July.
18. Wednesday. Over to New York. After waiting some time
at Stringer and Townsends for the former, strolled into the Park.
Smoked a cigar, then back again. Saw Stringer. Declined taking
my Cholera in Gotham, inasmuch as it would involve considerable
outlay. Called in on Roberts, he not there, sick. Called on Book-
hart and other engravers. Bonar, lithographer, sketchman suggested
our doing the things in common, if I don t dispose of them. Called in
at Bobbett and Edmunds, and had a proposal made by the former
of getting up a Series on some other topic, they cutting them, and then
offering to sell them to Stringer and Townsend. Think it over. Home.
Dined. Then in the afternoon wrote out a half score of subjects on
Mose among the Britishers. Joe and George coming, we went over
to New York. A stroll up Broadway, down Aubony[Albany?], and to that
charming locality the Five Points. Negress prostitutes, Irish, black-
guards of all hues and nations, tumble down shantys, dancing cellars,
spirits, stink, and crime. Calling in at the Shades, an hotel
a la Anglais, in Reade Street, had a glass of ale, the Dispatch and
Punch.
19. Thursday. To New York. Long s, Ann Street. Can t
venture to bring out anything now every body out of town. To Strongs
Saw him, but he did not seem inclined to Venture. At Bobbett &
Edmonds an hour or so, then to Jersey City and dinner. George
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume One: page five |
| Description: | Discusses his day meeting with engravers and lithographers, trying to sell his work, and going to the ''Five Points'' slum in the evening with two friends. |
| Date: | 1849-07-18 |
| Subject: | Bobbett; Bobbett and Edmonds (New York, N.Y.); Bolton, George; Bonar; Bookhart; Engravers; Five Points (New York, N.Y.); Gunn, Thomas Butler; Greatbatch, Joe; Long; Prostitutes; Roberts, Robert; Slums; Stringer; Stringer and Townsend (New York, N.Y.); Strong, Thomas |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, [New York]; Jersey City, [New Jersey] |
| Coverage (Street): | Broadway; Reade Street; Ann Street |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-07 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume One |
| Description: | Details Gunn's first year living in the United States, including his experiences with boarding house living in Jersey City and New York City, looking for work as an artist and a writer, publishing his first book ""Mose Among the Britishers"" and brief visits to Philadelphia and Boston. |
| Subject: | Boardinghouses; Books and reading; Drawing; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Publishers and publishing; Theater; Travel |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, New York; Jersey City, New Jersey; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Boston, Massachusetts |
| 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-two 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. |
