For he said no word good or bad, until spoken to, and then
he [word crossed out] replied in monosyllables. He neither read, not
talked, but sat, or stood staring fixedly out of window at
the bleak prospect, or at the table. Or he paced up
and down the room, (having creaking boots, and said no
word, good or bad, at all. Horridly dull the day passed
as of course we could not talk, or do aught save read
uneasily. He was from Maine, his name I think Fol-
som, and unhappy about something, poor devil. But, re-
versing Falstaffs assertion, he was not only miserable
himself, but the cause of misery in others. So the
dismal day drew to a close, and he went to his bed,
and I to one on the ground besides Barth s, where we both
read awhile, and then to sleep.
24. Monday. After sepulchral breakfast, back to
New York. Traveler Office. Got blocks, to Franklin St
and dinner, then drew. After supper down town again
with drawing of Hughes & Kossuth &c. Holbrook having had
dispute with Hawkins wants me to commence Editorializing, So
I did, and sat down in the dreary printing Office, and supplied
copy to the two printers till 11. [word crossed out]. This survey
work, and how poorly paid!
25. Tuesday. Drawing in my ice-cold room till the
other block was done. Then down from in the pelting snow,
with a sore throat and headache to the Office. There
| Page |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Three: page thirty |
| Description: | Comments on Folsom. |
| Date: | 1851-11-23 |
| Subject: | Barth, William; Folsom; Gunn, Thomas Butler; Hawkins; Holbrook; Publishers and publishing; Traveler. |
| Coverage (City/State): | New York, [New York] |
| Coverage (Street): | Franklin Street |
| Scan Date: | 2011-02-07 |
| Volume |
| Title: | Thomas Butler Gunn Diaries, Volume Three |
| Description: | Includes descriptions of looking for drawing and writing work among New York publishers, visits to Mrs. Kidder and her daughter Lotty, boarding house living, theater acquaintances, and Lajos Kossuth's visit to New York. |
| Subject: | Actors; Boardinghouses; Gunn, Thomas Butler; 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. |
