System Number: 04808
Date: 3 May [1901][1]
Author: JW
Place: [At sea]
Recipient: Rosalind Birnie Philip[2]
Place: London
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler P448
Document Type: ALS
[Rising sun motif with motto:] QUIS SEPARABIT
P. & O. STEAM NAVIGATION CO.
S. S. May 3 -
'May 6. 01.'
A great 'big ship[3]' Major - beside which the one we came out in was a mere smack -
Good cabin & obsequious Steward with a No 2. slave to attend upon me more immediately - -
I don't know how long we are supposed to take - but will send word from Gibraltar -
Wrote yesterday -
Had your letter this morning with [p. 2] enclosure from Chapuis[4] -
Have sent him cheque - but really! where am I to "catch on" again!
No Ionda[5] as yet - and we are supposed to leave in three quarters of an hour - -
I don't understand about the letter you think was Carmen's[6] - You say you send it on - but where to? -
It was not among the others given me this morning at Messrs Estrines[7] -
I should be sorry to lose it -
Why did you not open it and enclose it in your own -
Much pleased with your visit to Webb[8] - thats all right - I knew you would do that well -
Might try again the Howard Hotel[9] - if nothing write a line to 9. Rue des Fourneaux and say that I had written to Ireland - and telegraphed from Ajaccio in reply to Mrs. Addams[10]' last letter -
If they have not been to Webbs, get Webb to write & say he had expected them, & let him arrange to send me the parchment for the [p. 3] Gourdiflo[11] to sign - & send back, I suppose, for my signature -
I dont want Bailey's Hotel!! - -
What do you think of saxpenny[12] rooms in Flood Street!? -
? -
Mind you send me word about the Vanderbilts[13] - but no use now -
Always affectionately
the General
Ronnie[14] will I am sure manage to get it all right about the return ticket money as I explained yesterday
This document is protected by copyright.
Envelope:
'May 6. 01.'
ToMiss Rosalind Birnie-Philip
Dhu House -
36. Tite Street - Chelsea
London S W
Angleterre
[stamp:] POSTES / 25 / REPUBLIQUE FRANCAISE
[postmark:] [illegible] ÉTRANGER / [illegible]
[postmark on verso:] LONDON. S. W. / 7.30 AM / MY 6 / 01
[on flap, embossed motif with motto: ] QUIS SEPARABIT
PENNIN AND ORIENTAL STEAM NAVIN CO
Notes:
1. 3 May [1901]
Year dated from the postmark, and the date written by the recipient on the letter and envelope.
2. Rosalind Birnie Philip
Rosalind Birnie Philip (1873-1958), JW's sister-in-law [more]. JW called her 'Major' and himself 'General'.
3. big ship
The SS Egypt sailed from Marseilles to England.
4. Chapuis
Chapuis, maker of canvases and frames [more].
5. Ionda
Patent medicine or tonic.
6. Carmen's
Carmen Rossi, model, proprietess of the Académie Carmen [more].
7. Messrs Estrines
Shipping company.
8. Howard Hotel
This was where JW thought Clifford Isaac Addams (1876-1942), etcher [more], and Inez Eleanor Addams (fl. 1898-1927), née Bate, painter [more], were staying.
9. Webb
William Webb (b. ca 1851), of G. and W. Webb, lawyer [more].
10. Addams
Inez Eleanor Addams (fl. 1898-1927), née Bate, painter [more]. See JW's letter to I. Addams, 19 May [1901], #00071.
11. Gourdiflo
JW's pet name for the Bates. Both Inez and Clifford Addams signed Indentures as JW's apprentices.
12. Vanderbilts
George Washington Vanderbilt (1862-1914), collector [more], and his wife.
13. saxpenny
Scots, sixpenny, ie. cheap.
14. Ronnie
Ronald Murray Philip (1871-1940), civil engineer, JW's brother-in-law [more]. JW had paid for a return ticket, lost it, and had to buy a single ticket home (see #04808).