{.}" [ deleted word ]
Many of the most valuable persons in Paris now are Protestant and like Wagner & Madame M. Bretons* -- M. & Mme Delzant appear to have a certain sympathy with them and Sabatier* may often be met at their house. I think it quite possible that M. Delzant is not an ardent Catholic; it would seem that this must be the case or it would not please him to receive men of no convictions or of the opposite faith altogether.
[ Page 7 ]
The conversation prolonged itself until eleven o'clock, when possessed by a [ unrecognized word ] weariness and seeing S. quite ready, I proposed to [ M. B. ? ]* that we should leave. I saw at once that she was not ready, evidently the programme had not been fully carried out. In a few moments I discovered the reason. M. Aicord was introduced by M. Delzant as having consented to read a portion of his "Othello" to the company and this he proceeded to do in a very artistic and dramatic manner. M. A. will be able to give points to any actors who will appear in his play. I could wish that Salvini,* the great Othello of our time could be called from his retirement and give it once more in Paris. The act chosen by M. Aicard for reading was the one where Iago arouses the jealousy of Othello{.} His rendering was greatly appreciated by the small but attentive audience and the reader himself ^was^ pleased and flattered. M. Rosny had slipped away before the reading began but not before he had found time to [ present ? ] his romantic soul to Mme B.! Later M. Aicard gave the death of Desdemona. He has all the fire of Provence in his veins and the story of Othello fits the nature of his own land as if it has been [ born ? ] there. Shakespeare painted that [ story ? ] of the temperament ^of the South^ as he alone could do it and it [ deleted letters ] suits Provence like the glove to the hand.
We left about one o'clock and were in bed at two which for early birds like ourselves was doing very well.
At 3:30 on the following day June 14th we went to Avenue Marceau.
Notes
S.: Sarah Orne Jewett.
Thérèse: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840-1907), used the nom de plume "Th. Bentzon." Wikipedia
Les Celibatains: French for single, unmarried people.
Vanor: Georges Van Ormelingen (1865-1906), lecturer and author, published under the name Georges Vanor.
[ Horner ? ], Ingres: This transcription is uncertain, but Fields may refer to the Danish painter, Johan Hörner (1711-1763); whether the Delzants held any of his paintings has not been confirmed. Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780-1867) was a French history painter in the Neoclassical style.
M. Rosny: Presumably, this is one of a pair of Belgian-French brothers who wrote under the names J.-H. Rosny jeune (Séraphin Justin François Boex 1859 -1948) and J.-H. Rosny aine (Joseph Henri Honoré Boex, 1856-1940). They are considered to be founders of modern science fiction.
M. Aicard ... sister: Jean François Victor Aicard (1848- 1921) was a French poet, dramatist and novelist. See also "La poésie de Jean Aicard." For a notice on a performance of his translation of Shakespeare's Othello, see The Nation 68 (6 April, 1899, pp. 262-3). Information about his sister has not yet been located.
Mlle Berenger, sister of the author of that name: Henry Bérenger (1867 -1952) was a French poet, essayist, editor and politician, who was at one time French ambassador to the United States. Though this is not certain, it is possible that the sister Fields met was Marie Bérenger (1865-1944), who served in the French Resistance during World War II and died in the Ravensbrück concentration camp after her second arrest.
The Woman's Conference at Versailles: Almost certainly, Fields refers to the Versailles Conference of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union of 9 June 1898. See Report of the ... Biennial Convention and Minutes of the Executive Committee Meetings of the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 4-6, 1897, pp. 50-1.
paper on astronomy read by Miss Klumpke: Dorothea Klumpke Roberts (1861-1942) was an American-born astronomer, who studied in Paris and became Director of the Bureau of Measurements at the Paris Observatory. Which paper she read at Versailles in 1898 is not yet known. It seems unlikely that she presented this paper at the WWCTU conference in June.
Greek gentleman ... Feltons, Howes, Miss Calliope: The unnamed Greek gentleman has not been identified. To which Felton family Fields refers is uncertain. There were several prominent Felton families residing in Boston at the turn of the century. The same is the case with the Howes. The transcription of Calliope is uncertain; perhaps it is Callope. In any case, this person has not been identified.
Miss Palfrey: This person has not been identified. Fields was acquainted with Sarah Hammond Palfrey (1823-1914), a novelist and poet, the daughter of Massachusetts clergyman and politician, John Gorham Palfrey (1796-1881).
Miss Blaze de Bury: Anne Emilie Rose Yetta Blaze de Bury (c. 1840-1902) is the author of French Literature Today: A Study of the Principal Romancers and Essayists (Houghton Mifflin 1898). She was the daughter of Marie Pauline Rose (Stuart) Blaze de Bury (1813-1894 ). The senior Blaze de Bury was born in Scotland and moved to France at an early age. She became a writer of fiction and essays in French and in English, publishing sometimes under the name, Arthur Dudley. See also Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction p. 71 and Library of Congress.
poseuse: French: a female poser, a person pretending to be what she is not.
Dr. & Madame Maillet ... Madame Roland: Jeanne Manon Roland (1754-1793) and her husband, Jean-Marie Roland de la Platière, supported the French revolution. She died on the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. The transcription of Maillet is uncertain. Little has been learned about the Maillet couple. In Baptist reports on missions in France, Pastor A. Maillet ("formerly of the Reformed Church") and his wife are mentioned for their temperance work at Niort, a commune in western France. While it seems likely these are the people Fields met, this has not been confirmed, nor is there yet any known relation between Dr. Maillet and Madame Roland. Likewise, little information has yet been located to identify his apparently Boston-born wife. In the report of the 1898 Versailles meeting of the WWCTU, cited above, Madame Maillet is listed as a speaker. The missionary documents betray strong anti-Catholic feeling, which may help to explain Fields's curiosity about the Delzant's Catholicism and their association with presumably vocal Protestants, partisans of the "opposite" religion, like the Maillets.
Walter Savage Landor's: Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864) is remembered mainly as an English poet, though he published in a variety of genres. Rita Gollin in Annie Adams Fields says that Fields met Landor in Florence, Italy during her "grand tour" in about 1859 (28-9). Whether Landor's aphorism has been published elsewhere has not been determined.
Wagner & Madame M. Bretons: While this has not been confirmed, it seems likely Fields refers to Charles Wagner (1852-1918), a French Protestant pastor and author of inspirational books. Madame M. Bretons has not yet been identified. Possibly, however, Fields has misspelled the name. If it is "Breton," she may be referring to someone connected with the French politician and inventor, Jules-Louis Breton (1872-1940), known in France and the United States for his rationalism and anti-clericalism.
Sabatier: Fields probably refers to one of the French Protestant theologian brothers, Louis Auguste Sabatier (1839-1901) or Charles Paul Marie Sabatier (1858-1928).
M. B.: This transcription is uncertain, but presumably Fields refers to Madame Blanc.
Salvini: Tommaso Salvini (1829 -1915) was an Italian actor, who performed throughout Europe and the United States, speaking in Italian rather than in English. His most famous role was as Shakespeare's Othello. He retired in 1890.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Paris -- Continued
Paris -- Continued
[ It appears there is a missing page at this point in the diary. ]
[ Page 9 ]
in the house of Mme Claire ^de^ St. Victor, the daughter of the author of "Hommes et Dieux" "Anciens et Modernes"* etc. His work has been very precious to me. He was one of the few men who possessed true imagination and I went to his daughter's home with a sense of a "pilgrim"!
Madame Saint-Victor's mother was a sister of the great Rachel{.}* Therefore it was quite natural to be invited there to see three "petite commedies" written by friends, (unpublished) and played by friends. There were to be two representations and we were left to choose either afternoon or evening. We chose the afternoon because it involved no "toilette". We were almost the first to arrive and could choose our seats. There was only a blind man with his attendant who came earlier and was seated ^on the side^ at the extreme end close to the stage where he could hear but could not well have seen ^if he had eyes^. The hostess was very cordial. She is evidently very much attached to Th.B.* but she was occupied in making the arrangements, at the last moment it was decided to shut out the daylight. Therefore the men were putting in the electric wires while we assisted{.} Naturally the play did not begin for an hour, but as almost everybody was very late it began about as soon as the last guests were seated. It was quite a distinguished company with many Jewesses. There were gentlemen of title, there was the beautiful Madame J. M. de Herédia and her handsome daughters* though much less handsome than herself, M. Edouard Blanc* and many others whose names are well known in society here but which I could not quite understand. The very interesting Madame Coignet* went with us. She is an old woman but a woman of knowledge and serious life, a protestant, with fullness and gaiety enough for her years in her conversation, though never light. The drawing room in which the plays were given was a large room, richly hung with red damask. The hundreds of small chairs of white painted wood perhaps of the time of Louis Seize* ^now again^ in fashion had red velvet seats. The stage which was ^at^ one end of the long room on a raised platform was separated by a red damask curtain with a rich gold fringe and heavy gold cords and tassels -- at one side hung a superb Paul Veronese* which was left to Madame Claire by her father, also exquisite reliefs in wax which were his{,} perhaps by Clodion.* They were not however much "in our line" but we were at least able to appreciate their cleverness. One young woman Madame Trousseau,* daughter of Tamburini the great singer and wife of a famous oculist in Paris showed remarkable talent. We walked home in the cool sunset rejoiced to get into the light and air once more.
We found ourselves in a small but very pleasant company at the dinner table of Madam Coignet. Her son-in-law is in the government and talked
[ Page 10 ]
[ about corrected ] the changes in the parliament or the house of deputies as I should perhaps say. I thought he was more republican than the ladies. He was a man
Madame Coignet is a scholar as I have said. She has a gift we are told for history and that her books are of permanent value.
She had been reading an article on Shelley in the Revue de Paris* and for the first time in her life had been able to understand something of his genius. We enjoyed much talking about him and his poetry. It was a delightful evening and gave me a better idea of true French life at its best than I have [ seen ? corrected ] before I think. The dinner was exceedingly pretty with the best wines as usual in such houses.
Notes
Mme Claire ^de^ St. Victor, the daughter of the author of "Hommes et Dieux" "Anciens et Modernes": Paul Bins, Comte de Saint-Victor (1827- 1881) was a French critic known as Paul de Saint-Victor. His collections of essays include Hommes et Dieux (1867) and Anciens et Modernes (1886). He married the actress Sarah Félix, and their daughter was Claire de Saint-Victor (1859-1943). In 1880, she married Maxime Dreyfus.
the great Rachel: Elisabeth Félix (1821-1858), also known as Mademoiselle Rachel and the Great Rachel, was a French actress, as was her sister, Sarah Félix, mother of Claire de St. Victor. The Great Rachel is remembered in part for her affairs with prominent politicians, notably Napoleon III, President of France in 1852-1870.
Th.B.: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840-1907). Key to Correspondents.
Madame J. M. de Herédia and her handsome daughters: José-Maria de Heredia (1842 -1905) was a Cuban-born French poet. He married.Louise Cécile Despaigne (1848-1928). Their daughters were:
Marie de Régnier (1875-1963) who became a "free spirit" poet and novelist, writing under the name Gérard d'Houville.
Louise de Herédia (1878?-1930), who in 1899 married Pierre Louÿ
M. Edouard Blanc: Mme. Blanc's son. See Thérèse de Solms Blanc in Key to Correspondents.
Madame Coignet: Clarisse Joséphine Gauthier Coignet (1823-1918) was a French feminist philosopher, educator and historian. Her works include A Gentleman of the Olden Time, François de Scépeaux, sire de Vieilleville, 1509-1571 (1887). Women in Philosophy Project.
She was the second wife of François Coignet (1814-1888). They had a son and two daughters: Lucy (1850- ) who married twice, the second time to Auguste Kleine (1849-1925) and Claire (1860-1946), who married Eugène Garnier (1854-1907). French Wikipedia.
By his first marriage, François Coignet became the father of a son and one surviving daughter, Élisa Coignet (1843-1931). She married Eugène Yung (1827-1887), an author and editor.
Which of these sons-in-law is the one mentioned later is not yet certain. In 1898, Auguste Kleine was director of personnel at the Public Works Ministry, but it remains possible that Garnier or even Yung may have served the government in some capacity that year.
Louis Seize: Louis XVI (1754 -1793) was the last King of France before the French Revolution, during which he was beheaded.
Paul Veronese: Wikipedia says that Paolo Caliari, known as Paolo Veronese (1528-1588), was an Italian Renaissance painter, based in Venice, known for large-format history paintings of religion and mythology, such as The Wedding at Cana (1563) and The Feast in the House of Levi (1573).
Clodion: Claude Michel (1738-1814), known as Clodion, was a French Rococo sculptor, best known for his terracottas.
Madame Trousseau ...Tamburini: Antonio Tamburini (1800-1876) was an Italian operatic baritone. Tamburini married the contralto Marietta Gioia-Tamburini, with whom he often performed. One of their daughters was Nina Marie Ange Tamburini (1864- after 1910), who married an eminent French ophthalmologist, Dr. Armand Henri Trousseau (1856-1910).
Prince of Wales: King Edward VII (1841-1910) of the United Kingdom -- at that time the Prince of Wales -- met with Gambetta in 1880. See "King Edward and Gambetta" in the New York Times (6 August 1902), p. 1.
Shelley in the Revue de Paris: Almost certainly, Coignet was reading André Chevrillon, "La Nature dans la Poésie de Shelley," which appeared in the Revue de Paris in 1898. The essay was reprinted in his Etudes Anglaises (1901). Chevrillon (1864-1957) was a French scholar of English and the author of travel writing and literary criticism. See The Reception of P. B. Shelley in Europe edited by Susanne Schmid and Michael Rossington (2008, p. 33).
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Paris -- Continued
Paris -- Continued
[ Page 10 continued ]
16th of June 1898
After a morning of shopping we drove to Avenue Henri Martin at Passy for luncheon with Mrs. Frohlich* an American woman who made money by her able management of a large school in America and who married a Jew. She now translates for Th.B.* She lives with her daughter who married also a Jew with money though he is not living and she has not a great fortune but enough to give her one of the prettiest apartments in Paris. Mrs. F. is quite able and does better for TH. than anybody else she has happened to find although her work is not of the very best. It is almost impossible however to find anyone who possesses an admirable English style who has the time and ability and willingness to translate.
At night we went to dinner with Madame de Beaulaincourt,* a very great lady indeed. She is the daughter of the Marquis de Castellane,
[ Page 11 ]
end with, before the fruits. She has a country seat at Acosta* [ corrected from Sacosta ] where luxuries in the way of fruits, flowers and vegetables, are constantly sent to her.
Friday June 17th
We left ^Paris^ early for La Ferté expecting to
find Mme Foulon de Vaulx* at the station. She sent word
however that she would follow us on the next train and we were
not sorry. The fatigues of the three days had been too much for
Sarah* who took cold in coming from the dinner
the previous evening and and was poorly all
day. We drove in the afternoon to an interesting and decaying
chateau Mont Bise* which was a picture indeed. A more
perfect picture of old France decaying and decayed can scarcely
be found. The present descendant of the Marquis de Mont Bise
does not like the place which I can easily believe. It needs
drainage. The woods are damp and breed ferns, but for beauty
they are unrivalled. As far as the eyes can see alleys of trees
stretch, all cut "en charmilles."* The place stands high enough
but there is a lake almost on a level with the house which now
looks quite stagnant. This is only one of many houses which are
for sale in France. There seems to be nobody to buy these lovely
old estates exquisite as they are. The place inherited from
Madame Plessis by M. André de Vaul* is also to be sold -- a
place full of beauty, very large and without drawbacks such as
belong to a forsaken estate. The price is $40,000 and indeed
they would sell it for much less. Th. walked to the station at
night with M. F.de V. & came back alone.
June 18th La Ferté
[ Several deleted words ] We walked out together ^this^however [ intended to delete this
as well? ] in the afternoon. ^Sarah not feeling quite well
stayed at home. We were lost in the exquisite^
feeling and walked about five miles. It was delicious.
[ Two deleted words ] Th. went to early church but Sarah had a cold and we stayed at home. Mrs. Johnson and her daughter,* wife of the sub-editor of "[ The corrected ] Century" came to pass the day. Th. took the young lady a long country walk, showed her the house of George Ohnet, a pretty villa near here, but Mrs J. was not very well and stayed at home with us,
We enjoyed a beautiful dinner as usual in the evening with very exquisite spirits and wines send by Monsieur Blanc.* The [ Nectarines corrected ] were finer than any I ever saw.
Monday. 21st
Th.B. at work every morning until 12. Sometimes she is ^up andat^
at work at five o'clock A.M.
Two young ladies came by appointment from New Orleans, a Mrs May and Mrs Mellen* -- very bright and beautiful young women{,} one more at home with French, the other with English{,} but speaking either language [ deleted word ] with equal ease. Spanish also is common to them. We were much pleased with these bright women. Walked with them in the afternoon; and Th. walked to the station with them at night. The weather has thus far been delicious, not too warm for the most perfect enjoyments in the air all the day long.
Tuesday 22d
Warmer. Sarah still very ill with her cold. I ran out for a mile or two during the day but Th. wrote all day with few interruptions, ^except^ [ deleted word ] [ two ? ] hours at the dejeuner until nearly sundown.
Wedy --
Sarah better, not well enough yet for Meaux. Th. & I have had some very delightful walks. One day we stopped in the little village of Reuil* just beyond this place at a cottage door. She had been looking to find a cottage for a friend, a lady who wished to come and be near her for the summer and was told that Monsieur Belloni* could direct her. We found an old man over eighty ^living^ withwith one
woman to take care of him who told her as she talked with him
that he had been the private secretary of Listz.* He came a poor
boy from Italy to Paris with the idea of making his own living ^
[ by ? ]^ transcribing music, perhaps playing some
instrument or something of the kind. Listz was looking for a
secretary and he asked the person to whom Belloni had applied.
Listz took him, found him very useful, and at last one day when
he needed money [ deleted word ] Belloni told him he
played so remarkably that he would organize three concerts for
him in Belgium. It was the beginning of Listz's career. When
Belloni was asked who was to support his young pianist -- he
said, "No one, he was a genius and could support himself." It
was an unknown thing in those days ^for a pianist to give a
concert [ entirely by himself ? ]^{;} Listz, however,
made such a success that his name went far and wide to Paris and
[ advertire or adventure ? ]* three concerts
there. This was great daring, but he went to Berlioz* and one
other
[ Page 13 ]
of the great musicians there in Paris and asked them to lend their name and assistance for the first concert. But this cost money said Th.{;} not so much he replied. [ Franconi* corrected ] was my friend and he did it gladly for me. To the wife of Berliozto whom ^but give to
Berlioz's ^ { I } could not offer money I gave a
velvet dress and a diamond pin.*
We had a crowded house the first night -- for the second we advertised all the tickets sold before we had quite begun to fill the house! The result was a perfect success for the two nights and ^there was^ money enough in consequence. There began many experiences, first with Mme d'Agoult,* (who wrote long after under the name of Daniel Stern ^a story called Nelida which gives her story of Listz)* and afterward a strange affair in Russia. We had come to Moscow to play; the concerts began and a great lady, a Princess,* [ unrecognized words ]. After they were over sheasked invited Listz to her chateau
some distance away to visit her. He accepted. The secretary
went also, of course. The visit was greater [ unrecognized
word or words ] Poor Belloni was ^said
he was very^ tired ^and anxious^ with the delay, especially as
he had arranged for other concerts -- one day the Princess
said to him that she feared he found it very dull. He said yes
because business called him elsewhere. Very well, she replied
you shall go and leave Monsieur Listz with me. This appeared
inconceivable but when he asked Listz what they were to do{,}
to his chagrin and amazement Listz told him he might go to
Paris and wait for him there. We should not fulfil any other
engagements for [ this ? ] time -- There was nothing
to do but to leave under the circumstances, but [ Belloni corrected
] was asked to take charge of a young Russian lady* who
was waiting to go to Paris. This he consented to do. But
^However^ on the way on the coast of Holland
the young woman told him one day she was to take a little
boating excursion with a friend; as they were to leave for
Paris in a few hours the time looked rather short -- However
she went and never returned. She left all her money (6000 fr.)
in his hands which he later gave to her bankers in Paris.
Years after, when he was over in Italy with Listz he saw this
lady by chance. As she passed him she said "What a fool you
were not to keep the money" ------------------ These things
give one a hint of what such a life must have been. [ two
deleted words ] He ^Belloni^ had
nothing hard to say of Listz but seems to have loved him with
all his sins -- But [ What corrected
] a commentary on such a
[ Page 14 ]
career ^it is^ to find the ^faithful servant^nearly
utterly ^left^ poor except for what his old servant can give
him. [ Deleted words ] He owns thousands of letters of
Listz and portraits of the ladies and friends who surrounded
him --
Belloni evidently has all he ^positively^ requires, but some carved furniture and the articles of which I have spoken show that he has known quite another life than this in his poor cottage with his dog -- He is very cheerful and seems to have been a true friend and an honest man so far as he understood these things.
I should like to make a brief record here of Sunday June 12th atLa Ferté which was a
Fête day. There was a procession of children in the church
which was very beautiful indeed in a simple way as the people
are all peasants, or if there are any exceptions as in the
case of Th.B. they are so few as not to be perceived -- There
is a very good Cur é* here, a republican which makes him
popular and two assistants or Vicars; the nuns too which teach
the girls' schools were great helpers in the church
procession. In less modernized parts of France they build
small altars or reposons ^on this day (le Fête Dieu)*^
in front of every well-to-do house and the procession stops at
each one. The service on this occasion was all in the church.
They went to each altar for a little service. The [ fairy ?
] little girls ^drawn up on either side of the route^ [ deleted
word ] bore baskets of rose leaves which they strewed
before the feet of the priests. It was something belonging to
the far past in its origin but it is still kept up as an act
of faith. The church and the [ unrecognized word ]
educate France. certainly [ so written ] we feel
sometimes that it is done in a mistaken way. And
There is much to be said on the other side. Obedience and
manners ^however^ become a second nature to the whole nation,
^but^ the power of initiative ^in thought^ and in individual
action is of course [ deleted words ] ^a thing not to
be looked for.^ The distance is emphasized between thinkers
and leaders and the people, but the outward condition of the
poor [ deleted words ] en masse is superior to that in
other countries.
In the afternoon we walked to the little village of Reuil where the service of the first communion was performed. The church is one of the oldest mediaeval edifices. It was the chapel of the great Castellaine family when their Château was standing here and Mme de Beaulaincourt for years attended services here during the months she lived at La
Ferté.
It
is defaced by cheap modern paintings and artificial flowers,
but there is
[ Page 15 ]
one excellent picture of the old time and on the day in question the ^interior^ wasa mass of
^filled with^ real flowers so that the old place was [ deleted
word ] a living picture once more. The excellent Curé
from La Ferté told the children that their good Vicar
of whom he was very fond had invited him to come and he could
not refuse anything which would give pleasure to his friend.
His talk to the children was simple and full of feeling. He
spoke with his back to the altar while the little girls
crowned with flowers over their white veils sat in front of
him. The little church was crowded just as the larger one was
in the morning. We walked home again by the river bank. The
sun was at [ last corrected ] ready to give us all the
heat we could bear. La Ferté is very very pretty -- (To
continue this [ diary ? ])*
June 18th La Ferté
[ Several deleted words ] We walked out together ^this^
[ continued up the right margin ]
feeling and walked about five miles. It was delicious.
[ Page 11 continued ]
June 19th Sunday[ Two deleted words ] Th. went to early church but Sarah had a cold and we stayed at home. Mrs. Johnson and her daughter,* wife of the sub-editor of "[ The corrected ] Century" came to pass the day. Th. took the young lady a long country walk, showed her the house of George Ohnet, a pretty villa near here, but Mrs J. was not very well and stayed at home with us,
[ Page 12 ]
We enjoyed a beautiful dinner as usual in the evening with very exquisite spirits and wines send by Monsieur Blanc.* The [ Nectarines corrected ] were finer than any I ever saw.
Monday. 21st
Th.B. at work every morning until 12. Sometimes she is ^up and
Two young ladies came by appointment from New Orleans, a Mrs May and Mrs Mellen* -- very bright and beautiful young women{,} one more at home with French, the other with English{,} but speaking either language [ deleted word ] with equal ease. Spanish also is common to them. We were much pleased with these bright women. Walked with them in the afternoon; and Th. walked to the station with them at night. The weather has thus far been delicious, not too warm for the most perfect enjoyments in the air all the day long.
Tuesday 22d
Warmer. Sarah still very ill with her cold. I ran out for a mile or two during the day but Th. wrote all day with few interruptions, ^except^ [ deleted word ] [ two ? ] hours at the dejeuner until nearly sundown.
Wedy --
Sarah better, not well enough yet for Meaux. Th. & I have had some very delightful walks. One day we stopped in the little village of Reuil* just beyond this place at a cottage door. She had been looking to find a cottage for a friend, a lady who wished to come and be near her for the summer and was told that Monsieur Belloni* could direct her. We found an old man over eighty ^living^ with
of the great musicians there in Paris and asked them to lend their name and assistance for the first concert. But this cost money said Th.{;} not so much he replied. [ Franconi* corrected ] was my friend and he did it gladly for me. To the wife of Berlioz
We had a crowded house the first night -- for the second we advertised all the tickets sold before we had quite begun to fill the house! The result was a perfect success for the two nights and ^there was^ money enough in consequence. There began many experiences, first with Mme d'Agoult,* (who wrote long after under the name of Daniel Stern ^a story called Nelida which gives her story of Listz)* and afterward a strange affair in Russia. We had come to Moscow to play; the concerts began and a great lady, a Princess,* [ unrecognized words ]. After they were over she
career ^it is^ to find the ^faithful servant^
Belloni evidently has all he ^positively^ requires, but some carved furniture and the articles of which I have spoken show that he has known quite another life than this in his poor cottage with his dog -- He is very cheerful and seems to have been a true friend and an honest man so far as he understood these things.
I should like to make a brief record here of Sunday June 12th at
In the afternoon we walked to the little village of Reuil where the service of the first communion was performed. The church is one of the oldest mediaeval edifices. It was the chapel of the great Castellaine family when their Château was standing here and Mme de Beaulaincourt for years attended services here during the months she lived at
one excellent picture of the old time and on the day in question the ^interior^ was
Notes
Mrs. Frohlich: This person has not yet been identified.
Th.B.: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840- 1907). See Key to Correspondents.
Madame de Beaulaincourt: See Key to Correspondents.
That Madame de Beaulaincourt has known "everyone" since the time of the first Napoleon is something of an exaggeration, since Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1821, when she was about three years old. However, she does come from his time.
M. Bertin & M. Valliére: Mr. Bertin could be Alexandre Bertin (1854-1934), a French painter, or Horace Bertin (1842-1917), a journalist and poet, or someone else of that name. No one named Valliére has been identified as the other likely guest. Maurice Lefebvre-Desvallières (1857-1926) was a Parisian playwright and man of letters.
Acosta: Le Château d'Acosta -- now demolished -- was about 43 miles west of Paris at Aubergenville.
Mme Foulon de Vaulx: Whether Fields spelled "Vaulx" correctly is not clear. 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 born industrialist and historian. Alice became a translator, notably of work by Hamlin Garland.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett.
Mont Bise: The transcription is uncertain. The mountain, Mont Bise, is near Geneva, Switzerland. Nothing has yet been learned about a Marquis of Mont Bise or the family château near La Ferté sous Jouarre.
Mrs. Frohlich: This person has not yet been identified.
Th.B.: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840- 1907). See Key to Correspondents.
Madame de Beaulaincourt: See Key to Correspondents.
That Madame de Beaulaincourt has known "everyone" since the time of the first Napoleon is something of an exaggeration, since Napoleon Bonaparte died in 1821, when she was about three years old. However, she does come from his time.
M. Bertin & M. Valliére: Mr. Bertin could be Alexandre Bertin (1854-1934), a French painter, or Horace Bertin (1842-1917), a journalist and poet, or someone else of that name. No one named Valliére has been identified as the other likely guest. Maurice Lefebvre-Desvallières (1857-1926) was a Parisian playwright and man of letters.
Acosta: Le Château d'Acosta -- now demolished -- was about 43 miles west of Paris at Aubergenville.
Mme Foulon de Vaulx: Whether Fields spelled "Vaulx" correctly is not clear. 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 born industrialist and historian. Alice became a translator, notably of work by Hamlin Garland.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett.
Mont Bise: The transcription is uncertain. The mountain, Mont Bise, is near Geneva, Switzerland. Nothing has yet been learned about a Marquis of Mont Bise or the family château near La Ferté sous Jouarre.
trees ... cut "en charmilles": Refers to
trees trimmed to form hedges or alleys, as in a maze.
The place inherited from Madame Plessis by M. André de Vaul: The transcription of "Vaul" is uncertain. There is a mark after the word that could be "ex" or "t" or something else. In any case, the identities of this place and these people remains unknown. Perhaps Fields refers to the famous Château du Plessis-Bourré, which was, in fact, on the market more than once during the second half of the 19th century.
Mrs. Johnson and her daughter: Robert Underwood Johnson (1853-1937) was associate editor at The Century Magazine in 1898. His wife was Katharine McMahon (1856-1924), and their daughter was Agnes (1880-1968), who married the architect, Frank Howell Holden (1870-1937).
George Ohnet: Georges Ohnet (1848-1918) was a French novelist and editor. He lived at the Château des Bondons near La Ferté sous Jouarre.
Monsieur Blanc: While this could be Madame Blanc's son, Édouard Blanc (1858-1923), more likely she refers to Blanc's husband. See Blanc in Key to Correspondents.
Mrs May and Mrs Mellen: Mrs. May and Mrs. Mellen were regularly mentioned in the society pages of New Orleans newspapers at the turn of the 20th century, where they are described as hosting gatherings and as singing.
Reuil: Reuil-en-Brie. See Wikipedia.
The place inherited from Madame Plessis by M. André de Vaul: The transcription of "Vaul" is uncertain. There is a mark after the word that could be "ex" or "t" or something else. In any case, the identities of this place and these people remains unknown. Perhaps Fields refers to the famous Château du Plessis-Bourré, which was, in fact, on the market more than once during the second half of the 19th century.
Mrs. Johnson and her daughter: Robert Underwood Johnson (1853-1937) was associate editor at The Century Magazine in 1898. His wife was Katharine McMahon (1856-1924), and their daughter was Agnes (1880-1968), who married the architect, Frank Howell Holden (1870-1937).
George Ohnet: Georges Ohnet (1848-1918) was a French novelist and editor. He lived at the Château des Bondons near La Ferté sous Jouarre.
Monsieur Blanc: While this could be Madame Blanc's son, Édouard Blanc (1858-1923), more likely she refers to Blanc's husband. See Blanc in Key to Correspondents.
Mrs May and Mrs Mellen: Mrs. May and Mrs. Mellen were regularly mentioned in the society pages of New Orleans newspapers at the turn of the 20th century, where they are described as hosting gatherings and as singing.
Reuil: Reuil-en-Brie. See Wikipedia.
Monsieur Belloni ... private secretary of
Listz: Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a Hungarian
composer and professional musician, especially noted for his
virtuoso piano performances. Fields consistently misspells his
name in this entry. Gaëtano Belloni became his secretary and
manager in 1841. While Alan Walker in Franz Liszt: The Virtuoso Years, 1811-1847
(1987) confirms that Belloni "became the chief architect of
Liszt's performing career" (365), his account does not exactly
square with Fields's report that Belloni helped Liszt
revolutionize the practice of solo piano concerts.
Little more is known about Belloni. It is notable that Walker and the few internet sources to provide information give his life dates as 1810-1887. In that case, Fields met with a man 11 years dead.
advertire: This transcription is uncertain. Fields seems to have used an archaic spelling of the French "avertire" to mean advertised.
Franconi: Probably this is Laurent Franconi (1776-1849), son of Antonio Franconi (1738-1836), who established an equestrian theater, the Cirque Olympique, in Paris. This venue also was used for concerts in the 1840s.
to whom: Fields seems clearly to have deleted
these words, though they are essential to making her complicated
sentence work.
Little more is known about Belloni. It is notable that Walker and the few internet sources to provide information give his life dates as 1810-1887. In that case, Fields met with a man 11 years dead.
advertire: This transcription is uncertain. Fields seems to have used an archaic spelling of the French "avertire" to mean advertised.
Franconi: Probably this is Laurent Franconi (1776-1849), son of Antonio Franconi (1738-1836), who established an equestrian theater, the Cirque Olympique, in Paris. This venue also was used for concerts in the 1840s.
pin: Fields seems clearly to have ended a paragraph here, even though the next sentence continues Belloni's account of Liszt's first concert tour.
Mme d'Agoult ... Daniel Stern ... Nelida: Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult (1805-1876), was a French romantic author who published under the name, Daniel Stern. Her novel Nélida (1846) presented a fictionalized account of her five-year liaison with Franz Liszt, with whom she had 3 children.
a Princess: Though this is not certain, Belloni's description seems to fit the beginning of Liszt's relationship with Marie Catherine Sophie, Comtesse d'Agoult, who was a Russian princess.
young Russian lady: The identity of this person has not yet been determined.
Curé: French: parish priest.
le Fête Dieu: This is the feast of Corpus Christi, celebrating the real presence of the body and blood of Jesus Christ in the celebration the Eucharist, which is held on the Sunday after Trinity Sunday, approximately 60 days after Easter.
diary?: This parenthetical note appears to be have added at a later time, perhaps in pencil.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Meaux
Meaux
Took fast train in the early afternoon for Meaux, the home for 15 years of Bossuet* the great archbishop. Meaux still presents its old walls and the Marne flows through it with a rapidity like that of the Rhone at Avignon; quite unlike its quiet self at
but it was never finished. The facade has not been restored fortunately and it wears something of the look of "old care" as Th.B.* said.
Quite as interesting as the cathedral was the house of the archbishop* built in the
We spent an exquisite hour in this spot recalling the life of the great preacher. We do not feel about him as we do about F
We came away unwillingly, passing the former house of the canons,* now undergoing restoration, one of the oldest parts of the whole construction, and crossing the Marne
** a portrait of Madame Henrietta Maria is here, given to Bossuet after his wonderful funeral oration. He was her father confessor. Also there is a picture of an old Cardinal by one of the first painters of France and two other good portraits. ^by unknown artists^
Bossuet: Wikipedia says: Jacques-Bénigne Lignel Bossuet (1627-1704) "was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist." He was bishop of Meaux 1681-1704.
Th.B.: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840- 1907).
Notre Dame: Almost certainly, Fields means to compare the
house of the archbishop: The Episcopal Palace at Meaux can be viewed on the town's
visit: This insertion seems to have been added at a later time.
"Portrait of Bossuet" by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1659-1743) hangs at the Musée Bossuet in the Episcopal Palace. Wikipedia.
Information about the other portraits Fields mentions has not yet been discovered.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Rheims
Rheims
Friday June 24th.
Left La Ferté after "déjeuner" for Reims* -- passing through the famous vineyards which yield the champagne of the great world. The landscape is of wide valley fields with no variety planted with miles on miles of grape vines which grow in a dry soil [ deleted word ] looking like a mingling of stones and lime. It is one of the mysteries of creation and like the old tapestries of the Cathedral at Reims* or Bayeaux seems a survival of the past to us who must view these things from the standpoint of the
At Ay a [ unrecognized word ] [ grape ? ] is found which is delicious, very light and somewhat sweet, not unlike the vines at 'Asti' of the North of Italy. On arriving at Epernay* where we changed cars, and again at Rheims, champagne was offered at the station as red wine or water is offered elsewhere.
We went at once to the Cathedral on reaching Rheims, and stood speechless before the façade which for [ unity ? ] and completeness is almost unrivalled [ so written ]: the solid carving of the lower portion{,} the sense of magnificent wholeness and weight contrasts perfectly with the lightness and open effect of all that is above. Pictures cannot give [ a mark suggests there is another word in this space ] this but it is one of the striking features of the original. The Cathedral appears to have been finished after the designs of the architect Robert de Coucy* who did not live to see it in completion -- this was natural enough since it was one hundred years in ^re^building after the fire which destroyed the [ first corrected ] erection in 1200. [ Deleted word ] ^It seems as if^ something [ deleted word ] ^of all the^ [ untold ? ] ages ^were^ recorded in these cathedrals [ deleted words ] [ speaking ? ] [ unrecognized words ] appear like ^epitomes of^ the [ round ? ] world itself, a picture ^in [ unrecognized word ] stone of^ the life of man. As we entered hundreds of children were singing a well known hymn tune rather badly and [ the teaching or teachers ? ] [ three unrecognized words ] and to say their catechism made the
[ Page 18 ]
everyday world a very present factor while we saw where Clovis was baptised [ so written ] and gazed on the vestments used in the coronations of all the Kings of France until the very last of the Bourbons.* Tapestries decorate the walls [ several deleted words ] ^of great age. Gobelins* was [ deleted word followed by unrecognized word ] Rheims^ [ unrecognized word ] decorations they believed to be out of taste hanging below the wonderful arches which require neither pictures nor colors except the colors from the glass windows of antiquity which [ always will ? ] be the wonder and the pride of France. For splendor and beauty [ apparently an insertion or ? ] of hue there are few things to approach them. Only the upper [ ones ? ] remain. The [ construct ? ] is so great that no one needs to be told this and we could see what lessons they had given to some of the re-creations of modern glass work.
We lingered long in the old place [ deleted word ] seeing in [ front of ? ] the Cathedral a statue of [ unrecognized mark ] ^Jeanne^ d'Arc by Dubois* which at last represents the subject. It is most inspiring and lovely. At last a man of imagination has done the work! Dubois is still living. This statue [ two or three deleted words ] fills one with desire to see what else the man has done. It appears that he is a great painter as well.
Leaving the cathedral we came after some searching into a still older part of Rheims in appearance certainly a [ unrecognized word ] which has not been rebuilt and facing an antique place utterly without grass or trees we found the old church of St.-Rémy. We expected little after the Cathedral, but we found something much older, almost deserted and solemn in its antiquity. No fire has devoured the [ pillars ? ] at the bottom which looked like [ Egypt ? ]. Much of the work is of the 4th or 5th centuries{,} the upper portions of the 11th or 12th {,} there is very little later than this except the necessary restoration of [ our own ? ] time. We were quite overwhelmed by this old place where the glass also above the clere-story [ so written ] is exquisite. How it has happened that the [ unrecognized word sense ? ] of color has been so [ lost ? corrected ] during [ later years ? ] seems impossible to imagine -- it may be that
[ Page 19 ]
the materials for making the [ crude ? ] ^glass^ [ deleted words ] were no longer to be found. Now in America the [ crude ? ] glass is of exquisite quality and La Farge{,} Mrs. Whitman and Tiffany are again making beautiful the churches of the new world. Returning we dined excellently well in the "Buffet{"} at Epernay with light wine of Ay and honest food. It was ten o-clock as we walked home through the silent streets of La Ferté. There had been a fair during the day. We saw some of the last vendors setting out to the train to go home with what remained of their vegetables and goods, but the town itself was fast going to sleep. The houses and little cafés were mostly shut and there were no drunkards in the streets.
June 25th Saturday
Mary Garrett and Miss Thomas* came from Paris to pass half the day. Dear Th.* was suffering from headache but it grew better during the day -- It rained early but cleared in time for us to walk out after luncheon and gather roses.
June 26 Sunday
Th. still with headache but happy to hear that Gabrielle Delzant* had graduated with honors (the daughter of her friend who is at a convent school){.} She is expecting Mr. Graham the artist* today -- and has now gone herself to high mass. Her headache is not yet quite gone however. Monsieur Delzant & his daughter are going for a trip in Bretagne much like our own -- The mother will not go but is turning her face southward to Parys [ intended Parays ? ] in Gascoigne where the heat in summer is intense but it is her native place, the chateau belongs to her family and she is sufficiently accustomed to it not to suffer as others may do.
June 27 Monday
Came news of my dear sister Lizzy's death* on a postal card!! The telegraph failed us and reported "bien" instead of dead the fatal word. She left this world on the 15th. Thérèse and I took a long walk talking of her and of the high mysteries. The clouds hung low. The river was beautiful with its [ deleted words ] setting of green hillsides and a few
[ Page 20 ]
the heavy cloud moved away from our path (although it poured at La Ferté) and we walked swiftly home in the face of a cool blowing wind very pleasant to walk in -- In the evening, our last evening we talked much of the condition of the religious life in America and here -- of the [ dying ? ] condition of [ many ? corrected ] Protestant churches with us and of the [ opposition ? ] and state of the church here which seems good for the large number. We read Tennyson's "In Memoriam"* one [ canto ? ] [ or / & ? ] ^[ the verses ? ]^ [ to J.S. ? ] and then went early to our rooms.
June 28th
Left for Paris. [ Several deleted words ] See 20 1/2 four sheets.
[ Fields places a note on the back of page 20 indicating that she has inserted four pages beginning with 20 1/2 between the above text and the rest of page 20. ]
Cathedral at Reims ... Bayeux: Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral, and Bayeux. and the Bayeux Tapestry. The Bayeux tapestry, from the late 11th century, depicts the events of the Norman conquest of England in 1066. Fields sometimes uses the alternate spelling: Rheims.
Ay ... Epernay: Ay, Marne is a village in France, a center of French champagne production; it is near Épernay.
Robert de Coucy: Robert de Coucy (d. c. 1311) was a French master-builder from Reims, who became responsible for rebuilding the Reims Cathedral at some point after the burning of the earlier church in 1211. Presumably, Fields has been told that de Coucy's father, Robert de Coucy the elder, also a master-builder, made the plan for the new building.
Bourbons: The Gallery of Kings in the Reims Cathedral contains 56 statues of the French monarchs since Clovis I (466-511), the first king of the Franks. He was baptized in 508, on Christmas Day.
Gobelins: Wikipedia says that Gobelin is "the name of a family of dyers, who in all probability came originally from Reims,"
Dubois: Paul Dubois (1829-1905) was a French sculptor and painter. His equestrian statue of Joan of Arc, which stands in front of the Reims Cathedral, was completed between 1867 and 1877. Wikipedi.
old church of St.-Rémy: Probably Fields refers to the church of the Abbey of Saint-Remi. Wikipedia.
La Farge{,} Mrs. Whitman and Tiffany: American glass artists and craftspeople, John La Farge (1835-1910), Sarah Wyman Whitman (1842-1904) and Louis Comfort Tiffany (1848-1933). Wikipedia.
Mary Garrett and Miss Thomas: Mary Elizabeth Garrett (1854-1915). See Key to Correspondents.
Garrett's intimate friend was Martha Carey Thomas (1857-1935), an educator, suffragist and linguist, who became the second president of Bryn Mawr College.
Th.: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (1840-1907). See Key to Correspondents.
Gabrielle Delzant: Alidor (1848-1905) and Gabrielle Delzant resided in Paris and at Parays. He was a lawyer, a bibliophile, editor, and author and wrote among other works a biography of the brothers Goncourt. Gabrielle (1854-1903) was cited by Violet Paget for the "admirableness of her brains" and her "extraordinary charm of high breeding." Madame Delzant, an aspiring author, compiled extensive memoranda and rough drafts of books on Port Royal and the Princesse de Liancourt but did not live to publish them. Her husband edited Gabrielle Delzant: Letters, Souvenirs (1904). Source: Richard Cary and "Paget in Parays" by Archille H. Biron (1960). Writing in 1901, Paget notes that the Delzants had two daughters, the elder Genevieve, the younger unnamed. Presumably, the younger was named after her mother.
Mr. Graham the artist: This person remains unidentified.
Lizzy's death: Elizabeth Adams (b. 1825) died on June 15, 1898. In the manuscript, Fields appears to have deleted the second exclamation point, or perhaps to have underlined both marks. See Fields in Key to Correspondents.
Tennyson's "In Memoriam": Wikipedia says: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) "was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets." His long poem, "In Memoriam" was completed in 1849.
This passage is obscure in the manuscript, and the transcription is quite uncertain. It appears that Fields and Blanc read aloud an unspecified passage from "In Memoriam" and also an earlier Tennyson poem, "To J.S.," which is addressed to Tennyson's friend James Spedding upon the death of his brother, Edward.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Brittany
Brittany
June 8th [ intended 28th ]
Left for Paris
We put up at the Hotel "Terminus"* that we might be quite ready to leave the next morning early without the discomfort of changing the luggage from place to place. We found ourselves in luxuriously furnished rooms without light or air and it was a rainy dark afternoon{;} at best we felt as if we were in a cellar. However we had our tickets to buy for the trip and certain businesses to do and so we were content enough, but it was provoking not only to be ticketed as if
Wednesday 29th of June.
we left early{,} with the Summer sun shining at last{,} for the antique city of Vitré and Les Rochers, the château of Mme de Sévigne* which is in the vicinity. It is a long journey even by rail from Paris. Therefore we are not surprised to discover that the writer of the famous letters only took the journey nine times in the course of her life. This gives one an idea of the long years together which she must have passed at Les Rochers -- some of that time in great solitude.
It was about three o'clock of a lovely summer afternoon, one of the very few pleasant afternoons of this strange Summer when we reached Vitré. At four we took a carriage at once to drive to Les Roches about four or fives miles away over a road which even now is not of the very best. What must it have been in those old days when little care was taken of these things. The sun was still high when we stopped at the gates of the chateau and descended to ask a guide from the
[ Page 20 1/2 (2) ]
farm house close at hand. A very kind good woman came out to welcome us{,} giving us to understand that it was a pleasure rather than otherwise to welcome persons who came to visit the place. The Chateau is inhabited by an intelligent family, descendants of the old stock who have taken pride in preserving the estate as far as possible according to the old conditions. Some of the many trees are still alive which Mme de Sévigné watered and although many have died of course they are replaced and arranged in the same manner as during her lifetime. We were first carried to the chapel and showed the old and the new parts, then into the one room of the house where she wrote the letters and which is given up to her memory. The only room with the adjoining passage which strangers may enter. This room has been fitted up with the greatest care and the window looking out to the garden as she sat. Here is her bed with the truly exquisite curtains and cover embroidered by Mme de Grignan{,} also two chairs
[ Page 20 1/2 (3) ]
We drove back through the ancient streets of Vitré feeling that we were sharing the pleasures of others, not only seeing new things. In this old town Thérèse Blanc* and her mother the Comtesse d'Eu lived during the winter of 1870 (?) when the Germans occupied Paris. Few things in this [ quaintest corrected ] city of Brittainy [ so it appears ] escaped their observance and for [ quaintness corrected ] it is not to be outdone.
[ Page 20 1/2 (4) ]
Inconceivably old indeed were the houses in which the people were [ really corrected ] still living. The costumes and manners of the people suit themselves to the houses. How any corner of the earth can remain for centuries so unchanged it is difficult to believe. In some respects it is
Our inn was old enough too -- either the very same or adjoining the spot where Mme de Sévigné is likely to have rested while her servants went on to open and air the Chateau at Les Rochers. There was a lovely moon which made the night more attractive. Unhappily I was suffering with my eyes. I was not too badly off however to start away by the eight o'clock train on our way to Mont St. Michel.
[ Page 20 continued ]
July 1st
We came to Mont St. Michel
Today the sun shines and we think that summer has at last arrived. In this glorious place which is so grey and old and full of sad and
[ Page 21 ]*
war-like elements it is much to have the sunshine. There is no sea however. The high sea is to be seen only every other week the servants say which sounds much more like washing day than like the course of nature and we cannot quite explain it for ourselves. The soft gray sands wet and dry in spots with myriad reflections even under the gray sky of yesterday is a miracle of beauty. We have two little rooms adjoining in what is called the red house, with a balcony, much like a bird cage! The top of an old plane tree full of birds is just outside and a fig tree heavy with figs just [ beyond corrected ] in a sheltered corner. The silence is perfect -- the voices of children -- an occasional bell -- now & then the chatter of servants -- this is all{.} There are only 200 souls living in the entire place. We long to stay here and gradually learn it and love it. The abbey which crowns the summit of the wonderful rock is one of the most splendid monuments of the middle ages. The State of France has now taken it in charge and it is undergoing repairs. The untouched portions ^are^ of course most profoundly interesting. Nine hundred persons once occupied this [ now empty ? ] shell -- The family, supported by both church and state{.}
July 2d
Still at Mont St. Michel. It is such a beautiful place. Last night we descended to the street [ after dinner ? ] where the kitchen is of the famous hotel here and sat in a little sort of open café opposite whither we beckoned Madame Poulard for a talk. We found [ her ? ] as intelligent in conversation as in appearance, a most delightful [ creature ? ]. She said that Bishop Potter* sent her a book one day in [ remembrance ? ], which evidently had been a source of [ pride ? ] & pleasure{.} We live here up in the air. The top of the abbey is about 650 feet & [ unrecognized words ] must be about half way
[ Page 22 seems to be missing.war-like elements it is much to have the sunshine. There is no sea however. The high sea is to be seen only every other week the servants say which sounds much more like washing day than like the course of nature and we cannot quite explain it for ourselves. The soft gray sands wet and dry in spots with myriad reflections even under the gray sky of yesterday is a miracle of beauty. We have two little rooms adjoining in what is called the red house, with a balcony, much like a bird cage! The top of an old plane tree full of birds is just outside and a fig tree heavy with figs just [ beyond corrected ] in a sheltered corner. The silence is perfect -- the voices of children -- an occasional bell -- now & then the chatter of servants -- this is all{.} There are only 200 souls living in the entire place. We long to stay here and gradually learn it and love it. The abbey which crowns the summit of the wonderful rock is one of the most splendid monuments of the middle ages. The State of France has now taken it in charge and it is undergoing repairs. The untouched portions ^are^ of course most profoundly interesting. Nine hundred persons once occupied this [ now empty ? ] shell -- The family, supported by both church and state{.}
July 2d
Still at Mont St. Michel. It is such a beautiful place. Last night we descended to the street [ after dinner ? ] where the kitchen is of the famous hotel here and sat in a little sort of open café opposite whither we beckoned Madame Poulard for a talk. We found [ her ? ] as intelligent in conversation as in appearance, a most delightful [ creature ? ]. She said that Bishop Potter* sent her a book one day in [ remembrance ? ], which evidently had been a source of [ pride ? ] & pleasure{.} We live here up in the air. The top of the abbey is about 650 feet & [ unrecognized words ] must be about half way
Presumably this page would recount their departure from Mont-Saint-Michel. On p. 23, they seem already to have arrived at St. Malo, though at the top of the page, Fields seems to be speaking of Mont-Saint-Michel. ]
Notes
Hotel "Terminus": A hotel next to a train station in France.
caravanserais: Roadside inns for commercial travelers along Asian and North African trade routes, especially along the Silk Road.
Mme de Sévigne: Fields appears inconsistent about placing accents over the "e's" in Sévigné. I have rendered what I see.
Wikipedia says Marie de Rabutin-Chantal, marquise de Sévigné ( 1626 -1696) "was a French aristocrat, remembered for her letter-writing. Most of her letters, celebrated for their wit and vividness, were addressed to her daughter. She is revered in France as one of the great icons of French 17th century literature."
Her daughter, Françoise, married François Adhémar de Monteil, Comte de Grignan.
portrait of Mme de Sevigné by Mignard: According to Wikipedia, Pierre Mignard (1612-1695) achieved a reputation as a popular but uninspired portrait painter. He produced a portrait of Sévigné as well as of her daughter.
Thérèse Blanc: See Key to Correspondents.
Fields refers to the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1. Wikipedia says that Paris fell to the Prussians on 28 January 1871 after a siege that began on 19 September 1870.
Fougéres: From Vitré to Mont-Saint-Michel on the coast of Brittany via Fougéres is about 75 km.
Pontorson: A town near Mont-Saint-Michel.
Madame Poulard: Anne Boutiaut (1851-1931) a French chef specializing in omelets at her hotel at Mont-Saint-Michel, La Mère Poulard. In 1898, she would have turned 47.
Celia Thaxter: Celia Laighton Thaxter (1835- 1894). Key to Correspondents.
Salle à Manger: French: dining room.
Page 21: A mostly unreadable note is penciled into the top margin of the microfilmed copy of this page. It begins "turn back." Presumably this is to instruct the reader that this page follows from page 20 of the diary rather than from the four inserted pages that precede this one.
Bishop Potter: Episcopal Bishop of New York, Henry Codman Potter (1834-1908). Wikipedia.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Brittany continued
Brittany continued
[ missing text ] that more travellers do not stay here for the sea and quiet -- There is a surface bustle of persons who come and go daily but one could be very quiet here. We have stayed as long as possible and leave with the greatest regret.
When we walked out to the omnibus on the long road built like a break water above the sands only a few years ago (previously the whole world if it wished to come here must wait for the tide) we found such a strong sea wind blowing that we took shelter at first under the walls of the "Mont" until the horses appeared, for it looked as if we should be blown off otherwise. When we reached the vehicle which is kept at a safe distance we could not tell why, we found the curtains were down and we [ crept ? ] in quite comfortably. Two English ladies then came walking [ up ? ] who could not speak a word of French and did not know what to do or where to go, so we took them under our wing as it were and put them safly [ intended safely ] on their way to Dinard* where they were to pass the night while
[ Page 24 ]
we [ stayed at corrected ] St. Malo. I have seldom seen more helpless craft beating about on the sea!
St. Malo. Sunday. [ July 3 ]
An interesting little fortified place and a good old hotel de France at Chateau Malo){.})* While we were walking yesterday P.M. my eyes seemed so seriously affected that we consulted an oculist [ deleted word ] Dr. [ Ellenphous ? ]* who found they were in a bad condition and prescribed cocaine, compresses (hot) and rest at once. So all day Sunday we devoted ourselves to the eye{,} dear S.O.J. getting and doing everything -- By night when the doctor came again he said [ I ? ] was doing well and we could go on which gave us great joy --
We could see the tomb of Chateaubriand* from our window. It is on the outer side of an island, a spot for which he asked and which was in full view of our windows. In the course [ of the ? ] day too we [ saw corrected ? ] the room which was occupied by him in this hotel with its old furniture -- still elegant and sunny and airy.
Monday Morning [ July 4 ]
Left St Malo in black [ spectacles ? ] by ferry for Dinard -- a lovely modern watering place standing high on the pretty shore overlooking river and sea. The climate is said to be as equable as the views are exquisite. It is
[ Page 25 ]
not a place to detain the travler [ so written ] except for rest and refreshment but it must be a perfect summer resort and as such is greatly appreciated.
The afternoon found us at Dinan one of the old Breton towns very pretty as well as unheard of. The river Rance is here most lovely{.}
Tuesday Morning [ July 5 ]
Left [ Dinan ? ] for Tréguier -- * Found our [ England ? ] ladies at the station. It was a day of omnibus trains and waits and we took luncheon together out of doors under an arbor at a small town called [ Lamballe ? ]* but in the P.M. we parted again at [ Guingamp ? ]* -- they to see the place [ the intended that ? ] night and return [ later ? ] to Dinan. In [ Pontrieux ? ] the station beyond G- we found a most comfortable Diligence* in which we drove 10 miles to Tréguier where we passed the night{.}
Tréguier -- We found ourselves a hotel overlooking the principal street -- paved from side to side with rough stones over which donkeys, and men women or children in wooden shoes passed in endless procession. Every afternoon they carried
[ Page 26 ]
doubt if any lady had found her way there, unless possibly Madame Darmestetter who went on a pilgrimage to Tréguier before writing her life of Renan.* After our long journey we did not venture out in the evening but after a dinner in a queer old stone dining hall opening on the street where all the children could pause and rest their hands on the bars and gaze at us to their fill, and where we could in return become acquainted with the faces of all who passed. The morning was fresh but the sun as we found, was not enough when we walked in good season to the market place close to the Cathedral. No place at this moment in France can give a more unchanged picture of peasant life. Tréguier is away from railroads, it has little to distinguish it except the astounding age and beauty of its Cathedral and
[ Page 27 ]
and stayed to say their prayers, others who were selling found someone to take their place that they might not lose their chance -- There were few men or women who came to the market and returned without visiting the old place.
Leaving the cathedral we went in search of the birthplace of Renan. There is a stone upon the house with an inscription. The town is evidently subdued on the whole to Romanism; therefore it was with some surprise that we saw the stone. There is an old bakery or shop in the street where still live the daughters and granddaughters of Renan's former neighbours and friends. The character of the place cannot have changed very much since his day. It is perhaps a little less clean, a little less flourishing, but it was always a very modest abode. The granddaughter showed us his room and his study and showed us letters he had written to her mother when her mother the friend of Renan's mother died. They were full of kindness and deep feeling for these humble friends of his youth. Then we went into the tiny garden where there was a wide pleasant prospect and fresh air. How often
[ Page 28 ]
that they were no longer moved by the
We left town in the afternoon by diligence -- it was apparently the only method. Peasants & soldiers one of the latter drunk were our companions, but on the back seat with us was a little boy who had just finished his school term and was going home to a small village a few miles beyond for vacation. He was a good little fellow if not over bright and I could see through him what Renan's life was at the school. He was learning English. What book do you read I asked? [ Deleted word At first he could not remember but when I asked him what it was about he said; "What iss Got "What iss Got"{.}* It was evidently a little book of religious essays. We watched the little chap walk away in his wooden shoes and knapsack toward his home and we could fancy him eating his supper presently with his family. Renan's life went on in the same lines and we knew his history from how we parted with our small friend as we never could have done without our brief visit to Tréguier.
From Lanion [ intended Lannion ] where we left the Diligence was a railway trip of a few hours to Morlaix* where we found a very good hotel and a nice dinner when we arrived at nine o'clock in the evening. There were not too many visitors ^so^
[ Page 29 ]
of course more or less a ruin but preserved with great care as it is. The people confused the Duchess Anne with their Saint Anne and keep her memory and traditions as if they belonged to the church, but the history of the duchess belongs to France as marking ^one^ of her most interesting epochs{,} that of the union of the great duchy of Bretagne with the kingdom forever. Of course, there are many other houses of the same period in Morlaix{,} all of them more or less elaborate and there is one which ^must have^ vied with the house of the duchess in splendor. It seems to have belonged to one of the wealthy burghers of that time. We walked about the old place until we were very tired, going into its noble old churches, observing its great viaduct across the river valley, watching the people until it was time to return to déjeuner. We were warm as well as tired but after a comfortable rest and excellent luncheon, the latter being the rule and not the exception in France, we took the train in the afternoon for St. Pol de Léon and Roskoff * -- It was a perfect summer day. Reaching Roskoff between three and four when it was still warm we [ climbed ? ] upon the terrace of a quaint hotel overlooking the sea and sat an hour watching the people and the stones and sands which the tide had left, looking out on the beautiful summer ocean and [ the island near us ? ] -- The place itself is old and poor with a beautiful church close to the hotel to which we presently wandered with votive ships upon the walls, and other tributes of those who go down to the sea in ships.* The place was so wild and so little known yet with a sufficient harbor, that it was chosen [ unrecognized word ] as a spot on which to land unobserved persons of distinction.
[ Page 30 ]
and women who hold it. We have no station except that of children of the most high and the followers of Christ -- all else belongs to the broad way of [ deleted letters ] worldliness and destruction. When shall [ we ? ] learn to use our time and money to this one great end, to further his life, his teaching in this world. Only this can lead to peace and happiness --
We drove back as the afternoon lengthened to St. Pol de Léon where there are two superb churches. It is a very small town but the churches which make its character and distinguish it are kept up well. They are of the very oldest time and the chief spire is tall enough to be seen at a great distance. Here also one feels the fresh sea wind. This is a place not to be forgotten, being of great age and extraordinary picturesqueness & we lingered about here until a late train before returning to [ Morlaix to sleep ? ].
Notes
Dinard: A coastal village in Brittany.
Chateau Malo){.}): The end parenthesis clearly appears at this point, but its purpose is mysterious. Wikipedia says that the Chateau of Saint-Malo now houses the town museum.
Ellenphous: This seems to be what Fields wrote, but it is such an unlikely name, and no information about such a person has been discovered.
tomb of Chateaubriand: Wikipedia says: François-René (Auguste), vicomte de Chateaubriand (1768 -1848), "was a French writer, politician, diplomat and historian who is considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature." His tomb is on the island, Le Grand Bé, off the coast of St. Malo.
Dinan: A walled town in Brittany.
Tréguier: A port town in Brittany.
Lamballe: This transcription is uncertain, but the village of Lamballe is on the route from Dinan to Tréguier, which is journey of about 117 km.
Guingamp: This transcription is uncertain, but the village of Guingamp is on the route from Dinan to Tréguier.
Pontrieux: Though uncertain, this transcription almost certainly is correct. The village of Pontrieux is on a possible route from Guingamp to Tréguier.
Diligence: In continental Europe, a diligence is a kind of stage coach.
Adam: See the story of Adam and Eve in the first five chapters of Genesis in the Bible.
Madame Darmestetter ... Renan: Wikipedia says: Agnes Mary Frances Robinson (1857-1944) was known as "Agnes-Marie-François Darmestetter after her first marriage, and Agnes Mary Frances Duclaux after her second." She "was a poet, novelist, essayist, literary critic, and translator." Her Life of Ernest Renan appeared in 1898. Wikipedia also says: Joseph Ernest Renan (1823-1892) "was a French expert [ in ] Semitic languages and civilizations (philology), philosopher, historian, and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany. He is best known for his influential historical works on early Christianity...." Renan was born in Tréguier; his older sister, Henriette, became a teacher and moved to Paris.
Got: The middle quotation mark in the boy's answer seems unnecessary.
Morlaix: Tréguier to Morlaix in west Brittany is about 60 km.
Anne of Bretagne: Wikipedia says: Anne of Brittany (1477-1514) was Duchess of Brittany and became queen consort of France when she married Charles VIII.
Saint Anne is revered as the mother of St. Mary and the grandmother of Jesus.
St. Pol de Léon and Roskoff: Saint Pol-de-Léon and Roscoff are French towns northwest of Morlaix, about 20 and 30 km, respectively. Fields appears to have written "Lion" rather than "Léon" throughout, though this is not certain. I have transcribed this as "Léon."
votive ships ... sea in ships: A votive ship is a ship model displayed in a church. Psalm 107: 23-4 reads: "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep."
Mary Queen of Scots: Mary, Queen of Scots (1542-1587), also known as Mary Stuart, was a Catholic rival to the Protestant Elizabeth I, Queen of England and Ireland (1533-1603), Mary was kept safe in France during her childhood. Eventually Elizabeth countenanced the imprisonment and execution of Mary.
Napoleon ...his Empress: As Fields specifies events of her own time, she probably refers to Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (1808-1873), President of France from 1848 to 1852 and, as Napoleon III, the Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. His wife was Eugénie du Derje de Montijo.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman
St. Malo, 3rd July [ 1898 ].*
I have been wishing to write to you ever since the day I went
to Rheims from La Ferté because I feel a little as if I had
almost seen you there. Whether a little wind that blew against
you when you were there is still flickering among the [ pillars
corrected ] of the cathedral or not, who can say! but I
think we went in together and I found something of you at every
turn. It was a surprise of companionship with all that surprise
of beauty and strange solemnity which made me feel as if I had
never seen
[ Page 2 ]
a cathedral -- even a French cathedral before -- -- Dear friend
I went at one step much nearer to you than ever before and who
shall say why? It will be all the same and hardly the less dear
even if you say that Rheims was the one great cathedral* that
you missed: but I do not think so.
------ Since then we have spent the last days of our visit at
La Ferté, and one night in Paris and then started westward to
spend a fortnight or so in Brittany before Mary & Theodore*
come to Paris. First we continued the Madame de Sévigné
pilgrimage by going to Vitré to see Les Rochers,*
[ Page 3 ]
where she lived so much and wrote so many of her letters. I
feel now as if I knew her very well that dear lady -- and as if
her old orange trees were mine and the pretty echo in the
garden. "She is always new like the spring" as Edward Fitzgerald
wrote once.* Vitré itself is an enchanting old town and the
green country most beautiful about it -- it was a day of great
white clouds like one day when you saw the Hamilton house!*
-------- As for St. Malo, I should think it more pleasant if we
were not kept here by A.F.* having an attack of rheumatism in
her eye* which pounced upon
[ Page 4 ]
her just before we went to Mount St. Michel* (from Vitré) but was not bad enough there to prevent our doing what we wished and thinking "the mount" a most perfectly satisfying place: even after all [ we corrected ] had read and heard of it we could not believe our own eyes when they saw such beauty -- not only the mount itself but the wide gray sands with their [ deleted word ] ribbon of sea water and the rushing tides. I think that we should have lingered a good while if it were not for this poor eye which happily a very good oculist is taking care of now -- but not saying whether it will be well enough to go on tomorrow as we[ Page 5 ]
hope. You will know what a shock of sadness and sorrow [ must
corrected ] have come with the news of dear Miss [ corrected
from Mrs ] Lizzie Adams's death* -- she was very near to
A.F's heart, and very dear -- they were born to be near to each
other always, but time and fate have brought things to be
otherwise -- of which things it is no good to speak. Poor A.F.'s
cry to me that if she "could only have had dear S.W. make a
little sketch of Sister Lizzie's face", with that sweet and
quiet look she loved best would have gone to your heart as it
did to mine, but after all I think there is great comfort in
thinking of that gentle soul's being at rest, she was much
[ Page 6 ]
less strong when I last saw her and more years would have
brought her more feebleness and the difficulties of age. I think
that Annie feels this very strongly & takes comfort from it,
but she has felt the sudden news very much. -----
We have not got to Touraine yet. Madame
Blanc* said that she could go a little later which will be very
nice, and so we are waiting until my sister & Theodore get
here-- we shall have some good days at the little inn at Amboise
[ appears to have written Amboisa ] I hope and all
along the way. You can picture to
[ Page 7 ]
yourself the arrival of Mr. Theodore in Paris and his first
hasty expedition down the Champ Elysees in a fiacre* it is
always a great and surprising moment to a young person. Bertram
Greene* and he are in league about meeting and I suppose there
are great plots. I am going out to La Ferté again when they come
but whether rustic scenes and the [ quilt ? ] of the
walled garden prove very enticing I now doubt. Darling, I am in
such a hurry to get a letter from you that it seems as if I
[ Page 8 ]
could not wait two minutes longer. It seems a great while since
your last most dear one came about going to Berwick but it
really [ is written over so ? ] not, counting by
days. I think of you oh so often! -----
And end this letter with love as I began
it.
S. O. J.
Notes
St. Malo: Wikipedia
says: "Saint-Malo ... is a walled port city in Brittany in
northwestern France on the English Channel. It is a
sub-prefecture of the Ille-et-Vilaine."
La Ferté: Wikipedia says: "La Ferté-sous-Jouarre is a commune in the Seine-et-Marne département in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. Here was the birthplace and home of Thérèse Blanc (1840-1907). See Key to Correspondents.
Rheims ...great cathedral: Wikipedia
says: "Notre-Dame de Reims (Our Lady of Reims) is the seat of
the Archdiocese of Reims, where the kings of France were
crowned. The cathedral replaced an older church, destroyed by
fire in 1211, that was built on the site of the basilica where
Clovis was baptized by Saint Remi, bishop of Reims, in AD 496.
That original structure had itself been erected on the site of
some Roman baths. A major tourism destination, the cathedral
receives about one million visitors annually."
Mary & Theodore: Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
Madame de Sévigné ... Vitré ... Les Rochers: Marie de
Rabutin-Chantal, Marquise de Sévigné (1626-1696). Her
correspondence with her daughter, more than 1500 letters, was
published between 1725 and 1734. Vitré
"is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department in Brittany in
northwestern France."
The Château des Rochers-Sévigné, according to
Spotting
History, "was the estate of the Mathefelon family from the
12th century, before being passed by marriage to the Sévigné
family in 1410. The family rebuilt the château in the early 16th
century. Between 1644 and 1690, Madame de Sévigné stayed here
and refurnished the house. She gave names to the paths through
the gardens and in 1689 her son commissioned the French Gardens
from Le Nôtre...." The château is now a museum.
"She is always new like the spring," ...Edward Fitzgerald:
Edward Fitzgerald (1809-1883), English poet and translator, best
known perhaps for his translation of The Rubaiyat of Omar
Khayyam. A search of Letters and Literary Remains of
Edward Fitzgerald (1889) does not yield this precise
quotation. Fitzgerald came to admire Madame de Sévigné's
letters, speaking often of them in letters after 1875, and
quoting her in what the editor believes was the last letter of
Fitzgerald's life. In a letter of May 8, [ 1881 ], Fitzgerald
wrote, "I am got back to my Sévigné! who somehow returns to me
in Spring, fresh as the Flowers."
Mont St.-Michel: Wikipedia says: "Le Mont-Saint-Michel ... is an island commune in Normandy, France. It is located about one kilometre (0.6 miles) off the country's northwestern coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches." Perhaps the most impressive feature of the island is Mont Saint Michel Abbey.
A. F. Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
rheumatism in her eye: In A Treatise on Rheumatism (1840), John Edward Norton describes these symptoms: severe pain, copious tearing, restricted movement of the eye requiring one to turn one's head, discolored white of the eye, sometimes accompanied by gastric and intestinal distress (p. 63).
Lizzie Adams's death: See Annie Adams Fields in Key to Correspondents. Elizabeth Adams was her older sister.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc . See Key to Correspondents.
fiacre: a four-wheeled, horse-drawn hackney coach for hire.
Bertram Greene: This may be Bertram William Batchelder Greene (1878-1909). He completed a degree at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1902. Though this has not been established, it seems likely he was related to Jewett's early friend, Bessie/Elizabeth Willard Greene (1846-1875), daughter of (1819-1878) and Anna Blake Shaw (1817-1901), sister of the wealthy Boston businessman and art collector, Quincy Adams Shaw (1825-1908). Elizabeth became a benefactor of the New England Hospital for Women and Children and was lost in the sinking of the SS Schiller off the coast of the Scilly Isles in 1875.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge. MA: Whitman, Sarah (Wyman) 1842-1904, recipient. 25 letters; 1892-[ 1900 ] & [ n.d. ]. Sarah Orne Jewett additional correspondence, 1868-1930. MS Am 1743.1 (126). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Transcription
Annie Fields included part of this letter in Letters of Sarah Orne Jewett (1911). Her transcription follows.
I have been wishing to write to you ever since the day I went to Rheims from La Ferté, because I feel a little as if I had almost seen you there. Whether a little wind that blew against you when you were there, is still flickering among the pillars of the cathedral or not, who can say! but I think we went in together and I found something of you at every turn. It was a surprise of companionship, with all that surprise of beauty and strange solemnity which made me feel as if I had never seen a cathedral -- even a French cathedral -- before. Dear friend, I went at one step much nearer to you than ever before, and who shall say why? It will be all the same and hardly the less dear, even if you say that Rheims was the one great cathedral that you missed.
Since then we have spent the last days of our visit at La Ferté, and one night in Paris, and then started westward to spend a fortnight or so in Brittany before Mary and Theodore come to Paris. First we continued the Madame de Sévigné pilgrimage by going to Vitré to see Les Rochers, where she lived so much and wrote so many of her letters. I feel now as if I knew her very well, that dear lady, and as if her old orange trees were mine and the pretty echo in the garden. "She is always new like the spring," as Edward Fitzgerald wrote once. Vitré itself is an enchanting old town, and the green country most beautiful about it, -- it was a day of great white clouds, like one day when you saw the Hamilton house!
We went to Mont St.-Michel from Vitré, and found it a most perfectly satisfying place; even after all we had read and heard of it, we could not believe our own eyes when they saw such beauty -- not only the mount itself, but the wide grey sands with their ribbon of sea-water and the rushing tides.Sarah Orne Jewett to Georgina Halliburton
Dinan, Brittany
July 4th ---- [ 1898 ]
My dear GeorgieJuly 4th ---- [ 1898 ]
I have been to see the Chateau of La Garaye today! and you will believe that I thought of you a great deal and of those dear days when we used to read the poem* together. You must put these leaves into your copy, and I am bringing you home a photograph which I am sure you will like. I found by the guide
[ Page 2 ]
books that it was only a very few miles from Dinan where we were to spend the night, and I have had such a pleasant drive there through shady country roads with high hedgerows, and then turning into a long avenue through high woods. The Chateau* is all in ruins, but you trace many of the walls and even the rooms and the exquisite old tower of which there is a little picture on the title page
[ Page 3 ]
of the book, is still standing though it looks fragile and as if a wind might blow it over.
There are remains of old gardens & farm buildings of a newer date, but it is such a sweet place still. I thought of you so many times, and Mrs. Fields* liked it as much as I did.
I have been hoping for another letter from you, but it was so pleasant to hear of your coming to Berwick through ^one of^ Mary's* last letters. I am thinking
[ Page 4 ]
all the time that she and Theodore* sail this week and I can hardly wait to see them, as you will believe.
Mrs. Fields sends love -- the other night she was so enthusiastic about the last slippers you made, which she brought new on this journey -- saying that nobody could believe the comfort she was taking in them! --- Give my love to "Auntie", and to Cora* when you see her. Forgive this letter which I have had to write in haste -- but I shall have much more to say about The Lady's house when I see you.
Yours most affectionately
Sarah
Sarah
Notes
the poem: Jewett refers to The Lady of La Garaye (1862) by the British poet and social reformer, Caroline Elizabeth Sarah (Mrs. George) Norton (1808-1877). Wikipedia.
The Google Books edition includes the illustration of the tower that Jewett mentions
Chateau: The ruin of the Chateau la Garaye is in Brittany, near Dinan.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Theodore: Jewett's nephew, Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
"Auntie", ... Cora: Auntie remains unidentified. See Cora Clark Rice in Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (260).
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
July 5, 1898.
The window was up, and I saw some things to do to it (not
crucial things, but those which would make a better balance when
all was done) and then I felt dissolved and empty and undone.
Indeed in some ways I feel so still, and if I could have done
exactly as I felt I should have gone straight out somewhere . .
. to-morrow I fly to Niagara for one long solitary look at that
Altar.* Well, it was shown for Class Day and again at
Radcliffe's Committee, and at half-past ten on Wednesday when
the President entered and walked gloriously between the rows of
students lined up on either side, when he did this the curtain
was swiftly withdrawn and the gift was in the hands of the
College. . . . If some of those youths care a little, I shall
have had my day. . . . I feel in spite of the dust and ashes to
which I have confessed a sort of landscape passion which always
surges up about this time, and makes havoc with my composure.
Perhaps there'll be little opportunities, and there is always
room for looking into the night and watching for the morning.
Notes
the window was up... the Altar ... Radcliffe's Committee
... the President: Whitman appears to refer to ceremonies
for the Brimmer window, recently installed in the
South Transept of Memorial Hall at Harvard. See below,
Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett July 17, for the High Altar of the
Niagara River. Which Radcliffe Committee Whitman refers to is
uncertain; at this time, she was chair of the House Committee.
Charles William Eliot (1834-1926) was the current president of
Harvard.
This transcription appears in Letters, Sarah Wyman
Whitman. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1907, "Letters to Sarah
Orne Jewett: 1882-1903," pp. 61-109.
Fields Diary
Brittany continued
Brittany continued
[ 9 July ]
The next day we reached Brest in time for luncheon and to look about the great city but left again in the afternoon for the pleasure of sleeping at Quimper.* Quimper
[ Page 31 ]
niece of the landlady was dying and all night long we were fancying the last sad offices. We decided that we could not remain of course and must take the early morning stage back -- giving up Belle Isle and striking for Carnac.* It was a great disappointment, but when I ran down to the shore in the morning under a cold grey sky and in the face of a tiresome wind,
Sunday Morning ^10th of July^
In very good season we found ourselves at Carnac. The railway journey up the peninsula was a short one and we found quaint old carriages ready to take us about all day{;}
[ Page 32 ]
great prehistoric stones are proof of this. While we were at luncheon who should come in as regular inhabitants of the hotel with Miss Alice Curtis and Miss Olivia Bowditch!!* They had travelled 500 miles on their bicycles beside many long railroad rides before arriving at this spot which they found as interesting as we did. They had been there some weeks. They said their room was to them an ideal place!! How glad we should have been to pause there also but we were expecting Mary Jewett and Theodore* from England on the 20th and we felt eager to give them a cordial reception in Paris. So after déjeuner, bidding our friends farewell with reluctance, we sallied forth to see the wonders of Carnac. We had already seen some of the marvellous stones before breakfast{,} walking through the long lines of solemn upright monuments which stretch away for miles in the sombre landscape blown by the sea winds. We had seen enough to be filled with their wonder and to wish to know more; so we went at once to the Musée -- on our way we were joined by an interesting looking man in peasants' dress who proved to be Mr. Rousic who was a boy when Mr. Milne* the English archeologist first found his way to this place. Mr. M. found him so intelligent that he took him with him{,} helped him to study and in the end made him guardian of the museum{,} which he was able to create in Carnac. Nothing in our journey has made a deeper impression upon us than this young man and his museum and the history of Mr. Milne. We were able to obtain through him some knowledge of what we had seen. At length it is proved that these long lines were an ancient burial place; the tall monoliths were commemorative pillars for various purposes probably sometimes in memory of brave men{,} sometimes of battles; in fact they were erected as we raise columns in our own day-- but the proofs of these things the study [ several unrecognized words ]: the absorbing pleasure of this research into the lives of pre-historic races animates this man as it has animated learned men of all ages and he has [ himself in spite of his ? ]
[ Page 33 ]
small opportunity become a man who can take his place among the [ deleted word ] ^savants^ of his time. I hope we may be able with the help of the ladies who have been there so much longer to encourage him by making him known among his peers.
The afternoon was full of interest, driving on to visit other monuments with which the shore was covered; even some of the islands in the Morbihan contain the most famous of all. We had intended to go to G
Monday 11th
We took the train for Nantes which Sarah wished to see because Paul Jones sailed away from there and if she writes his story as she hopes to do she will like to have seen the Loire before it sinks into the sea.* We found Nantes unexpectedly interesting with a noble old Cathedral{,} [ long deletion which may read: the beautiful river running through it ] ^with the monument [ a second insertion which may read renaissance ]* to Anne of Brittany and a modern monument by Dubois to Gen. La Moricière.* These two monuments on the opposite sides of the cathedral are of excessive beauty and quite worthy of coming to Brittany to see. They are in strong contrast, though both very noble. The latter has the fault, which is the fault of the architect, not the artist Dubois{,} of being too high for its situation. It is very difficult to gather a full idea of it ^but we found [ several unrecognized words ] ^ -- We took a good nights sleep before starting to see [ even corrected from every ? ] the Cathedral and we spent the next day until perhaps three o'clock
[ Page 34 ]
in seeing the monuments and driving by the side of the Loire to get the best possible idea of the river which is exquisite here -- ^We went back to see the noble renaissance tomb erected by A. of B. to her parents. We could not bear to [ leave ? ] it.
Notes
Brest: An important seaport city in Brittany
Quimper: A village in Brittany about 70 km south and east from Brest.
Douarmenez ... Pont-Aven: Pont-Aven is a village in Brittany. Douarmenez is another village, between Brest and Pont-Aven; however this transcription is only a guess, the name of a village in the area that resembles what Field has written.
Quiberon: This coastal town in Brittany is about 125 km east and south from Quimper.
Belle Isle ... Carnac: Belle Île is on the island of Bangor, about 20 km by sea south of Quiberon. Carnac is a coastal village off the Quiberon peninsula north of Quiberon. At Carnac is a stone circle from the late stone age or early bronze age.
poor royalists: The Wikipedia article on Quiberon explains that the town was the site of an attempted Royalist exiles' invasion, aided by the British, against the French Revolution in July 1795. A statue in the town of the winning General, Lazare Hoche, commemorates the revolutionary victory.
Morbihan: The Gulf of Morbahan, east of the town of Carnac.
Miss Alice Curtis and Miss Olivia Bowditch: Alice May Curtis (1871-1961) was a photographer. Curtis lived with Olivia Yardley Bowditch (1842-1928) in the Bowditch family home at 506 Beacon Street until about 1908. The couple traveled often in Europe, where Curtis took photos. Bowditch was the daughter of Dr. Henry Ingersoll Bowditch (1808-1892), Harvard Professor of Clinical Medicine, and Olivia Jane Yardley (1816-1890). The family was deeply involved in various reforms, including abolition and woman suffrage.See Find-a-Grave and Wikipedia.
Mary Jewett and Theodore: Mary Rice Jewett, older sister of Sarah Orne Jewett, and Theodore Jewett Eastman, their nephew. See Key to Correspondents.
Rousic ... Mr. Milne: James Miln (1819-1881), a Scottish antiquary, excavated various sites in Brittany including at Carnac in the 1860s. He took as an assistant the young Zacharie le Rouzic (1864-1939). After Miln's death, his brother, Robert, helped establish the J. Miln Museum in Carnac, where Rouzic became director. Rouzic is the author of The Megalithic Monuments of Carnac and Locmariaquer; their Purpose and Age (1908).
G
Auray: Auray is about 14 km northeast of Carnac.
Nantes ... Sarah ... Paul Jones ... Loire: Nantes, about 130 km east and south of Auray, is a major port city in Brittany on the River Loire. John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was a Scottish immigrant to the British American colonies who became the first well-known naval commander in the American Revolutionary War. He became a main character in Sarah Orne Jewett's final novel, The Tory Lover (1901).
Anne of Brittany ... Dubois to Gen. La Moricière: Wikipedia says: Anne of Brittany (1477-1514) was Duchess of Brittany and became queen consort of France when she married Charles VIII. It seems there is not a monument to Anne of Brittany in the Nantes Cathedral, though there is a monument to her parents that she commissioned. It seems clear that Jewett, Fields, and perhaps others, interpreted one of the figures at the corners of the tomb to represent Queen Anne, though they were meant to represent the cardinal virtues: Justice, Temperance, Fortitude and Prudence. See Chapter 21 of Jewett's The Tory Lover (1901).
Paul Dubois (1829-1905, a French sculptor and painter, completed a cenotaph to General Christophe Léon Louis Juchault de Lamoricière in 1866 for the Nantes Cathedral. Whether Fields correctly spelled the general's name in the manuscript is not clear. General de Lamoricière, a native of Nantes, made his reputation in the Algerian campaigns after 1830 and became acting governor-general of Algeria, before entering French politics. Wikipedia.
renaissance: If this is the word Fields inserted in her insertion, she probably intended it to appear before "monument," but the text is quite obscure.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett
[ 12 July 1898 ]*
[ Begin letterhead, which is not fully rendered here ]
Hotel
de France & Choiseul
239-241 Rue St. Honoré
(Place Vendome)
[ End letterhead ]
Tuesday .*
Anny Sister that speaks of going to Canterbury on the way to Paris will have to do a pinance, when a sister is waiting and it is taking it out of a good Stubby's* time in Paris, and Canterbury being so able to hold its own till you got back! Do go to Oxford for a night or so in this week, ^not wait till the end^ and then if you like we can go again, and don’t try to do any sightseeing in London just now except what comes by the way because we shall have time for that also. And the rest of the clothes can be thought about and got ^later^ ----
It is growing hot and noisy* all the time here, and I want
[ Page 2 ]
to make the most of the few days we can stay in town after you get here. Happily Mrs. Arbuthnot has gone to Norway* or is just going and doesn’t want us until the end of the month instead of the first of August, but we have promised to make one or two other little visits by and by, and I begin to long to get back to England as soon as I let myself think of it. [ Possible word lost in small tear on the right side of the page. ] There are always delightful things to do if it isn’t too hot. Yesterday we saw Vernon Lee (Miss Paget)* who is here at a hotel on the other side of the river, and in the evening we went out to drive after it was getting dark & nice, up the Champs Elysees and were eagerly hailed by M. Brunetiere and "Sylvie"* so then we went out into the Bois and had a pretty time of which I want to tell Thérèse.* A. F.* and I both had letters from Mrs. Cabot* his morning which sounded more like herself than
[ Page 3 ]
any since we came. The last one sounded so "poor" that I
felt quite worried. Perhaps my last one was more interesting! I
had a great deal to tell her about Madame de Beaulaincourt*
& of her being a friend of the Duchesse de Praslin* as was
murdered and the cause célebre of trial is one of
the ^her^ great mysteries and interests. Thider* will
appreciate this -- and Mrs. Cabot’s thinking that my "French
countess must be very interesting."
Thérèse is still at La Ferté but we hope to see her tomorrow when she is going to Versailles. -- She thought you were coming right to La Ferté this week! though I had said not until the end or the first of next -- Now she is going to have workmen in the house and so we shall wait until just before we go back to England. She has had a bustle of a visit from M. Brunetiere
[ Page 4 ]
& Sylvie while we were in Brittany not to speak of others. "Yetta" &c -- I had a letter from Becca ^yesterday^ & from dear Billy* today all of which I am keeping. I was so delighted to get yours & Stubbys yesterday & his kind benefaction of papers this morning. I hope you will find things nice at Oliphants,* but if you don’t, leave what you don’t want to bring over at Pitt & Scotts. I think it is 1 or 2 Regent St.*
Today is gray & cool and I hope you are having a nice day to get to London, but a still nicer day when you go to Oxford. It is so good to have the days still long, it is such a pleasant time to drive or walk in the long evenings. What a nice time you were having in Chester, and ^think of^ the old man knowing you again! And sights of "Meeting Privileges"* didn’t [ our ? ] Stubby?? and also viewed gardens!! of which I am glad.
With much love
S.O.J.
[ Up the left margin of page 1 ]
I wish you could have got off by Friday for it is a less crowded day to travel.
[ Above the letterhead in the top margin of page 1 ]
A. F. sends love. She is having a great time in this moment with a dress maker & a skirt. I saw the that the New England* made her voyage in seven days and nights.
Notes
12 July 1898: The date, 1892, appears in the upper left
corner of page 1, probably in another hand. However, it cannot
be correct, for Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Eastman joined
Jewett in Europe only during her 1898 trip.
The 1898 Diary of Annie Fields indicates that
Jewett received a letter on about 12 July from Mary Rice Jewett
hinting that she and Theodore Jewett might linger in England
longer than originally planned. 12 July fell on a Tuesday in
1898.
Hotel de France & Choiseul: Now a historical
monument, the
Hôtel de France et de Choiseul à Paris 1er Arrondissement
Stubby: Jewett family nickname for Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
noisy: Below this word at the bottom left of page 1 is the circled number, 39, in pencil and probably in another hand.
Mrs. Arbuthnot has gone to Norway: The identity of Mrs.
Arbuthnot is not yet known. She could be Margaret Rosa Campbell
Arbuthnot (1842-1918), wife of William Arbuthnot (1833-1896),
British and Scots aristocrats.
Vernon Lee (Miss Paget): Violet Paget. See Key to Correspondents.
M. Brunetiere and Sylvie … into the
Bois: Ferdinand
Brunetière (1849-1906), a literary historian, was
associated with Revue des Deux Mondes from 1877 until
his death, becoming editor in 1893. They go into the Bois de
Boulogne, a large public park in Paris.
Probably "Sylvie" was Brunetière's wife, but
I have not been able to learn more about her. The Bryn
Mawr Alumnae Association Report of 1896-7 indicates that
Madame Blanc and Madame Brunetière were guests of the college in
1897, confirming that Madame Brunetière made up part of the
visiting party during Brunetière's lecture tour (p. 10).
She also is mentioned briefly in connection with Brunetière's
American tour in Robert Underwood Johnson's Remembered
Yesterdays (1923, p. 397).
See Sylvie Brunetière to Sarah Orne Jewett of
18 May 1897.
Thérèse … La Ferté: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc and her country home. See Key to Correspondents.
A. F.: Annie Adams Fields. See Key
to Correspondents.
Mrs. Cabot: Susan Burley Cabot. See Key to Correspondents.
Madame de Beaulaincourt ... the Duchesse de Praslin:Sophie de Castellane.See Key to Correspondents.Wikipedia says: "Francoise, Duchess de Choiseul-Praslin (1807 - 17 August 1847) was a French duchess and heiress who was found murdered. Her husband, Duke Charles de Praslin was believed guilty for her death and committed suicide while awaiting trial days later on August 24, 1847."
Thider: Another nickname for Theodore Jewett Eastman.
"Yetta": Anne Emilie Rose Yetta Blaze de Bury is the author of French Literature Today: A Study of the Principal Romancers and Essayists (Houghton Mifflin 1898). She was the daughter of Marie Pauline Rose (Stuart) Blaze de Bury (1813-1894 ). The senior Blaze de Bury was born in Scotland and moved to France at an early age. She became a writer of fiction and essays in French and in English, publishing sometimes under the name, Arthur Dudley. See also Stanford Companion to Victorian Fiction p. 71 and Library of Congress.
from Becca… dear Billy: Becca is Rebecca Young (1847-1927). See Key
to Correspondents.
Billy has not been identified. Possibly he is
Jewett's distant cousin William Elbert Furber, son of Jewett
correspondent, Cynthia Elvira Irwin Furber.
Oliphants ... Pitt & Scotts. It is difficult
to be certain to what Jewett refers. Pitt & Scotts was an
express company that would transport baggage virtually
world-wide. Oliphants may be a London hotel, potentially without
space for Mary's baggage.
Meeting Privileges: Refers to the available
opportunities to attend Christian church services.
the New England: The S.S.
New England was a new ship when Mary and Theodore joined
Sarah in the summer, having been launched 7 April 1898 and
completed 30 June 1898. It's name later was changed to the Romanic.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library
of Harvard University in Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909. Mary
Rice Jewett 1847-1930, recipient, 40 letters; 1877-1892 &
n.d. Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743
(255). Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe
College, with assistance from Tanner Brossart and Linda Heller.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Mary Rice Jewett
[ 16 July 1898 ]*
Saturday
Hotel De France et Choiseul*
Dear Mary
We were so* glad to get your telegram early this morning. A. F.* brought it in to me with the other letters & my coffee and when I read it, she began to cry, which touched my heart. I do not think you & Stubby* have a warmer friend. I am sure we shall soon be having a lovely time together. Do come as soon as you can … leave London for our getting back, except for Stubby’s immediate errands, for it is getting so hot here now and people are* flying away as fast as they can. I send you the
[ Page 2 ]
time table of trains. Whichever way you come the railroads join at Amiens or before. I think we shall go home by Calais. You had better go to Cook’s* & get your through tickets to Paris, it saves trouble at the station & it is well to do it beforehand for those fast trains. I should ask for the corridor cars.* Susan* got our tickets there, and Susan, as we know, is very experienced. I am very much discomposed with these few days when I don’t know how to send a letter to you, but I have had your last one from
[ Page 3 ]
home within a day or two speaking of saying farewell to Mrs. Doe & Mrs. Sewall* and covering up things &c, so I haven’t missed you on the voyage over.
I have just been to see [ Unrecognized name ] Hale and found them both at home and so nice. They are so pleased to think you are coming, and Mr. Weeks?* said that if Stubby would like to pass a season on a wheel he should be delighted to have his company any half day if we would only say when. After I went there it was so hot that I had to
[ Page 4 ]
come home. I thought I had better put in this information as I have complained much of the cold heretofore. Oh do hurry and come by Wednesday or Thursday! I don’t see how any body can wait any longer and call herself a nice sister!! I am afraid my letters to [ Charlotte ? ]* were full of nothing as I could only write them in a hurry by the way & repeated everything over & over. I count on your having a nice day or two in Oxford. I wouldn’t have had you miss Roger* for anything.
With much love
Sarah
Notes
16 July 1898: The date, 1892, appears in the upper left
corner of page 1, probably in another hand. However, it cannot
be correct, for Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Eastman joined
Jewett in Europe only during her 1898 trip. The 1898 Diary of
Annie Fields indicates that she and Jewett arrived in Paris on
13 July and established themselves at the Hotel de France &
Choiseul to await the arrival of Mary and Theodore, expected on
20 July. 16 July fell on a Saturday in 1898.
Hotel de France & Choiseul:Now a historical monument, the Hôtel de France et de Choiseul à Paris 1er Arrondissement
so: This word is underlined twice.
A. F.: Annie Adams Fields. See Key
to Correspondents. The telegram they have received
apparently announces that Mary and Theodore have decided to join
Fields and Jewett during part of their current long stay in
Europe.
Stubby: Jewett family nickname for Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
are: Over this word appears the circled number, 38, in pencil, probably in another hand.
Cook's: Thomas
Cook & Son was the best-known travel agency in England
in the late 19th Century.
corridor cars: Corridor cars on a train have
compartments on one side with an outside corridor on the other,
allowing groups of passengers privacy while allowing free
movement through the train in the corridor.
Susan: Probably this is Susan B. Travers (d. 1904) of
Newport, RI. The New York Times (December 8, 1904) p. 9,
reports the death of Miss Susan Travers of Newport, RI on 7
December. According to the Times (December 11, 1904) p.
34, she was the daughter of William Riggin Travers (1819-1887). Her
sister, Matilda (d. 1943), married the artist, Walter Gay.
Though a biographical sketch is difficult to locate, Internet
searches indicate that she was an art collector and a patron of
the Boston Museum of Art, the New York Botanical Garden, and
various philanthropic organizations. She assisted Sarah Porter
(1813-1900) in founding the Farmington [ Connecticut ] Lodge
Society to bring 'tired and overworked' girls from New York City
to Farmington during their summer vacation." This would likely
have interested Annie Fields in relation to her work with the
Associated Charities of Boston. See "William B. Travers" in Wikipedia
for more information about her family.
Mrs. Doe & Mrs. Sewall: Edith
Bell Haven Doe (1840-1922), from the nearby village of
Rollinsford, NH, was the daughter of George Wallis Haven
(1808-1895) and Helen Sarah Bell Haven (1822- 1846); her husband
was Charles Cogswell Doe (1830-1896). Mrs. Sewall probably is a
South Berwick neighbor, Helen D. Sewall (1845-1922), who was
sister to Jotham and Jane Sewall. See Pirsig, The Placenames
of South Berwick, p. 75.
Hale: In the absence of a clue about the first name,
this pair cannot yet be identified. A digital image of this
manuscript page may be found at Sarah
Orne Jewett Correspondence. It is page 3 of letter 38.
Mr. Weeks: American painter, Edwin Lord Weeks (1849-1903). Wikipedia.
Charlotte: This person has not been identified.
Roger: It is likely that this is Roger Bigelow Merriman (1876 -1945) an American historian who graduated from Harvard and then studied history at Oxford University. He was the son of Helen Bigelow Merriman. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton
Library of Harvard University in Jewett, Sarah Orne, 1849-1909.
Mary Rice Jewett 1847-1930, recipient, 40 letters; 1877-1892
& n.d. Sarah Orne Jewett Correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am
1743 (255). Transcription and annotation by Terry Heller, Coe
College, with assistance from Tanner Brossart and Linda Heller.
Fields Diary
Chartres and Paris
Chartres and Paris
[ 12 July ]
That night the 12th we slept at Chartres. The next day ^13th^ we feasted on the beauty of the Cathedral. We were greatly tempted to stay longer in Chartres. The old hotel was very quaint, making us think of England but although we had word from Mary* that she was to linger a few days on her way we did not know where we were to be in Paris and were anxious to find a harbor before the 14th* the French 4th of July -- So on we went to Paris finding an excellent refuge in the hotel de France et Choiseul Rue St. Honoré* before night. It was however a very tiresome day. What with the deep pleasure of Chartres and our morning in the Cathedral, the afternoon going to Paris (it was damp and raining by turns) hunting up tickets (complémentaires) from the railway officials, seeing and getting settled in our new rooms, we found enough to do. We were enchanted too with watching life on the Rue St. Honoré from our windows but it was very noisy and we found it difficult to sleep. Added to all else [ deleted word ] I was obliged to interview Mme [ Touraine or Fouraine ? ] where we should have gone if there had been rooms ready for us. I was obliged to tell her that it was quite unlikely we could go to her at all and to [ get ? ] the trunks and boxes. She was disappointed; altogether we were quite too tired probably to sleep very well.
14th in Paris --
went out early to see the natives of Strasbourg in Alsace put wreaths on the great statue on the Place de la Concorde{.}* With the exception of this little walk we passed the day at home until evening -- then we drove about to see the illuminations which were very beautiful.
[ Page 35 ]
July 15th Paris
Tried on dresses and hats and went out
upon business -- Always amused with the street where we
begin to feel we have neighbors. In the evening we watch
the shopkeepers opposite{,} some of whom live in the small
entresol over their shops.
July 16th
We turn ourselves busily to seeing Paris -- The Luxembourg* first -- dresses, errands, come in the morning before dejeuner.
July 17th
St. Roch* and little service together.
[ July ]* 18th
Monday -- Louvre* -- etc. --
[ July ] 19th
July 16th
We turn ourselves busily to seeing Paris -- The Luxembourg* first -- dresses, errands, come in the morning before dejeuner.
July 17th
St. Roch* and little service together.
[ July ]* 18th
Monday -- Louvre* -- etc. --
[ July ] 19th
Hear of Mary's arrival but they are lingering in Oxford, Boseleigh* -- London etc.
July 20th
Louvre again --
[ July ] 21st
Luxembourg again -- Dine with the Brunetiéres.*
[ July ] 22d
See Mrs Greene* -- who invited the newcomers with Sarah to go to her on Sunday
[ July ] 23d
Th. [ Theodore ] & Mary arrive at midnight --
Sunday 24th
Go with Mary to hear Pastor Wagner* preach at his little Protestant church -- deeply interesting both service and sermon -- "Whoever shall put his hand [ to ? ] the plough and looking back"* ----- not to be forgotten.
Monday 25th
Doing last things and preparing for a little journey into Touraine.
Tuesday 26th
Th.B.* and ourselves started, the first for Orleans and ourselves for Amboise, to meet again at Amboise the next day. It was a warm lovely day and Nelly Prince* came to the station to welcome us. We all went to the Inn together where Nelly sat and talked after breakfast until the moment came for her return to her home in the Chateau La Roche at Chargé where she is living. She urged Sarah to go back with her and Mary and I followed at six o'clock. About half a mile or less from the house we found them waiting for us at the roadside. Theodore and C. Prince had gone to bathe while Nelly and her daughter and S.O.J. sat by the riverside but when the time came to expect us they came to watch [ deleted words ]. We were all rejoiced to sit on the grass and watch the beautiful river and talk as if we were at home. At night we dined at their pretty chateau -- very old -- very picturesque and sufficiently comfortable.
[ Page 36 ]
We shall never forget our little walk in the fading sunset from the river to the chateau. We went though the garden where a little of everything grows -- enough of everything to keep their table well supplied. Nothing could be prettier than the ripening fruits and vegetables and flowers through which we gradually ascended to the walls covered with ivy and grape and flowers to the level of the house. The place dates back to the sixth
The next day we planned to go to Chaumont* but Th. did not arrive as we hoped. Happily she came at the moment we were leaving and did not ^at^ all mind going away again at once to see the Chateau and to dine again at La Roche. ^We had been all over the interesting Chateau close* [ deleted word ] [ & at ? ] Amboise in the morning.^
Chaumont is one of the most splendid of the royal chateau [ so it appears ]. At present it is inhabited by rich people who keep it in fine order and allow it to be seen; also strangers are suffered to wander about the park which seems very generous indeed. We stayed until nearly sunset; first going into the great house across the drawbridge and being shown the evidences of very great age -- then came the additions of the later periods [ or ? ] the rooms of Diana, Catherine, Mary and the astrologer Fuggieri [ so the name appears ] -- all deeply interesting{;} Then the vast stable and the beautiful view and the grounds -- nothing could be more splendid. At dusk we were again at La Roche where the dark masses of foliage began to look black against the sunset sky.
[ Page 37 ]
Again a very [ cheerful ? ] dinner with the exiled household where there must often be great sadness. They love each other most sincerely however and that makes even exile possible.
Thursday 28th
Mary was not well. We decided to postpone more sightseeing until she was better. Th. went to the Amboise Chateau and I went to the old church of St. Denis* with Sarah in the afternoon. How calm the old place was and how beautiful with its [ carving ? ] and remains of ancient glory!
Friday --
Started for the chateau of Azay le Rideau and Langeais but some one being mistaken about the hours we went to Tours and to Loches* instead. We were not sorry! We might have stayed longer perhaps in Tours but we saw the Cathedral again a wonder of beauty, and the quiet place in front where Balzac* has placed some of his figures -- Loches is however one of the most extraordinary spots in the world and we took time enough to see it -- Nothing could give a more perfect picture of the life of the old time: [ deleted word ] a city within its gates and under the walls dungeons, places of torture, and other horrors, while there were some fine rooms fit for kings and queens and a noble view from the top. It is a useless thing to write about Loches in plain prose. It is a place the memory of which must be laid up with other wonderful things in the memory to serve us in a different way. One cannot restrain one's admiration at the preservation by the French people of their monuments in spite of the havoc they have occasionally wrought in Paris. Through hundreds of years and vast expense their great Cathedrals and churches, their royal buildings and historical monuments have been [ wrought ? ]
[ Page 38 ]
over and over patiently and at vast expense in order to preserve history in this form for their childrens children.
It was a day not to be forgotten{,} this one at Tours and Loches -- The Princes came back with us to dinner and the day ended with a lovely sunset and a [ talk or walk ? ] with Thérèse on the river-bank. In some respects Loches is the most remarkable of the French royal chateaus. It was in existence at the time of the Romans. It is an historic [ script in or scripture ? ] --
Sunday July 31st
Th. went to church in the morning while we held a little service at home. Before noon we left in a "break"* with the Princes for a day at Chenonceau.* We were joined by Vielé-Griffin and his wife. He is a young poet of real talent of American parentage who has lived in France since he was eight years old. He has written many volumes already which have [ unrecognized word ] Thérèse [ several unrecognized words ] partly because they are unlike the French poetry of the past. Th. insists that they cannot be called French poetry at all because he sets aside all tradition and uses forms which she considers no forms. We shall see! I was told [ several unrecognized words ] he has expressed in his poems{.} He is true, pure, modest determined and I cannot help thinking will win his way. His wife is a witty, skilful [ so spelled ] little French woman, still very young with four pretty little daughters. She does not recover from her disappointment that one of them is not a son and is French enough in the way she expresses it. He [ fell in love ? ] [ several unrecognized words ] very young and although she is not the woman to understand what he is doing exactly. She appreciates his excellence & is fond and devoted -- We took our luncheon by the riverside in the garden of a small inn [ carrying ? ] what we were to eat in large hampers. The Griffins brought characteristically the delightful white wine of the country and [ delicious peaches ? ] [ several unrecognized words ] plenty. We were a gay and happy company! Mme G-- made in two moments a delicious [ mayonnaise ? ] dressing for the [ unrecognized word ], Mr. Prince a wonderful omelet, Sarah assisting in the culinary department.
After luncheon we were rowed down the river to Chenonceaux [ so spelled ] in the afternoon light. It was exquisite indeed and by far the best [ way ? ] of seeing the most beautiful but the least interesting
[ Page 39 ]
of the royal chateaux. The carriages drove to the end of one of the long "alleés" of trees to meet us and we drove home in the sunset. I was in the carriage with Mr. Griffin and thoroughly enjoyed [ my ? ] talk with him. I shall be much [ surprised ? ] if he does not make his mark -- not only among the forty "jeunes" of Paris* but among the men of letters of his time.
Monday Morning
Th. & I went to call at the G-s. They live in a strange little out of the way place {--} you drive about a mile and a half from Amboise to a small village once clustered probably around a handsome chateau. You drive between lime-stone walls winding in and out hardly wide enough for a carriage and reflecting the heat on such a warm day as we found there. We stopped at length at an old gate. It was opened by a servant and we found ourselves in a common courtyard up one side of which was a flight of stone
We left for Blois in the afternoon{;} dear Nelly and Helen coming to see us off. It was still day when we arrived {--} therefore we
[ Page 40 ]
hurried off without delay to see the Chateau of Blois.* The memory of Catherine di Medici who lived and died there I believe and of the murder by Henri III of the Duc de Valois and of the imprisonment of his brother the cardinal, also the flight of Marie di Medici still haunts the old rooms.* They are very splendid and admirably restored with every circumstance carefully registered of events which have happened within the walls. The courtyard is perhaps the finest place in the world to observe the historical changes in architecture from the 6th century to Louis the 14th {;} we see the changes and modifications of the years -- We lingered until nearly dark about the Château and in the vicinity. Home to dinner and to bed.
August 2d Tuesday
Th. was up and dressed and at the old church observing it and saying her prayers long before we were up. I was very tired but came down at the time appointed. The others came straggling, but we got off early to see the great chateau of Chambord.*
It was a cool delicious beginning of a very hot day when we all seated ourselves in a fine landeau and drove across a noble bridge of the time of Louis 14th and ten miles along the riverside to Chambord. This huge residence with 440 rooms stands on a flat open field, but its architecture is such that it can be seen at a great distance. It is often criticized as being all in its roof, but it struck me as being arranged in this way to strike the eye from a distance. It belongs to the Bourbons who keep an architect for [ general ? ] work there. It is a kind of last resort of royalty. The
[ Page 41 ]
village and everything in the immediate neighborhood recognize no republic. There are women all over France who still embroider enormous tapestries and [ carry ? ] them there with the name of their city or county inscribed to testify to their allegiance. Once a year the two dukes who represent the line Bordi and perhaps Milan (two Italian dukes) come here to hunt and invite their friends. Edouard Blanc* is sometimes one of them. The place is very bare inside but it is well preserved architecturally and for the present this will continue. It is indeed an evidence of past splendor nor is it very wonderful that it should have been pillaged by the Commune.* The forest about it has been very beautiful in spite of the land being poor which prevents the [ most showy ? ] trees being planted but the [ scrub oaks ? ] are tall and it has a character of its own. Probably it is very good shooting ground.
At night we took the train from
Notes
Chartres: This famous cathedral town is about 300 km east and north from Nantes, and about 100 km west and south from Paris. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres is particularly famous for its stained glass.
Mary: Mary Rice Jewett, older sister of Sarah Orne Jewett. She along with Jewett's nephew, Theodore, are expected to arrive soon. They actually arrive on 23 July.
14th: Bastille Day is celebrated on 14 July as the anniversary of French independence.
hotel de France et Choiseul Rue St. Honoré: Now a historical monument, the Hôtel de France et de Choiseul à Paris 1er Arrondissement.
Place de la Concorde: Wikipedia says that on the Place de la Concorde, a public square in Paris, is a statue representing Strasbourg by James Pradier. After France lost Alsace-Lorraine to Germany in the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1), the statue was draped in black mourning and/or decorated with wreaths on state holidays until after World War I, when France regained the region.
Luxembourg: Presumably, they visit the Luxembourg Gardens of Paris.
July: Fields uses (") several times on this page to indicate the month continues to be July. I have substituted the name in brackets for clarity.
St. Roch: The Church of St. Roch in Paris, on Rue St. Honoré.
Louvre: The Louvre Museum, according to Wikipedia, the world's largest art museum.
Boseleigh: Though this is not certain, it is what Fields seems to have written. What she means by it has not been determined, though it would seem to be a location in England.
Brunetiéres: Presumably, Fields refers to Ferdinand Brunetière (1849 -1906), the French writer and critic.
Mrs. Greene: This may be Anna Blake Shaw (1817-1901), sister of the wealthy Boston businessman and art collector, Quincy Adams Shaw (1825-1908) and wife of William Batchelder Greene (1819-1878). She may be related to Bertram William Batchelder Greene (1878-1909), who had become a close friend of Theodore Jewett.
These identifications remain uncertain, though it is established that Berty Greene and Theodore Jewett were friends.
Pastor Wagner: Probably Fields refers to Charles Wagner (1852-1918), a French Protestant pastor and author of inspirational books. His Temple Protestant du Foyer de l'Âme was at 7 Rue du Pasteur in Paris.
Whoever shall put his hand: Luke 9:62 in the Bible reads: And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Th.B.: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (21 September 1840-5 February 1907). See Key to Correspondents.
Orleans ... Amboise: Orléans, about 110 km southwest of Paris, is located on the Loire River, in Touraine-Amboise, the Loire valley wine region. Amboise is also on the Loire, about 100 km southwest of Orléans.
Nelly Prince: Helen Choate Prince, (1857-1943), granddaughter of Rufus Choate, and wife of Charles Albert Prince (1852-1943) the Boston lawyer, spent summers at the Higginson cottage in West Manchester. After 1893 she removed to Paris, publishing The Story of Christine Rochefort (1895) and three other novels. Their daughter was Helen Choate Prince Blake (1882-1909). (Note by Richard Cary). Later in the diary (p. 36), Fields indicates that the Princes are "exiled" in France. Whether this exile is involuntary has not yet been discovered.
Chateau La Roche at Chargé: Chargé is a village about 4 km east of Amboise. The Château de la Roche at Chargé is a 15th-century castle that became a hotel in the 19th century, a favorite retreat for artists and writers.
Chaumont: The Château de Chaumont, a 15th-century castle at Chaumont-sur-Loire. Wikipedia says: "Marie-Charlotte Say, heiress to the Léon Say sugar fortune, acquired Chaumont in 1875. Later that year, she married Amédée de Broglie, who commissioned the luxurious stables in 1877 to designs by Paul-Ernest Sanson, further restored the château under Sanson's direction and replanted the surrounding park in the English naturalistic landscape fashion. She donated Château de Chaumont to the government in 1938."
Residents have included Diane de Poitiers, who was mistress of King Henry II, and Catherine de Medici (1519-1589), who brought a number of astrologers to be her guests, including Nostradamus. However, it was Queen Marie de' Medici (1575-1642), wife of King Henry IV of France, who brought to court Cosimo Rugeri, who in France was called Ruggieri.
Chateau close: Probably Fields refers to the Château d'Amboise, the major attraction of Amboise, the castle of King Francis I of France, who is remembered, in part, for providing Clos Lucé as a home to Leonardo da Vinci in the final years of his life.
church of St. Denis: The Basilica Cathedral of Saint Denis in Amboise.
Langeais: Langeais, in the Loire valley, is about 60 km west of Amboise. The Château d'Azay-le-Rideau in nearby Azay-le-Rideau is a 16th-century castle set on an island in the Indre River.
Tours ... Loches: Tours is a city of the Loire valley about 25 km west of Amboise. Among its notable attractions is the Tours Cathedral of Saint Gatien. Among its more famous residents was the novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850), who set two stories in the city: Le Curé de Tours and "Maitre Cornélius."
Loches is about 47 km southeast from Tours and 40 km south of Amboise.
break: Probably Fields refers to a brake, a type of carriage ("break" in French), "used in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the training of horses for draft work."
Chenonceau: The Château de Chenonceau.
Vielé-Griffin: Francis Vielé-Griffin (1864-1937), an American-born, French symbolist poet. Richard Candida Smith in Mallarme's Children says that Vielé-Griffin married a Belgian woman, and fathered four daughters (281). Reinhard Clifford Kuhn in The Return to Reality: a Study of Francis Viele-Griffin (1962) recounts his wedding Marie Louise Brocklé de Grangeneuve in 1893 (p. 43). Wikipedia notes that his mother was Teresa Griffin. His father was Egbert Ludovicus Viele (1825-1902), a civil engineer and politician from New York. The father later divorced Griffin and remarried. The disagreeable "mother" who lives with the poet and his family is Teresa Griffin. Kuhn also summarizes the divorce and Teresa Griffin taking her children to France; the year of her death is not yet known.
"jeunes" of Paris: The forty most eminent young people.
Chateau of Blois: The Château Royal de Blois is about 35 km northwest of Amboise.
Henri III ... the Duc de Valois ... his brother the cardinal ... flight of Marie de' Medici: King Henry III of France lived for a time in the palace at Blois. where in 1588 he arranged the deaths of Henry I, Duke of Guise and his brother, Louis II, Cardinal of Guise. Henry IV's wife, Marie de Medici, was exiled to Blois by her son, Louis XIII. Fields seems to have confused the Duc de Valois (17th century and later) with the Duc de Guise. Wikipedia.
chateau of Chambord: The Château de Chambord at Chambord, Loir-et-Cher, France, is about 16 km east of Blois.
two italian dukes ... Edouard Blanc: The identities of the Italian dukes are not yet known.
It is not clear whether Fields refers to Madame Blanc's estranged husband, Édouard Alexandre Blanc (b. 1834) or to her son, Édouard Blanc (1858-1923). It would seem more likely to be the husband, as he was an avid hunter.
the Commune: The Paris Commune ruled France during the French Revolution from 1792 to 1795.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
July 17, 1898.
Yes, it was there color bloomed for me on the Gothic stem; for there you have found that it is in the clerestory that they put (as in no other) the rainbow; leaving the lower windows pale; and no one having ever told me this I entered to find that violet twilight lying all above and to be overwhelmed by it. . . . I did go to Niagara and I had there forty-eight hours of silence and of solitude. Not that I was alone, for all the hours were filled with beautiful and high companionship -- but there was silence. I found a little plain hotel . . . with a chamber one window of which looked upon the American Fall and the other upon that High Altar* of which I have dreamed ever since that day I spent beside it. So I studied and sketched and wondered every minute. . . . And some secrets I seemed to learn; some of the story of that divine white passion of the flood. Some of its meanings when the rainbow floods all that soft tumult into rosy fire; or when it feels the quickened throb of the south wind blowing across Lake Erie. I think I must make many pilgrimages there and then perhaps I can come a little nearer to the dream. . . . All this, without one word of the tremendous days in which as citizens we live, now, thank Heaven, with peace in sight, after the surrender of Santiago.* You must know too that one has felt a great splendor in the heroic ways of our men, gentle and simple, and though one quakes over the imperialist rubbish which is in the political mêlée, there is a great patriotism in the heart of us.
Notes
the American Fall and that High Altar: Both are features of the Niagara River in New York, the American Fall in the town of Niagara Falls, the High Altar, near Lewiston. Whitman pastels of the falls are in the collection of the Fogg Museum of Art at Harvard University. Research: Gabe Heller.
surrender of Santiago: The surrender of the Spanish garrison at Santiago de Cuba on July 16, 1898 effectively ended the Caribbean phase of the Spanish American War. Research assistance: Gabe Heller.
This transcription appears in Letters, Sarah Wyman Whitman. Cambridge, MA: Riverside Press, 1907, "Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett: 1882-1903," pp. 61-109.
Fields Diary
Paris continued
August
Paris continued
August
Wed. 3d-Paris --
Thurs. 4
Frid 5
Sat. 6
Dressmaker etc. came and all our work is finished in [ these or three ] days -- for Mary [ also corrected ] -- I see dear Mrs Greene* perhaps for the last time. I can see she thinks so -- call upon Brunetières, Vanderbilts, Sinétys* and whoever else has been kind to us --
Sun 7th
Went to La Ferté* in the morning. It had been very warm in Paris!
Mon --
Sarah took Theodore & Mary to Rheims* -- They went directly after luncheon and did not return until evening. I had taken a little cold and was not quite well, therefore{.}
Tuesday 9th
When we were to have gone, Sarah and I to Acosta,* I was too ill to start. This was provoking because we could not get off to England as we intended, but we had a lovely quiet day at home and
Wedy 10th at four we returned to Paris --
Therese had been working since five o'clock at her desk!!! She promises to join us in Paris tomorrow Thursday 11th and take Sarah to Acosta --
This morning we went to see the Chapelle Expiatoire where the ladies of Louis [ 16th ] and Marie Antoinette were carried [ after their execution ]* -- the bodies also of the
Friday 12th We intend to cross the channel to England.
Notes
Mary ... Mrs. Greene: Mary Rice Jewett. Mrs. Greene probably is Anna Blake Shaw (1817-1901), sister of the wealthy Boston businessman and art collector, Quincy Adams Shaw (1825-1908) and wife of William Batchelder Greene (1819-1878).
Brunetiéres. Vanderbilt, Sinétys : Presumably, Fields refers to Ferdinand Brunetière (1849 -1906), the French writer and critic.
Which of the prominent and wealthy Vanderbilt family Fields knew in Paris is uncertain. William Kissam Vanderbilt I (1849- 1920) moved from New York to France in the late 1890s. More likely, perhaps, are George Washington Vanderbilt II (1862-1914) and Edith Stuyvesant Dresser (1873- 1958). He was the builder of Biltmore in Ashville, NC. An art collector who was often in Paris, where the Vanderbilt family kept a home, he married Dresser on June 1, 1898 in Paris.
A close friend of Mme. Blanc was Madame Alice Marie Léonie Ogier d´Ivry Comtesse de Sinéty (1837-1924), wife of Count Joseph Louis Marie de Sinéty (1837-1915).
La Ferté: The home of Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc (21 September 1840-5 February 1907), who used the nom de plume "Th. Bentzon."
Rheims: Notre-Dame de Reims Cathedral. Fields uses both spellings.
Acosta: Le Château d'Acosta -- now demolished -- was about 43 miles west of Paris at Aubergenville. It was the country home of Blanc's friend, Sophie de Beaulaincourt. See Key to Correspondents.
Chapelle Expiatoire ... after their execution: The Chapelle expiatoire marks the cemetery that was the first burial place of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette after they were executed in 1793, during the French Revolution, but they were later moved to the Basilica of St. Denis. It is not clear in the manuscript whether "after their execution" has been corrected or deleted.
I am told: Fields has not indicated where this phrase is to be inserted in her sentence. Wikipedia says of Louis XVI: "Louis was condemned to death by a majority of one vote. Philippe Égalité, formerly the duke of Orléans and Louis's cousin, voted for Louis's execution, a cause of much future bitterness among French monarchists; he would himself be guillotined on the same scaffold, Place de la Révolution, before the end of the same year, on 6 November 1793."
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Isabella Stewart Gardner*
[ July 1898 ]
Dear Mrs. Gardner
It is a foolish reason which has kept me from sending the Outlook earlier and from answering you; I had mislaid your address! So forgive me for three months of guilty silence and accept the late thanks which I am sending you for your kindness in respect to M. Doumic.* He has spoken to me about you with most lively thanks. His trip to American interested him in every way: he will gain from it like all of those of us to whom it has been given to plunge once more into the contrast of your young and vigorous civilization. As for me I continue to do all I can to inform my compatriots about all that is good in the United States and I hope that I have paid my debt of gratitude that way. The press in your country seems to recognize it except for one newspaper from Chicago which has sent to my address the enclosed American clipping. If you should know the editor of it I should be much obliged if you would communicate to him my response which is on the back of it. The criticism was attached to an announcement which celebrated the Dial* as the best literary journal. In effect, I remember having found it interesting on many occasions and its editor, I believe, has proposed that I write for it. It was an evening at Miss Addam's* place. You will have news of me from Miss Monroe* if you know her. I had the great pleasure of receiving the two sisters successively for two or three days at my little house in La Ferte where I now live almost all year. I have just had for a month there Mrs. Fields from Boston and my dear friend Sarah Orne Jewett.*
Notes
July 1898: As indicated in the notes below. this letter was composed soon after Jewett and Fields visited Madame Blanc's home in the summer of 1898.
Gardner: This letter apparently is a fragment, and its recipient is somewhat uncertain due to the difficulty of the transcription. Very likely Isabella Stewart Gardner is the person addressed. See Key to Correspondents.
Doumic: Probably this is René Doumic (1860-1937) a French literary figure and professor at the Collège Stanislas de Paris. He is known to have visited the United States in March of 1898.
Dial: The Dial was a prominent American literary and political review magazine at the end of the 19th Century. The editor in 1903 was Francis Fisher Browne (1843-1913).
Miss Addams ... Miss Monroe: Probably Madame Blanc refers to people she met in Chicago during her 1893-4 tour of the United States. These women would then be American activist and author Jane Addams (1860-1935), and American poet and editor Harriet Stone Monroe (1860-1936). Monroe visited Europe in 1898, staying with her sisters, who were residing there: Dora Louise Monroe Root (1857- 1913), widow of the Chicago architect John Wellborn Root (1850-1891) and art critic Lucy Bryant Monroe Calhoun (1865-1950). Wikipedia.
Mrs. Fields from Boston ... Sarah Orne Jewett: Annie Adams Fields and Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents. Fields and Jewett visited Madame Blanc's home at La Ferté, near Paris, in the summer of 1898.
The manuscript of this letter is held in the Clifton Waller Barrett Library, Accession #12167, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Va. The manuscript is in French and the translator is unknown. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman
Paris. 2nd August
Tuesday night
[ 1898 ]*
Dearest S.W. I have not written you for a very long time
and* here comes your most dear letter into my hand as I come back
from the Loire! (I* went off to the Champs Elysées and the Bois
after dinner to drive in the moonlighted cool night with Theodore*
-- all the bright eyes of the carriages hurrying and the gay
voices and the lights of the cafés and the black trees and the
great arc de Triomphe -- you can see them all! and then I came
back to this quiet room and readTuesday night
[ 1898 ]*
[ Page 2 ]
the letter at last and felt as if you had spoken it [ deletion ] instead of [ writing corrected possibly from written ] it. I had such a comfortable sense of its being right in my pocket all the way: oh darling* you were very good to write just then!
----- And now I must tell you two words about Amboise* where we [ have corrected ] spent several days, A.F. and Madame Blanc and Mary and Theodore and I, staying at a little inn and going much to La Roche and having such good talks with [ deletion ] Nelly about stories and things and coming away with a great satisfaction in my heart at having seen her. And little
[ Page 3 ]
Helen and I spoke much of [ Marraine ? ]* -- I cant tell you how my heart turns to that dear child, or how her exile weighs upon me. But we had some good cheerful days and saw Chaumont and Loches & Tours and Chenonceaux with them, being together every day the greater part of the time. 'Charlie' began by being uproariously gay and ended by falling into a more more attaching state of quiet kindness ^the pathos of^ which I shall never forget. He did a great deal for our pleasure and the day at Chenonceaux with breakfast by the river and floating down in
[ Page 4 ]
in a big flat-bottomed boat to see the chateaus was perfectly exquisite. I can hardly say how charming a remembrance it makes already, even without the glamour of 'atmosphere' that time never fails to put between us and our past pleasures. But I keep saying to myself what is the future going to bring to La Roche?* -- already I feel that there is much impatience with its stillness and I am afraid to think what is going to come of some business ventures into which that poor fellow is gaily venturing. He is evidently away [ deletion ] a good deal now a days . . . .
We all left Amboise yesterday
[ Page 5 ]
after saying good bye to dear Nelly and Helen*
-- and came to Blois and saw the chateau there and ^this
morning^ went to forsaken Chambord which stands in its wide
plain magnificent and lonely -- the dream of royalty it seems
like to me, [ with corrected ] the pathos of splendid
ruin. That it is being [ deletion ] restored does not
spoil all this: ^not^ one bit, I hardly know why; it is like a
feast that has not no guests to honor it, a
strange forgotten splendor of old France. Didn't you feel that
at last you found France* when you got to Touraine? --
Paris is Paris and Brittany is Brittany and
[ Page 6 ]
as for Provence, it is half Italy -- but one knows the country of the golden lilies at last when one sees the Loire --
It has been a long hot afternoon coming away from this enchanting [ deletion, perhaps of place ] country and now it grows late and everybody has gone to sleep but me. Theodore had been longing for his letters poor boy and opened the first from "Lawrie"* to find that one of his classmates had been killed suddenly, a boy whom he liked very much. Sometimes it seems as if Death had shadowed this young life too much and come
[ Page 7 ]
too often to rob him of his friends. [ Not corrected ] long before his mother died one of his best playmates died at home in Berwick{.}
-- I wonder if his heart does not quail with fear when he counts up his many losses, young as he is! It does not often happen that a boy's life sees so many changes -- -- I think he really delights in this first fortnight in France which is a good thing to be thankful for; as for Amboise he found it perfectly happy and delightful. Nelly Prince was always good to him when he was a ^small!^ boy and now they have made friends all over again while he and Helen were full of affairs. I knew that they
[ Page 8 ]
were really sympathetic because he taught her to make sailor knots with a piece of string, Turks heads and things that belong only to truest intimacy.
Oh I must say good night dear and think of you until by and by I go to sleep. There is everything else to say, as you know. I cant help sending you back this note with all its great joy of [ deletion ] a boys heart and its simple words that say what they can. I have heard more about the window,* and 'the fellows' and even that Mike, the head waiter at ' Memorial [ goes ? ] out and looks and looks and looks* at it and says it is the best in the world! -- we are going to England a week from tomorrow and the week between is a hurry of
[ Page 9 ]
visits and errands and a last hour or two, when ever one can [ can repeated ]! at the Louvre -- a last little visit at La Ferté and a day [ in blotted ] the country with Madame de Beaulaincourt* -- to which I look forward eagerly, and yet with a wistful certainty of not seeing that dear old friend again, for she is not so young, and I not so likely to be coming soon to France --
= You see that I do not say good night in this letter, but only speak of saying it, and that I do not say that I am glad you went to Niagara either! I hope that you will manage to work out of doors now and then dear -- please do it you can; it is such a joy to
[ Page 10 ]
hear you speak of that, and it will be better for you than too many people just now. [ Try corrected ] to get a day or two now and then -- you will see how it does you good and how all your new knowledge of colour will go into the old sort of work. When you can send the letters tell me if you see a little chance of Ipswich!!
Your most loving S.O.J.
I was so glad that Madame Blanc & Nelly really liked each other & I hope there will be more to follow of what I am sure would be a good friendship for both of them.
Notes
1898: Jewett writes during her 1898 trip to Europe.
and: Jewett often writes "a" with a long tail for "and." I render these as "and."
Theodore: Theodore Jewett Eastman. Key to Correspondents.
(I: Jewett seems clearly to have written an open parenthesis here, but perhaps she intended to separate her "I" from her "!".
Amboise: Jewett, her sister, Mary, her nephew Theodore Eastman, Annie Fields and Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc visited Helen Choate Pratt Prince and her daughter, Helen/Nelly, and her son, Charles, at the Chateau La Roche at Chargé near Amboise and Tours, France, about 225 km southwest of Paris. See Key to Correspondents.
Marraine: This transcription is uncertain, but if it is correct, Jewett has written the French word for godmother. Jewett's letter to Whitman of 17 July 1894 suggests that Whitman was the younger Helen Prince's godmother.
darling: These is a mark under this word, perhaps indicating Jewett's intention to underline it.
France: This word is underlined twice.
"Lawrie": This person and Theodore's deceased classmate have not yet been identified. However in Jewett to Whitman of Monday (1892-1895), Jewett mentions Laurie Endicott as a friend of Theodore.
the window: Probably Jewett refers to the Brimmer Window, Whitman's stained-glass window installed in the south transept of Harvard University's Memorial Hall, to commemorate Harvard students killed in the American Civil War. See Whitman in Wikipedia.
looks: This word is underlined twice.
Madame de Beaulaincourt: Sophie de Beaulaincourt. Key to Correspondents.
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.
Louise Imogen Guiney to Annie Adams Fields
August 4th
[ 1898 ]*
(Shelley's* birthday -- )
Dearest Mrs. Fields:
Such a welcome letter as it was (I have been hungering to hear from you; and I was not sure of the address. But I knew you would turn back from the Pyrenees. It is delightful that you are both so well, and back in England. I answered Mr. North* this morning, and was very glad to cry Peccavi* to him. You saw, of course, by the results, that a Critic proof was never sent me, although I begged for one. It quite broke my heart. We came here out of the intense heat, where Mother and I once had a fortnight's vacation, one September. It is about thirty miles ^or less^ south of Port Clyde and Tennant's Harbor: a sweet wild place, just beginning to "spoil" with cottagers. Our house is all of rough boards, but luckily water-tight; and there is the bonniest view, and there are clams! I have been but twice, in a month, on the salt, salt sea,* but some half-dozen times in it. (I shall play in September, I hope.) For I have
Such a welcome letter as it was (I have been hungering to hear from you; and I was not sure of the address. But I knew you would turn back from the Pyrenees. It is delightful that you are both so well, and back in England. I answered Mr. North* this morning, and was very glad to cry Peccavi* to him. You saw, of course, by the results, that a Critic proof was never sent me, although I begged for one. It quite broke my heart. We came here out of the intense heat, where Mother and I once had a fortnight's vacation, one September. It is about thirty miles ^or less^ south of Port Clyde and Tennant's Harbor: a sweet wild place, just beginning to "spoil" with cottagers. Our house is all of rough boards, but luckily water-tight; and there is the bonniest view, and there are clams! I have been but twice, in a month, on the salt, salt sea,* but some half-dozen times in it. (I shall play in September, I hope.) For I have
[ Page 2 ]
been working prodigiously again, on a translation.* I find the graceful Old Italian rather exacting; and it is a big, big book to do in one short summer. The muse has been reported in the vicinity of our woodshed. Isn't that strange, after asking me for alimony over a year ago, and absenting herself ever since? So I send you [ each corrected ] a pin-feather from her wing, which I found a day or two before this day, which is honest prose. Now I must tell you my other news, which is that Mr. Grant Richards, a new publisher, who is Mr. Grant Allen's* nephew, is going to print a little book, next month, at No 9 Henrietta St. Covent Garden, to be called, in Stevenson's phrase, "England and Yesterday": my very first appearance on the London stage. The verses are mixed old and new, but all either English, Irish, or Welsh; and as non-political as ever they can be. So here endeth this chapter* about a "littery leddy," and her small métier.
[ Page 3 ]
English, Irish, and Welsh, inevitably reminds me of my friend Lionel Johnson* who is all three, by race. I do so wish he might know you and Miss Jewett!* or, rather, I wish you might summon him, some day, from 7 Gray's Inn Square, W.C. (if he be in town,) and say that I knew he would be pleased to swear vassalage. I think you have met his work in the Academy and elsewhere: beautiful, sensitive, scholarly work, and bold and bright as well. As for his verses, I love 'em dear; and I like him altogether the best of the younger [ minores corrected ], or whatever you call them. (Bliss Carman* says "We'uns": which is not circumlocutionary!) He is a great friend of W. B. Yeats,* whom I know Miss Jewett approves. He (L.J.) is little, and very grave; but there is infinite fun there, too. I am dedicating to him the Oxford sonnets* in my booklet. He is a Wykehamist, as they still call New College men.
I am so grieved to learn of your loss!* I wish I were sure which Miss Adams I met years ago with you, and again
[ Page 4 ]
last year. For after you had sailed away, I had an invitation to lunch from Miss Adams of the Ludlow;* and I went, because I really wished to go, and I found, to my surprise, an unfamiliar face; but I found a friend. She was sweeter and kinder than I can say, leaning a good deal on my shoulder in going about to show me her treasures, and smiling at me very often because, she said, she looked for a much older person. We had a charming time, and I learned much of Albert Dürer. -- The tidings would hurt me anyhow, and apart from all this, or all connection with it, if they brought you a touch, even, of the sorrow I can see through your dear cheerful letter. May I send my love, the quality whereof [ means corrected ] to be truly impeccable and unmatchable, to the lady who goeth, at present, whithersoever thou goest? I ache to have her tell me of le Sieur de Montaigne.* Best joy and leisure, and comfort to you both in England! and a home-coming not too far removed.
Affectionatly,
L. I. G.
Five Islands, via Bath,
Maine.
[ What follows is enclosed in large
braces { }. ]
Notes
1898: This date is supported by several of Guiney's references in the letter, notably to Fields and Jewett's 1898 travels in France and England.
Mr. North: While this is not certain, it is possible that Guiney refers to a controversy concerning who produced the portrait of British author Charles Lamb (1785-1834) that hung in Fields's library. See Guiney to Fields of 15 and 20 March 1898. Guiney may refer to the American antiquarian book collector with a special interest in Charles Lamb, Ernest Dressel North (see Key to Correspondents), who may have been drawn into the March discussion. The letters we have from March suggest that Guiney and Fields reached the conclusion that British engraver, Robert Hancock (1730-1817) did not make Fields's portrait. In March, it appeared that Guiney intended to correct this error when she saw the proofs of her essay, "Authors at Home: Mrs. James T. Fields in Boston," The Critic 29 (4 June 1898) pp. 367-9. However, Guiney's essay ends up saying that Hancock's portrait of Lamb hangs in the Fields library.
Peccavi: Latin: "I am guilty."
Shelley's: English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822).
on the salt, salt sea: Guiney may deliberately echo the Child Ballad, "Henry Martyn," though the phrase is often reused.
translation: At about this time, Guiney apparently worked on a translation of The Little Flowers of St. Francis, a short anonymous life of St. Francis of Assisi. A selection from this was published by Copeland and Day in 1898: The sermon to the birds and the wolf of Gubbio. Being part of the XVI chapter and the entire XXI chapter of the Fioretti.
"England and Yesterday": Guiney's collection of poems appeared in 1898. The book includes a series of 12 "Oxford Sonnets," written in Oxford, England and dedicated to Lionel Johnson. See notes below.
The publisher was British author Grant Richards (1872-1948). His uncle was the Canadian author, Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen (1848-1899).
here endeth this chapter: Guiney echoes liturgical language, such as in The Book of Common Prayer.
Miss Jewett: Sarah Orne Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Lionel Johnson: British poet, essayist and critic, Lionel Johnson (1867-1902). He attended boarding school at Winchester College, founded by William of Wykeham, where pupils are called Wykhamists. He completed his education at New College, Oxford in 1890. A year later, he converted to Catholicism. Wikipedia.
As yet, there is no evidence that Fields or Jewett met Johnson in London during this trip.
Bliss Carman: Canadian poet, William Bliss Carman (1861-1929).
W. B. Yeats: Irish poet, William Butler Yeats (1865-1939).
your loss: Guiney refers to Fields's sister, Elizabeth Adams (1825- 15 June 1898). See Fields in Key to Correspondents.
Miss Adams ... Ludlow: After returning from living and writing in Germany, Fields's sister Sarah Holland Adams resided at the Ludlow Hotel in Boston. See Fields in Key to Correspondents. Among her works is a translation of H. F. Grimm's Literature (1886, Google Books ) which included an essay on Albert/Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528).
whithersoever thou goest: This exact phrase appears in the King James Bible, Joshua 1:9. Perhaps more relevant, though, is the statement of Ruth in Ruth 1:16, often associated with a woman's marriage vows: "Whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge." Presumably, Guiney means Jewett in this case.
le Sieur de Montaigne: French: "The Lord Montaigne." The French author, Michel Eyquem de Montaigne (1533-1592). Research assistance: Jeannine Hammond, Coe College.
Miss Maxwell: Charlotte E. Maxwell (c. 1856-1936) was the owner and operator of St. Botolph Gymnasium in Boston. See Writing Out My Heart: Selections from the Journal of Frances E. Willard, p. 392.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Huntington Library, San Marino, CA, in the James T. Fields collection Box 26: mss FI 1570. Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
London and Yorkshire
London and Yorkshire
August 12th evening --
Arrived at Mrs Greenslades* 40 Clarges Street to find a kind reception -- but very close dampish rooms. -- Good of their [ deleted word ] ^sort^ but not inviting in midsummer and with such heat. In the morning we were all very tired Saturday August [ 18th intended 13th ] but I suggested getting on to Cambridge at once. This seemed to discourage the whole party who fell silent but after a while plans were made for leaving Sunday afternoon, the intermediate hours to be passed in getting all the rest possible. So we compromised and started forth, Sarah with Mary, Theodore by himself and I also alone. We met very cheerily at luncheon. Mary had seen St. Pauls and been to the [ unrecognized word or words ] etc etc: [ so punctuated ]
Sunday.
We all went to Westminster Abbey and heard Canon Gore* preach. We drove down in two hansoms through the pleasant parks. It was a warm day but the Abbey was cool and never more beautiful. I sat near the monument to Thackeray's Lord Castlereagh put up by his brother with an exquisite inscription. I understand more clearly than ever before the value of such a place, such monuments, such inscriptions. No youth, no man{,} no woman could sit and study these monuments to England's good and great men & women without a new fountain of endeavor [ deleted word ] springing in the heart. We were not allowed to walk about much after service but we wandered in at the door of the nave and saw the busts to Kingsley, the Arnolds Father & Matthew{,} Wordsworth and a few others.
I was overwhelmed as never before by the sight of the poor who came to the service on that day. There were many who could not get in and their dejected appearance as they retreated from the aisle where I sat cannot be forgotten. I did not see the same readiness in the [ more ? ] fortunate to move up and "to consider the poor" which it seems to me that we find at home. At least I hope we are more considerate for I saw with sorrow several places where the people might have sat more closely in order to accommodate others. I shall not forget one pale tired man with a wrinkled brow, old before his time{,} leading by the hand a wretched anaemic looking little boy. He [ crept ? ] out with an air of its being "his luck{.}"
We walked home and although I was a little tired I was refreshed by the air, but the others were not and weary and I felt I had not done what they preferred. It is a constant struggle travelling with three other persons whose ideals and interests are not yours. Patience. Dear S.O.J. and I have had a delightful time together
[ Page 44 ]
for four nearly five months and are determined now to make the others enjoy themselves if possible. It is rather uphill work however ----
Sunday P.M. 14th of August
we found ourselves in Cambridge. What a treat it was to be under green leaves and in the fresh air once more. I could have sung aloud. We walked in the "backs" until dusk and then went into St. John's Chapel where a service was going on.* We had been too late for Kings or Trinity and the new chapel at John's is not as interesting. We soon found, however, that it was a vesper service with music. The voices were lovely and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We stood awhile as we came out and while they were singing ^the^ anthem alone by the side door. The sky was pale primrose color quickly fading{,} the lovely plum red of the old bricks in the Quad of which Ruskin speaks,* was still ^to^ be felt rather than fully seen. The bats "went round in fragrant skies"* while the voices rose and fell, delighting in the song of praise and in their 'own young powers.' We have enjoyed few things so much.
Tuesday 14th [ intended 16th ]
Fresh and warm / how uncommon this really warm weather is in England! Went to see Kings College Chapel which I enjoyed as if for the first time. It is an exquisite place. Thence to Jesus College to Sydney Sussex and Pembroke.* How exquisite are the gardens of the last. I then drove out to see Mrs Sidgwick who has succeeded Miss Clough as President of College.* I found her a woman of some power, of a great devotion to her work and of pleasant manners. She is living in a new house, built since I was here six years ago. There are beautiful bronze gates erected to the memory of Miss Clough and the Presidents house forms the arch over these gates. In this way her room commands the quadrangle of the college. The view is very pretty indeed. It would not be easy for anyone to move through the Quad without being seen from the President's home.
[ Page 45 ]
After a brief but pleasant visit, I drove back to the hotel {--} joined the party who had been to see Trinity Chapel meanwhile and went at once to the station for Ilkly* [ so spelled ].
Tuesday 16th
We arrived very tired last night{.} The journey was warm and long, but we slept well in the cool fresh air of Ilkley. [ A long deletion begins ] Rev. Mr. Orton-Smith* met us at the train. Today we invited him to luncheon. We found him one of the petty critical gentlemen and were not greatly edified by his conversation; however he had done what he could by coming to meet us so we were glad to be polite in turn -- rested in the afternoon. Wed 17th [ End of long deletion ]
Started directly after luncheon for Timble where dear Robert Collyer was to speak about Robinson Gill who gave the library* we helped to dedicate (as it were!) six years ago. It is a long drive from Ilkley perhaps ten miles, up & up out of the Wharfedale valley, past the old Denton park where the Fairfaxes began{,} leaving the Middelton [ so spelled ] park on the left{,} one of the old Roman Catholic families who have held their place about six hundred years. Now the Middeltons are gone and the place will probably be cut up. New villas will then be built on the old grounds and the old things will have passed away; indeed the tale is much the same as that of the old place of which Mrs Humphry Ward writes in her new story of Helbeck.* On we went as I say, past Denton and up to the great moor. In spite of the heat of the day there was an exquisite breeze blowing here; the heather was [ purpling ? ] all about us and the freshness of everything revived us wonderfully. There are few scenes more impressive than that of those wide moors, silent, dark even in sunshine with their furry cover, soft, thick, as if to keep the bones of the old earth warm. As far as eye can reach they rise and rise and swell, not into mountain heights of peaks but with the soft roll of a wide high sea --
[ Page 46 ]
We kept on for a long distance descending at last into the little village of Timble. The service had begun, for the day was waning and the driver and Theodore had walked up several hills and we all walked down one. However we were in season for the address and very good and interesting it was, telling the people how the sterling honesty and determination of the man had made him what he became, a power in the world. He said the mark of Robinson Gill on his work was sufficient. Two years before his death{,} he was deceived by some wicked men for whom he signed notes and lost a great deal of money. This trouble and the greater sorrow of the death of a grown son, caused his death probably at the last. He did not tell the tale in a sad way, but in a noble encouraging tender fashion which the people drank in as if it were the water of life. There were some tears but the whole was bright and loving and strong and good for every one of us --
John Dickinson and his wife* two of the last people of Timble came to us after the address. She had been playing the cabinet organ; he is registrar of deeds and general representative of church & state in the village. A strait speechless little man but full of his own opinions and thoughts which can be wrung out of him on occasion!! His wife is a very clever woman, busy as a bee, with her house and her neighborhood, her little girl and her garden. She reads too and knows many things. They invited us home to tea which she proceeded to get for us. She had a rabbit pie already baked and tea cakes, but John must go and blow the fire, for it had gone out and she could not get tea without it. SO John blew the bellows and she and a neighborhood girl prepared everything while we took our chairs out into the little garden and sat on the turf surrounded by flowers until tea was ready -- after tea Mrs Dickinson said she would take us to Swinsty Hall* [ and intending an ] old place of the time of Henry 7th and earlier which is still inhabited. We walked in the setting sunlight across the soft old fields climbing two walls and at last saw the hall before us with the entrance on one side. The flagstones leading across the front yard to the door were greatly worn although of hard stone, and the doorway itself was of the time of Haddon Hall* -- The paved way was not narrow but wide as the dignified porch and the rooms
[ Page 47 ]
inside, dark with old carved oak were made yet darker by the mullions in the windows and the tiny panes. One small space in all this window, which was nearly as large as one side of the room could open. This swinging [ part corrected ] was only about the size of two of the sheets upon which I am writing. The whole place was chiefly interesting to us as being like the homes left by the yeomen, our grandsires who came over to settle in the new country [ deleted word ] to brave the terrors of emigration for the sake of finding room for their faith [ deleted word or words ] and ^[ that corrected ] of^ their children. I felt as I had never quite felt before when I left the old house. Some of our ancestors perhaps dwelt in this very house.
It was night and heavy clouds, looking as if a thunderstorm [ were or was ] close upon us, hung over Ilkley when we started to return. Nothing came however, although the scene was quite dark and awful. In the night there was a little rain, but it went elsewhere{,} leaving us to enjoy two or three more days of unusual heat and damp.
Invited Rev. Orton-Smith to luncheon, for which see above. Rested in the afternoon.
Thursday 18th
Brother Robert came in the afternoon and we walked out with him to see the old monuments of the town. He stopped to see a large number of persons, or they stopped him by the way. At the place where the old castle stood he said to a woman "they have taken away the few stones of the old wall which used to be just here" I dont know [ unrecognized word ] she said but there is a bit of wall here below which you can see." We followed her
[ Page 48 ]
took it very sweetly and I could not help thinking that she looked more out of repair than he did by far, with poor teeth and far less strength!*
Friday August 19th
Drove with brother Robert to The Strid* where we stopped{,} ran down to the river's edge which was quiet and free from visitors and beautiful as the warm sweet day could make it although the water was low. There we sat while he took our Wordsworth at our request and read the story so simply & beautifully told in "What is good for a bootless bene"* -- then we went on to the village of Burnsall far up Wharfdale and surrounded by the [ moors corrected ] where we took luncheon with Mr. Bland who has a small Inn.* Brother Robert had sent word we were coming. They were thrown into great excitement by the news and when we arrived hungry as hounds [ there corrected ] was not the smallest sign of anything to eat. Bland has a clear beautiful blue eye which looks upon his own land, day by day and loves it. He has always been a tiller of the soil until of late years he has been able to get a house of his own. The practical business falls much upon his poor overworked wife and this I think he does not understand. "There's one thing I do in the house." he said. "More than anyone else, I take all that kind of labor out of their hands, that is the talking" !!!
He carried us to see the little church with the saxon [ apparently not capitalized ] fount and other very curious monuments{,} but on the way he began to recite his own verses. Brother Robert had warned us of this weakness, because the verses though very good in feeling were not of especial value, so he warded [ off corrected ] as many as possible, nevertheless we were tired and hungry and Theodore began "dancing about, as a boy will -- "You're not listening" he said, I will begin again!"
Finally he proposed to take us a walk on the moors where we could sit down and hear more. "I won't go a step" said Brother Robert "till
[ Page 49 ]
It was a lovely afternoon as we drove back
We took [ another corrected ] road home, past apple trees{,} wide and altogether on the other side of the river over what seemed to me a much earlier road than the
We found a rather rude note from Ascough [ so spelled ] Fawkes* of Famley Hall declining to show his Turner pictures.
Saturday --
dear Brother Robert left us to return to Leeds. We accompanied him half way in order to see Ripon and Fountains Abbey which we consider more than a fair exchange for Famley Hall,* which we none of us regretted for an instant.
Ripon is one of England's most interesting cathedrals. We found a young man there to show us about who is a pattern of what a guide would be. When we parted he would take nothing for himself in spite of the time he had given us. The old saxon [ not capitalized ] underground chapel{,} one of the oldest in England was indeed worth seeing, beside the beautiful and mingled architecture of the cathedral itself. There is a quaint figure of [ Janus First ? ] on one of the columns and the carvings in the choir are of 1400 in some parts. We dined in Ripon and drove on in warm sunshine to Fountains Abbey. How exquisite it was there and how beautiful the [ drive ? ] words fail to say -- We were rather over heated and over tired and the [ unrecognized word ] was damp so I must needs take cold which troubled me for
[ Page 50 ]
the few following days --
Notes
Greenslades: This transcription is uncertain; this person has not yet been identified.
Sarah .. Mary, Theodore: Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary Rice Jewett, and their nephew, Theodore Jewett Eastman.
Canon Gore: Charles Gore (1853-1932), Anglican Bishop of Oxford. In 1898, he was canon of Westminster Abbey in London.
Thackeray's Lord Castlereagh: Robert Stewart (1769-1822), Viscount Castlereagh, a British politician, is buried in Westminster Abbey, in the center of the north transept. A white marble statue of Stewart with an inscription was added to his grave site. Fields's connecting Stewart to the British novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863) is somewhat confusing. Thackeray was acquainted with Frederick Stewart (1805-1872), also known as Viscount Castlereagh, after the death of his uncle, Robert Stewart. Wikipedia.
Kingsley, the Arnolds Father & Matthew{,} Wordsworth: Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) was a priest of the Church of England, for many years Rector of Eversley in Hampshire, a professor of history at Cambridge University, and a novelist, perhaps best remembered for The Water Babies (1863).
The father of British poet, Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) , was the educator Thomas Arnold, the elder (1795- 1842).
William Wordsworth (1770-1850) was a British Romantic poet.
Wikipedia.
"backs" ... St. John's Chapel ... King's ... Trinity: The Backs is a picturesque area in Cambridge, UK, where several colleges of the university back onto the River Cam. St. John's chapel is, presumably, the chapel of St. John's College, Cambridge, which was built in the 19th century. See also King's College and Trinity College, Cambridge, both of which have chapels dating from the European renaissance.
Ruskin: This transcription is uncertain. Wikipedia says: John Ruskin (1819-1900) "was the leading English art critic of the Victorian era, as well as an art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, a prominent social thinker and philanthropist." Though Ruskin lectured at Cambridge University, he studied at Oxford.
"went round in fragrant skies": This line comes from the third stanza of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, "In Memoriam 95":
And bats went round in fragrant skies,Wikipedia says: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) "was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets." His long poem, "In Memoriam" was completed in 1849.
And wheel'd or lit the filmy shapes
That haunt the dusk, with ermine capes
And woolly breasts and beaded eyes;
'own young powers': It is not certain that Fields has placed this phrase in quotation marks, though it appears so. It is possible, though not certain, that Fields had read R. C. Jebb's essay on Pindar in Journal of Hellenic Studies 1-8 (1880-1887), in which this phrase appears.
Jesus College to Sydney Sussex and Pembroke: Jesus College and Sidney Sussex College at Cambridge University. Pembroke College, Cambridge, is noted for its gardens.
Mrs Sidgwick ... Miss Clough ... College: Fields refers to Newnham College, Cambridge, a college for women at Cambridge University. Anne Jemima Clough (1820-1892) was the first principal (1871-1892). She was succeeded by Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick, (1845-1936), physicist, whose husband, philosopher Henry Sidgwick (1838-1900), was a co-founder of Newnham.
Wikipedia.
Ilkly: Wikipedia says: "Ilkley is a spa town and civil parish in the City of Bradford, West Yorkshire, in Northern England."
Rev. Mr. Orton-Smith: Probably, Fields refers to Canon Irton Smith (d. 1933), who served as vicar at Ilkley's St. Margaret's Church 1890-1908, according to J. F. Hewitt's "The Early History of St. Margaret's."
Timble ... Robert Collyer ... Robinson Gill ... the library: Timble, Yorkshire, is a village about 10 miles northeast of Ilkley.
For Collyer, see Key to Correspondents.
Robinson Gill (1829-1897) of Timble immigrated to the United States, where he became a successful businessman and a member of All Souls Universalist Church in Brooklyn. In 1892, he built the Robinson library in Timble to benefit his home community and provide a memorial for his maternal ancestors. Robert Collyer spoke at the opening of the library in 1892 and at this memorial service at Timble, following Gill's death. Paula Blanchard, in Sarah Orne Jewett, indicates that Fields and Jewett attended the original dedication in August of 1892 (p. 264).
In a letter of 21 August, 1898, Collyer writes:
This last week I have been busy. Made theThe library of Harvard University holds Sarah Orne Jewett's copy of The Townships of Little Timble, Great Timble and the Hamlet of Snowden (1895) by William Grainge.
memorial address for Robinson Gill at Timble, and the
next day was at Fewston. . . . Mrs. Fields, Miss
Jewett, and her sister Mary came down from London
to be at Timble, and then returned to Ilkley, where I
joined them. We got a splendid team and went up the
Dale 12 miles to Burnsall, a lovely ride. Master Bland,
an old friend of many years, keeps a sort of hotel, so
I telegraphed we would lunch there. But no thank you!
This was an event! They sent some miles for a quarter
of lamb, had a plum pudding also and pies and other
dainties, cream and what they call 'sike like' in the
dale. . . . Master Bland is a poet and is much given
to reeling off his poems at very great length, but I
warned the ladies, so they laid plots to head him off
when there was a chance and yet to please him mean-
while. He is down on the Vicar, poor fellow. I mean
poor Vicar. They quarrel like cat and dog. He took
us round the vicarage with great pains, so that the
Vicar might see us no doubt, and then he will get word
to him somehow of his distinguished company. It was
all very funny when you know what the fine old yeoman
was up to. ... (The Life and Letters of Robert Collyer, pp. 292-3)
Wharfedale valley ... Denton park where the Fairfaxes began ... Middelton park: Wharfedale is the upper valley of the River Wharfe in Yorkshire.
The poet and translator Edward Fairfax (c. 1580-1653) was from Denton in Yorkshire. Wikipedia says that his half-brother, "Thomas Fairfax, 1st Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1560-1640) was an English nobleman, soldier, diplomat, and politician, his title being in the Peerage of Scotland."
Middleton Park today is a public park in Middleton Leeds, a remnant of the manorial estate dating from the Norman Conquest. By the 18th century, the Middletons owned extensive holdings in the area of Ilkley.
Wikipedia.
Mrs. Humphry Ward: Mary Augusta Arnold (Mrs. Humphry) Ward (1851-1920), who was a niece of the British poet, Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) and daughter of the English literary scholar Tom Arnold (1823-1900). Her novel, Helbeck of Bannisdale appeared in 1898. Wikipedia.
John Dickinson and his wife: John Dickinson (1844-1912) kept diaries that were edited to become Timble Man: Diaries of a Dalesman (1988). They provide a history of the village, mainly 1878-1912. His wife was Fanny Holmes (1859-1927).
Swinsty Hall: Wikipedia says Swinsty Hall had been in the Robinson family from the 16th until the 18th century; it is within 2 miles of Timble. The hall would be too recent to be from the time of King Henry VII (1457-1509). See also Historic England.
Haddon Hall: Wikipedia says: "Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye near Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland. The oldest parts are from the 11th century, but there are additions through the 17th."
strength: Whether Fields intended an exclamation point here is not clear. She made four marks down the right margin after "strength," which may indicate four exclamation points.
The Strid: An area surrounding a waterfall in the River Wharfe near Bolton Bridge, about six miles north and east of Ilkley. This is the location of Bolton Abbey, the site of Bolton Priory, a 12th-century Augustinian monastery. Wikipedia.
bene: The opening line of "The Force of Prayer; or, The Founding of Bolton Priory, A Tradition" (1807) by the British romantic poet, William Wordsworth (1770- 1850). The poem tells of an inconsolable mother who founds the priory and discovers her grief is eased thereby. It ends:
Oh! there is never sorrow of heart
That shall lack a timely end,
If but to God we turn, and ask
Of Him to be our friend!
Inn: See the letter in the note above on Robert Collyer. John A. Bland published at least one poem, "Burnsall Scenery" in the Yorkshire Anthology (1901) compiled by Joseph H. Turner, p. 258.
"an angel" ... Edward 4th: Wikipedia says: "The angel was an English gold coin introduced by Edward IV in 1465."
Cistercian: The Cistercian Order was founded in the eleventh century by Robert of Molesme, as an offshoot from the Benedictine Order. They were distinguishable visually by their white robes worn over their habits. It is not clear why Fields connects these monks with the Augustinians who occupied Bolton Abbey. Wikipedia.
Earl of Devonshire: It is not clear to which Earl of Devonshire Fields refers. In 1898, the current Earl was the British statesman, Spencer Compton Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (1833-1908). His cousin, the previous Duke, was William Cavendish (1790-1858).
Old Anne may have worked for either or both. Fields also seems to refer to a property that Anne kept for the family, but the transcription is difficult. As yet, no family property name has been found that resembles "Buxton." However, the earls of Devonshire have historic connections with the town of Buxton in Derbyshire, which is about 80 miles south of Ilkley. Perhaps more likely Fields has written Bolton; the Bolton Priory was the property of the Cavendish family in the 19th century, but this opens the question of in what sense old Old Anne was keeper of the Priory.
Wikipedia.
Ascough Fawkes: Ayscough Fawkes (1831-1899), grandson of Walter Ramsden Hawkesworth Fawkes (1769-1825) of Famley Hall, a Yorkshire landowner, writer and Member of Parliament. Walter Fawkes befriended British painter, J. M. W. Turner (1775-1851) and became owner of a large collection of his work. Wikipedia.
Famley Hall: Fields may have underlined these words. Or perhaps she crossed a T in the next line with a very long line.
Ripon and Fountains Abbey: Ripon, Yorkshire, is a cathedral city about 28 miles north and east of Ilkley. The nearby Fountains Abbey is a well-preserved ruin of a Cistercian monastery. Wikipedia.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Georgina Halliburton
Ilkley Yorkshire
21 August [ 1898 ]
21 August [ 1898 ]
Dear Georgie
It has seemed so long a time since I heard from you, and I have just been wondering if there may not have been a letter of yours on the poor Bourgogne that went down* -- I am sure that you would have written. Perhaps it was your answer to a letter I wrote after I was at La Garaye* which had brought you more than anyone to my mind.
We had a delightful long
[ Page 2 ]
time in France, and went to the [ Loire corrected ] and Touraine* after ^Mary" & Theodore* came & Madame Blanc* went with us which made it pleasanter still. Then we went to La Ferté & all made Madame Blanc a last visit, and then it was so hot in Paris that we hurried away, and found London so much hotter that we came to Cambridge and then up here among the moors where Mrs. Fields* and I had been once before. It is near Bolton Abbey
[ Page 3 ]
and Fountains Abbey and Haworth where the Bronte's* [ so the text appears ] lived and is a most lovely place. Mary has liked it every so much. Tomorrow she & Theodore and I are going to Edinburgh, and Mrs. Fields is going to make a week's visit to a friend of ours, and then join us in Stratford-on-Avon where we are going to stay all together at the Vicarage.* You see that we are full of pleasant plans, but I begin to long to get home, and to think more about October than September{.}
[ Page 4 ]
It seems a great while ago that we came away.
I always think of always finding you just in the same places Georgie dear. I wonder so often if you have been making plans all this summer and what you are reading and thinking about. I am sure that you have been more than ever to Katie and to Mrs. Doe and the girls.* I am so glad when I know you
[ Page 5 ]
after starting my life with most of my friends so much older, beginning with my grandmothers for instance! I think you have always liked to be nice to younger girls, at any rate you have known how to be nice when I was shy and dull with them.
Do write me soon. You cant think how I wish to hear from you -- or how often you are in my thoughts. Give my love to "Auntie"* -- Mary is not here just now or she would send messages. Mrs. Fields sends her
[ Page 6 ]
love with mine
Yours most affectionately
Sarah --
Sarah --
Please give my kindest remembrances to Olive* --
Notes
the poor Bourgogne that went down: SS La Bourgogne was a French ocean liner that sank on 4 July 1898, with the loss of 549 lives, after colliding in dense fog with the British SS Cromartyshire about 200 miles southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
La Garaye: Jewett refers to the Chateau la Garaye in Brittany.
Loire and Touraine: Wikipedia says Touraine "is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher and Indre....Traversed by the [ River ] Loire and its tributaries the Cher, the Indre and the Vienne, Touraine makes up a part of the Paris Basin."
Mary & Theodore: Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Eastman Jewett. See Key to Correspondents.
Madame Blanc: Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Fields: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
Bolton Abbey ... Fountains Abbey and Haworth ... Bronte's: The Brontë family consisted notably of Anne (1820-1849), Emily (1818-1848), and Charlotte Brontë (1816-1855), British novelists and poets. They lived in the village of Haworth in Yorkshire. Bolton Abbey and Fountains Abbey also are in Yorkshire. Wikipedia.
Stratford-on-Avon ... the Vicarage: Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire is best remembered as the birthplace of William Shakespeare. While there are historic buildings in the town, known as the Old Vicarage and the Old Rectory, these seem unlikely as hotels, though perhaps in 1898, one of them offered lodgings, or perhaps lodgings using the name were available nearby.
Katie ... Mrs. Doe and the girls: Katie probably is Kate Birckhead, though this is not certain. Mrs. Doe almost certainly is Edith Bell Haven Doe, and the girls her unmarried daughters. See Key to Correspondents.
"Auntie": The identity of this person remains uncertain. See Georgina Halliburton in Key to Correspondents.
Olive: This person has not been identified.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Houghton Library of Harvard University, Cambridge, MA: Sarah Orne Jewett correspondence, 1861-1930. MS Am 1743 (260). Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Yorkshire
Sunday [ 21 August ].
Did not stir all day. Very warm moving about but the air is very pure at Ilkley and we enjoyed it.
Monday.
Sarah, Theodore & Mary* left for [ Edinburgh corrected ] which they reached at evening -- Mrs Griffith (my dear Katie Bradbury)* came on to see me and to pass the night at Ilkley. In the afternoon Mrs Armitage* who has written excellent books on Architecture ^archaeology^ and history came for afternoon tea which we had in the garden and enjoyed immensely. She is an excellent woman of fine character and talent. Katie [ found corrected ] a capital nurse.
Tuesday ^August
we left Ilkley for Ashton under Lyne.* The distance is not great but we were obliged to change cars and the trains were not punctual so it was late (about five) when we arrived. The tea was still in the drawing room however and very grateful we were for it -- Dear little Mrs Bradbury and her two maids, especially Maryanne were on the lookout for us under the ivy [ unrecognized word, porch ? ] at the front door and we were both hugged and kissed as if I were one of their dear own as indeed I feel myself to be. Mr Griffith came to the train to meet us on his bicycle and absent-mindedly put me into the wrong private carriage! At dinner we met a sister of Mr. Griffith and a Miss Paget* who is a very sweet lady -- cousin to
Wednesday --
A lovely day although never very fair it appears just here. We started in good season to find Mr. Bradbury and to see Bakewell and Over [ Hadden meaning Haddon ]* -- Again on omnibus trains and changing, having luncheon on the train which Katie brought on -- arrowroot* for me{,} [ comfort ? ]{,} endless good things for herself. Reaching Bakewell early in the afternoon we saw the old church{,} one of the oldest and strangest -- norman [ not capitalized ] and early English -- Saw a saxon [ not capitalized ] cross and read some queer inscriptions in the church yard and then we went to an old quaint bake shop and refreshed ourselves with tea and cakes before taking a carriage to Over Haddon -- How quaint [ deleted word ] ^and^ old-fashioned things were about there! The tea and cakes were good however and refreshed us before our start for Over Haddon. What a lovely drive it was, up and up into hills overlooking the
[ Page 51 ]
Lathkill,* a small river making exquisite pictures on its path. The village is called Over Haddon and really overhangs Haddon Hall, but it is some distance away and the inn itself is tucked
The sun had quite set after dinner and the small lamp and candles were not conducive to reading -- beside we were all tired with a long day of travel -- so to bed we went in good season in order to wake up to the pleasure of a good [ deleted word ] out of doors time tomorrow.
Thursday morning
Lathkill is one of the loveliest spots in England. A silence like Eden* was on everything when I arose; the sun was streaming mistily across the green downs which stretched like velvet rising and falling from east to west dropping into the valley of the little river; beyond again were woods and pastures rising to the horizon. It was cool and fair and we met refreshed at breakfast time. We drove in good season to Youlgrave* [ so spelled ], place of early Saxon and Norman association, with its interesting antique church, and having explored this we went on again to visit the strange barrows at Arbervale.* Arbervale was a wonderful spot pre-historic now, or about the period of Stone Henge{.} The stones are all flat but the [ position is very ? ]*
[ Page 52 ]
and extremely impressive. We walked in the dewy short flower-strewn grass across two or three large fields before we came to the spot. It was beautiful to see how Mr. Bradbury saw the flowers, loved them and knew them by name. He gathered a dwarf gentian* about three inches high and handed it to me. I put {it} into a paper to bring home some of the flowers we
We returned to Miss Wildgoose for luncheon and rest after our ten mile expedition but we kept the fly in order to see Haddon Hall in the afternoon since it was very near. How lovely it was in that late August sunshine! I seemed to understand its history too better than ever before and to be able to people it in its early splendors. We drove from Haddon to Bakewell again where only the day before we had gone over the antique church, and again we had tea at the small bakeshop on the little street which cost two pence half penny each! with [ fine or five ] cakes and buns thrown in. Mr. Bradbury was in a state of hurry, he feared we should lose the train. However as usual we waited half an hour but we reached Ashton in time for [ unrecognized word, driving ? ] the carriage & the good Barr* meeting us at the station.
Friday
A rainy day at Riversvale. Did not go out{.} It was cold and there were fires about the house. It seemed like late autumn. I found time to read and write a little and to sit in the drawing room and look over some of the
[ Page 53 ]
of Irish birth and many strange experiences,
full of talent and of charm met her at an evening party. She
saw at once what a sweet devoted creature she was and she
determined to win her to her side if possible. Katie became as
truly absorbed in Egyptian knowledge as Miss Edwards herself
and at last consented to go with her to America where she
engaged herself to give a series of lectures in the States.
Miss Edwards represented herself as an excellent traveller and
no trouble to anyone, whereas she could do nothing for
herself. On the steamer Katie had one sad moment. She saw the
whole thing, how dependent Miss E. was; how she was the only
person to do the severe labor which lay before them. Miss
Edwards was disorder in person as to external things. Her
lectures were however perfect both in style of writing and in
delivery. She could not dress herself nor undress; she must
have her bed remade by Katie at midnight every night; she
travelled every day and lectured every night except at
Christmas week; altogether it was a tale which can never be
told of the labor and self forgetfulness of that young woman.
Then Miss Edwards broke her arm which never knitted properly
and two years after her return to Europe she died. Then there
was a long period of trouble breaking up the house at Westbury
on Trym where Miss Edwards had lived for years with an old
lady and where her library was. There were baskets full of [
terrible ? ] letters to be read and when all was over
Katie determined to burn everything and never to write Miss
E's life which at first she intended to do. "She became a
better woman every year of her life, after we came together,"
Katie said one day. "I am sure of that and it gives me
happiness now. I have discovered that we may keep on growing
until we die. This is what is intended. Our time of death only
comes when we stop our own growth."
After Miss Edwards had gone and her beautiful library was moved -- partly to Somerville College* the woman's college at Oxford under Agnes Maitland,* and the larger part and the most beautiful to Riversvale, during Katie's life, Katie devoted herself to furthering the work of Egyptologists. She increased the ardor and scope of her own studies and denying herself luxuries gave her days and nights to the work so far as was consistent with her duties to her father and mother and the house at Riversvale. Six years ago we believed that Flinders Petrie* the most distinguished now among the discoverers, wished to marry Katie. We did not like him personally
and hoped this would never be. Shortly after came a letter saying that she had married F. Llewelyn Griffith, a young man of fine character and bound also to distinguish himself in this work. We had never seen F.L.G. and could not of course make up our minds about it, but during this visit we have found him a man of unusual character and sweetness.
Saturday 27th
Still raining. The climate of Riversvale is very damp and chilly -- I fear not very wholesome -- I walked a mile or so within the grounds when the rain held up, but it soon began to pour in torrents -- In the afternoon my dear S.O.J. Mary & Theodore arrived from Edinburgh. Katie was anxious to have them pass the two nights here before going on [ to corrected ] Stratford our next promised visit. It was a pleasant evening. Miss Paget is staying here also who has made drawings in Egypt for several years. She belongs to a great family of this name, but she is a very modest lady and speaks little of her grand connections. She gave us some good ghost stories connected with some of the old houses. However -- one of these ghosts is at Leven -- the seat of the Howards,* where Mrs H. Ward* wrote a part of "Helbeck"; the Howards being cousins of Miss P --
Sunday 28th
After Miss Edwards had gone and her beautiful library was moved -- partly to Somerville College* the woman's college at Oxford under Agnes Maitland,* and the larger part and the most beautiful to Riversvale, during Katie's life, Katie devoted herself to furthering the work of Egyptologists. She increased the ardor and scope of her own studies and denying herself luxuries gave her days and nights to the work so far as was consistent with her duties to her father and mother and the house at Riversvale. Six years ago we believed that Flinders Petrie* the most distinguished now among the discoverers, wished to marry Katie. We did not like him personally
[ Page 54 ]
and hoped this would never be. Shortly after came a letter saying that she had married F. Llewelyn Griffith, a young man of fine character and bound also to distinguish himself in this work. We had never seen F.L.G. and could not of course make up our minds about it, but during this visit we have found him a man of unusual character and sweetness.
Saturday 27th
Still raining. The climate of Riversvale is very damp and chilly -- I fear not very wholesome -- I walked a mile or so within the grounds when the rain held up, but it soon began to pour in torrents -- In the afternoon my dear S.O.J. Mary & Theodore arrived from Edinburgh. Katie was anxious to have them pass the two nights here before going on [ to corrected ] Stratford our next promised visit. It was a pleasant evening. Miss Paget is staying here also who has made drawings in Egypt for several years. She belongs to a great family of this name, but she is a very modest lady and speaks little of her grand connections. She gave us some good ghost stories connected with some of the old houses. However -- one of these ghosts is at Leven -- the seat of the Howards,* where Mrs H. Ward* wrote a part of "Helbeck"; the Howards being cousins of Miss P --
Sunday 28th
The travellers were tired and did not go to
church. Only Theodore Mr. B. & myself. It was still chilly
and damp and I managed to begin a cold -- but we enjoyed the
day altogether -- sitting in the large drawing room in the
afternoon and learning about Egypt while Mr. B. talked very
pleasantly about his favorite books{,} English antiquities and
illustrated what he had to say with old books, photographs,
drawings etc. Then there were Miss Edwards's [ autographs ?
] to look over. The time passed quickly -- There were family
prayers in the evening.
Monday 29th
Left early in the morning, still chilly & rainy for Stratford. We went to Rugby* which we saw and where we took luncheon ( [ unrecognized word ] had in the [ unrecognized words ]!) but what with the walks and what with the changes we were the entire day in reaching Stratford. I felt pretty well used up with cold -- However we dressed for dinner and enjoyed the evening with Mr. and Mrs [ Arbothnot intending Abuthnot ? ] and their cousin Mrs. Douglas -- The only guest beside ourselves. The house is a huge place -- very handsome.
30th
at the Vicarage -- Unfortunately quite ill with a cold and unable to get up in the morning. In spite of this the party sallied forth ^to^ the birthplace etc -- Coming down to luncheon although feeling very weak we had a pleasant hour and afterward went out on the lawn to be photographed. Thence we started for the church but after seeing [ deleted words ] the grounds of Mrs Charles Flower's house which Mr. A calls his Naboth's Vineyard,* a charming spot contiguous to the church and then the church itself which was most carefully shown and explained to us by the good Vicar, around whom a large company gathered, I found myself quite faint and obliged to return home. I was very sorry! We were to have gone out on the river in a boat and done all manner of delightful things; however I rested and was ready for dinner when we were joined by a churchman and his wife Mr. and Mrs Penny. He might have stood for one of Du Maurier's* drawings of a vicar.
Wedy 31st --
Left for London The day was lovely like Tuesday -- sunny clear & cool; but I was still unwell and went to bed again Sept 1st with a very bad cold. Did not get up all day. Mary & Theodore saw Warwick before joining us.
Sep 2
Still in bed until they all went away after luncheon on some pleasant expedition. Then I got up remembering that tomorrow was Sarah's birthday,* took a cab, went to the British Museum{,} found the address of the best maker of casts, drove there{,} got Thackeray's hand and a copy of a lovely Indian ivory -- then drove to C.G. market{,}* bought flowers and returned a little tired but much pleased{.}
Sat. Sepr 3d
Sarah's birthday; breakfast with flowers and pretty presents. Arthur Holland his wife and Helen Herford* came to dinner.
Sepr 4th Sunday
Still very warm but to me very pleasant. The party went without me to the Foundling Hospital* and in the afternoon I took a little walk.
London with its pathos and its deep interest holds me strongly as ever{.}
Monday 29th
Left early in the morning, still chilly & rainy for Stratford. We went to Rugby* which we saw and where we took luncheon ( [ unrecognized word ] had in the [ unrecognized words ]!) but what with the walks and what with the changes we were the entire day in reaching Stratford. I felt pretty well used up with cold -- However we dressed for dinner and enjoyed the evening with Mr. and Mrs [ Arbothnot intending Abuthnot ? ] and their cousin Mrs. Douglas -- The only guest beside ourselves. The house is a huge place -- very handsome.
[ Page 55 ]
30th
at the Vicarage -- Unfortunately quite ill with a cold and unable to get up in the morning. In spite of this the party sallied forth ^to^ the birthplace etc -- Coming down to luncheon although feeling very weak we had a pleasant hour and afterward went out on the lawn to be photographed. Thence we started for the church but after seeing [ deleted words ] the grounds of Mrs Charles Flower's house which Mr. A calls his Naboth's Vineyard,* a charming spot contiguous to the church and then the church itself which was most carefully shown and explained to us by the good Vicar, around whom a large company gathered, I found myself quite faint and obliged to return home. I was very sorry! We were to have gone out on the river in a boat and done all manner of delightful things; however I rested and was ready for dinner when we were joined by a churchman and his wife Mr. and Mrs Penny. He might have stood for one of Du Maurier's* drawings of a vicar.
Wedy 31st --
Left for London The day was lovely like Tuesday -- sunny clear & cool; but I was still unwell and went to bed again Sept 1st with a very bad cold. Did not get up all day. Mary & Theodore saw Warwick before joining us.
Sep 2
Still in bed until they all went away after luncheon on some pleasant expedition. Then I got up remembering that tomorrow was Sarah's birthday,* took a cab, went to the British Museum{,} found the address of the best maker of casts, drove there{,} got Thackeray's hand and a copy of a lovely Indian ivory -- then drove to C.G. market{,}* bought flowers and returned a little tired but much pleased{.}
Sat. Sepr 3d
Sarah's birthday; breakfast with flowers and pretty presents. Arthur Holland his wife and Helen Herford* came to dinner.
Sepr 4th Sunday
Still very warm but to me very pleasant. The party went without me to the Foundling Hospital* and in the afternoon I took a little walk.
London with its pathos and its deep interest holds me strongly as ever{.}
Sarah, Theodore & Mary: Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary Rice Jewett, and their nephew, Theodore Jewett Eastman.
Mrs. Griffith ... Katie Bradbury: Kate Bradbury (1854-1902) resided at Riversvale Hall near Ashton-Under-Lyne in Great Britain. She married Francis Llewellyn Griffith (1862-1934) in 1896. Both were Egyptologists. See Wikipedia and Riversvale Hall: The Story Of A Victorian Country House.
Mrs. Armitage: Ella Sophia Armitage (1841 -1931) was an English historian and archaeologist.
Ashton under Lyne: Ashton-under-Lyne is a market town near Manchester, about 55 miles south of Ilkley.
Miss Paget ...Algernon Swinburne ... Mr. Bradbury: Rosalind Frances Emily Paget (1844-1925) was a British artist who provided drawings to supplement the work of several Egyptologists, including Bradbury and Griffith.
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837-1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. His relationship with Paget has not been verified.
Mr. Bradbury is Kate Bradbury's father, Charles Timothy Bradbury. His wife was Elizabeth Ann Tomlins.
Bakewell ... Over Haddon: Bakewell is a small market town in Derbyshire, about 40 miles from Manchester. The village of Over Haddon, about 2 miles south of Bakewell, is the location of Haddon Hall, a country house that is one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland.
two Miss Wildgoose: While it is clear Fields says there are two women named Wildgoose operating this inn, Fields's decision not to use other plurals is puzzling. Annie Wildgoose was the publican at the Lathkil Hotel according to the 1901 census, at which time she was 46 years old. Perhaps her mother, Esther, also was living in 1898? But she would be Mrs. Wildgoose, and she is not listed in the 1901 census.
arrowroot: The transcription of this sentence is doubtful, the meaning uncertain. Arrowroot is a starch derived from various -- mainly tropical -- plants, used medicinally and as food. In the Victorian era, the starch was popular in England, used in "biscuits, puddings, jellies, cakes, hot sauces, and also with beef tea, milk or veal broth."
Lathkill: River Lathkill is now in the Peak District National Park in Derbyshire.
Eden: Fields refers to the Garden of Eden as depicted in the opening chapters of the Bible, in Genesis.
Youlgrave ... barrows at Arbervale ... Stone Henge: Wikipedia says: "Youlgreave or Youlgrave ... is a village in the Derbyshire Peak District, lying on the River Bradford, four kilometres south of Bakewell."
Fields seems clearly to have written Abervale, but no such place has been located. Her description suggests that perhaps the party visited Arbor Low, a Neolithic henge monument in Derbyshire, about 4 miles east of Youlgreave. Stonehenge also is a prehistoric stone monument, including nearby barrows.
position is very: These seem to be Fields's words; it appears she has omitted a word in this sentence.
dwarf gentian ... white harebells: Gentianella and a white variant of Campanula rotundifolia.
Barr: presumably a Bradbury employee. This person has not been further identified.
"squeezes": According to Wikipedia, a squeeze is a reverse copy of an inscription, "made by applying moist filter paper and pushing into the indentations by percussive use of a stiff brush."
Miss Amelia Edwards: Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (1831 -1892) was an English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist. See Kate Bradbury for details about the relationship between Edwards and Kate Bradbury Griffith. She was born "in London to an Irish mother and a father who had been a British Army officer before becoming a banker." She "embarked on an strenuous lecture tour in the United States in 1889–1890. These lectures were later published as Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers." Find a Grave notes that before contracting the influenza of which she died in 1892, she had undergone surgery for breast cancer. Wikipedia notes that alongside her grave is that of her companion, Ellen Drew Braysher (1804-1892),
Westbury on Trym: Fields appears to have written Westbury on Tyne, but Edwards's home was at Westbury on Trym, near Bristol.
Somerville College: Somerville College, Oxford University is home to an Amelia Edwards Collection.
Agnes Maitland: Wikipedia says: Agnes Catherine Maitland (1850-1906) was the principal of Somerville College, Oxford, England (1889-1906).
Flinders Petrie: Wikipedia says: Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie (1853-1942), "commonly known as Flinders Petrie, was an English Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and preservation of artifacts."
Fields and Jewett had visited England six years earlier, in 1892.
Leven -- the seat of the Howards: Wikipedia says: "Levens Hall is a manor house in the Kent valley, near the village of Levens ... in Cumbria, Northern England." It was at one time the seat of Colonel Fulke-Greville Howard, and was "reportedly haunted by a Grey Lady."
Helbeck of Bannisdale: Mary Augusta Arnold (Mrs. Humphry) Ward (1851-1920), who was a niece of the British poet, Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) and daughter of the English literary scholar Tom Arnold (1823-1900). Her novel, Helbeck of Bannisdale appeared in 1898. Wikipedia.
Mr. and Mrs Arbuthnot and their cousin Mrs. Douglas: Almost certainly this is George Arbuthnot (1846-1922), an Anglican clergyman who served as vicar at Stratford upon Avon (1879-1908) before becoming Archdeacon of Coventry. His wife was Margaret Evelyn Luckock (1867-1951), daughter of H. M. Luckock, Dean of Lichfield. Wikipedia.
Mrs. Douglas has not been identified.
Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire is best known as the birthplace of William Shakespeare.
Mrs Charles Flower's house ...Naboth's Vineyard: Charles Flower (1830-1892) was a brewer in Stratford-upon-Avon, who was largely responsible for promoting the town as Shakespeare's birthplace and home. He was instrumental in opening the Shakespeare Memorial Theater. His wife was Sarah Martineau (1826-1908). See also "The Pioneering Flowers of Stratford-upon-Avon."
The story of Naboth's Vineyard appears in the First Kings 21 in the Bible. King Ahab desires Naboth's Vineyard, but Naboth will not sell it to him.
Mr. and Mrs Penny ... Du Maurier: The transcription "Penny" is uncertain. Though there is as yet no confirmation for this, it is possible that Rev. Arbuthnot has invited a well-known clergyman to meet his guests: Rev. Alfred Penny (1845-1935), Rector of St. Peter's Collegiate Church, Wolverhampton, who had been a Melanesian missionary,and was the author of Ten Years in Melanesia (1887). See The Church of England Pulpit and Ecclesiastical Review 39: 46. His second wife (1895) was Mary Frances Baker, daughter of Rev. Ralph Bourne Baker.
Wikipedia says: "George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (1834-1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and author, known for his drawings in Punch and for his novel Trilby." Peter Ibbetson, his first novel (1891) was adapted for stage, film and opera. Du Maurier drew a large number of illustrations for this novel.
Sarah's birthday: Sarah Orne Jewett was born on 3 September 1849.
British Museum ... Thackeray's hand ... a lovely Indian ivory ... C.G. market: The British Museum in London is one of the world's largest history museums. Presumably someone at the museum was able to help Fields choose a cast maker. She purchased a cast of the hand of British novelist William Makepeace Thackeray (1811-1863), possibly at D. Brucciani & Co. According to the notes on Brucciani's cast at the British Museum: "Plaster casts were often made of the deceased's hand, one of the most memorable parts of the body. The novelist, Thackeray, died on 24 December 1863. On Christmas Day, at the instigation of Sir Henry Thompson (1820-1904), a cast of his hand was taken by Brucciani. Thompson thought that this plaster cast was 'characteristic, recalling for me the original with its long & delicate fingers, the form of the nails etc.-very forcibly.'"
Fields then purchased flowers at the Covent Garden Market.
Arthur Holland his wife and Helen Herford: Arthur Holland (1850-1926) was a Pittsburgh, PA iron and steel merchant, son of the Unitarian minister, Frederick West Holland. His wife was Sara Ormsby Burgwin (1859-1940). Arthur Holland's aunt, Sarah May Holland, was Annie Fields's mother. (Holland Family Papers)
It seems likely that Helen Herford was an active Unitarian in London. In Unitarian Word and Work (1912, p. 19), she is described as "the efficient organizer of the British League," who regularly attends the Rosslyn Hill Chapel at Hampstead. No further information about her has yet been located.
Foundling Hospital: A major London orphanage.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Annie Adams Fields
[ Begin elaborate hotel letterhead ]
THE PALACE HOTEL
[ Image of the hotel ]
[ Left of the image ] OPPOSITE THE CASTLE.
[ Right of the image ] AND PRINCES STREET GARDENS.
EDINBURGH
as often as I can --
[ Image of the hotel ]
[ Left of the image ] OPPOSITE THE CASTLE.
[ Right of the image ] AND PRINCES STREET GARDENS.
EDINBURGH
JOHN FERGUSON, PROPRIETOR.
[ End of letterhead ]
Monday Evening [ 22 August 1898 ]
Dearest Annie
We have just finished a long table d'hoté [ so spelled ] dinner -- without Miss Jess* who wrote that she should be coming to Edinburgh tomorrow. As I telegraphed you, we had a very comfortable journey by way of Carlisle to my astonishment for I expected to come by Durham & Newcastle as usual. [ We written over I ] had a luncheon
[ End of letterhead ]
Monday Evening [ 22 August 1898 ]
Dearest Annie
We have just finished a long table d'hoté [ so spelled ] dinner -- without Miss Jess* who wrote that she should be coming to Edinburgh tomorrow. As I telegraphed you, we had a very comfortable journey by way of Carlisle to my astonishment for I expected to come by Durham & Newcastle as usual. [ We written over I ] had a luncheon
[ Page 2 ]
basket at Carlisle with great effect upon our
spirits -- and we enjoyed very much our sight of the great
hills and valleys. It has been a hot day here but it seems
much cooler to us than Ilkley and tomorrow we shall hope to
see Jessie at luncheon time and to do something pleasant both
morning & afternoon. Mary & Theodore both went out
after we came. Mary had a little errand to do -- but I stayed
in and got rested. The hotel is very full of travelers --
[ Page 3 ]
and after the slow process of dinner we are
going to bed early. Theodore is much impressed with the
Edinburgh shops! [ and blotted ] means to take
beautiful photographs of the Castle which we are just
opposite. Mary seems very cheerful and pleased to come back
here and I hope that our days will go on well. I need not
say how I miss you darling, but I love to think that you and
Katie are to have this evening together. Do give my love to
her and to dear Mr & Mrs Bradbury.* I am so impatient to
see them all. I shall write
[ Page 4 ]
as often as I can --
Yours most lovingly,
Pinny*
Pinny*
Notes
Miss Jess: Jessie Cochrane. See Key to Correspondents.
Mary & Theodore: Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
Katie ... Mr & Mrs Bradbury: Kate Bradbury (1854-1902) resided at Riversvale Hall near Ashton-Under-Lyne in Great Britain. She married Francis Llewellyn Griffith (1862-1934) in 1896. Both were Egyptologists. Mr. Bradbury is Kate Bradbury's father, Charles Timothy Bradbury. His wife was Elizabeth Ann Tomlins. See also Riversvale Hall: The Story Of A Victorian Country House.
Pinny: A nickname for Sarah Orne Jewett, used between her and Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
The manuscript of this letter is held by the Massachusetts Historical Society in Annie Fields papers, 1847-1912, MS. N-1221, "Loose Letters, 1852-1916." This transcription is from a microfilm, available courtesy of the University of Kansas Libraries, Lawrence Kansas: Annie Adams Fields Papers 1852-1912. Folio PS 1669.F5 Z462 1986, Reel 3.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Sarah Orne Jewett to Sarah Wyman Whitman
11 Half Moon Street
2nd September
[ 1898 ]*
2nd September
[ 1898 ]*
This is just one word to send love by and* say that we have got back to London after a week in Edinburgh and a week on the moors and a week between two visits at [ Riversvale intended Riversdale ] and at the Stratford on Avon vicarage. And now London has cooled off, and we find it very comfortable except poor dear A.F.* who gets cold in English draughts and has had to stay in bed
[ Page 2 ]
two days with little consolation save the Morning Post when she would rather have the Times, and some nice fresh lavender which a man goes by crying prettily through the street. And as for lavender nothing makes me think more of one's own house-keeping and I begin to think a great deal more of October than of this present September. Tomorrow I shoulder another birthday, feeling no older but a good deal less wise than I had. Certain things get put away, with a sigh over
[ Page 3 ]
their impossibility, that one [ wants ? ] to count upon gaily, but other things ^hopes^ are held closer, and so here goes! with as brave a heart as one can muster. It is very strange when the years fly so fast that a year is just as long to look forward as it was when we were children. Even a week seems just as long to wait, and I find this next month before I shall get home is a very long month indeed. It is really ^going to be^ so short that I cannot
[ Page 4 ]
write a long letter for I keep saying to myself (Oh* no! I must wait and speak about that! and you will hear me knocking at your door before very long dear. We sail on the 22nd by the New England.*
A.F. did not go to Edinburgh with us but stayed at Riversdale at the Hall, and enjoyed it much. She has grown more deeply interested than before in the Egypt Exploration & Survey affairs of which she will tell you. Katie Bradbury's Mr. Griffith* is a delightful man, a scholar of the best sort. We liked him very much. Next week
[ Up the left margin and across the top
margin of Page 1 ]
A.F. and I go to Stocks to the Wards* for a little visit. We are full of pleasant plans, and I am doing much sightseeing on Theodore's* account -- and I am glad to say that he consents
[ Up the left margin and across the top
margins of page 2 and 3 ]
most handsome -- -- Dear fellow this is a foolish letter but you do not mind. I am [ beginning ? ] to look for your letter with greater but [ more reasonable ? ] eagerness -- and I have to keep saying that it is August at home with everything going on at the shore. S.O.J.
[ Up the left margin and across the top
margin of Page 4 ]
Everybody says that Bodley's History of France* is amazing well done. Mrs Dugdale* for one. I wonder if it is getting read at home.
Notes
1898: This letter was composed during Jewett's 1898 travels in Europe. See notes below.
and: Jewett often writes "a" with a long tail for "and." I render these as "and."
A.F. Annie Adams Fields. Key to Correspondents.
(Oh: Jewett opens, but does not close this parenthesis.
the New England: Entering service in 1898 for the Dominion Line, Liverpool to Boston, this steamship changed names several times, eventually becoming the SS Scandinavian. Wikipedia.
Katie Bradbury's Mr. Griffith: See Bradbury in Key to Correspondents.
Wards: The family of Mary Augusta Ward. Key to Correspondents.
Theodore: Theodore Jewett Eastman. Key to Correspondents.
Bodley's History of France: John Edward Courtenay Bodley (1853-1925) published a 2-volume history of France in 1898. Wikipedia.
Dugdale: This is Mrs. W. S. Dugdale. Her husband, who died heroically in an 1882 mining accident, was a beloved pupil of Benjamin Jowett at Oxford.
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.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Sarah Orne Jewett
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
[ 3 September 1898 ]*
3 September (It's your birthday* today, dear friend, and I wish you the best with all my heart!)
I think of you every day and miss you even more than I can say. However, I know you are happy, interested in everything you are seeing, and I have had for a long time now that absence of selfishness that allows me to enjoy the pleasure of my friends without having to be with them. Still, I would have enjoyed this trip to England,
[ Page 2 ]
but it was impossible, all of my family having left at once, without considering the duty to remain for the short time that M. Blanc* spends here. He begins hunting season today, more eager than I have seen him for a long time. This month of absolute rest that he gave himself has done him great good; he no longer looks the same, and with him, morale follows physical well-being,
[ Page 3 ]
so his mood is much less dark. Moreover, he
enjoys seeing Hélène de [ Djounkofsky ? ],* whose
cheerfulness prevails over her poor health and sorrows of all
kinds. She is a heroine in the true sense of the word, but
there is almost not enough body to house a spirit that is so
valiant and so free. She looks like a consumptive boy of 15 --
that is exactly how she looks. I would like to take care of
her for a long time and to heal her. More than anyone, she is
a daughter to me.
[ Page 4 ]
By the way, I believe you will enjoy Edouard's travel notes that began in the last issue of the Revue des Deux Mondes.* He read me all of it, one part of which can't convey the whole idea, except for the value of his style, so particular in its scientific precision and in its color.
Write me as soon as you can that Annie* is better. Her health worries me much. And also, please tell me whether my letters arrived in both Stratford and London, and if you were overweight with the Revue.* No matter how much we try to take care of these things, too often there is trouble.
[ Page 5 ]
I received from the brave Colonel Tucker* in Arkansas a letter that brought tears to my eyes, and I send you part of it. He made me feel more tolerant toward that boastful article in the Atlantic,* which goes to show that we always judge badly when we look at a nation through its popular press. What an unmitigated delight is Betty Leicester,* first because it is a gem and then also because of the voyages of discovery she made me make into a new country. Mr. Doumic* is absurd in saying that all nations are the same. How unfortunate that would be! --
I have been sick at heart about the tragic Henry episode, which is going to contribute to the dissemination abroad of misconceptions about this odious Dreyfus affair. I have felt this more vividly than all my personal troubles. Tenderly to you,
ThB
[ Cross-written from the left, top half of
page 4 ]
I have from Canada* (liberal side) very rewarding letters.
-----
My brother* already is better. He remains in excellent health, but at 57, he would like to be 30. It's a rare and difficult condition.
The undeniable beauty of his eldest daughter is to me so unsympathetic that I do not look at her when I speak to her. My sister-in-law is a majestic magpie. Their little girl is charming.
[ From the back of the associated envelope
]
Thanks for sending the magazine. The article was already in The Nation, where I read it and recognized the patronizing pen of Th. Stant.*
Notes
1898: Associated with this letter is an envelope, addressed to Jewett at 40 Clarges St., Piccadilly, Greenslades, London. It was cancelled in La Ferté in Sept. 1898 and in London on 5 September 1898. The text in Blanc's hand on the back of the envelope appears after the letter here.
birthday: Jewett was born on 3 September 1849.
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.
Hélène de [ Djounkofsky ]: Other letters indicate that this Hélène was a Russian friend of Blanc and her son. We have not been able to transcribe her last name confidently. Sometimes it looks like Maunkofsky. She has not yet been identified further. See Blanc to Jewett of 7 March 1901 and Blanc to Fields of 2 April [ 1901 ].
Mondes: For Blanc's son, Édouard, see her entry in Key to Correspondents.
His article "Journal de Route en Asie Centrale: du Ferganah en Kachgarie: Première Partie," appeared in the 1 September 1898 issue of Revue des Deux Mondes (pp. 169-197).
Annie: Annie Adams Fields. Key to Correspondents.
Revue: Probably, Blanc has mailed one or more copies of Revue des Deux Mondes to Jewett and Fields in England, and she was unsure of the delivery charges.
Canada: The meaning of "liberal side" is not yet known. Blanc's only known correspondent in Canada at this time was Henri-Raymond Casgrain. Key to Correspondents. However, at the time of this letter, Casgrain was in Europe, having visited Blanc's country home during the spring.
brother: For Blanc's brother, Christian de Solms, and his family, see Blanc in Key to Correspondents.
Blanc here seems to speak first of him, then of his beautiful eldest daughter-in-law (he had no daughters), Thérèse Gourio du Refuge, then of Christian's wife, the magpie, and finally of Alice, the Christian's charming granddaughter.
Tucker: The part of a letter of which Blanc speaks may be the following, which appears without any other explanation among the letters in this folder at the Houghton Library. This would explain how it came into the hands of Jewett or Fields and came to be associated with this group of letters.
Clover Bend Ark Aug 21st 1898
The subject of this letter is the Spanish-American War, which, according to Wikipedia, lasted from 21 April until 13 August 1898. According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, Colonel Francis William Tucker (1843-1924) was a Union Army veteran of the Civil War who became a businessman in Clover Bend, AK. He was a friend of American author, Alice French (Octave Thanet), who made her winter home at Clover Bend. Blanc had stayed with French at Clover Bend during her 1893-4 tour of the United States. Blanc wrote about this visit in Revue des Deux Mondes (133, 1896): "In Arkansas: About Octave Thanet's Novels."
Dear Madame Blanc
Your letter of June 22 came duly and I cant help writing you again to let you know how grateful I am to you for it. The circumstances now are so different. Then all was doubt, fears, and anxiety. Now that has all passed away and in place we feel grateful to God and the prominent nations of the world. Grateful to God for having allowed the war to cease without so large a loss of life and to the other Governments for having allowed Spain and ourselves to settle our own difficulties. We shall always have a warm place in our hearts for your nation, for the part they took in bringing about peace, and we all bow our heads and ask your pardons for any and every mean thought or word we had at first. We in Clover Bend have hardly known of the war,
For more on French, see Key to Correspondents.
Atlantic: Which Atlantic Monthly article Blanc has in mind is not certain. In June 1898, an anonymous essay, "The War with Spain, and After" (v. 81: 721-7), optimistically foretold success in the Spanish-American War and expressed confidence that the United States would overcome the damage resulting from the failure of Spanish colonialism. In July 1898, Henry Charles Lea explained the failure of Spanish colonial policy in "The Decadence of Spain" ( v. 82: 36-46). Another anonymous essay, "The End of the War, and After," appeared in September 1898 (v. 82: 430-2), again expressing confidence that the United States would rise to the challenge of dealing with the liberated Spanish colonies.
Doumic: René Doumic (1860-1937) was a French literary figure and professor at the Collège Stanislas de Paris. He is known to have visited the United States in March of 1898.
Henry episode: Blanc refers to the 12-year scandal over the wrongful conviction of the Jewish Captain Alfred Dreyfus for treason, known as the Dreyfus Affair (1894-1906).
In the summer of 1898, according to Wikipedia, nationalist politicians and journalists stoked anti-Semitic riots and violence, particularly in response to the trial of French author and defender of Dreyfus, Émile Zola (1840-1902). Zola was convicted of "defamation of a public authority" for his essay denouncing Dreyfus's conviction. Soon after, in August 1898, it was discovered that one of Dreyfus's principal accusers, Lieutenant-Colonel Hubert-Joseph Henry (1846- 31 August 1898) had forged a key document proving Dreyfus's guilt. After confessing this, Henry committed suicide in prison.
Betty Leicester: Jewett seems to have given Blanc a copy of one of her two books featuring the character, Betty Leicester. The first, Betty Leicester (1890), began appearing as a series of stories in St. Nicholas, before they were collected and expanded into a novel. The second, Betty Leicester's English Christmas (1899), has a more complex history. It appeared first in a private printing in 1894, then as a serial in St. Nicholas in 1894-5, and then as a book in 1899. Both books show the title character making her way in what for her is a somewhat strange new community, first in an analogue of Jewett's South Berwick, and later in an English country house.
Stant: Almost certainly, Blanc refers to Theodore Weld Stanton (1851-1925), an American journalist based in Paris. Wikipedia. His article, "Michelet and the College of France," ( dateline Paris, July 25, 1898) appeared in The Nation 67 (11 August 1898), pp. 108-9.
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."
3 Septembre ( c'est aujourd-hui
votre fête, chère
amie et je vous
la souhaite de
tout coeur!)
Moi aussi je pense à vous
tous les jours et vous me
manquez plus que je ne
puis le dire! Cependant
je vous sais contente,
intéressée par tout ce que
vous voyez et j'en suis depuis
longtemps à l'absence
d'égoïsme qui me permet
de jouir du plaisir de
mes amis sans m'y
méler. J'aurais bien
goûté pourtant ce
voyage en Angleterre
votre fête, chère
amie et je vous
la souhaite de
tout coeur!)
Moi aussi je pense à vous
tous les jours et vous me
manquez plus que je ne
puis le dire! Cependant
je vous sais contente,
intéressée par tout ce que
vous voyez et j'en suis depuis
longtemps à l'absence
d'égoïsme qui me permet
de jouir du plaisir de
mes amis sans m'y
méler. J'aurais bien
goûté pourtant ce
voyage en Angleterre
[ Page 2 ]
mais il était impossible
tous les miens ayant
débarqué à la fois sans
parler du devoir d'être
ici pendant le peu
de temps qu'y passe
M. Blanc. Il ouvre
la chasse aujourd'hui
plus dispos que je ne
l'ai vu depuis longtemps.
Ce mois de repose absolu
qu'il s'est donné
lui a fait le plus
grand bien, il n'a
plus la même figure,
et avec lui le moral
suit le physique de
[ Page 3 ]
sorte que son humeur
est beaucoup moins
sombre. Il est content
d'ailleurs de voir
Hélène de [ Djounkofsky ? ] dont
la gaieté résiste à une
santé perdue et à des
chagrins de toute sorte.
C'est une héroïne dans
toute la force du terme
mais il n'y a presque
plus de corps pour loger
cette âme si vaillante
et si libre. On dirait
un garçon de 15 ans poitrinaire
voilà son apparence au
juste. Je voudrais la
garder longtemps et
la soigner. Elle est ma
fille plus que personne.
[ Page 4 ]
A propos, je crois que
vous aimerez les notes de
voyage d'Edouard que
ont commencé dans le
dernier No de la Revue.
Il m'a lu tout l'ensemble
dont un fragment ne
peut donner aucune
idée sauf pour le valeur
du style si particulier dans
sa précision scientifique et
sa couleur.
Ecrivez moi le plus tôt
[ pofsible for possible ] qu'Annie va bien,
Sa santé me préoccupe
beaucoup. Dites-moi aussi
je vous prie si les lettres sont
arrivées tant à Stratford qu'à
Londres et si vous n'avez pas
eu de surpoids pour la Revue{.}
On a beau veiller à ces choses
il se produit trop souvent
des ennuis.
[ Cross-written from the left, top half of page 4 ]
J'ai du Canada
(côté libéral) des
lettres que sont de
trop belles récompenses.
-----
Mon frère va déjà mieux.
Il est toujours superbe
mais à 57 ans il voudrait
en avoir 30. C'est rare
et difficile.
La beauté incontestable
de sa fille ainée m'est si
peu sympathique que je
lui parle sans la regarder.
Ma belle soeur est une pie
majestueuse. La petite est charmante{.}
J'ai reçu de l'Arkansas, du
brave Col Tucker une lettre
qui m'a fait venir les larmes
aux yeux et dont je vous
envoie un fragment.
Il m'a rendue indulgente pour
l'article plein de jactance de
l'Atlantic qui prouve qu'on
juge toujours fort mal un
peuple par ses journaux. Ce
qui m'a ravie sans mélange
c'est Betty Leicester, d'abord parce
que c'est un bijou et aussi
par les voyages de découvertes
qu'elle m'a fait faire au
pays inconnu. M. Doumic est
absurde de dire qu'en tous pays tout
est pareil. Ce serait tellement
dommage! ---
J'ai été malade du [ tragique épisode ? ]
Henry qui va contribuer à la
diffusion ^à l'étranger^ des idées fausses sur cette
odieuse affaire Dreyfus. Je l'ai senti
plus vivement que tous mes chagrins
personnels. Tendrement à vous
Merci pour l'envoi du journal.
L'article était déjà dans
The Nation où je l'avais lu
en y reconnaissant la
patronizing pen de Th. Stant.
(côté libéral) des
lettres que sont de
trop belles récompenses.
-----
Mon frère va déjà mieux.
Il est toujours superbe
mais à 57 ans il voudrait
en avoir 30. C'est rare
et difficile.
La beauté incontestable
de sa fille ainée m'est si
peu sympathique que je
lui parle sans la regarder.
Ma belle soeur est une pie
majestueuse. La petite est charmante{.}
[ Page 5 ]
J'ai reçu de l'Arkansas, du
brave Col Tucker une lettre
qui m'a fait venir les larmes
aux yeux et dont je vous
envoie un fragment.
Il m'a rendue indulgente pour
l'article plein de jactance de
l'Atlantic qui prouve qu'on
juge toujours fort mal un
peuple par ses journaux. Ce
qui m'a ravie sans mélange
c'est Betty Leicester, d'abord parce
que c'est un bijou et aussi
par les voyages de découvertes
qu'elle m'a fait faire au
pays inconnu. M. Doumic est
absurde de dire qu'en tous pays tout
est pareil. Ce serait tellement
dommage! ---
J'ai été malade du [ tragique épisode ? ]
Henry qui va contribuer à la
diffusion ^à l'étranger^ des idées fausses sur cette
odieuse affaire Dreyfus. Je l'ai senti
plus vivement que tous mes chagrins
personnels. Tendrement à vous
ThB
[ From the back of the associated
envelope ]
Merci pour l'envoi du journal.
L'article était déjà dans
The Nation où je l'avais lu
en y reconnaissant la
patronizing pen de Th. Stant.
Fields Diary
London
London
London. 11 Half Moon St. Sepr 5th
Although we have until the [ 19th ? ] here, as long [ a corrected ] stay as we have had anywhere, the days are so full that they seem very few. Mary Porter* dined with us, all the money which she put into her banker's hand for her summer vacation has been lost -- five hundred dollars which is a great deal to her.
Sep. 6th
Went to Edward Clifford's* studio. He has an old house at 37 Kensington Square which he has filled with beautiful things. He is a most kindhearted genial man, who if he had married and if he had children would have found such a natural scope among his own and might have made his career a very different one. Now he is absorbed in his art and in giving full rein to the natural benevolence of his disposition. The very thing which caused him to throw up everything for the purpose of carrying love and succor to Father Damien* at the risk of his own life still beckons him on and he is spending himself in little kindnesses as well as great. His rooms are lined with landscapes -- careful drawings of flowery fields which are unrivaled. Burne Jones* said that when he painted his picture of heaven he should borrow the fields from his friend Clifford. Indeed they are worthy of all this -- He has become evidently a great success. His portraits of women and children are so beautiful that he will always have as much as he can do in this direction. Every inch of his walls excited our [ lively ? ] interest. At last he took us into his bedroom -- up two flights, where his attic windows look over the trees at the Square and beyond there was a beautiful steeple [ dimly corrected ] seen through the misty sunshine. It is the most beautiful steeple in London he said{,} so I prefer this upper bedroom. Those below are occupied by two friends, who are rarely in town{.} Therefore he really has the house to himself. There is a small garden behind which he has laid out very prettily, and at the end where there is a bright wall he has inserted a looking glass surrounded with colored tiles which reflects the flowers and gives a sense of space which is delightful. He showed us the old fire places which he had brought from a former time which was dear to him, fireplaces surrounded with tiles and with precious stones inserted which were evidently arranged by his own hand{.}
[ Page 2 ]
Before he allowed us to "come away{"} he [ several deleted words ] gave us a card to his friend Lady Ashburton* who asked him to do so it seems for tomorrow. She is to leave town in the afternoon but she would like to receive us early -- "Her pictures are unrivalled{"} said Mr. Clifford and if when you arrive
Late in the afternoon, but early for [ dinner ? ] elsewhere we went in two [ trambuses ? ]* which were the lightest and most comfortable vehicles (with their rubber tires) ever invented, to Toynbee Hall to dine. Canon Barnett and his wife had most kindly invited us to dine through the [ unrecognized word instigation ? ] of Mrs. Ernest Hart,* the sister of Mrs Barnett. We found a large foundation which was begun originally by Canon & Mrs. B in '73, long before Toynbee Hall was built. They came to St. Jude's church when they were married, this function having been postponed by her until they could have a parish at the East End and throw themselves into the work of trying to bring some light into that dark vicinity. They [ threw ? ] themselves into their labors with such vigor that in less than [ ten or two ? ] years they were utterly worn out and were obliged to go away for a vacation in Italy and it was the result of this vacation which started the Travellers Club. The following year -- the Club not then being thought of Mrs B. carried out the idea which came to her she said standing in the piazza before St. Marks of the joy it would be to show these glories to [ other ? ] devoted fellow-workers; therefore
Fifteen years ago Toynbee Hall was built, a beautiful place where are lodged, counting in the surrounding houses refitted for the purpose{,}
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upwards of 70 continuous residents. In the Hall proper are about 30 residents and they all men of more or less achievement. The others are of a somewhat different class who live or can live including everything for sixty pounds a year, with comfortable rooms of their own, and the use of all the halls and libraries and students rooms and all the luxuries in short which belong to the foundation. We went into one of these rooms belonging to a Mr. Monk who showed us about under Mr. Ward. Mr. M. had lived several years in this room and it was a study to see how comfortable he had made himself. Mr. Ward has lived at the hall since it was built, nearly fifteen years. He is a member of the County Council, a barrister and a busy man enough all day, but he devotes his leisure hours to Toynbee. Of course Canon & Mrs Barnett represent the English church in the foundation, but one of their most influential members* because of his distinguished scholarship and abilities (he was [ unrecognized word ] at Oxford and is said to know everything !!) is a Jew and a man of peculiar power over the young men of his own faith. He can lead them "wheresoever he will" and he wills the noblest and best things for them. In the evening when we went to [ sit ? ] in the wardens drawing room{,} beautifully furnished with oriental woodcarving given them by Mrs. Ernest Hart and a portrait of Canon Barnett by Watts,* beside other good things, this Jewish gentleman took a party of many men into the large hall of Toynbee where we were first received and spent that evening in giving them some instruction. We saw them grouped around him with their pipes and they seemed to be hanging on his words. During the evening we went over the buildings -- everything except the church -- library -- sitting rooms -- living rooms, chemical laboratory -- etc. It is a noble foundation. Perhaps we do not need precisely the same thing in America. It is quite certain that we haven't it, though New York probably comes nearer to it than we do in Boston where we have a great deal of poverty, but we have no class to whom our museums are inaccessible; the city is so much smaller, and the impoverished [ better ? ] class cannot be said to exist.
Notes
Mary Porter: This may be Mary Porter Gamewell (1848-1906), author of Mary Porter Gamewell and her Story of the Siege in Peking (1907). She seems to have been widely known by her maiden name, "Miss Mary Porter," even after her marriage in about 1883, perhaps because she had established herself under that name as a missionary to China during her first twelve years at Peking, beginning in 1871. She served under the Women's Foreign Missionary Society for the Methodist Church, and her brother, Dr. Henry Porter, and his wife also were missionaries in China. Ill-health brought her to the United States during the 1890s, when she may have visited Boston in her efforts to raise funds for the China missions.
Edward Clifford's: According to Wikipedia, Edward Clifford (1844 -1907), an English artist and author, famous for his watercolor portraits, also was an evangelist and activist, particularly in the cause of treating leprosy. He visited Father Damien in Hawaii in 1868.
Father Damien: Wikipedia says that Jozef De Veuster (1840-1889) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, who took the name Father Damien. He is best remembered for his ministry to the leper colony on the Hawaiian island of Moloka'i (1873-1889), for which he was canonized as Saint Damien of Moloka'i.
Burne Jones: British Pre-Raphaelite artist, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833-1898).
Lady Ashburton: Louisa Caroline Baring, Lady Ashburton (1827-1903) was a Scottish art collector and philanthropist.
Thackeray: Presumably, Clifford refers to William Makepeace Thackeray (1811- 1863), a British novelist, best remembered for his novel, Vanity Fair (1848). Wikipedia.
trambuses: Though this term is not widely used, it seems likely that Fields refers to motor-buses, which began to appear in London in April of 1898.
Toynbee Hall ... Canon Barnett: Toynbee Hall, a charity and property in the East End of London, "works to bridge the gap between people of all social and financial backgrounds, with a focus on working towards a future without poverty.... It was the first university-affiliated institution of the worldwide Settlement movement; a reformist social agenda that strove to get the rich and poor to live more closely together in an interdependent community."
It was founded in 1884 by Samuel Augustus Barnett (1844-1913) and, his wife, Henrietta Octavia Weston Rowland (1851-1936).
Wikipedia.
Mrs. Ernest Hart: Ernest Abraham Hart (1835-7 January 1898) was an English medical journalist and reformer. His second wife was Alice Marion Rowland, sister of Henrietta Barnett. Wikipedia notes: "Rowland had herself studied medicine in London and Paris, and was no less interested than her husband in philanthropic reform. She was most active in her encouragement of Irish cottage industries, and was the founder of the Donegal Industrial Fund." Wikipedia.
Travellers Club: The Toynbee Travellers Club, later the Cooperative Travelling Society, began in 1888, with the purpose of providing cooperative educational travel for residents of Toynbee Hall and East End neighbors of limited means. The degree to which it achieved this purpose is disputed. See Canon Barnett, His Life, Work and Friends by Henrietta Barnett (1918) and Robert Snape, Leisure, Voluntary Action and Social Change in Britain, 1880-1939 (2018, pp. 41-2).
Switzerland: The transcription of these numbers, while it seems accurate, produces incomprehensible math.
Mr. Monk ... Mr. Ward: Mr. Monk presumably is J. E. Monk, who was a volunteer at Toynbee Hall for about 20 years, ending in 1901. Little more has been learned about him. Henry Ward (1849-1936) was a London engineer and politician, who served on the County Council from the Hoxton Division. (Toynbee Record, Google Books, 12-14).
influential members: That Fields is unable to name this "Jewish gentleman" seems odd. Probably she refers to Harry/Henry Samuel Lewis (1861-1940), though he took his degree from Cambridge University. Wikipedia.
Canon Barnett by Watts: George Frederic Watts (1817-1904) was an English painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. An image of the portrait appears in the Wikipedia article on Samuel Augustus Barnett.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
London continued
London continued
Sepr. 7th
Drove at eleven o'clock by appointment to Kent House, Knightsbridge to the house of Lady Ashburton,* a woman much loved by Carlyle, Browning, and Lord Coleridge, not to speak of the women of her time. She has been especially intimate with and fond of Harriet Hosmer* and inquired most tenderly if we knew anything further of her life and work that could be gathered from her letters.
Lady Ashburton invited us in spite of the fact that she was to leave town the same day a few hours later. She said she would like us to see her pictures even if she could not herself see us. The servants ushered us into a large ^square^ hall upon which the front door opened, but an ingenious screen of carved indian work lined with glass and with a door in the middle prevented the air from flowing directly into the hall and divided it gracefully. There were splendid works of art in this hall where we consoled ourselves as best we might for a time, because the servants said "My lady was going away" and evidently the housekeeper disapproved of informing her of our coming. However they soon saw there was nothing else to be done and we were ushered up a noble [ staircase or stairway ] lined with covered pictures and past a magnificent greek relief, the size of life of Hector & Andromache* to the dining-room where so many ^of the^ great men and women of England had been gathered together. Here were two full length Vandycks* in his very best manner, a magnificent sea-field between them of the landing of William the Third in England,* a Leonardo da Vinci a replica of the famous lady with the smile (and O! how much finer this is than the one usually reproduced) a Giorgione, the finest I have ever seen of the Profr of Anatomy at Bologna, the lady of great fame.* (I must look up her name.) The small original of Love and Death by Watts* also an exquisite portrait by him of the daughter of Lady Ashburton the [ Marchioness corrected ] of Northampton which he presented to the mother, -- a very large [ painting ? ] of consummate beauty the painter unknown was possibly Constable.* and many others which I did not have the time to note{.}
[ Page 5 ]
The old lady presently looked into the room over a [ unrecognized word ] and said "Dear Mrs Fields may I ask you to give me five minutes!" When she appeared again it was to say she had been detained on business and that she was hurrying to get ready as early as possible having engaged to carry a party of friends to Salisbury "where our soldiers are to be reviewed you know{.}" She is a woman of upwards of seventy years with sweet [ blue black ? ] eyes and mouth and strong character. She at once carried us to see a Botticelli* -- a holy family -- of rare beauty{,} talking of other things also as we passed into her private room. She had much to say of Miss Hosmer, who has lived much with her, but the constructing of a machine for perpetual motion* and her study of the subject so perplexed and filled her brain that she could talk of nothing else for a time: then Lady Ashburton [ feared ? ] it was re-acting upon herself and there seemed great danger of Miss Hosmer's "going off her head" as the quaint English expression is. In the end she declined to talk about it but as she was utterly absorbed, really, she concluded to go to America away from everyone. Since then although she writes occasionally Lady Ashburton feels that she has no real knowledge of her condition -- We found our hostess pushed to the last extremity for time to get away and although she was most [ insistent or importunate ? ] we stayed only long enough to bring [ with ? ] us an impression of a large [ sweet ? ] benevolent spirit, dominant in her own place, who had attracted the love and admiration indeed of some of the greatest men of our time and had made her house not only an artistic centre but a home with affection. She is evidently free from the conventions of religion but full of spiritual insight and aspiration.
After leaving Kent House we drove to Frederick Hollyer's* and found a few photographs we were [ acquiring ? ] to carry home.
The weather was excessively close and warm. At four I went to the National portrait gallery and saw an exquisite portrait of the Countess of Pembroke{,} "Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother" -- "Nor Spring nor Summer beauty hath such a grace" etc --*
Notes
Lady Ashburton: Wikipedia says that Louisa Caroline Baring, Lady Ashburton (1827-1903) was a Scottish art collector and philanthropist. She and Harriet Hosmer became lovers in 1867, after the death of Ashburton's husband, a relationship that lasted until the 1890s. By 1898, they were living apart, Ashburton in London at Kent House, Hosmer in Massachusetts.
Kent House, Knightsbridge eventually became a synagogue.
Carlyle, Browning, and Lord Coleridge: Scottish author Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) and British authors, Robert Browning (1812-1889), and Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834).
Harriet Hosmer: According to Wikipedia, Harriet Goodhue Hosmer (1830-1908) "was a neoclassical sculptor, considered the most distinguished female sculptor in America during the 19th century."
Hector & Andromache: The Trojan Hector appears in Homer's Iliad, with his wife, Andromache. The eldest son of King Priam, he led the Trojans in their defense of Troy.
Vandycks: Wikipedia says Sir Anthony van Dyck (599-1641) "was a Flemish Baroque artist who became the leading court painter in England, after enjoying great success in Italy and the Southern Netherlands."
landing of William the Third in England: The Dutch Prince of Orange, William of Orange (1650-1702) landed in England, with his wife Mary, on 5 November 1688, in what became the "Glorious Revolution" that finally established the British throne as Protestant.
Leonardo da Vinci ... lady with the smile: The Italian Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), completed the "Mona Lisa" (c. 1503-1506), which is owned by the Louvre in Paris.
Giorgione, ... the Profr of Anatomy at Bologna: Giorgio Barbarelli da Castelfranco (c. 1477/8-1510) was an Italian painter from Venice.
Untangling Fields's list has proven difficult. When does she intend to name specific works? When do her commas set off a description? Did Giorgione paint a portrait of a female professor of anatomy at Bologna, Italy? Not likely. Probably the earliest female professor of anatomy at Bologna was Anna Morandi Manzolini (1714-1774). The best-known portrait of her is the wax modeled portrait she made of herself. If there is a painting representing her, I have not discovered it.
Love and Death by Watts: Wikipedia says George Frederic Watts (1817-1904) was an English painter and sculptor associated with the Symbolist movement. Watts produced several versions of "Love and Death," one of which, from 1885-7, is held by the Tate Gallery of London.
daughter of Lady Ashburton: Louisa Stewart-Mackenzie married Bingham Baring, 2nd Lord Ashburton (1799-1864). Their daughter, Mary Florence Baring (1860-1902) married William Compton, 5th Marquess of Northampton.
Constable: John Constable (1776-1837) was an English landscape painter.
Botticelli: The Italian, Florentine painter, Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi (c. 1445-1510), known as Sandro Botticelli
perpetual motion: Wikipedia points out that a perpetual motion machine would violate the first and second laws of thermodynamics and, therefore, is impossible, though inventors from the medieval period to the present have attempted the feat. For Hosmer's interest in developing such a machine, see Kate Culkin, Harriet Hosmer: A Cultural Biography (2010, pp. 161-2).
Hollyer: Frederick Hollyer (1838-1933) was an English photographer and engraver, known in part for his portraits of literary and artistic figures. In 1892, he made the familiar portrait of Jewett at a table, reading a book, that Annie Fields included in her collection of Jewett letters.
Countess of Pembroke: Wikipedia says Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke (1561-1621) was "one of the first English women to achieve a major reputation for her poetry and literary patronage." Her brother was the poet and scholar, Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586). Fields quotes from English poet John Donne's (1572-1631) "Elegy IX: The Autumnal," which opens:
No spring nor summer beauty hath such grace
As I have seen in one autumnal face.
It is possible that Fields wrote "No" rather than "Nor" for the first word, but the manuscript seems clearly to say "Nor."
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
London continued
London continued
Thursday 8th
Excessively hot. Mary & Theodore* went to Salisbury hoping to see the review but they knew they could see the Cathedral* if not the soldiers. Sarah* and I stayed in all day until 4 [ went intending when ] we left for Stocks Tring and found Dorothy* at the station when we arrived soon after six. She was very affectionate as ever but [ unreadable corrected word the ? these ? ] years have matured her of course.
A few minutes later after a pretty drive through the village of [ Stocks corrected from Tring ? ] with its duck pond and old stocks and quaint church, we reached the beautiful old house and grounds where Mrs. Ward now lives. She came out by the little garden gate to welcome us; still young, but leaning slightly on a cane and suffering more or less with something like sciatica. Pain has left its traces upon her spirit more than elsewhere; she wears a look of patience and her manner is very quiet and not at all exuberant as, knowing her nature, I am sure it once was. She is nevertheless cordial and sweet, perhaps one feels [ deleted word ] all the more any expression of feelings, because of her reticence{.} She is very pretty -- lovely hair and eyes, and hands and feet and figure. Her dress was very simple and appropriate just as she had worn it in the garden since the morning -- a black alpacca skirt and [ thin ? ] black waist with a white silk muslin and lace waist over it, the sleeves slightly full and finished at the neck and arms with beautiful lace -- also down the front -- and a pointed girdle or belt of black silk -- She was having tea in the garden with her father and the elderly Irish lady whom he married ten years ago, Leonard Huxley and his wife (Mrs Ward's sister,) Dorothy, Janet, and Arnold, her children all grown -- three little Huxley boys playing about with [ three unrecognized words a bath chair ? ] on the lawn and in the house, to appear later, for sister Miss Ethel Arnold, Miss Chambers* her secretary and the German governess for the Huxley children -- It was a large family but she evidently loved to have it so and it was a real satisfaction to be able to be good to those nearest us. One of the cottages on the place she keeps as a summer refuge for some girls and there were four in residence. We were as quiet however as if we were the only guests{.} It was such a family group that there was no sense of effort and we took our tea and chatted by the way as if we been there all our lives. Afterward in the fading light -- (it was after six before we realized the hour{ ) } -- we walked into the wood to see the [ overarching corrected ] trees in the "allées" before the light faded quite away. It was unspeakably beautiful. It was seven o'clock when we went to our rooms but as dinner was not until quarter past eight we had sufficient time to rest and dress and look about us. The rooms were very large, furnished
[ Page 7 ]
with the simplicity and with sufficiency which England understands -- The luxury of this house is largely in its pictures. There was a beautiful drawing by Constable* over the fire-place and drawings from his pictures hanging about the room. There were also plenty of well-selected books. The windows were large and in spite of the great heat of the day the air was fresh and sweet if not cool. How still it was by the garden as night came on! Nothing stirred: the great trees were motionless, the stars shone and earth looked as unmoved as they: perhaps there may have been a little cry of an owl or bat but the morning dawned without a sound just as the night had passed. We did not suffer from heat nevertheless: but we could have the windows open and I drew the curtains and shades aside, as I always do as soon as the lights are put out that if I awake I may see and know whatever the senses can receive of the progress of the stars or the movements of nature below the moon. It was a beautiful dinner with much agreeable talk. Miss Ethel Arnold is one of the best talkers and most interesting of women. We knew her as young and gay when she came to America many years ago, but she has her father's restless spirit in her. She has never been willing to tie herself down to work "I loathe making money by my pen" she said and now since I must do something I am going to take up a trade. I am going to be a photographer." As she spoke I felt that with talent enough to succeed with anything to which she might wish to devote herself there was always that lack of persistent energy which ^has^ prevented her father from taking any serious place in the world and which will always stand in her own way if she cannot rise above
The night was absolutely calm and [ unrecognized word fresh ? ] and after a quiet sleep of a few hours I rose and drew the curtains and looked out. Not a leaf had stirred it seemed in those long [ hours ? ] but a breeze was rising and the air was more refreshing than we had known it for many days. How delicious it was fresh from the woods and fields after our days in London! The room too was
[ Page 8 ]
[ was repeated ] inviting with its original Constable, its many engravings chiefly from the same master and its delightful books -- Dressing and a little talking to oneself was ended by writing letters and drinking an excellent cup of tea and a bit of bread which was brought to me at eight o'clock{;} at quarter past nine we went to breakfast where all the family was assembled except for Mr Ward, he being still away in Holland whither he had gone to observe the crowning of the young queen and to see the Rembrandts which are collected there this year in honor of the occasion: a perfect collection in one sense -- that is [ unrecognized word pictures ? ] representing every year of his life and consequently marking more or less every change in his own style and of his soul. It is a very uncommon feat which has been accomplished in behalf of their great artist. The English owners have been especially generous in allowing their invaluable pictures to go.
It was a remarkably pleasant breakfast-table{.} Young Arnold Ward appeared at his very best{,} serving everyone (no servants appear either at breakfast or luncheon in England) and the whole occasion becomes at once as cosy and informal as possible. After a half hour or so spent in the drawing room and hall looking at some pictures by Burne Jones* acquired since his death and at other very valuable pictures, Mrs Ward appeared and I found myself an hour later sitting on the lawn alone by her side. She was in her cosy chair with her books and papers about her, among them letters from Frederick Harrison, St. George Mivart, Lord Kelvin* and others about Helbeck of Bannisdale,* her last story -- also with an article in the 19th Century by a Jesuit Father Clarke making a strong fight against the drift of the tale. We talked long and earnestly together on the
[ Page 9 ]
near a group of beautiful trees and not too far away was a table bountifully spread with everything which could be thought of that was cool and delicious -- We all approached when lo! we discovered that the wasps had heard the news before us. The viands were covered with them. We tried to beat them away and suggested moving part of the things elsewhere, but the battle still went on and proved a losing one on our side for fear of being stung. At last it was suggested that we should each take a dish and transport the whole with a few trips into the dining-room. This was hardly sooner said than done {.} It was quite a merry [ unrecognized word ] but we were soon [ deleted letter ] again
In the afternoon a picnic was planned upon the estates of Lord Brownley.* There was a [ break ? ]* with two horses{,} a [ coach__ ? ]{,} a pony carriage and several bicycles. The park has a great deal of bracken in spots -- fields of it -- and magnificent beeches. We halted on the top of a fine hill overlooking a lovely open country without a chimney in sight -- only a green sweep of upland valley.
[ Page 10 ]
It was a lovely spot. The young ladies laid the tablecloth on the soft turf and made the tea: then they spread bread with butter and jam and cut the cake and we all ate, old and young as if we had never seen that nice luncheon table of a few hours before -- after tea, Mrs. Ward who had soon risen from the ground where we were sitting, on the side of a mossy bank, dry and comfortable and had taken a long chair because she was more or less in pain, rose and led the way towards a woodland. The yellow sunset was striking among the trees which were old beeches and falling directly on the ground. There was a strange unreal purple light over everything such as one only sees in beech woods; it was inexpressibly lovely and the figures moving along the path made the scene one allied to life and yet like something born of the imagination. We drove home by another road past a very primitive church and not far from a grand seat of the Rothschilds* and Mrs Ward told us of some of the splendors of the famous balls and games carried on there where she is often called to bear a part with her young people.
We returned only in season to rest a little and again dress for dinner. Dent's pretty edition of the Religio Medici of Sir T. Browne was on the table and I read there [ quietly ? ] about half and hour.
[ Page 11 ]
Miss Ethel had been ill during the day and only joined us at dinner. When the warm evening found us again in the drawing room, Sarah amused us by a cockney rendering of Cassabianca* which she invented and was amusing enough. Then Dorothy and Arnold gave a kind of charade, in which they talked about certain well known phrases or proverbs which we were expected to guess and if anyone thought he had guessed he was at liberty to join in the conversation. Then Dorothy sang, prettily enough but without much feeling until her mother came and played for her in a most spirited fashion{.} This quickened poor Dorothy's fainting soul; but I do not think she has talent though she is a sweet girl -- Arnold, the son, seems to me very [ very repeated ] promising. I believe he means to go into diplomatic life and there is great chance of success for him I think.
Mrs Ward has suffered so much with sciatica and other nervous pains that she is easily tired and by eleven we were all going to our rooms. This was however our last night and there were many kind last words to be spoken.
Sat. 10th was another warm dry morning though the air was fresh enough at Stocks. We had a pleasant breakfast table{,} everybody even Mrs Ward coming [ to or down ].
[ Page 11 (2nd) ]*
The Huxleys pretty boys came to get their peaches (they are peaches themselves according to the Cambridge slang){.} Ethel was interesting, old Mr. & Mrs. Arnold liked to talk of Ireland and Mrs Ward herself was full of affectionate care for her departing guests. The whole company came out to see us comfortably into the pony carriage and Dorothy drove with us to the station.
We found letters and cards at Clarges St. when we returned but nothing from Miss Hogarth;* nevertheless, we drove to [ Eglantine ? ] Terrace in the afternoon and found her expecting us in her little new house. She had lost our address but considered we had arranged sufficiently before her departure. She is growing very old -- Emma her maid also old but looking about the same{,} came to the door with a pleasant welcome. It was a pretty place with large front yards along a row, making quite a green open space at the front, much larger and more airy than can be seen usually
[ Page 12 ]
Even on the hottest of afternoons it was very comfortable. All her interesting possessions -- her portraits of Dickens & his children, the testimonials given him in Edinburgh and Birmingham, pictures by Katie -- portraits of persons associated with Dickens, of Mary the original of "Little Nell," his wife's youngest sister, are again gathered and re-hung! There are not many things of great value from an artistic point of view, I dare say she has long ago given things of this kind to the children, but almost everything is of a real personal value as connected with the history of her brother-in-law. In her bedroom is the couch upon which he died.
It was a sad farewell for I felt quite sure that we [ deleted letter ] were not likely to see each other again.
In the evening Theodore and Mary returned from their visit to Canterbury where they had found it very warm.
Notes
Mary & Theodore: Mary Rice Jewett, older sister of Sarah Orne Jewett, and Theodore Jewett Eastman, their nephew.
Salisbury ... Cathedral: The Anglican Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Salisbury (constructed 1120-58) is particularly known as an example of early English architecture.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett.
Dorothy: Dorothy Ward (1874-1964) was the daughter of the novelist Mary Augusta Arnold (Mrs. Humphry) Ward (1851-1920), who was a niece of the British poet, Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) and daughter of the English literary scholar Tom Arnold (1823-1900). Her other children were Arnold (1876-1950) and Janet Penrose Trevelyan (1879-1956), who became her mother's biographer.
Dorothy Ward "helped with the work of the Passmore Edwards Settlement (now Mary Ward House) which her mother founded, and with children's play centres and a school for invalid children. She accompanied her mother to visit war zones in France during the First World War." Elizabeth Silverthorne in Sarah Orne Jewett (1993), says that Dorothy Ward paid a long visit to Jewett and Fields in the early spring of 1902 (p. 194). The Wards's country home was Stocks House in Aldbury, Hertfordshire. Old Stocks was the local manor house before Stocks House. Tring is a nearby market town.
Mary Augusta Ward's sister, Julia Arnold, married Leonard Huxley, and their sons were Tevelyan (1891-1914), Julian (1887-1975) and Aldous Huxley (1894-1963).
Tom Arnold's second wife was Josephine Maria Benison. Another of Tom Arnold's daughters was Ethel Arnold (1864-1930), journalist, author, and suffragist. She and sister Julia were subjects of Lewis Carroll's photographs, and in about 1898, she took up photography. Ethel and Mary Augusta disagreed sharply about woman's suffrage.
Wikipedia and Ward Family Papers.
Miss Chambers: Ethel Arnold's secretary has not yet been identified further.
Constable: John Constable (1776-1837) was an English landscape painter.
Dr. Arnold's: The father of Matthew Arnold was Thomas Arnold, the elder (1795-1842), who married Mary Penrose (1791-1873). An educator, he served as Headmaster of Rugby School (1828-1841). Fields seems to have reversed the ages of Dr. Arnold's children. The youngest was their daughter Julia Sorell (1824-1888).
crowning of the young queen ... the Rembrandts: Wikipedia says that Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands (1880-1962) was Queen from 1890 to 1948. She was crowned 6 September 1898, after she turned 18, her mother serving as regent until that date.
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (1606-1669) is widely considered the greatest of the Dutch master painters. There was a large exhibition of his work in Amsterdam in 1898 as part of the inauguration of the young queen. Wikipedia.
Burne Jones: British Pre-Raphaelite artist, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones (1833- 1898).
Frederick Harrison, St. George Mivart, Lord Kelvin: The transcription of the first two names is uncertain. Still, the context seems to confirm that Fields refers to Frederic Harrison (1831-1923) a British jurist and historian, a leader in support of Positivism, and St. George Jackson Mivart (1827-1900), an English biologist remembered for his efforts to reconcile Darwinian evolution with his Catholic faith. William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (1824- 1907) was a Scots-Irish mathematical physicist and engineer. Wikipedia.
Helbeck of Bannisdale: Ward's novel appeared in 1898, and it was reviewed by St. George Mivart in The Nineteenth Century (October 1898) pp. 641-55. There he discusses the 19th-Century review by Rev. Father Clarke, S.J.
break: Probably Fields refers to a brake, a type of carriage ("break" in French), "used in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the training of horses for draft work."
Lord Brownley: This transcription is uncertain. It seems likely, however, that Fields meant "Brownlow," referring to Adelbert Wellington, third Earl Brownlow (1844-1921), whose estate, Ashridge, was about 5 miles east of Tring. Wikipedia.
grand seat of the Rothschilds: According to Wikipedia, the Rothschild family, beginning with Amschel Rothschild (1744-1812), became fabulously wealthy and came to own several estates in the United Kingdom. However, I have not succeeded in identifying a "seat" of the Rothschilds within any easy distance of the Ward's estate,
Dent's pretty edition of the Religio Medici of Sir T. Brown: Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) was an English author and physician with interests and expertise in science, medicine, and religion, and classic literature, remembered for his Religio Medici (The Religion of a Physician), published in 1642. J. M. Dent & Co. a London publisher brought out a Temple Classics edition in 1896.
Cassabianca: According to Wikipedia, English poet Felicia Dorothea Hemans (1793-1835) was the author of "Casabianca" (1826). This narrative poem, also known as "The Boy Stood on the Deck," tells of the heroic child of a naval captain who refuses to abandon his post without an order from his dying father during the 1798 naval Battle of the Nile in the Napoleonic wars. It was a popular poem for memorization in the 19th century. By Jewett's time, it also had been parodied frequently.
2nd: Fields has given two pages the number 11.
Miss Hogarth: According to Wikipedia, Georgina Hogarth, (1827-1917), "the sister-in-law, housekeeper, and adviser of English novelist Charles Dickens and the editor of two volumes of his collected letters after his death." Her new home at Eglantine Terrace is somewhat mysterious, and has not yet been confirmed. The transcription of "Eglantine" is uncertain. When Hogarth came to reside with Dickens, their residence was at Devonshire Terrace.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Caroline Balestier (Mrs. Rudyard) Kipling to Sarah Orne Jewett
[ Begin letterhead ]
THE ELMS
ROTTINGDEAN,
NE BRIGHTON.
[ End letterhead ]
THE ELMS
ROTTINGDEAN,
NE BRIGHTON.
[ End letterhead ]
Sept. 9th
1898*
Dear Miss Jewett,If you are free Thursday or Friday of next week, will you come to us, and if possible will you bring Mrs Fields and some, or all of your party.
I send you a list of the best trains and beg you will give us as much of a day as possible -- suiting your own convenience in the matter of trains.
[ Page 2 ]
If you can spare the time its best to be here for lunch and tea for its a five mile drive from Brighton and an hour or more journey from town. I shall be only too pleased if you will all come.
With kindest regards and many anticipations of your visit,
Sincerely,
Caroline Kipling
Notes
1898: With this letter is an envelope addressed to Jewett at 11, Half Moon Street, Piccadilly, London, W.
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 I, Letters to Sarah Orne Jewett.
Kipling, Caroline (Balestier) d.1939. 1 letter; [1898].. (126).
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.
Sarah Wyman Whitman to Sarah Orne Jewett
September 11
[ 1898 ]*
O how good to get your letter this morning darling, to hear, not of England, nor [ She ? ] of Stocks,* nor of Kings' Courts (or their [ modern equivalents ? ] ) -- but of the 22nd per S. S. New England!* That is why you have been in Europe at all: just to return. And may this [ leading ? ] thought occupy your mind [ a- ? ]
[ Page 2 ]
--------- But I return to the real thing, then dear friend: to think of your returning [ with a warmth at the least that is not too conscious ? ] And may I be remembered to each one of the square party of the first part, all coming with
[ Page 3 ]
with full hands: & so dear to behold. ---- If I had heard you were to sail on the 22nd of October, I could have written a letter to make remarks about it, but now not one word is worth Saying except
_____________________Love_______________________*
September 11 Old Place
Notes
1898: The envelope associated with this letter was cancelled 13 September 1898 at Beverly Farms, MA. It was addressed to Jewett: "on board S.S. New England, Sailing from Liverpool Sept. 22, Liverpool, England. Dominion Line."
[ She ? ] of Stocks: While it is not clear what Whitman has written, still she refers to British author, Mary Augusta Ward. See Key to Correspondents.
S.S. New England: The S.S. New England, of the Dominion Line, served the Liverpool to Boston route.
Downing street: On this London street are the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Love: This word is heavily underlined across almost the whole page.
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.
Fields Diary
London continued
London continued
Sunday 11th
Went in the afternoon to the village of Totteridge by train whither Mrs Ernest Hart* had sent her carriage to meet us and take us to her place Fairlawn. We found ourselves in the quietest of villages although but ten miles from Charing Cross. It was quite inconceivable. The truth is except one keeps a carriage and drives in and out as Mrs Hart does it is a little inaccessible. The train carried us
[ Page 13 ]
very slowly, stopping everywhere through the East of London* so I can quite understand her almost daily drive which is through green lanes and parks every step of the way coming in quite the other side of London through Regents Park at last I believe.
Once there, a gate opening in a high brick wall showed us an exquisite garden, one of the largest and finest we have seen ^I mean with the largest spaces devoted entirely to flowers^ and the view out the other side where we find ourselves on a hill looking towards London is exquisite indeed -- The house was, when Mr. Hart first took it, a very [ very repeated ] old cottage of the quaintest type; to this they have skilfully added sufficient room and the whole effect is ^most^ beautiful [ deleted word ]. Just now, being very high, and a drought such as has not been [ unrecognized words seen here ? ] in many years prevailing{,} everything is looking at its worst. We can see that easily without hearing the gardiner's [ so written ] disappointments. Mrs Hart showed us some of the extraordinary things the house contains -- pictures books, (but the artistic view of things is not their vocation exactly) Egyptian curiosities and an amazing Japanese collection. She has made a catalogue of Japanese engravings which she would like to sell and which I am carrying back home thinking that some collectors would
[ Page 14 ]
be delighted to fill out the gaps from her [ mines ? ]. We took tea at a table in the garden, where the setting sun was making everything glorious, and after an interesting time we bade her adieu and drove away again in her pretty carriage through the most exquisite country and pretty villages to another station only five miles from London. It was altogether a most interesting excursion.
Monday Sept 12th
We left London about eleven o'clock for Rye to pass the day with Mr. Henry James.* He was waiting for us at the station with a carriage and in five minutes we found ourselves at the top of a silent little winding street at a green door with a brass knocker wearing [ the corrected ] air of impenetrable respectability which is so well known in England -- another instant and an old servant Smith (who with his wife have [ so written ] been in Mr. James's service for 20 years) opened the door and helped us from the carriage. It was a pretty interior -- large enough for elegance, and simple enough to suit the severe taste of a scholar and [ deleted word ] private gentleman. [ deleted words ]
[ Page 15 ]
Mr. James was intent on the largest hospitality. We were [ ushered corrected ] upstairs over a staircase with a pretty balustrade and plain green drugget* on the steps; everything was of the severest plainness but in the best taste, "not at all austere," as he himself wrote us.
We soon went down again after leaving our hats, to find a young gentleman who is Mr. James's secretary,* with him, awaiting us{.} This young man is just the person to help Mr. James. He has a [ bump ]* of reverence and appreciates his position and opportunity. We [ sat corrected ] in the parlor opening on a pretty garden for some time until Mr. James said he could not conceive why luncheon was not ready and he must go and inquire, which he did in a very responsible manner and soon after Smith appeared to announce the feast -- Again a pretty room and table. We enjoyed our talk together sincerely at luncheon and afterward strolled into the garden. The dominating note was ^dear Mr.^* James's pleasure in having a home of his own to which he might ask us.
[ Page 16 ]
From the garden of course we could see the pretty old house* still more satisfactorily. An old brick wall concealed by vines and laurels [ deleted word ] surrounds the whole ^ir^regular* domain: a door from the garden leads into a paved courtyard which seemed to give Mr. James peculiar satisfaction; returning to the garden and on the other side, at an angle with the house, is a building which he laughingly called the temple of the Muse. This is his own place par excellence. A good writing table and one for his secretary, a type-writer, books and a sketch by Du Maurier* with a few other pictures (rather mementoes [ so spelled followed by two or three deleted words ] than works of art), excellent windows with clear light, [ deleted words ] ^such is^ the temple! evidently an admirable spot for his work.* After we returned to the parlor Mr. James took occasion to tell Sarah* how deeply and sincerely he appreciates her work; how he re-reads it with increasing admiration. "It is foolish to ask, I know," he said, "but were
[ Page 17 ]
^you^* in just such a place as you describe in the 'Pointed Firs'? --" "No," she said, "not precisely; the book was chiefly written before I visited the locality itself --" "And such an island?" he continued. "Not exactly," she said again. + "Ah! I thought so," he said musingly; "and the language -- It is so absolutely true -- not a word overdone -- such elegance and exactness." "And Mrs. Dennet* -- how admirable she is," he said again, not waiting for a reply. I need not say they were very much at home together after this. Meanwhile the carriage came again to the door for he had made a plan to take us on a drive to Winchelsea, a second of the Cinq Portes,* Rye itself also being one. The sea has retreated from both these places, leaving about two miles of the Romney Marsh between them and the shore. Nothing could
[ Page 18 ]
be more like something born of the imagination than the old city of Winchelsea. It is very high and you drive through one of the oldest of England's gates as you reach the top of the hill. The old place has shrivelled and shrivelled [ so spelled ] until it is now one of the deadest and smallest of the villages. Three of the gates are still standing and crumbling: there is also the remains of an old abbey and church which was never [ finished ? ] even in its best days. Now one transept or chapel is used and kept in repair where a small congregation may worship. The green church-yard is full of old tombstones and the tall arches of the [ unfinished corrected ] abbey stretch their arms across it. Year by year it is dropping away in the silence. Just outside the old gate looking towards Rye and the sea from a lonely height is the cottage where Ellen Terry has found a summer resting place and retirement. It is a true home for an artist -- nothing could be lovelier. Unhappily she was not there but we were
[ Page 19 ]
happy to see the place which she described to us with so great satisfaction.
From Winchelsea Mr. James drove us to the station where we took the train for Hastings. He had brought his small dog, an aged black and tan terrier with him for a holiday. He put on the muzzle, which all dogs just now must wear, and took it off a great many times until having left it once when he went to buy the tickets and recovered it, he again lost it and it could not be found. So as soon as he reached Hastings he took a carriage again to drive us along the esplanade, but the first thing was to buy a new muzzle. This esplanade is three miles long but we began to feel like tea, so having looked upon the sea sufficiently from this decidedly unromantic point of view, we went into a small shop and enjoyed more talk under new conditions. "How many cakes have you eaten ?" "Ten," gravely replied Mr. James -- at which we all laughed. -- "Oh, I know," said the girl with a wise look at the desk. "How do you suppose they know," said
[ Page 20 ]
Mr. James musingly as he turned away -- "They always do"! And so on again presently to the train at Hastings, where Mr. McAlpine* appeared at the right instant. Mr. James's train for Rye left a few moments before ours for London. He took a most friendly farewell and having left us to Mr. McA. ran for his own carriage. In another five minutes we too were away, bearing our delightful memories of this meeting.
[ Inserted between this entry and the next
and in the margins of this page,
probably in pencil, and so virtually unreadable in microfilm. ]
probably in pencil, and so virtually unreadable in microfilm. ]
Aft luncheon today Mr. James asked what [ ___ ___ ? ] had lectured at [ Harvard ? ]. We told him of [ two unrecognized words ] and then of [ unrecognized word ]. Why [ unrecognized word ] he said [ unrecognized words ] that we [ perhaps ten unrecognized words, a full line down the left margin ].
Notes
Mrs Ernest Hart: Alice Marion Rowland (Mrs. Ernest) Hart, newly widowed in 1898, was an author and philanthropist, providing aid to the Irish poor by supporting local industry in County Donegal. Her husband, Ernest Abraham Hart (1835 - 7 January1898) was an ophthalmic surgeon and medical journalist.
East of London: What Fields means is a little puzzling, as Totteridge is north of central London, the route from Charing Cross Station running roughly northwest about 13 miles.
Henry James: The American author, Henry James (1843-1916), the brother of the philosopher and psychologist, William James (1842-1910).
drugget: a coarse woollen fabric.
secretary: In his transcription of passages from Fields's and Jewett's day with Henry James, in Memories of a Hostess, Mark A. DeWolfe Howe adds the secretary's name, Mr. McAlpine.
The Scot, William MacAlpine was James's first typist, remembered for producing the typescript of James's The Turn of the Screw, which first appeared during January-April 1898 in Collier's Weekly.
bump: This is Howe's transcription, and it probably is correct. Presumably, Fields refers to phrenology, an already long discredited theory that the shape of the human skull revealed characteristics of the brain and personality. Though discredited, the theory continued its currency in popular culture into the Twentieth Century.
dear Mr.: This insertion in the manuscript may be by Howe rather than Fields.
house: A note above this word, probably by Howe, "use" indicates his recognition of this difficult to read word.
^ir^regular: It is not clear whether the insertion was added by Fields or by Howe.
sketch by Du Maurier: Wikipedia says: "George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (1834 -8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and author, known for his drawings in Punch and for his novel Trilby." Peter Ibbetson, his first novel (1891) was adapted for stage, film and opera. Du Maurier drew a large number of illustrations for this novel.
work: A paragraph mark has been inserted here, probably by De Wolfe.
Sarah: Sarah Orne Jewett, author of The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896).
^you^: This insertion appears to be by Howe.
Dennet: Fields's placement of quotation marks in this conversation is somewhat confusing. Perhaps as a result, in his transcription, Howe omits the quotation mark before "And the language," which increases the confusion in his transcription. The "+" that appears in this passage also is a mystery -- why it is there and whether it was so placed by Howe or Fields.
Finally, there is the problem of Mrs. Dennet. There is no character of this name in Jewett's The Country of the Pointed Firs (1896). "Dennett," with the two "t's" is a somewhat frequent name in Jewett's writings, and that name appears twice in Pointed Firs, referring to a neighbor in chapter 17 who may close Mrs. Todd's windows should unexpected bad weather occur while she is away at the Bowden reunion, and as the maiden name of the woman who provides the party with doughnuts as they travel to the reunion. Almost certainly, James means to refer to Mrs. Todd, who is the central character of Jewett's novella.
Cinq Portes: Wikipedia says: The Confederation of Cinque Ports ... is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. It was originally formed for military and trade purposes, but is now entirely ceremonial. It lies at the eastern end of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest. The name is Norman French, meaning "five ports". They were: Hastings, New Romney, Hythe, Dover, Sandwich. However, Rye, originally a subsidiary of New Romney, changed to become one of the Cinque Ports once New Romney was damaged by storms and silted up....
The five ports are supported by the two so-called Ancient Towns of Rye and Winchelsea, whose councils traditionally maintained defence contingents for the realm of England.
Ellen Terry: Dame Alice Ellen Terry (1847-1928), was an English actress. She became the leading Shakespearean actress in Britain. Wikipedia.
McAlpine: Fields appears to have written "Alpiney."
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
Eversley
Eversley
Tuesday 13th
Left London again before Noon for Eversley, the little village where Charles Kingsley* lived and spent his energies largely for his people -- It was rather a long journey to Wellington College a small station a few miles from Eversley. We arrived in time for luncheon at the hotel which was clean and fairly good but the large boys school opened the next day and it was rather over full. However we managed to shake into place and as soon as luncheon was over we took a carriage for Eversley{.} In about half an hour we found ourselves in the village which has remained perfectly unchanged or
[ Page 21 ]
perhaps dwindling rather than increasing. They had been very unfortunate in their rectors since Kingsley's time, the present incumbent having capped the climax. He has a drunken wife, perhaps also drinks himself{,} can do nothing for the people, has allowed the little rectory which must have been a [ gem ? ] when they lived there to fall almost into ruin.
We found Rose [ Kinsley intended Kingsley ] in a cottage on Parfitts Farm where she has been passing the summer; sometimes her sister Mrs Harrison is with her and sometimes her cousin Miss Vyrgan.* The last was with her at this time who, although we were sorry not to find Mary, proved a fine sweet woman who is painting away diligently upon the fine subjects which Eversley affords.
When we at last found the cottage & pushed open the gate we saw no one but as the doors and windows were wide open and only the flowers to hear we called and dear Rose put her head out of the second story window to say she had just been out bycycling [ so spelled ] and was changing her dress --
[ Page 22 ]
but would hurry down in a twinkling. The truth was the drive had been shorter than we were told and in order to keep our appointment with her we had hurried away earlier than was necessary. She was really rejoiced to see us and when she appeared in her fresh mourning alas! for a dear brother the news of whose death in Australia has only lately reached there, she looked to me younger and less worn than when she was last in America in spite of her sorrow. She is full of the idea of building a pretty brick cottage here in Eversley where she finds the people love her for her father's sake as well as her own and where for a part of the year she and her sister can find shelter and repose and enough work beside, outside themselves to make them happy. She showed us the places and we rejoiced with her that she was able to do this. She has found an acre or two of land in a pretty spot near her father's
[ Page 23 ]
school and not far from the Rectory and church, the only bit of freehold land in the place, therefore she is very happy indeed about it. We sallied out very soon again to visit the church yard and look into the church: the rectory we could only see from the outside. Kingsley's grave and that of his wife remain as we saw the spot depicted in Mrs Kingsley{'s} life of her husband. There were fresh flowers on the many graves and a wreath on theirs of fine red and white dahlias. My mother and father she said first taught the people here the pleasant custom of putting flowers upon the graves. They still continue it. Almost every tree in the church yard had been planted by Kingsley and his wife. Even the sweetbriar of which she gave us each a bit was put down by his own hand {--} also a fine Wellingtonia* of which there are many now in the vicinity
[ Page 24 ]*
[ missing text possibly on ] a splendid estate planted by Mr. Walters of the Times* and now inherited by his son.) Nothing could be more lovely than this spot which Kingsley cared for so carefully and so tenderly. He became a part of it. His children grew up here and on this pretty lawn now gone to destruction in front of the Rectory under some grand old firs, Kingsley entertained the group of interesting men who were in the habit of finding him [ at home ? ]. We walked all round the little demesne, seeing the pond which is embalmed in the Water Babies; the little stream the children loved and all the spots alive with tender meanings for Miss Kingsley; then we drove to Bramshill Park the seat of Sir Anthony Cope,* which was Kingsley's great play-ground. The Sir William Cope of his day was Kingsley's warm friend ^and^ so he was able to enjoy the park as if, and perhaps more!
[ Page 25 ]
[ missing text possibly to ] which scant or no attention is paid. It appears that when the country was searching for a grand estate to present to the Duke of Wellington* he was offered a choice between Bramshill Park and [ Strathfieldsay so spelled ]. He chose the last, the first being a very poor soil and difficult to manage. Nevertheless the wild picturesqueness of this would not be easy to rival and it is evidently excellent shooting ground. Partridges rose up round our feet as we walked through the bracken and rabbits and hares darted across the path{.} We have seen nothing in [ England but may be English ] more striking than that great home. The hand of decay is laid upon it. Still beautiful it stands rather like a monument of the past than like anything which has to do with the great future. James the First planted the firs and the house was built in his time and Henry the Eighth and Elizabeth are somehow associated I believe with the place but the Copes have lived there for centuries though never Miss Kingsley said in direct line and the letters
[ Page 26 ]*
[ Missing text, at least one line ]
on the grave old iron gates probably of many hundred years [ age or ago ]. We wandered about there{,} Miss Kingsley telling us how often her father made this his pleasure ground and how one of his later poems called The Delectable Day* was written an evening after some hours of pleasuring all together here --
We returned to the cottage for tea where we talked of many things and ended by reading the poem just alluded to. R. put it into my hands to read and went away herself. "I could not bear it," she said --
We brought away a few bits of flowers in our hands but the true remembrance needs no help. The little group of friends stood in the road and watched us until we lost sight of each other [ at ? ] a turn in the road. It is difficult for us to understand Kingsley's life without visiting this spot. A place [ deleted mark ] remote from his peers where he lived gladly working for the poor about him and writing from time to time the wonderful things which made his name to be remembered.
We slept at Wellington College{.}
Notes
Charles Kingsley: Charles Kingsley (1819-1875) was a priest of the Church of England, for many years Rector of Eversley in Hampshire, a professor of history at Cambridge University, and a novelist, perhaps best remembered for The Water Babies (1863). Jewett read his novel, Hereward the Wake (1866), in preparation for her popular history, The Normans (1887).
Rose ... Mrs Harrison ... Miss Vyrgan: Rose Georgina Kingsley (1845-1925), called R. below, the oldest child of Charles Kingsley, a traveler and author. Mary St. Leger Kingsley (1852-1931), her younger sister, was a popular novelist, writing under the name Lucas Malet. Mary Kingsley lived much of her adult life, after separating from her husband William Harrison (d. 1897), Minor Canon of Westminster, with her cousin, the singer and, later, novelist, Gabrielle Vallings (1886-1969). Mary Kingsley, therefore, sometimes is called "Mrs. Harrison."
Their brothers were Maurice (1847-1910) and Grenville (1848-1898).
The name "Vyrgan" seems so distinctive that one would quickly locate any associate of the Kingsleys by that name, but that is not the case. Perhaps the transcription is incorrect, or Fields mistook the name?
Wellingtonia: Fields may refer to a species of Sabiaceae, a family of flowering plants, but it is quite possible that she means the giant sequoia.
Page 24: This page is out of order in the microfilm copy of the diary, appearing on about p. 128 of the collection of pages. The page is damaged, and some text is obscured. It seems likely it begins with a parenthesis, as an end parenthesis follows the sentence that ends on this page.
Mr. Walters of the Times: Wikipedia says that John Walter (c. 1738-1812) was the founding editor of the Times of London. His son was John Walter, Jr. (1776-1847), who followed his father as Times editor.
Bramshill Park ... Sir Anthony Cope: Bramshill House in Hampshire. The extensive grounds included woods and formal gardens. The Cope family owned the estate from 1699 to 1935, and it became the family seat. There were several "Sir Anthony Copes"; the one living in 1898 was the 13th Baronet (1842-1932). Fields notes that Kingsley was a friend of Sir William Cope, the 12th Baronet (1811-1892). Her connecting the property with British royalty -- Henry VIII, Elizabeth and James I -- has some justification, though clearly the current house is from the reign of James I.
26: This page is out of order in the manuscript microfilm, appearing at about p. 125. It is damaged, part of the top of the page being missing.
Duke of Wellington: Wikipedia says that Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769- 1852) "was an Anglo-Irish soldier and statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as Prime Minister. His victory against Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 puts him in the first rank of Britain's military heroes."
Wikipedia also says that in 1817, "a grateful nation" gave Wellington the Stratford Saye estate in Hampshire.
The Delectable Day: Kingsley dated his poem, "The Delectable Day," November 6, 1872. See Charles Kingsley: His Letters and Memories of his Life, Volume 2 (1877), p. 393.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Fields Diary
London
London
[ Probably 14 September 1898 ]
The next morning, [ instead corrected ] of rain which there was every reason to expect the day proved exquisite beyond words. We got up early to take a certain train which proved not to be ours, so we took a carriage and enjoyed an [ incredibly ? ] beautiful morning drive through a forest of pines and firs, with glimpses of water here & there and a few small villages until we reached the town where we could take a train for Winchester which we reached soon after dinner. As usual -- in English hotels you can [ have corrected ] luncheon whenever you like. Cold -- always at hand, and this is the ordinary luncheon of every day -- so we sat down and refreshed ourselves before going out. It was a pretty old fashioned place {--} the windows of the dining room giving on the garden and in the garden an aviary with many interesting and beautiful foreign birds --
After a little [ pause ? ] here we started to see the old Council-hall and table of King Arthur, which if not his [ exactly ? ] is so old that nobody can trace its day of [ building ? ]{.}
[ Page 2 ]
Experts have exercised their wits and judgment upon it, until now it is placed with [ unrecognized word ], only the round top* being in existence against the wall of the great [ hall corrected ] high up and fastened there with strong iron clamps. The hall itself is a wonderful -- old place, built in old Norman times and still used on great occasions.
[ Then ? ] we went into the Cathedral and saw the tomb of William Rufus and strange burial boxes containing bones of Canute, Hardycanute,* and others. Chief
Then we drove about two miles out to visit a home for old men, ^St.Cross Hospital^ one of the endowed charities of hundreds of years ago. ^Mrs Gaskell has an excellent description of this place in her story called Sylvia's Lovers.^* One of the old pensioners showed us
[ Page 3 ]
[ missing text ]* [ By Mrs Anne ? ] we were thoroughly uneasy so we drove to the station for London where we arrived about eight o'clock.
[ Apparently inserted later in margins and between lines. ]* [ missing text ] we drove to the famous boys school ^founded by William [ Wickham corrected ] and called Wickham College -- ^ where Matthew Arnold* and other [ deleted word ] boys have been sent{.} Some names are now known to fame and many who are unknown{.}
Thursday --
Sarah, Mary & Theodore* went to Windsor to pass the day. They saw also
Friday
Sarah and Theodore went to Rottingdene near Brighton to pass the day with the Kiplings.* He recited to them a new poem The Bear with a face like a Man (Russia{)} which S. thought as powerful as anything he had done. It was à propos of the scheme of disarmament lately put forth by the Tsar.
Saturday -- 19th [ probably intended 17th ]
Sarah and I went to Aldworth to have luncheon with the Tennysons* (Hallam and his wife){--} another lovely day -- arrived in time for luncheon and found a very warm reception -- I really never looked at the house when Alfred Tennyson & his wife were here, but now there seemed time enough! On the staircase hangs a very noble collection [ of ? ] Holbeins ^[ woodcuts ? ]^ engraved by [ Bartolozzi ? ].*
[ Page 4 ]
In the parlor are [ two corrected ]
portraits of Tennyson -- one by Lawrence and one by a French
painter{,} also Lady Tennyson's and the children by Watts -- In
the room where I last saw her there are now woodcuts of Hallam's
children by Kate Greenaway & Mrs Allingham and cheerful
homelike things as if they often sat here.
After luncheon Hallam carried us once again into his fathers study which stands much as it was when we saw him there{.} There is a long row of reliefs of the Roman emperors on the wall as you enter, (behind a long screen which kept the draft from the door away from the old man) from Trin Coll. Cambridge* and other things connected with his life and memory. Somehow it was very sad to go into that room again, very [ impressing ? ] of our last brief hour with him. We went out into the garden to have coffee, where we had a very intimate talk as between old friends. Hallam was very nervous about [ unrecognized word or words ] his father's [ place ? ]
but he says the thought which now chiefly possesses him with
respect to it is, how amused [ his corrected ] father
would be and how he would laugh at the solemn way in which certain
things are presented. He can almost seem to hear his laugh, he
says, as he turns over the pages now. He and his wife drove with
us to the station. No welcome could have been more cordial; they
would have gladly kept us over Sunday if we could have stayed but
the rest of our party were waiting and it was time for us to
return. How beautiful this place is! How lovely the country all
around here!After luncheon Hallam carried us once again into his fathers study which stands much as it was when we saw him there{.} There is a long row of reliefs of the Roman emperors on the wall as you enter, (behind a long screen which kept the draft from the door away from the old man) from Trin Coll. Cambridge* and other things connected with his life and memory. Somehow it was very sad to go into that room again, very [ impressing ? ] of our last brief hour with him. We went out into the garden to have coffee, where we had a very intimate talk as between old friends. Hallam was very nervous about [ unrecognized word or words ] his father's [ place ? ]
[ Page 5 ]
[ Deleted words ] Dined with Arthur Holland and his wife* at the Hans Crescent Hotel.
Jessie Cochrane* arrived from Ireland this morning, at [ unrecognized words ].
Sunday Morning 17th [ probably intended 18th ]
We promised to go to Hampstead today to see the Herfords,* but we are all too tired. Sarah has taken cold --
Notes
the round top: Fields refers to the legendary top of King Arthur's Round Table, which scholars agree dates from the 13th Century, not the time of King Arthur. This table-top hangs in Winchester Castle.
William Rufus ... Canute, Hardycanute: Buried in mortuary chests in Winchester Cathedral are a number of kings of early England, including William II (Rufus) who ruled 1087-1100, Cnut, who ruled 1016-1035), and Harthacnut, who ruled (1040-1042).
St. Cross Hospital: Wikipedia says: "The Hospital of St Cross and Almshouse of Noble Poverty is a medieval almshouse in Winchester, Hampshire, England, founded between 1132 and 1136. It is the oldest surviving charitable institution in the United Kingdom."
Mrs. Gaskell: Wikipedia says the English writer, Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), published her novel, Sylvia's Lovers, in 1863.
Izaak Walton: Wikipedia says Izaak Walton (c. 1593-1683) was an English writer, best remember for The Compleat Angler (1653 and after). He is buried in Winchester Cathedral.
missing text: The top of this page is damaged and much revised. The transcription of the first entry is very uncertain.
This and most of the pages in this section appear in random order near the end of the manuscript microfilm, and their chronological order remains uncertain. Though they are numbered, the upper right corners often are damaged.
Wickham College: Wickham College probably is Winchester College, an independent boarding school for boys in Winchester, Hampshire, and a "feeder" institution for New College, Oxford. It is sometimes informally called Wickham's or Wyckeham's School. It was founded in 1382 by William of Wykeham (c1320-1404), Bishop of Winchester.
English poet, Matthew Arnold (1822-1888) attended Winchester for a year in 1856.
Sarah, Mary & Theodore: Sarah Orne Jewett, Mary Rice Jewett, and their nephew, Theodore Jewett Eastman.
Stoke Poges: Eton College is a boarding school for boys in Windsor, Berkshire. Stoke Poges is a village about 6 miles north of Windsor. Rugby School, associated with Matthew Arnold and his family, in the village of Rugby, is about 90 miles northwest of Windsor.
the Kiplings: Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936), British poet, novelist and journalist, moved to Rottingdene in 1897. Kipling is not known to have written a poem of the title, "The Bear with a Face like a Man." However, he did publish in 1898 "The Truce of the Bear," which repeats the phrase "the Bear that walks like a Man," and includes a number of similar phrases, such as "stands like a Man," etc.
The Peace Palace International Law Library website recounts Tsar Nicholas II of Russia's proposal to mitigate a European arms race:
On 24 August 1898, at their weekly reception at the Foreign Office in St. Petersburg, the ambassadors and ministers of the major nations accredited to the Russian Court were presented a written statement to be forwarded to their respective governments. In it, the Tsar invited the governments to join an international conference on peace and disarmament. According to the Tsar, he thought it would be better for the prosperity and progress of mankind if governments sat down and talked and concluded agreements instead of being divided and hostile towards one another.Tennysons: Wikipedia says: Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) "was Poet Laureate of Great Britain and Ireland during much of Queen Victoria's reign and remains one of the most popular British poets." He married Emily Sellwood (1813-1896). Their two sons were Hallam and Lionel, and their last home was at Aldworth.
Wikipedia also says Hallam Tennyson, 2nd Baron Tennyson (1852-1928), son of Alfred Tennyson, served as governor of South Australia (1899-1902) and Governor-General of Australia (1902-1904). His first wife was Audrey Boyle (d. 1916). Their children were: Alfred Aubrey Tennyson (1891-1918); Major Lionel Hallam Tennyson, 3rd Baron Tennyson (1889-1951); and Harold Courtney Tennyson (1896-1916).
Holbein: Wikipedia says that, though his father also was an artist, Hans Holbein the Younger (1497-1543) was the more successful German artist and printmaker. Though "Bartolozzi" is very difficult to read in the manuscript, almost certainly this is the name Fields intended. Wikipedia says: Francesco Bartolozzi (1727-1815) "was an Italian engraver, whose most productive period was spent in London." Among his works was a set of portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger.
portraits of Tennyson ... Lawrence ...by a French painter .. Lady Tennyson's and the children by Watts: Samuel Laurence / Lawrence (1812-1884) was a British portrait painter. His 1840 portrait, in collaboration with Edward Burne-Jones, now is in the Tate Gallery, London.
The French portrait remains unidentified, though perhaps it was by Amedée Forestier *1854-1930), an Anglo-French artist and illustrator. A lithograph from this drawing is owned by London's National Portrait Gallery.
George Frederic Watts (1817-1904) was a British painter who made the well-known portrait of Tennyson in the Usher Gallery.
Wikipedia says that Kate Greenaway (1846-1901) was a British artist and writer, best remembered for her children's books. Wikipedia also says that Helen Paterson Allingham (1848-1926) was a British watercolorist and illustrator. The two close friends were acquainted with the Tennyson family.
It is possible that the portraits of Hallam's children were photographs rather than paintings.
Trin Coll. Cambridge: Fields appears to have abbreviated Trinity College Cambridge, where Tennyson and Arthur Hallam were fellow students and became friends.
Arthur Holland: Mrs. Sara Ormsby Burgwin Holland (1859-1940) was married to Arthur Holland (1850-1926) of Concord, Massachusetts, son of Frederick West and Harriet Newcomb Holland. Arthur Holland's aunt, Sarah May Holland, was Annie Fields's mother. (Cary, Holland Family Papers)
Hans Crescent Hotel: This hotel in Knightsbridge, London, opened in 1896.
Jessie Cochrane: Cochrane was a gifted amateur pianist from Louisville, Kentucky, who became something of a protégée of Mrs. Fields. After long and frequent trips to Europe, she would visit Mrs. Fields at 148 Charles Street and Gambrel Cottage in Manchester-by-the-Sea (see Warner's letter about his luncheon with Miss Cochrane, Dr. Holmes, and Mr. Howells, in Fields's Charles Dudley Warner, 165). Miss Cochrane attempted some writing but apparently did not achieve publication. One of her photographs hangs above the bureau in Miss Jewett's bedroom in the Memorial House at South Berwick. (Richard Cary)
Herfords: Reverend Brooke Herford (1830-1903) was a British Unitarian minister and author, who immigrated to the United States, serving in Boston after 1881. In 1892, he returned to England to serve at the Rosslyn Hill Chapel in Hampstead. "Herford's eldest daughter Helen Brooke (1854-1935) was the main founder of the national Unitarian Women‘s League in Britain in 1908."
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
Marie Thérèse de Solms Blanc to Sarah Orne Jewett
This letter was composed in French; a transcription follows the translation.
[ 17 September 1898 ]*
Dear Sarah, how I would love to have had you with me at Versailles in this golden autumn, where the Petit Trianon* looks like it is in fairyland. How you would have enjoyed the beauty of this season like no other in my memory, you and your sister and Theodore,* too. I have felt you near to me constantly.
Page 2 ]
The charming Mrs. Joseph Gilder* has come visiting, unfortunately in too much of a hurry, but she spent a good long day with me at La Ferté, at the time when Helen [ unrecognized name ] was visiting, a woman Mrs. Gilder admires -- together, we went into Jouarre.
[ Page 3 ]
She came to take care of the children of my
little protégé, the one I told you about, or perhaps I told
Annie,* and now she no longer is needed.
Mr. Blanc has been very ill with influenza. He is recovered
and asks that I place his deepest devotion at your feet. My son* has had a fine tour in Russia, where the Frenchmen received the best welcome. I have good things to report about the children, and I regret that you haven't seen them lately, Lili* having become quite interesting. Alas, the divorce case
continues and I weep for these innocents who, no matter what, face a difficult future, caught between so many interests and opposing sentiments. The day before yesterday, Mme. Delzant* charged me to remember her to you. She grows increasingly ill.
She is forbidden to go about and lives cloistered and busy, in spite of herself, with caring for the poor body she has overworked immeasurably in her charitable work.
A veil of sadness spreads over Paris. The threats of war, Britain's insolence, aggressive and so brutal, the exciting and sensational melodrama
Mr. Blanc has been very ill with influenza. He is recovered
[ Page 4 ]
and asks that I place his deepest devotion at your feet. My son* has had a fine tour in Russia, where the Frenchmen received the best welcome. I have good things to report about the children, and I regret that you haven't seen them lately, Lili* having become quite interesting. Alas, the divorce case
[ Page 5 ]
continues and I weep for these innocents who, no matter what, face a difficult future, caught between so many interests and opposing sentiments. The day before yesterday, Mme. Delzant* charged me to remember her to you. She grows increasingly ill.
[ Page 6 ]
She is forbidden to go about and lives cloistered and busy, in spite of herself, with caring for the poor body she has overworked immeasurably in her charitable work.
A veil of sadness spreads over Paris. The threats of war, Britain's insolence, aggressive and so brutal, the exciting and sensational melodrama
[ Page 7 ]
of this Dreyfus affair* so destructive to common sense and French good taste (because the lower classes have grown used to this spicy scandal, and so we ask ourselves how can replace it when a final verdict comes, whatever the outcome is) --
[ Page 8 ]
Rochefort and Drumont.*all of this comes together to diminish and
degrade France. Our national humiliation cannot be understood
by others, especially by those foreigners who think most
highly of us, though some individuals continue to think well
of us. We uneasily anticipate everything without the ability
to predict anything. The political situation is so murky;
still I can name a couple individuals in politics whom I would
love to see lynched, though, normally, I am not at all
bloodthirsty:
[ Cross written down the left side of
page 8 ]
And now I embrace you dear Sarah, you and your sister, repeating that your friendship is one of the great treasures nestled in my heart.
ThB
[ Cross written up the left side of page 7
]
I have handed over to Annie a matter that worries me greatly and of which she will speak to you. Please, both of you, help me to straighten this out
Notes
17 September 1898: The Huntington Library dates this letter to 17 November 1898. Mme. Blanc's discussion of the Fashoda Incident (see notes below) confirms the year, but places the month in September or October. Blanc's handwriting is ambiguous, but she appears to have written a capital S followed by a superscript "bre."
Petit Trianon: A chateau on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles, near Paris.
your sister and Theodore: Mary Rice Jewett and Theodore Jewett Eastman. See Key to Correspondents.
Mrs. Joseph Gilder: Gwendolen Gilder (1865-1949). Joseph Benson Gilder (1858-1936), a member of a prominent American literary family, was a journalist and literary editor. He and his sister, Jeannette Leonard Gilder (1849-1916), were co-founders and editors of The Critic.
Annie: Annie Adams Fields. See Key to Correspondents.
My son: For Blanc's husband and son, see Mme. Blanc in Key to Correspondents. Though the details of her son's married life are not well known, it seems clear that he and his wife separated at some time before Mme. Blanc's death. In Memories of a Southern Woman of Letters, New Orleans author, Grace Elizabeth King (1852-1932), remembers meeting Blanc's son, Édouard, probably in the 1890s. She wrote: "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).
This passage seems to imply that Édouard Blanc was at this time living alone.
Lili: Lili almost certainly is a nickname for Mme. Blanc's only known granddaughter, Christine, who was born in 1894. See Mme. Blanc in Key to Correspondents.
Delzant: Alidor (1848-1905) and Gabrielle Delzant (1854-1903) resided in Paris and at Parays (Lot-et-Garonne). He was a lawyer, a bibliophile, editor, and author and wrote, among other works, a biography of the brothers Goncourt.
Richard Cary notes that Gabrielle was cited by Violet Paget for the "admirableness of her brains" and her "extraordinary charm of high breeding." Madame Delzant, an aspiring author, compiled extensive memoranda and rough drafts of books on Port Royal and the Princesse de Liancourt but did not live to publish them. Her husband edited Lettres de Gabrielle Delzant (1906), for which Mme. Blanc wrote a preface.
See also "Paget in Parays" (1960) by Archille H. Biron.
Dreyfus affair: For the Dreyfus affair, see "Rochefort and Drumont" below.
Mme. Blanc's reference to tensions with England refers to the Fashoda Incident, which came to a crisis point in September and October of 1898. Britain and France both claimed a part of southern Sudan, in Africa, and the British used the threat of superior military power to force the French to surrender the territory.
Rochefort and Drumont: Victor Henri Rochefort (1831-1913) and Édouard Drumont (1844-1917) were prominent anti-Dreyfusard provocateurs in the 12-year scandal over the wrongful conviction of Captain Alfred Dreyfus for treason, known as the Dreyfus Affair. Rochefort, a Nationalist politician, stoked violence, particularly against French author and defender of Dreyfus, Émile Zola (1840-1902). Drumont was a prominent anti-Semitic journalist, whose newspaper used the Dreyfus affair to illustrate its case that Jews were dangerous to France.
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
17 S bre Paris
Chère Sarah, comme j'aurais voulu vous
avoir à Versailles par cet
automne doré qui
faisait du petit Trianon
un décor de féerie!
Comme vous auriez joui
de ces beautés exceptionnelles
d'une saison comme
je n'en ai jamais vue
de semblable, vous, et
votre soeur et Théodore!
Je vous évoquais près de
[ Page 2 ]
moi à chaque instant{.}La charmante Mrs
Joseph Gilder m'est
venue, malheureusement
trop en courant, mais
elle m'avait donné à
La Ferté tout une bonne
journée pendant la
visite que m'a faite
Hélène de [ unrecognized name, looks like Zhukovsky or Mounkovsky ? ]
qu'elle a beaucoup
admirée, nous sommes
allées ensemble à Jouarre
[ Page 3 ]
Elle [ est venue ? ] pour
avoir soin de ses
enfants ma petite
protégé dont je vous avais parlé à
moins que ce ne fût
à Annie, et qui
maintenant n'a
plus besoin de place.
M. Blanc vient
d'être fort malade de
l'influenza. Il s'est
rétabli et met ses
Elle [ est venue ? ] pour
avoir soin de ses
enfants ma petite
protégé dont je vous avais parlé à
moins que ce ne fût
à Annie, et qui
maintenant n'a
plus besoin de place.
M. Blanc vient
d'être fort malade de
l'influenza. Il s'est
rétabli et met ses
[ Page 4 ]
hommages à vos
pieds. Mon fils fait
un excellent voyage
en Russie où les
[ Français ? ] ont reçu
le meilleur accueil.
J'ai de bonnes nouvelles
des enfants et ne
me console pas
que [ deletion ] vous ne
les ayez pas vus
Lili étant devenue
bien intéressante. Hélas
l'affaire du divorce
se poursuit et je pleure ces innocents
qui quoi qu'il arrive
auront une situation
difficile dans l'avenir
entre tant d'intérêts et
de sentiments opposés.
Mme Delzant m'a
chargée avant-hier
soir de la rappeler
à votre souvenir.
Elle est de plus en
plus malade; on lui
défend de sortir;
elle vit cloîtrée et
occupée bien malgré
elle du soin de ce
pauvre petit corps que
par charité elle a
surmené outre mesure.
Un voile de tristesse
est étendu sur Paris.
Les menaces de guerre
l'insolence anglaise
l'agressive et si
brutale, le mélodrame
excitant et sensationnel
qu'est devenue cette
affaire Dreyfus si funeste
au bon sens et au
bon goût français
( car dans les basses
classes on s'est accoutumé *
à ce piment et nous*
nous demandons ce qui
pourra le remplacer
quand un jugement
quelconque sera rendu ) --
[ * Someone in another hand has written between this line and the next in English: "I cant make out much of the next dozen lines." Noting the absence of the apostrophe, it is likely that Jewett, or perhaps Fields, wrote this note.
* nous: This word may have been deleted, but it seems to make better grammatical sense if it is not deleted. ]
pour perdre et avilir
la France. Notre chagrin
patriotique ne peut être
[ connu ? ] dans toute son
étendue par personne
[ même ? ] par les étrangers
qui nous sont les plus
favorables, en admettant
qu'il y en ait encore
sauf individuellement{.}
Nous [ ns for nous ] attendons à tout
sans pouvoir rien prévoir. C'est
en politique le plus épais
brouillard mais il y a deux individus
que j'aimerais bien à voir lynchés
si peu [ deletion ] sanguinaire que je sois:
Rochefort et Drumont.
Là-dessus, je vous embrasse chère
Sarah, vous et votre soeur en vous
répétant que votre amitié est l'un
des grands biens qui me restent au coeur
ThB
J'ai remis aux mains d'Annie
une affaire qui me préoccupe
terriblement et dont elle
vous parlera. Aidez-moi
toutes deux à en sorter
pieds. Mon fils fait
un excellent voyage
en Russie où les
[ Français ? ] ont reçu
le meilleur accueil.
J'ai de bonnes nouvelles
des enfants et ne
me console pas
que [ deletion ] vous ne
les ayez pas vus
Lili étant devenue
bien intéressante. Hélas
l'affaire du divorce
[ Page 5 ]
se poursuit et je pleure ces innocents
qui quoi qu'il arrive
auront une situation
difficile dans l'avenir
entre tant d'intérêts et
de sentiments opposés.
Mme Delzant m'a
chargée avant-hier
soir de la rappeler
à votre souvenir.
Elle est de plus en
plus malade; on lui
[ Page 6 ]
défend de sortir;
elle vit cloîtrée et
occupée bien malgré
elle du soin de ce
pauvre petit corps que
par charité elle a
surmené outre mesure.
Un voile de tristesse
est étendu sur Paris.
Les menaces de guerre
l'insolence anglaise
l'agressive et si
brutale, le mélodrame
[ Page 7 ]
excitant et sensationnel
qu'est devenue cette
affaire Dreyfus si funeste
au bon sens et au
bon goût français
( car dans les basses
classes on s'est accoutumé *
à ce piment et nous*
nous demandons ce qui
pourra le remplacer
quand un jugement
quelconque sera rendu ) --
[ * Someone in another hand has written between this line and the next in English: "I cant make out much of the next dozen lines." Noting the absence of the apostrophe, it is likely that Jewett, or perhaps Fields, wrote this note.
* nous: This word may have been deleted, but it seems to make better grammatical sense if it is not deleted. ]
[ Page 8 ]
tout cela se réunit pour perdre et avilir
la France. Notre chagrin
patriotique ne peut être
[ connu ? ] dans toute son
étendue par personne
[ même ? ] par les étrangers
qui nous sont les plus
favorables, en admettant
qu'il y en ait encore
sauf individuellement{.}
Nous [ ns for nous ] attendons à tout
sans pouvoir rien prévoir. C'est
en politique le plus épais
brouillard mais il y a deux individus
que j'aimerais bien à voir lynchés
si peu [ deletion ] sanguinaire que je sois:
[ Cross written down the left side
of page 8 ]
Rochefort et Drumont.
Là-dessus, je vous embrasse chère
Sarah, vous et votre soeur en vous
répétant que votre amitié est l'un
des grands biens qui me restent au coeur
ThB
[ Cross written up the left side
of page 7 ]
J'ai remis aux mains d'Annie
une affaire qui me préoccupe
terriblement et dont elle
vous parlera. Aidez-moi
toutes deux à en sorter
Fields Diary
Ashton Under Lyne
Ashton Under Lyne
Monday 18th [ probably intended 19th ]
Packed, bade adieu to London and dear [ Jessie corrected ] and went to Riversvale, Ashton under Lyne -- near Manchester. Here we found a carriage waiting for us and a little later the dearly beloved household on the doorstep -- how comfortable it was to find a home and to know that our long journeys on land were at last ended. There was my room and there was Sarah's opposite with lovely flowers and time enough to dress for dinner where we met the whole family circle again well and happy. Mr. and Mrs Bradbury,* [ also ? ] & Mrs Griffith, "Katie," and Mr. Davis who draws Egyptian things for them. On the table were exquisite grapes and flowers [ again ? ] which Katie had gathered & arranged. They have found that Miss Paget* could do other work but not the copying of those strange E. inscriptions. It is very rare to find anyone to do [ this ? ]. ^ Such accuracy is required.^
Tuesday 19th
Mr. & Mrs Griffith went with us to Manchester for luncheon with Miss Gaskill and afterward to see the
[ Page 33 ]
[ possibly missing text ] collection (extraordinary tools of the 12th dynasty -- 2400 years BC, and library at [ Queens ? ] College.* The Misses Gaskell* live in the same home where their father and mother lived for many years. They are now both over fifty and good geniuses for their native city. Mr. Broadfield,* one of their guests, told me their generosity was without limit. They were constantly giving everything in their power. They know something about art and when they are in Italy which not infrequently happens in the winter they are sometimes able to pick up fine works of art at small prices. They are always willing to give these away to the Manchester Museum, but a Michael Angelo by della Robbia* [ so written ], as they believe, he would not let them give. We found it very good whoever may have been the artist. They have also a good picture of their father, who was a Unitarian minister in Manchester for some years before his death{,} also one of the younger Miss G-- by a Miss Dacre and two of Mrs Gaskell, one by Richmond* and the other a bust. There are pictures of them altogether satisfactory but the bust is very [ spirited ? ] and to be preferred to Richmond's picture which is rather insipid as usual with him. Beside Mr. Broadfield who has a very pleasant face and was one of the editors of the Manchester Examiner with Alex. Ireland
[ Page 34 ]
which finally went to pieces he [ told corrected ] me, was a Catholic gentleman perhaps Randolph by name){,}* the Griffiths and ourselves -- very easy and pleasant. We felt as if we had known these ladies all their lives for their ways of living and thinking and their friends
As I have said we went to the College on leaving them{.} Mr Griffith is to give some [ evenings ? ] there this winter so we could kill two birds -- he to perfect his arrangements while we saw the library & classroom{.} At the first which is a fine new building we saw a room entirely devoted to the private [ working ? ] library of ^[ E. A. ? ]^ Freeman* the historian. This [ interested ? ] Sarah very much.
The Egyptian Museum has some entirely unusual [ things ? ] -- some of the richest mummies I have ever seen in wonderful preservation among the rest --
We returned to Riversdale for dinner finding good Mr. Bradbury after his long day. In the evening
[ Page 35 ]
[ damaged page with at least two damaged and obscured lines of
text at the top. ]an extraordinary collection of childrens books about a century old which she would find for us. Two or more fairy books in queer marbled paper covers were found and they were so extraordinary, so [ unrecognized corrected word amusing ? ], that we read them aloud with [ intended paroxysms ? ] of laughter -- That such books were ever considered proper for children passed all comprehension -- we read and laughed and read again until it was time to go to bed with ever increasing wonder.* How sorry we were to say good night -- and the next day how sorry to say farewell! Katie overwhelmed us with every possible thing we might need for the voyage and [ among ? ] the blessings of these dear friends we left after luncheon
[ Page 36 ]
and found ourselves in smoky damp Liverpool before night. Our ship was to sail the next day and we were to meet Theodore and Mary at the hotel. I was very tired and went at once to bed not to rise until the next morning.
Sept 22
It was a fair day, not at all cold, but refreshing. We walked to Bold St. to look for a few last things, and then took a cab and drove to see the palm house* given to the people of Liverpool by Mr. Yates Thompson{.} It was a lovely place -- Back to the hotel, luncheon and to the good ship New England* where I have written these last words --
1898 --
Notes
Mr. and Mrs Bradbury: Kate Bradbury (1854-1902) lived at Riversvale Hall near Ashton-Under-Lyne in Great Britain. She married Francis Llewellyn Griffith (1862-1934) in 1896. Both were Egyptologists. See also Riversvale Hall: The Story of a Victorian Country House.
Kate Bradbury's father was Charles Timothy Bradbury, her mother Elizabeth Ann Tomlins.
Mr. Davis, the artist, has not yet been identified.
Miss Paget: Rosalind Frances Emily Paget (1844-1925) was a British artist who provided drawings to supplement the work of several Egyptologists, including Bradbury and Griffith.
Queens College: While the transcription is uncertain, it is almost certain that Fields refers to Queen's College, Oxford, where Professor Griffith did his work.
Misses Gaskell: Wikipedia says that the unmarried daughters of the English writer, Elizabeth Gaskell (1810-1865), were Marianne (b. 1834-1920?), Margaret Emily (b. 1837), and Julia Bradford (b. 1846). They resided in Manchester, where their father, William Gaskell (1805-1884), had been a Unitarian minister. Wikipedia also notes that David Dunbar (1793-1866) sculpted a bust of Mrs. Gaskell in 1832
Mr. Broadfield: Presumably, Fields refers to Edward J. Broadfield (1831-1913), but he was not an editor of the Manchester Examiner and Times. An educator and musician, he contributed regularly to the newspaper and to other publications and was at one time involved with the management. Wikipedia says that Alexander Ireland (1810-1894), mentioned later on this page, was a Scottish journalist and man of letters who wrote biographies of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Thomas Carlyle among others. After moving to Manchester, he became publisher and business manager of the Manchester Examiner. The last edition of the paper appeared in 1894.
Randolph: The Catholic gentleman and fellow guest at the Gaskell luncheon has not yet been identified.
Freeman: The transcription of the insertion is uncertain, a guess based on knowing that Edward Augustus Freeman's The History of the Norman Conquest of England, Its Causes and Its Results (6 volumes; 1867-1876), was Jewett's most authoritative historical source for her popular history, The Story of the Normans (1887). Edward Freeman (1823-1892) was Regius Professor of History at Oxford University.
Michael Angelo by della Robbia: This is difficult to sort out. The Della Robbia family, beginning with Lucca della Robbia (c. 1400-1482) were Italian sculptors who worked in glazed terracotta. Whether any family member created a terracotta version of a work by the Italian artist Michelangelo (1475-1564) has not been discovered. However, it is the case that the Gaskell sisters, Meta/Marianne and Julia, did purchase a 19th-century copy of a della Robbia altarpiece in Venice in 1898, which they then gave to the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.
Miss Dacre ... Richmond: Wikipedia says Susan Isabel Dacre (1844-1933) was an English painter. The portrait of William Gaskell is likely to have been done by Annie Louise Robinson Swynnerton (1844-1933), another British portrait painter. Wikipedia identifies George Richmond (1809-1896), a British portrait painter, as having done a portrait of Mrs. Gaskell. His 1851 portrait is reproduced in the Wikipedia article on Gaskell.
wonder: It appears there is a stain of some sort on this part of the page. Fields has left an oval space in the middle of the page and has written her lines on either side of it.
palm house: Wikipedia says: the Palm House, in Sefton Park, Liverpool, is a three-tier domed conservatory, given to the city by the Liverpool millionaire, Henry Yates Thompson (1838-1928). The conservatory and grounds are distinguished in part by a number of statues of explorers, scientists and others.
New England: The ship New England of the Dominion Line arrived in Boston on 30 September 1898, after a 6.5 day crossing. The ship was launched in April 1898, making its maiden voyage on the Liverpool to Boston route on 30 June 1898.
Transcription and notes by Terry Heller, Coe College.
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