My dear Henry –
Except that I have a Letter <1> of yours to answer I shall hardly have put you to the expence of Postage – merely to have the little I have to say – [illegible deletion] more especially as I understand you are on your road Home & will I conclude be leaving Nice very soon after receiving this, though you make no mention of such intention – I envy you [illegible deletion] your meeting Caroline at Varese<2> & the happy Days you passed together there & at Como & again at Genoa & Nice – I very much doubt such good Fortune befalling me, though we talk of going to join them in the spring if they should come Northwards for cool air, when Nice & such resorts become too hot – Thank you for your measurements – I had imagined the dining room 120 Feet but that is pretty well – & gladly would I spend another 3 months there & in the vicinage–<3> you have heard of our going to Redlynch <4> for 3 days & of my having brought back the Gout – This disagreeable visitor has hardly even left me, & instead we are expecting one nearly as odious in the Person of M. Constant-<5> & who is coming too when we shall have no one in the House to meet him or help us to entertain him. We have indeed been living very quietly Charlotte Butler <6> being our only inmate – & Vivian Butler <7> our only visitor, he is quartered at Trowbridge & has dined here twice – he is gentlemanlike, & his voice very like Vivians – what he says – not the least. – We were a couple of Days at Bowood <8> last week. The Lysters <9> were there, Moore, Twopenny, & Miss Alcock, (artists drawing beautifully, & copying some of the Pictures)–<10> Edd Villiers Mr Reid Mr Dubany [sic] – Tom Grenville &c,<11> it was very pleasant – Ld L. <12> goes to town next week for a short Time, at least as short as he can make it, but your Aunt <13> remains & we go there again in a few days to help her to receive the Grosvenors <14> who are paying a visit chemin faisant-<15> of Policies I have nothing to say more than what you will learn from your Gaglinani-<16> Ld L. seems in great spirits – the King of Holland is as obstinate as ever but is deserted by all his Friends except Russia–<17> The two little Queens excite ones Interest–<18> & one may hope that they are tolerably safe on their Thrones – which is saying a good deal in these Days – president Jackson <19> seems the only one who ventures to act despotically – he has declared open war against the Bank of the United States. – & has published his reasons which are plausibly given – the Truth being that electioneering advantage to himself is the sole object he has in View, as on the other Hand [illegible deletion] opposition to him is of the Bank Directors, who moved Heaven & Earth against him at his last election – The report of the committee on Trade & Manufactures, or rather the Evidence, for there is no report, is most satisfactory, & is born out by the accounts from all Parts – The agricultural the other way quite There are but few trades men & men of respectability who have agreed to pay their assessed Taxes, but those few it has been found necessary to coerce – in fact the Law must be obeyed while it is Law – I suspect the hubbub is nearly over – O’Connel <20> is quiet, but whether he is to awaken Grant expected or be bought– Time will shew & en attendant the “Rent” They say will fall down to Zero.
Your mother <21> is remarkably well & Horatia <22> quite so Let us know when you expect to be at Paris & how long you intend remaining there – I am reading a book of Sharon Turner <23> I think you wd like – Your Aunt Mary & Harry are at Carclew <24> & talk of coming here in their way home – I dare say they will do no such Thing. we have no News of Kit or John <25> since Cadiz
God bless you Yr Aff
CF
28 Octr
[address panel:]
Monsieur
Monsieur W. H. Fox Talbot
Nice (maritime)
par Antibes
Notes:
1. The reference to the dimensions of the dining room establishes this as Doc. No: 02748.
2. Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding, Lady Mt Edgcumbe (1808–1881); WHFT’s half-sister. In 1823, Lady Elisabeth and Charles Feilding enjoyed a three month stay at the Villa Serbelloni where they were joined by WHFT. The Villa Serbelloni is in Varese, in Lombardy, Italy, north of Milan and near Lake Como, and is known today as Palazzo Estense. Built as a baroque palace by Francesco III d’Este, Duke of Modena and Governor of the Duchy of Milan (1698-1780), it went by descent from his third wife by morganatic marriage, Renata Teresa d’Harrach, Princess Melzi, to Rosina Zinzendorf, Countess Serbelloni. The Countess allowed wealthy paying guests to stay there. Although this was their only stay in the Villa, the house remained strong in their family memory. WHFT showed it to his new wife in October 1833, just as he was conceiving of the idea of photography and his sister Horatia made a point of visiting it in 1847.
3. ie, nearby
4. Redlynch, Somerset, seat of the Earls of Ilchester (Barons of Redlynch).
5. See Doc. No: 02610.
6. Lady Charlotte Talbot, née Butler (1809–1846), wife of CRM Talbot.
7. Probably related to Lady Charlotte.
8. Bowood House, nr Calne, Wiltshire, 5 mi NE of Lacock: seat of the Marquess of Lansdowne.
9. Probably the family of Maria Theresa Lister, née Villiers (1803–1865).
10. Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 Feb 1852), Irish poet, close friend of the Feildings and Talbots; neighbour to Lacock Abbey. William Twopeny (1797-1873), barrister, antiquary & accomplished amateur artist, London. Harriet Alcock (later Mrs. Eastwood), miniature painter, London.
11. Probably Edward Ernest Villiers (1806-1843), brother of the 4th Earl of Clarendon. Possibly Prof Charles Giles Bridle Daubeny (1795-1867), MD; botanist, geologist & chemist. Thomas Grenville (1755-1846) British politician.
12. Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne (1780–1863), MP, WHFT’s uncle.
13. Louisa Emma Petty Fitzmaurice, née Fox Strangways, Marchioness of Lansdowne (1785-1851), wife of Henry Petty Fitzmaurice, 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1837-1838; WHFT's aunt.
14. Richard Grosvenor (1795–1869), MP, later 2nd Marquess of Westminster, and his wife, Lady Elizabeth Mary, née Leveson-Gower (1797-1891).
15. On the way.
16. Galignani’s Messenger, a newspaper that had a wide circulation among English residents on the Continent.
17. King William I of The Netherlands and Grand Duke of Luxembourg (1815–1840). In the summer and autumn of 1833 the European great powers met in London about the Netherlands and about the possible creation of an independent state of Belgium from dissident areas of Dutch territory. Both Prussia and Russia opposed a new state of Belgium at this time.
18. The two little queens: Queen Isabella II of Spain (1830-1904) succeeded to the throne in 1833 at the age of three. Her mother, the widowed Queen Maria Christina, became Regent. The succession was disputed and Queen Isabella II reigned directly from 1843-1868, abdicating in 1870.
19. Andrew Jackson (1767–1845), 7th President of the United States (1829–1837). In 1833, Jackson forced the removal of the federal deposits from the vaults of the Bank of the United States.
20. Daniel O’Connell (1775–1847), politician, Irish nationalist.
21. Lady Elisabeth Theresa Feilding, née Fox Strangways, first m Talbot (1773–1846), WHFT’s mother.
22. Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.
23. Sharon Turner's (1768–1847) most recent book was the first of three volumes of the 4th edition of The sacred history of the world; as displayed in the creation and subsequent events to the deluge : attempted to be philosophically considered, in a series of letters to a son (London: Longman, Brown, Green, Ormes, Green and Longman, 1833).
24. Lady Mary Lucy Cole, née Strangways, first m. Talbot (1776–1855), WHFT’s aunt and Sir Henry Cole (1808–1882), civil servant, artist & Director of the South Kensington Museum. Carclew, Cornwall, 3 mi N of Penryn: seat of Sir Charles Lemon
25. Christopher Rice Mansel Talbot (1803–1890), immensely wealthy landowner, mathematician & politician; WHFT’s Welsh cousin and John George Charles Fox Strangways (1803–1859), MP.