Documents associated with: Watts, Walter Theodore
Record 11 of 113
System Number: 09575
Date: [12 January 1878][1]
Author: JW
Place: London
Recipient: Walter Theodore Watts-Dunton[2]
Place: London
Repository: British Library, London
Call Number: Department of Manuscripts, Ashley Collection, Ashley 4601, leaves 1, 2
Document Type: ALS
96 Cheyne Walk
'[2.1.1878]'
Friday night
Dear Watts
Do see Lord Archie[3] tomorrow and arrange about the next night - Better settle upon Monday, I fancy - and take the same box[4] "J" - or he proposed the larger one opposite the Royal box - in which case he would wire his friend Addington[5] - You perceive I have had a letter from Campbell[6] and he is determined that we should have another trio night as he says and certainly it would be [p. 2] delightful - Tell him that I am quite determined to paint the belle Farina[7]! - and also ask him to look in on Sunday later if he thinks he had better not breakfast because of Hollingshead[8] -
Will you settle the whole thing tomorrow and come in and dine with me in the evening and tell me all about it? -
8 o'clock you know - and just wire Yes in the morning like a good fellow
[p. 3] Ever yours
J A McN Whistler
I say did you see they have me in Vanity Fair [9] today? -
[butterfly signature]
You know if you agree upon any other night instead of Monday - all right - only remember Tuesday [p. 4] I go to the Stansfields[10] - and Thursday to the Wolseleys[11] so that I have free Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday -
This document is protected by copyright.
Envelope:
Call Number: Glasgow University Library, Whistler W1355Theodore Watts Esq -
3. Putney Hill
Putney -
[stamp:] POSTAGE / ONE PENNY
[postmark:] [LONDON.] S. W / [...] / JAN 12 / 78
Notes:
1. [12 January 1878]
Dated by postmark and reference to Vanity Fair (see below). The date '[2.1.1878]' is written in another hand in red ink.
2. Walter Theodore Watts-Dunton
Walter Theodore Watts (later Watts-Dunton) (1832-1914), solicitor, novelist and poet [more].
3. Lord Archie
Lord Archibald Campbell (1846-1913), second son of the 8th Duke of Argyll, army officer, writer and businessman [more].
4. box
Hollingshead's farce The Grasshopper, an adaptation of La Cigale by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, was first performed at the Gaiety Theatre in London on 13 October 1877. A caricature of JW by Carlo Pellegrini figured in the show, and comic relief was provided by an artist named 'Flippit' who came in with a 'Nocturne'. A. S. Cole recorded visiting the Gaiety with JW on 7 January 1878 to see The Grasshopper and Henry James Byron's farce Little Doctor Faust, starring Nellie Farren and Ellen Terry. JW was fascinated by both plays and made several drawings at rehearsals and performances (M.663-68), and on 20 January 1878 Cole said JW was painting scenes from Little Doctor Faust (see Harmony in Blue: The Duet (YMSM 196)).
5. Addington
S. Addington, a friend of Lord Archibald Campbell.
6. Campbell
Possibly Colin Minto Campbell (1828-1885), MP [more].
7. Farina
Ellen ('Nellie') Farren (1848-1904), Principal Boy at the Gaiety Theatre [more], and star of Hollingshead's farce The Grasshopper.
8. Hollingshead
John Hollingshead (1827-1904), journalist and manager of the Gaiety Theatre [more].
9. Vanity Fair
Jehu Junior, 'Men of the Day - No. CLXX. Mr. James Abbott M'Neill Whistler', Vanity Fair, 12 January 1878, with a portrait by Leslie Ward (1851-1922), journalist ('Spy') and portrait painter [more].
10. Stansfields
Probably James Stansfield (1820-1898), barrister and Radical Liberal MP [more], and Caroline Stansfield (b. ca 1830- d. before 1898), née Ashurst, wife of Sir James Stansfield [more].
11. Wolseleys
Garnet Joseph Wolseley (1833-1913), 1st Viscount Wolseley, army officer [more], and Louisa, Lady Wolseley (d. 1920), née Erskine, wife of G. J. Wolseley [more].