Document associated with: Fairbanks, Mr and Mrs (fl. 1902)
Record 1 of 1
System Number: 00123
Date: [9 August 1902][1]
Author: JW
Place: [The Hague]
Recipient: Inez Eleanor Addams[2]
Place: Dieppe
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler A122
Document Type: ALS[3]
Dear Mrs Addams -
You probably have not seen this Morning Post[4] in Dieppe, and so I send it on -
I take it to be one of the very best of the letters - and, in a way, nothing exactly like it in tactics has been done at all! -
Reaching down the enemy's muzzle [p. 2] a[nd] picking out his pet bullet and firing it, full in his face from your own dandy rifle is new! -
I fancy we will hear no more of Mr Whistler's doubtful periods etc! - -
Your letter[5] has just come - and is most amusing! -
The Sickert business[6] and the élève[7] in the Catalogue is good! considering that the Foster[8] lout was known as the pupil of Mr Sickert - When I staid [sic] at Mme Lefèvre's[9], I had the room that had been occupied by Mr Foster and the drawers and cupboards were crammed with glass negatives! - his studies from nature!
J McNeill Whistler
We saw that about the Pianist, and about Mr and Mrs Fairbanks[10]!
The new address is only a couple of doors from the Hotel, & you may forget it - for all letters addressed to the hotel are delivered at once[11]
This document is protected by copyright.
Envelope:
àMadame Clifford Addams.
36. Rue de l'Epée
Dieppe -
France -
[stamp:] 12½ C / NEDERLAND
[postmarks x 2:] [SCRAVENHAGE?] / 7 - 8 N 9 / AUG / 02
Notes:
1. [9 August 1902]
Dated from the postmark.
2. Inez Addams
Inez Eleanor Addams (fl. 1898-1927), née Bate, painter [more].
3. ALS
Written on narrow bordered mourning paper.
4. Morning Post
Recovering from a recent severe illness, JW wrote to the Morning Post on 3 August to contradict a report that had appeared in its 'Art and Artists' column a few days previously (see Whistler, James McNeill, 'Latest Bulletin From Mr. Whistler,' The Morning Post, 6 August 1902; #09458).
5. Your letter
Untraced.
6. Sickert business
This probably relates to a letter that JW received from Bernhard Sickert (1862-1932), painter of landscape and still life, author [more], in June 1902 (#05419). Sickert had been approached by Messrs Bell, publishers, to write a book about JW. JW's response is unknown (indeed, a couple of weeks later he became ill) but a second approach by a different prospective author in September 1902 disturbed him greatly (#00274, #00275). A book was eventually published by Messrs Bell after JW's death (Bell, Nancy R. E., James McNeill Whistler, by Mrs Arthur Bell, London, 1904). Sickert's book was also published but by a different firm, Duckworth's (Sickert, Bernhard, Whistler, London and New York, 1908).
7. élève
Fr., pupil. At the time when JW was President of the Society of British Artists, W. R. Sickert had exhibited as JW's pupil. It is not clear what JW means in this letter.
8. Foster
Foster Sickert, possibly a relation of W. R. Sickert.
9. Mme Lefèvre's
Mme Lefèvre, Dieppe landlady [more].
10. Mr and Mrs Fairbanks
Not identified.
11. delivered at once
'The new ... delivered at once' is written at right angles to the main text, in the left hand margin.