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Frances (Appleton) Longfellow to Thomas Gold Appleton, 31 March 1851
Manuscript letter
Craigie House
March 31st 1851.
Dear Tom,
Many good wishes to you upon this your birthday! May they smooth your path for the coming year, & turn bitter weeds to flowers & do all kind & gentle offices for your bodily & mental comfort –
I hope this soft Spring day blurs pleasantly into your windows altho’ they are strange ones, [p. 2] and that you will make yourself comfortable at the Tremont, get nice rooms, invite your friends to dine, & enjoy the independance [sic] of that life, till you can find a better, as you are not now in the paternal mansion where we are destined to feel as strangers. If you can get a snug parlor with bed-room attached, & bring to it some familiar things I think you would like it – for [p. 3] there you can smoke & chat at your ease, or quietly read or paint when weary of the Club.
We are reading with pleasure the Tennysonian poetry of Curtis’ book – lulled by soft Lydian airs & trying to forget the harshness of this land of storms & mental conflicts. He takes the lazy mental point of view, or of feeling rather, - in his book & it gives you the languid atmosphere even [p. 4] in the style deliciously – with many sly touches of humour. It is very soothing to the nerves so I recommend it as a gentle medicine – even tho’ it be to you of poppies He said to me “It is a very young book” – but that is why I like it, - for I love that golden shore from which I feel sliding away, as I dare say you do today. But we are among those favored few who can always row back to it for an hour’s stroll, when we like, however strong the current [p. 1 cross] sets down stream – ever yr affte Fanny.
March 31st 1851.
Dear Tom,
Many good wishes to you upon this your birthday! May they smooth your path for the coming year, & turn bitter weeds to flowers & do all kind & gentle offices for your bodily & mental comfort –
I hope this soft Spring day blurs pleasantly into your windows altho’ they are strange ones, [p. 2] and that you will make yourself comfortable at the Tremont, get nice rooms, invite your friends to dine, & enjoy the independance [sic] of that life, till you can find a better, as you are not now in the paternal mansion where we are destined to feel as strangers. If you can get a snug parlor with bed-room attached, & bring to it some familiar things I think you would like it – for [p. 3] there you can smoke & chat at your ease, or quietly read or paint when weary of the Club.
We are reading with pleasure the Tennysonian poetry of Curtis’ book – lulled by soft Lydian airs & trying to forget the harshness of this land of storms & mental conflicts. He takes the lazy mental point of view, or of feeling rather, - in his book & it gives you the languid atmosphere even [p. 4] in the style deliciously – with many sly touches of humour. It is very soothing to the nerves so I recommend it as a gentle medicine – even tho’ it be to you of poppies He said to me “It is a very young book” – but that is why I like it, - for I love that golden shore from which I feel sliding away, as I dare say you do today. But we are among those favored few who can always row back to it for an hour’s stroll, when we like, however strong the current [p. 1 cross] sets down stream – ever yr affte Fanny.
Archives Number: 1011/002.001-021#012
U. S. National Park Service
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Correspondence (1011/002), (LONG-SeriesName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1851 (1011/002.001-021), (LONG-FileUnitName)
, Letters from Frances Longfellow (1011/002.001), (LONG-SubseriesName)
, 1851 (1011/002.001-021), (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
03/31/1851
Manuscript letter in Frances Appleton Longfellow Papers, Series II. Correspondence, A. Outgoing, 1851. (1011/002.001-021#012)
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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
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 5:46:57 PM
Wednesday, November 9, 2022 5:46:57 PM
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