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gent face playing on the violin, her father accompanying
her on a queer instrument like to a fat fiddle, from the bottom of
which he drew wires and harmony. A knot of bearded students
were gazing on, farther up the court, some Clanchisseuses, and
other idlers. With the old, old houses above, it was a very pictu-
resque, very Parisian scene, and the performers got
plenty of sous. During dinner the rain fell dismally, so
subsequently we took a cab, and with the Staffordshire man went
to the Theatre Imperial Du Cirque, situate, (I think) in the
Boulevard Montmartre. The piece played was Les Pilules
du Diable, a sort of pantomime burlesque, involving many co-
mic changes of scenery, and much dancing. The actors were
excellent, the dancing also, but sensual. Perhaps the perfor-
mance of the Pierrots was the most noticeable, quaintest, and
oddest conceivable. The play was very lengthy, commencing at
7, and concluding by 11 1/2 or later, with an odd shadow finale,
in which all the characters successfully, or in pairs, appeared
on the disc of a huge circle, occupying the whole stage, vanishing
as it were, by springing at the audience. The theatre is a
handsome one, and was well filled. Took a Vamille Glace
at a Caf , then walked back to our court, rang up Porter
to open closed gate, and to bed.
17. Sunday. Staffordshire man off for England. We
three out with Edenshaw, a Londoner, employed at one Louer s
an adjacent surgical instrument maker, to whom we have been made
known by Marshall. To the Invalides, where lies Napoleon
under a canopy in which is displayed a marvellous effect of light
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seven: page ninety-four |
| Description: | Describes attending a theatrical performance in Paris. |
| Date: | 1855-06-16 |
| Subject: | Edenshaw; Gunn, Charles; Gunn, Edwin; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Louer; Marshall (France); Napoleon I, Emperor of the French; Theater; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | [Paris, France] |
| 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. |
