Documents associated with: Cowan, Sophy
Record 7 of 22
System Number: 00708
Date: [February 1895][1]
Author: JW
Place: London
Recipient: John James Cowan[2]
Place: [Edinburgh]
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler C209
Document Type: ALS[3]
LONG'S HOTEL
NEW BOND STREET.
LONDON. W.
My dear Mr. Cowan -
Your letter[4] has been forwarded to me here - where we have been for ages, I am sure you will both be very sorry to hear, because of my wife's health[5]-
We came upon the advice of my brother[6], that we might be near him and have the advantage of English nursing and care -
These long weeks of cruel weather [p. 2] have been terribly against us - and my wife is still not well - but we hope soon to get back to our home[7], for we have had a sad time of it since we left it -
All this will show you why there has been this strange silence, and why your very kind letter has remained without an answer - As you may well imagine, I have been unable to think of anything -
But now we send you many messages and our best wishes for this new year - though they do come late! -
We look forward then to seeing you and Mrs. Cowan[8] in the studio and the garden - for there ought to be an early spring after this terrible winter! - And then to the sittings and the charming readings[9] to encourage us -
With our very kindest regards to you both, always sincerely yours
J McN. Whistler
This document is protected by copyright.
Notes:
1. [February 1895]
Dated from the address, reference to the New Year and to Beatrix Whistler's health (see below).
2. John James Cowan
John James Cowan (1846-1936), paper manufacturer and collector [more].
3. ALS
Written at right-angles to the printed address.
4. letter
Untraced. It probably related to Arrangement in Grey and Green: Portrait of J. J. Cowan (YMSM 402). Cowan first posed for JW in Paris in May-June 1893. The picture was never finished although he gave JW sixty sittings between 1893 and 1900.
5. my wife's health
Beatrix Whistler (1857-1896), née Beatrice Philip, artist [more], was ill with cervical cancer.
6. my brother
William McNeill Whistler (1836-1900), physician, JW's brother [more].
7. home
That is, 110 rue du Bac, the Whistlers' home in Paris.
8. Mrs Cowan
Sophy Cowan (b. ca 1850), née Gillespie, wife of J. J. Cowan [more].
9. readings
Mrs Cowan read Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island aloud in the studio during the sittings in May 1893. See Cowan, John J., From 1846-1932, Edinburgh, 1933, pp. 156-57, 168-73.