36
and thinks it enough to say of an author I detest Reade.
He likes Thackeray and appreciates his humor and power and
ability not his high purpose. His idea is, after having
had his fling, gone through all the pleasant vices, to get mar-
ried. He was estimated as a fortune hunter, but the Times
fellows, had the entree to houses on the Fifth Avenue, but
soon used himself up in them. All Irishmen estimate a
successful marriage by any money with her? It is said,
however that O Brien will be rich some day. His mother
has married again, and there s no family ensuing. He
is a good looking fellow of, I suppose, 38 or more, his
worst feature being a retreating chin. It is to men like
him, that people owe their opinions of the unreliableness,
the half-dishonesty of the literary craft. He ll never write
a true book let him live as long as he may.
29. Tuesday. Down town in the afternoon, to Leslie s,
Post Office &c. At night to the Pasha, Major Piercy s
newly taken bar and restaurant (!) Never was such an idea
of one. Down a long, narrow passage by which you pass
one bar, which belongs to the Irving house, in the rear pre-
mises of which, is the Mayor s place. I found him there,
a barman, a boy and about a dozen of the 7th Regiment
of Militia. Went to fetch Brougham from the theatre,
waited at stage entrance, behind the scenes, brought him.
Supper at the Pasha . A slow business. To bed by one.
30. Wednesday. A letter from Alf Waud.
Mary getting stout again and wears a wig, her head having
been shaved three times. Business dull. Was idling
worse than ever its painted to see how he wastes his
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine: page forty-six |
| Description: | Describes Fits James O'Brien's habits and personality. |
| Date: | 1857-12-28 |
| Subject: | Bohemians; Books and reading; Brougham, John; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Irish; Jewell, Mary (Waud); O'Brien, Fitz James; O'Brien, Mrs.; Piercy; Waud, Alfred |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Fifth Avenue |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-02 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of boardinghouse living, a picnic at Hoboken with other New York artists and journalists, his drawing and writing work in New York, attending a lecture by Lola Montez, visits to James Parton and Fanny Fern and the Edwards family, a controversy over Fitz James O'Brien's story ''The Diamond Lens,'' artist Sol Eytinge's relationship with writer Allie Vernon, the suicide of writer Henry William Herbert, antics of the New York Bohemians, the interest of people living in his boarding house in spiritualism, a visit to his friend George Bolton's farm in Canada, a visit to Niagara Falls, and a scandal involving Harbormaster Willis Patten, who lives in his boarding house. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Farms; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Publishers and publishing; Suicide; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Rochester, New York; Elmira, New York; Paris, Ontario, Canada |
| 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. |
