148
I ve omitted to put down last Sunday s proceedings. It was
a cheery, pleasant day, in which I did a good deal in company
with Parton, a called at Bleecker Street, saw Levison, and
the others, then visited Whitelaw.
15. Monday. Trying to write in the morning. Afternoon
to the Mercantile. Parton there awhile. To Post Office mid-day.
16. Tuesday. Down town, called at Picayune Office, seeing
Haney & Levison, to Battery, saw Creecy, to Fulton Street,
return to room with huge pile of Examiners. Afternoon to Mercantile.
Evening in room, thinking. I ve another relapse into the wretchedst
despondency, thorough depreciation and distrust of self. I think of
England, of home, my mother, of Chacombe; and then wearily
of this miserable story I m trying at, with no belief or faith in it.
I feel the most lonely creature in the world; and quitting the Mer-
cantile Library at dusk, as I walk down town-wards through the
chilly, and crowded Broadway my isolation seems the more complete
by force of contrast. There are gaily dressed and handsome women,
young men at theatre doors, and concert rooms, a constant stream of
people setting up town, I go to my lonely room, where I can t
write, my inability being increased by my urgent desire to do it.
I have, too, a frightful dread that this life is to continue, that I
am never to win a home, or know the happiness of being loved.
I m going on for 30; perhaps
17. Wednesday. Worse. Down town at mid-day, and in
the afternoon at the Mercantile Library. Waud up & self engrossed.
18. Thursday. Mid-day called in at the Picayune Office,
there finding Haney, Sol Eytinge, the Wauds and Levison.
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Seven: page one hundred and fifty-six |
| Description: | Describes his unhappiness and fears that he will never get a home of his own. |
| Date: | 1855-10-14 |
| Subject: | Creecey; Eytinge, Solomon; Gunn, Samuel, Mrs.; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Haney, Jesse; Levison, William; Parton, James; Waud, Alfred; Waud, William; Whitelaw, Matthew |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Bleecker Street; Broadway; Fulton Street; Mercantile Library |
| 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. |
