System Number: 03803
Date: [19 November 1890][1]
Author: JW
Place: London
Recipient: Stéphane Mallarmé[2]
Place: Paris
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler M137
Document Type: ALS[3]
21, CHEYNE WALK,[4]
CHELSEA.
Vous devez bien savoir, mon cher ami, que j'ai été ravi en lisant le joli Sonnet[5]! -
. . . . . "la rue
Sujette au noir vol de chapeaux";! -
splendide!! -
Tout le monde est enchanté, et nous sommes bien fier - surtout moi! -
. . . . "puisse l'air
De sa jupe[6] [p. 2] De sa jupe éventer Whistler" - ! -
est ce assez superbe
et dandy en même temps!! -
Et bien - nous avons osé, tout en tremblant, entreprendre la correction des épreuves! - Il s'agissait de faire paraitre le Sonnet et la Lithographie ensemble - j'y tenais - donc il fallait de l'audace!! - Enfin Duret[7] arrive au beau moment - je l'envoie chercher - nous avons consulté ensemble - et - - -
Mon cher Mallarmé je viens de recevoir votre charmante lettre! - tout est bien alors! - Hurrah!! -
Vous[8] approuvez donc! Il me fallait la main preste - pour intervenir à temps pour vous sauver d'une explication!
Chose que nous ne pouvons pas tolérer n'est ce pas! -
Je vous conterai tout cela plus tard en déjeunant!!! -
[butterfly signature]
Poor John Lewis Brown[9]!
= He was a dear good fellow -
Je vous ai envoyé un pacquet de Whirlwinds[10] -
Helleu[11] a raison -
Et George Moore[12]? Et Degas[13]?
This document is protected by copyright.
Translation:
You must know, my dear friend, that I was delighted to read the beautiful Sonnet! -
..... "the street
Beneath the dark flight of hats";!
splendid!! -
Everybody is entranced, and we are very proud - especially me! -
.... "may the air
Of her skirt [p. 2] Of her skirt fan Whistler" - ! -
is that not superb
and dandy at the same time!! -
Well - we dared, trembling, to undertake the correction of the proofs! - The Sonnet and the Lithograph were to appear together - I wanted this - so we needed some bravery!! - Then Duret arrives at the right moment - I send for him - we consulted together - and - - -
My dear Mallarmé I have just received your charming letter! - so everything is all right! - Hurrah!! -
You approve! I had to get down to it quickly - to intervene in time in order to save you from an explanation!
Something we cannot abide, can we! -
I shall tell you all about it later over lunch!!! -
[butterfly signature]
Poor John Lewis Brown!
= He was a dear good fellow -
I have sent you a parcel of Whirlwinds
Helleu is right
And George Moore? And Degas?
Envelope:
àMonsieur Stéphane Mallarmé -
89. Rue de Rome -
Paris -
[butterfly signature]
[stamp:] POSTAGE & REVENUE / 2½d[postmark:] [C]HELSEA S. W / X / NO19 / 90
Notes:
1. 19 November 1890
Dated by the postmark.
2. Stéphane Mallarmé
Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898), Symbolist writer and poet [more]. He had written to JW two days previously, #13451, and his letter appears to have arrived while JW was writing this letter.
3. ALS
Published in Barbier, Carl P., ed., Correspondance Mallarmé-Whistler: Histoire de la grande amitié de leurs dernières années, Paris, 1964 [GM, A.28], no. XLVI, p. 77.
4. 21, CHEYNE WALK,
Yellow/orange printed address.
6. De sa jupe
'De sa jupe' is repeated at the top of p. 2.
7. Duret
Théodore Duret (1838-1927), art critic and collector [more].
8. Vous
Continued at the top of p. 2, written at right angles to the main text, and ending in the right margin.
9. John Lewis Brown
John Lewis Brown (1829-1890), painter [more].
10. Whirlwinds
The Winged Hat (C.34) was the first of three lithographs to be published in The Whirlwind: A Lively and Eccentric Newspaper, 25 October 1890, under the title "Mr Whistler's 'Songs on Stone'." It was followed by The Tyresmith (C.36) and Maunder's Fish Shop, Chelsea (C.37) in November and December. Mallarmé told Claude Monet (1840-1926), artist [more], and Octave Mirbeau (1848-1917), novelist, art critic and amateur painter [more], that he had two lithographs for each of them (letter to O. Mirbeau, 20 November [1890], Bibliothèque Jacques Doucet, quoted by Barbier, op. cit.).
11. Helleu
Paul-César-François Helleu (1859-1927), painter and etcher [more].
12. George Moore
George Moore (1852-1933), novelist and art critic [more].
13. Degas
Hilaire-Germain-Edgar Degas (1834-1917), artist [more].