Documents associated with: Cowan, Sophy
Record 11 of 22
System Number: 00713
Date: [29 April 1896][1]
Author: JW
Place: London
Recipient: John James Cowan[2]
Place: [London]
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler C214
Document Type: ALS
St. Jude's Cottage,
Heath End
Hampstead.
Wednesday night
My dear Cowan -
I have just had your telegram[3] - I had hoped for you at the studio - but suppose you were out all day -
Yes, come to-morrow - five o'clock will do excellently - The picture[4] is here all right, and Mrs Cowan[5] and you can see it at once - but now that [p. 2] you are in London I hope it will please you to come for a couple of afternoons that you and I may look it over together and add a few fine touches that will yet give further quality to a work that I should much like to be, for all of us, the finest possible -
At least there are now no endless stairs[6] to climb in order to reach me! -
We have had a sad time[7] of it - even since I wrote to [p. 3] you! and my wife is still very very ill - But it is extraordinary how again she has filled us with hope since the last couple of days! -
However I will tell you when I see you tomorrow -
With kindest regards to Mrs Cowan and yourself
Always Sincerely Yours
J McNeill Whistler
This document is protected by copyright.
Notes:
1. [29 April 1896]
Date inserted by Cowan at the top of p. 1. It corresponds with the day of the week given by JW.
2. John James Cowan
John James Cowan (1846-1936), paper manufacturer and collector [more].
3. telegram
Untraced.
4. picture
Arrangement in Grey and Green: Portrait of J. J. Cowan (YMSM 402).
5. Mrs Cowan
Sophy Cowan (b. ca 1850), née Gillespie, wife of J. J. Cowan [more].
6. endless stairs
A visit to JW's studio at rue Notre Dame des Champs in Paris required a lengthy climb to the sixth floor.
7. sad time
Beatrix Whistler (1857-1896), née Beatrice Philip, artist [more], was ill with cervical cancer. She died less than two weeks later on 10 May.