My dear Henry
I have delayed writing to thank you for the Tree MSS,<1> so carefully preserved, & so thoughtfully returned, as I have been expecting to hear from you every day respecting My Memoirs,<2> & I have also been much occupied & bothered, which also means fatigued, as my maid is leaving me, & I have had to write for characters &c of the new one to come – always tiresome, & waste of precious time which may be more pleasantly spent.
I am much disappointed at Mr Macmillan’s long delay, as his advertisement for his July number, (the contents of which sound stupid enough,) has been out since the 28th. I know enough of Editors, having contributed 2 years ago to a Juvenile Magazine, & sent articles to the Cornhill<3> & others which were only not received, as they did not accept them from “unknown writers,” to know that it is not customary to delay saying yes, or no, longer than a week, as naturally the aspirant wishes to try elsewhere. I hope therefore that if you have not heard from Mr Macmillan,<4> you will write again, & request that it may be returned, as he does not appear to wish to accept it – if he had intended so to do, he would have written fast enough, & I wish to try other opportunities during the season. It is a great anxiety to me – & remember no curtailment, excepting the one line about the Prince’s apartment;<5> if that should be any difficulty.
In haste yr aff cousin
Louisa C. Frampton
I have omitted to say that Mr Chambers having asked for papers on trees through Sir R. Christison,<6> returned those I sent because “what he had sufficed & he did not want more.” Then why ask?
Lulworth Villa
St Mary Church
Torquay –
July 2nd
[envelope:]
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
Lacock Abbey
Chippenham
Wilts
Notes:
1. See Doc. No: 02864.
2. She was referring to her Princess Charlotte and Mrs Campbell’, The Gentleman’s Magazine, n.s. v. 27, September 1876, pp. 275-289. Alicia Campbell, née Kelly, ‘Tam’ (1768–1829), a close family friend of the Framptons, first joined Princess Charlotte’s household in 1805. See Doc. No: 04582.
3. From 1868-1883, George Grove was the editor of MacMillan's Magazine, a monthly published in London and Cambridge.
4. The Cornhill Magazine, a Victorian literary journal, was founded by George Murray Smith in 1860 and published until 1975; it was named after Cornhill Street, London.
5. The Prince Regent, later George IV (1762-1830), giving up his bed at Carlton House for Mrs Campbell to sleep in; Alicia Campbell, née Kelly, ‘Tam’ (1768–1829), a close family friend of the Framptons, first joined Princess Charlotte’s household in 1805.
6. William Chambers (1800-1883), publisher of Chambers Edinburgh Journal. Sir Robert Christison (1797–1882), M.D., Scottish physician, chemist and botanist.