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Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Mary (Appleton) Mackintosh, 1 June 1858
Manuscript letter
Cambridge. June 1st 1858.
Dear Mary,
I was delighted with your detailed account of your house It gives me quite a dear picture of it, & I can almost fancy I have seen you in it. It was very kind of you to entertain the Sparks’s so soon after all the fatigue of getting settled, & I hope you wont try to do too much in this way. I am very glad you find it so comfortable, & I am sure Robert must enjoy his sunny study after the disquiet of a hotel room.
I shall give you a little sketch of Tom’s house, by way of return, thinking it may amuse you, & I believe he has been very lazy about writing.
His house is really only a cottage, with a piazza in front, hung [p. 2] with vines, & a little garden behind where he has room for vegetables & fruit trees (some very fine pears & peaches Mr Newell says tho’ as yet he has enjoyed none) a little summer house to smoke in, & a few flowers.
One enters a little gate, with rose-bushes beside it, & on opening the front door a large picture welcomes you in the hall, a very good copy of Greuze’s village betrothal with many figures. Upon the right hand is his tiny study, looking cozy with a crimson velvet paper, covered with pictures, & green stuff curtains with a gay border. He has only room for one good-sized bookcase of unpolished wood, a study table, sofa & arm chairs. In one corner is his carved what not, crowned with pipes, daggers & all kinds of bachelor gatherings, as are the mantel piece & table. Over the fire-place is his charming French pastel & a fine landscape of Newport cliffs by Crossey. The other pictures are small. This room opens into the drawing-room which also [p. 3] communicates with the hall. It has a very pretty velvet carpet crimson & maroon with plain curtains of the latter colour as are also the big sofa & arm chair. Upon the velvet cover of the mantel piece is a pretty bronze damsel of Pradier’s - & various “job darts,” among them a real Francia belonging to Field. Over it a charming picture by Kensett, &, at the side, various little ones. His cattle-piece by Troyon adorns the wall opposite, & his own picture of the English place where he was with the Storys. This room is only separated from the dining-room by maroon col’d curtains which can be dropped when desired. The dining room is very small, with a dwarf sideboard, a handsome large mirror with a carved oak frame & a few pictures. The kitchen is just beyond it on the same floor, next the china-closet, so you see what a snug bachelor box it is. Up stairs, over the study, is his spare bed-room with plain black walnut furniture marble-topped – with lace cur [p. 4] tains at the windows, over the drawing-room his own bed-room, with his carved bed & wardrobe &c, & with a green velvet paper & dark chintz curtains it has quite “a rich antique effect,” as an upholsterer would say. Out of this opens his painting-room, & opposite he has a small bath-room. How Robert would laugh at all this feminine detail but I hope it has amused you.
Kensett made him a pleasant visit of ten days, & then Tom followed him to N. York, where he is still. Harriot went to Phil., with a party, taking the two boys who had a week’s vacation at this time. Willy wanted to see the mint with his passion for coins. Naty had a prize last week for Latin hexameters, & I believe is a very good scholar. Willy has a crape on his arm for the death of a classmate, John E. Thayer’s son, who died suddenly of apoplexy at Avignon whither he had gone on his way to Italy with a tutor. He was too stupid to get on in College, & probably was not well. Poor Sumner has sailed. I hope he will not return until really better. Mrs Sam Ward has turned [p. 1 cross] Catholic at Rome! I am reading Nogg’s Shelley with interest I have just finished Hesses’ Spanish Conquests which is very thoughtful & good. All well in Beacon St. Poor baby is wretched with a cold Love to all Yr aff
Fanny
I called on Mrs Follen lately & found her very bright. She said Lady Bryan writes her Florence N. is really fading away Is it so? How sad! but she has lived more than most people.
Dear Mary,
I was delighted with your detailed account of your house It gives me quite a dear picture of it, & I can almost fancy I have seen you in it. It was very kind of you to entertain the Sparks’s so soon after all the fatigue of getting settled, & I hope you wont try to do too much in this way. I am very glad you find it so comfortable, & I am sure Robert must enjoy his sunny study after the disquiet of a hotel room.
I shall give you a little sketch of Tom’s house, by way of return, thinking it may amuse you, & I believe he has been very lazy about writing.
His house is really only a cottage, with a piazza in front, hung [p. 2] with vines, & a little garden behind where he has room for vegetables & fruit trees (some very fine pears & peaches Mr Newell says tho’ as yet he has enjoyed none) a little summer house to smoke in, & a few flowers.
One enters a little gate, with rose-bushes beside it, & on opening the front door a large picture welcomes you in the hall, a very good copy of Greuze’s village betrothal with many figures. Upon the right hand is his tiny study, looking cozy with a crimson velvet paper, covered with pictures, & green stuff curtains with a gay border. He has only room for one good-sized bookcase of unpolished wood, a study table, sofa & arm chairs. In one corner is his carved what not, crowned with pipes, daggers & all kinds of bachelor gatherings, as are the mantel piece & table. Over the fire-place is his charming French pastel & a fine landscape of Newport cliffs by Crossey. The other pictures are small. This room opens into the drawing-room which also [p. 3] communicates with the hall. It has a very pretty velvet carpet crimson & maroon with plain curtains of the latter colour as are also the big sofa & arm chair. Upon the velvet cover of the mantel piece is a pretty bronze damsel of Pradier’s - & various “job darts,” among them a real Francia belonging to Field. Over it a charming picture by Kensett, &, at the side, various little ones. His cattle-piece by Troyon adorns the wall opposite, & his own picture of the English place where he was with the Storys. This room is only separated from the dining-room by maroon col’d curtains which can be dropped when desired. The dining room is very small, with a dwarf sideboard, a handsome large mirror with a carved oak frame & a few pictures. The kitchen is just beyond it on the same floor, next the china-closet, so you see what a snug bachelor box it is. Up stairs, over the study, is his spare bed-room with plain black walnut furniture marble-topped – with lace cur [p. 4] tains at the windows, over the drawing-room his own bed-room, with his carved bed & wardrobe &c, & with a green velvet paper & dark chintz curtains it has quite “a rich antique effect,” as an upholsterer would say. Out of this opens his painting-room, & opposite he has a small bath-room. How Robert would laugh at all this feminine detail but I hope it has amused you.
Kensett made him a pleasant visit of ten days, & then Tom followed him to N. York, where he is still. Harriot went to Phil., with a party, taking the two boys who had a week’s vacation at this time. Willy wanted to see the mint with his passion for coins. Naty had a prize last week for Latin hexameters, & I believe is a very good scholar. Willy has a crape on his arm for the death of a classmate, John E. Thayer’s son, who died suddenly of apoplexy at Avignon whither he had gone on his way to Italy with a tutor. He was too stupid to get on in College, & probably was not well. Poor Sumner has sailed. I hope he will not return until really better. Mrs Sam Ward has turned [p. 1 cross] Catholic at Rome! I am reading Nogg’s Shelley with interest I have just finished Hesses’ Spanish Conquests which is very thoughtful & good. All well in Beacon St. Poor baby is wretched with a cold Love to all Yr aff
Fanny
I called on Mrs Follen lately & found her very bright. She said Lady Bryan writes her Florence N. is really fading away Is it so? How sad! but she has lived more than most people.
Archives Number: 1011/002.001-028#005
U. S. National Park Service
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Correspondence (1011/002), (LONG-SeriesName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1858 (1011/002.001-028), (LONG-FileUnitName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1858 (1011/002.001-028), (LONG-FileUnitName)
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Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Code: LONG
Longfellow House - Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site, Middlesex County, Massachusetts
Latitude: 42.3769989013672, Longitude: -71.1264038085938
Latitude: 42.3769989013672, Longitude: -71.1264038085938
NPS Museum Number Catalog : LONG 20257
Title: Finding Aid to the Frances Elizabeth Appleton Longfellow (1817-1861) Papers, 1825-1961 (bulk dated: 1832-1861)
URL: https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/archives.htm#FEAL
URL: https://www.nps.gov/long/learn/historyculture/archives.htm#FEAL
2016-01-30
06/01/1858
Manuscript letter in Frances Appleton Longfellow Papers, Series II. Correspondence, A. Outgoing, 1858. (1011/002.001-028#005)
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Organization: Longfellow House-Washington's Headquarters National Historic Site
Address: 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: LONG_archives@nps.gov
Address: 105 Brattle Street, Cambridge, MA 02138
Email: LONG_archives@nps.gov
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Wednesday, November 9, 2022 5:22:01 PM
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