91.
glish, but they make up, and dress capitally, though perhaps of cheap
material. At 10 the ball ended, and there was much squeezing
of plump figures, and dainty waists, as folks pressed out, which
were repelled with occasional slaps on the part of the girls, or compla-
cently submitted to, according to the physique of the offender.
18. Monday. The three of us to the July Column, which
occupies the site of the old Bastille, where on that memorable day
de Launay and Thuriot saw Saint Antoine rising like the sea.
The ascent of the column is partially dark, and your first feeling
on reaching the summit decidedly a nervous one, as you can plainly
feel the oscillation of the bronze pillar. Soldiers, women and work-
men en blouse were on top also. Names of the men who fell in the
three days are enscribed on the column, a figure of Victory, or Fame
as in the act of flying on its summit. To Pere La Chaise,
along the streets leading to which we see many makers, and sellers
of Immorteles, and funerals of different orders progressing in our
direction. The monuments in the Cemetery, are, as far as we saw
not very fine, many of em looking as Ned said, like ornamental
privys. You ll see a sort of stone cell, with trumpery glass cases
in it, containing artificial, or real, flowers, a plaster cost of a
child praying or so, with immorteles strung like curtain
rings, in every state of decomposition. Some will be little rooms,
with a crucifix, chairs, and conveniences for praying, the relatives
of the deceased having the key. Many are ruinous, and weeds grow
every where, most luxuriantly in Pere la Chaise. The Abelard
and Heloise tomb is only interesting from its antiquity and the story;
as an architectural display it is nought. There are innumerable
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seven: page ninety-seven |
| Description: | Describes a visit to the July Column, at the site of the former Bastille, in Paris. |
| Date: | 1855-06-17 |
| Subject: | Gunn, Charles; Gunn, Ned; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Travel; Women |
| 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. |
