My dear Henry
The Mundy Party <1> still intend going to the Play tomorrow Night altho’ the piece is changed from Francis 1st to Hunchback<2> What bathos! – and they will be very happy to see you at ½ past 5 if you like to accompany them –but at the same time desire me to say that they beg you will not think it necessary to keep an engagement made under such different circumstances – but that you will do exactly as you like best. –
I saw the Seymers <3> this morning & Mrs S desires I will say that our party to the Pictures cannot take place tomorrow for various excellent reasons but we hope to have a similar excursion only enlarged sufficiently to include the Pantechnicon <4> on Tuesday or Wednesday wch I hope will suit you as well. –
Let me know when you hear anything of Carolines <5> movements.
Yrs truly
H. Ga. My
Sunday
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
31 Sackville Street
Notes:
1. In addition to her husband William Mundy (1801-1877), this might have included her mother-in-law, Sarah Leaper Mundy, née Newton (d. 10 March 1836), and her sister-in-law Laura Mundy (1805 - 1 September 1842).
2. Francis the First is an 1832 play by Francis Ann (Fanny) Kemble (1809-1893). The Hunchback, by James Sheridan Knowles (1784-1862), had a part specially written for Fanny Kemble. Either way, the Mundy party wanted to see Fanny Kemble perform.
3. Lady Harriet Ker Seymer, née Beckford (1779-1853), and her husband, Henry Ker Seymer (1782-1834), JP, MP & Sheriff of Dorset.
4. Built in 1831 on Motcomb Street, Belgrave Square, London, the Pantechnicon was meant to be a repository of all sorts of arts and manufactures. Popularly known as 'The Warehouse Bazaar', its serrvice included storage of carriages for families going out of town, or sale of goods like these carriages when the owner so wished. Mummies and fine wines were also available. So influential was its furniture removal business that the Pantechnicon van was named after it. A huge complex, it was built by Seth Smith, inventor of metal chimney and ceiling linings, a special precaution against fire. It burned out in 1876.
5. Lady Caroline Augusta Edgcumbe, née Feilding (1808-1881); WHFT's half-sister; Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria, 1840–1854 & 1863–1865.