44
Albert Smith according to Newman.
on notions as to obtain the name of Our Saxon
Suggestor. The former Newman describes as
dissipated, gentish and cockney to an extreme
degree, says he was shocking, dreadful; that
at one of the early Punch suppers they had a
weekly one, on Saturday night, when the number
was out and business over Smith sang a
song of his own writing so obscene, unnatural and
abominable that were he (Newman) to repeat the three first
lines to us we should be utterly revolted. Leech
was shocked at it. Jerrold, says Newman,
was the man whose counsel made Punch of
national importance. Left Bellew s at
11, leaving Newman at his own door; a
midsummer s night, not a breeze to ruffle
the umbrageous trees of Washington Square and
everything as quiet as the dead and gone
Knickerbockers who once lay there. Such
an anecdote as that about Albert Smith is in
notable contrast with the recent obituary notices.
Good in every respect, says the Athenaeum.
A Satyr, says Newman. He is a very likeable
fellow is Newman, curiously excitable and open-
spoken. He talks to Mrs. Bellew of his wife
and family in England, with great zest. It s
funny to reflect how he was dropped from his
first estimate of things artistic on this side of| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Thirteen: page fifty-three |
| Description: | Regarding a talk with Newman about Albert Smith. |
| Date: | 1860-06-26 |
| Subject: | Bellew, Frank; Bellew, Frank, Mrs.; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Jerrold, Blanchard; Leech, John; Mayhew, Henry; Newman; Publishers and publishing; Punch.; Smith, Albert; Songs |
| Coverage (City/State): | [New York, New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Washington Square |
| Scan Date: | 2011-01-29 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Thirteen |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of boarding house living, his freelance writing and drawing work, antics of New York literary Bohemians, Frank Cahill fleeing for England after spending money that was meant for ''The New York Picayune,'' visits to the Edwards family, the state of Charles Damoreau's marriage, a sailing excursion to Nyack with the Edwards family and other friends on the Fourth of July, a fight between Fitz James O'Brien and House at Pfaff's, witnessing a fire at Washington Market, the execution of pirate Albert Hicks on Bedloe's Island, an excursion aboard the ship Great Eastern, a vacation at Grafton with the Edwards family, his growing friendship with Sally Edwards, Lotty Granville's behavior with Brentnall and Hill at his boarding house, Frank Bellew's return to England, and visits to dance houses in the Fourth Ward with friends for an article. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Bohemians; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Journalism; Marriage; Publishers and publishing; Women |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Grafton, 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. |
