25
27. Tuesday. Within doors all day. As invited, Mrs Barth came
to dinner, and stayed till mid-evening. I dislike her the more, with
each interview; and have not patience or temper to put down all the
pretences, flummories, flowerynesses, and affectations she vented;
commencing first with stating that she was very angry with William,
(that he had not written,) three minutes afterwards forgetting that r le,
and asserting she was haunted by a presentiment that he was ill. She
still does the affectionate dodge and looks forward to seeing him, (knowing
he will have no chance of coming.) Also talked much of Spiritual
Manifestations, Judge Edmonds, and a recently defunct child of the Nor-
man family, (whom she professed to have heard rolling spectral marbles
down a staircase, subsequently to the child s decease.) I see which
way the current runs. Her husband, the shifty, dextrous little quack
is going in for the Spiritual business, feeling his way in Aristocratic
soft skulls, and will come out full blown ere long; they already talk
of a place in Regent Street. Mrs Barth also spoke maternally
about the illness of her young boy, subsequently letting out that he
made coffee and her breakfast bringing it to her, in the morning, and
that she quite missed him ! She was a better and a happier
woman years ago, when poorer. She has no time to read now, (or
to visit her daughters,) sits in state, and receives the mesmeric dupes,
previous to their seeing Mr Barth. Miss Kemp is mar-
ried, at Sidney, Australia, to a widower, with children.
28. Wednesday. Met Charley by appointment at Trafalgar
Square, thence to the adjacent Photographic Exhibition, where was
a fine show of pictures. By 1, through the mud and close rain
to Regent Street, Edwards & Jones, where subsequently I took omnibus
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seven: page thirty-one |
| Description: | Describes having dinner with Mrs. Barth. |
| Date: | 1855-02-27 |
| Subject: | Barth; Barth, Mrs.; Barth, William; Gunn, Charles; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Kemp, Miss; Spiritualism; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | [London, England] |
| Coverage (Street): | Regent Street; Trafalgar Square |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-02 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seven |
| Description: | Includes an account of his family history and descriptions of his visits with family and friends in England, witnessing a procession for Louis Napoleon in London, traveling in Paris with his brothers Charley and Edwin, his friend Harry Price's mental illness, his journey across the Atlantic to New York on the ship Washington, the marriage of Fanny Fern and James Parton, meetings of the Ornithoryncus Club in New York, and Alfred Waud's elopement with Mary Brainard. |
| Subject: | Bohemians; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Marriage; Mental illness; Publishers and publishing; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | London, England; Paris, France; New York, New York |
| Note: | Thomas Butler Gunn was born February 15, 1826, in Banbury, England, and came to New York in 1849. During the Civil War he worked as a correspondent for the New York Tribune and the New York Evening Post. He returned to England in 1863, and died in Birmingham in April 1903. The collection includes twenty-one volumes of his diaries, including newspaper clippings, letters, photographs, sketches, and various other items inserted by Gunn. Diary entries date from July 7, 1849, to April 7, 1863, and include his experiences with the New York publishing and literary world, his descriptions of boarding houses, his travels throughout the United States, and his experiences traveling with the Federal army as a Civil War correspondent. |
| Publisher: | Missouri History Museum |
| Rights: | Copyright 2011 Missouri History Museum. |
| Source: | Page images, transcriptions, and metadata of the Thomas Butler Gunn diaries have been provided by the Missouri History Museum. |
