Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt Jackson, June 7, 1870
Dublin Core
Title
Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt Jackson, June 7, 1870
Subject
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876
Jackson, Helen Hunt
Cushman, Emma Crow, 1839-1920
Stebbins, Emma, 1815-1882
France--Paris
Social Events--Travels
Illness
Relationships--Networks
Gender Norms
Description
Emma Stebbins suffers from problems with her eyes. Emma Stebbins, Emma Crow Cushman, and Charlotte Cushman are in Paris.
Transcripts courtesy of Nancy Knipe, Colorado College.
Transcripts courtesy of Nancy Knipe, Colorado College.
Creator
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876
Source
Colorado College, Tutt Library, Helen Hunt Jackson Papers, Part 2, Ms 0156, Box 2, Folder 34, letters from Charlotte Cushman to HH, 1869-70. Transcribed by Nancy Knipe, 2005.
Date
1870-06-07
Type
Reference
Letter Item Type Metadata
Text
Carissima mia,
on my arrival in Paris I have rec'd your most welcome letter of the 13" of May, which tells me much! Some people have a very wonderful faculty of saying much more in a few words than others can say in a volume. You & are the alpha & omega of this - you the alpha & I the other. I take such a quantity of words to say so little! But when we meet I will talk-God, how I will talk. I cannot write, never could, & less now than ever, for I have been forced to be so idle in this way of writing that all my capacity has gone & now you will have only platitudes for the reason. I only send you a bulletin to say, I was in Rome on the 21' of May, in Venice on the 23', left it on the 25" , slept at [B…?], arrived in Munich 27 saw the angel, looking like an angel (can I say more?) left Munich on the 1st of June, arrived in Paris on the evening of the 2nd, since when I have been as busy as my condition would let me be. I have seen [Hille?] and let him make me a dress & make dear Emma one, have Bon Marche'd until exhausted nature "could-no more"! We are in a lovely apartment in a new Hotel No. 8 Rue de Luxembourg. Hotel Metropolitan. Where you must send all the Americans who come-in my name-as a surety for being well received & taken care of. I have never been so comfortable in Paris!
On the 14th I hope to get to Coblintz where I take Emma for Dr Meuret the great man to have her eyes looked to, then to England where I have to see [M Papt?] again (this between ourselves alone!) & I hope by God's mercy, I may be able to sail on the 13th of August! I did not see Dr [Powell?] at Sastein, but I have sent him two patients in your name.
The McFarland matter made me heart & soul sick. Such utter demoralization as seems to exist in that city certainly merits the fate of Sodom. But I cannot write of it, it [read], dreadfully for every body concerned! Ah, foolish little woman why do you ever stay in such a place ever for any thing. Your work was here & here you should have staid. H-to the contrary notwithstanding! That initial in these days of possible misconception means Heaven, if you please!
Who is Justin McCarthy? However ignorant this question shows me-I bow! I have known, occasionally, of this kind of literature, but "they don't wash!"
You will commend me to the kind Ina ''Botta. I shall renew my acquaintance with her I hope, if I get home. My general health, dear, is much improved by my remarkably quiet winter. Emma is not over well, always anxious about unworthy me.
We shall not stay in New York when we arrive at the end of August by the Scotia, but go up the Hudson River to Hyde Park for a fortnight or 3 weeks. Then I must go to Boston at the seaside to some friends, but we will arrange to meet. God love you dear, & make you well & calm & happy. One cannot be happy unless one is calm & one cannot be calm unless one is well, so all the three [hang?] together. Emma sends dear love, & Emma Cushman desires kindest remembrances. Hold me ever, as I am your faithful loving
Charlotte
on my arrival in Paris I have rec'd your most welcome letter of the 13" of May, which tells me much! Some people have a very wonderful faculty of saying much more in a few words than others can say in a volume. You & are the alpha & omega of this - you the alpha & I the other. I take such a quantity of words to say so little! But when we meet I will talk-God, how I will talk. I cannot write, never could, & less now than ever, for I have been forced to be so idle in this way of writing that all my capacity has gone & now you will have only platitudes for the reason. I only send you a bulletin to say, I was in Rome on the 21' of May, in Venice on the 23', left it on the 25" , slept at [B…?], arrived in Munich 27 saw the angel, looking like an angel (can I say more?) left Munich on the 1st of June, arrived in Paris on the evening of the 2nd, since when I have been as busy as my condition would let me be. I have seen [Hille?] and let him make me a dress & make dear Emma one, have Bon Marche'd until exhausted nature "could-no more"! We are in a lovely apartment in a new Hotel No. 8 Rue de Luxembourg. Hotel Metropolitan. Where you must send all the Americans who come-in my name-as a surety for being well received & taken care of. I have never been so comfortable in Paris!
On the 14th I hope to get to Coblintz where I take Emma for Dr Meuret the great man to have her eyes looked to, then to England where I have to see [M Papt?] again (this between ourselves alone!) & I hope by God's mercy, I may be able to sail on the 13th of August! I did not see Dr [Powell?] at Sastein, but I have sent him two patients in your name.
The McFarland matter made me heart & soul sick. Such utter demoralization as seems to exist in that city certainly merits the fate of Sodom. But I cannot write of it, it [read], dreadfully for every body concerned! Ah, foolish little woman why do you ever stay in such a place ever for any thing. Your work was here & here you should have staid. H-to the contrary notwithstanding! That initial in these days of possible misconception means Heaven, if you please!
Who is Justin McCarthy? However ignorant this question shows me-I bow! I have known, occasionally, of this kind of literature, but "they don't wash!"
You will commend me to the kind Ina ''Botta. I shall renew my acquaintance with her I hope, if I get home. My general health, dear, is much improved by my remarkably quiet winter. Emma is not over well, always anxious about unworthy me.
We shall not stay in New York when we arrive at the end of August by the Scotia, but go up the Hudson River to Hyde Park for a fortnight or 3 weeks. Then I must go to Boston at the seaside to some friends, but we will arrange to meet. God love you dear, & make you well & calm & happy. One cannot be happy unless one is calm & one cannot be calm unless one is well, so all the three [hang?] together. Emma sends dear love, & Emma Cushman desires kindest remembrances. Hold me ever, as I am your faithful loving
Charlotte
From
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876
To
Jackson, Helen Hunt, 1830-1885
Location
Paris, France
Geocode (Latitude)
48.8566969
Geocode (Longitude)
2.3514616
Social Bookmarking
Geolocation
Collection
Citation
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876, “Letter from Charlotte Cushman to Helen Hunt Jackson, June 7, 1870,” Archival Gossip Collection, accessed April 19, 2024, https://archivalgossip.com/collection/items/show/442.