169
sorry for the fellow, as I well recollect doing
the same in London, twelve years ago, fully believing
that the time would come when I should wander there
houseless and friendless, without the ability to gain a
living. That I got from my father. Ah me! what
every day tragedies do every day lives present, when looked
into! Who would guess this Rawson Gill s story now?
The mother has apparently got over her sickness.
Of course she is as selfish, as silly, as ungrateful, as
worthless as ever. Her brood must sit at table; poor
Miss Cooper and Rawson coming afterwards, to a
cold dinner. There s no room for them while little
minx May and Gladdy are there. I revolt at such
wicked injustice and detest its perpetrators.
20. Wednesday. Phonography. Down town, to Omni-
bus & Pic Offices. Returning, while standing at a crowd-
ed crossing found myself beside Watson, the ex-engraver,
ex-forger, ex- confidence man, ex-jeweller and present
writer for Harpers weekly and magazines. He was
dressed, rather unseasonably, in a heavy hairy overcoat,
and a cap. He did not affect to observe me till I spoke
to him. Walked up Broadway, even to Bleecker Street
with him, setting him talking. He rambled on after
his fashion, defending himself from unstaked accusations,
and saying much about the sovereiginty of the individ-
ual which, he asserted, was less recognized in this coun-
try than anywhere. He hated his own countrymen worse
than hell, if it were possible. When asked why his| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Ten: page one hundred and ninety |
| Description: | Describes a walk and a talk with John Watson. |
| Date: | 1859-04-19 |
| Subject: | Cooper, Lucia; Gill, Rawson; Gouverneur, Adolphus (''Gladdy''); Gouverneur, May; Gouverneur, Mrs. (Gill, Griffin); Gunn, Samuel; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Watson, John |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Bleecker Street; Broadway |
| Scan Date: | 2011-01-31 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Ten |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of an explosion of a boat on the North River, New York literary Bohemians, boarding house living at 132 Bleecker Street, his freelance writing and drawing work, the death of writer Mort Thomson's young wife Anna, working on the publication ''Constellation,'' visits to the Edwards family, a falling out with Fanny Fern over an article he wrote criticizing ''The New York Ledger,'' a rumor that Fitz James O'Brien is the heir to an Irish baronetcy, and a change of landladies at his boarding house. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Publishers and publishing; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | 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. |
