108
new confidante with whom to gabble, confide in, and
slander people. Of course they didn t agree, and hated one
another. Mrs Gouverneur who is as false as hell played
tricks which Mrs Levisons hard selfishness resented
in short Mrs L found she could make nothing out of her.
On one occasion Mrs G excused herself from accompanying
Mrs L to the opera by a plea of sickness subsequently went
with a somebody she didn t wish to introduce Mrs L to. I ve
heard scores of stories of these dodges, but must put down
the anecdotes got this night from Mrs Levison. She called
on Mrs G during her dislocated arm confinement and spake
of her intention of going to Paris. Now Mrs G, as she told
me, thinks of doing the same of course with her usual
loose-souledness she was all agog to join Mrs L and the lady
who she will accompany. It would be so nice to go together
what would she have to pay wouldn t she delay her depar-
ture she should come up and live with her (Mrs G) at Cold
Spring till the time of their departure. (Mrs G invites every
body to her house in the loosest manner, resorting to the most
extraordinary lies and dodges to put them off, if there s dan-
ger of their coming. When poor old Mrs Cooper went up to
dun her for money dur to Mrs Potter, Mrs G nearly starved
her. Everything in the household way is managed with incredible
stinginess.) Well, Mrs Levison referred her to the lady
whom she goes with, then posted up to her the aforesaid lady
to draw a picture of Mrs G, beforehand. The lady had
boarded in the same house with Mrs G once, which was quite
enough to make her detest her. So the proposal which she
made Gladdy and May to count as one wasn t acceded to.
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Nine: page one hundred and twenty-five |
| Description: | Describes stories about Mrs. Gouverneur told by Mrs. Levison. |
| Date: | 1858-04-21 |
| Subject: | Cooper, Mrs.; Gouverneur, Adolphus (""Gladdy""); Gouverneur, May; Gouverneur, Mrs. (Gill, Griffin); Gunn, Thomas Butler; Levison, William, Mrs.; Potter, Mrs.; Travel; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York]; Paris, [France] |
| 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. |
