Bath
21 Queen Square
Feby - 18th 1847
My dear Henry
Ld Mt Edgcumbe <1> is willing to give 350 Gs for Lady Sligo's <2> House from 1st May, with the right of remaining till the end of August, if his old servant Finney pronounces that there are rooms enough to accommodate us, - I must add that one of his fears in taking it will be that you may be wishing, when the time comes, to overstay the 1st of May - I must beg you therefore, not to enter into the arrangemt if you think that in that respect it is possible that you may be unable to adhere to it - for I know it wd put him extremely out, to be kept in the least in uncertainty as to our movements.
I think you are quite right not to send an imperfect copy of the prints to the Qn,<3> but if it is not too late, I wd recommend that the Pe of Wales <4> should not be mounted. H.M. generally sticks those things in a book, & does not like them mounted - if on the contrary she should wish for a mount, she can easily get it done afterwds & I think also the simpler the mounts the better.
I was charmed with Mr Brydge's [sic] Convents <5> - but the Superb, tho' very good, was not equal to the one (with guns & ropes,)<6> wch you forcibly took from poor me! Do tell me how many & which prints were given to you by H.M.
Ever Yr affte
Caroline
My Waiting <7> is deferred for a fortnight, for fear of Chickenpox contagion. I go into waiting on 9th March.Notes:
1. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797-1861), WHFT's brother-in-law.
2. The Guinea, introduced in 1663, was the first gold coin and fluctuated in value with the price of gold. In the Great Recoinage of 1816, its value was fixed at 21 Shillings (a Pound was 20 s.). Its aristocratic overtones insured that it remained part of the language and the basis of certain types of commerce. Lady Sligo was Hester Catherine de Burgh (1800-1878), who married Howe Peter Browne, 2nd Marquess of Sligo (1788-1845) in 1816. See also Doc. No: 05928.
3. Victoria (1819-1901), Queen of the United Kingdom (1837-1901), Empress of India (1876-1901).
4. Edward VII (1841-1910), King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British dominions and emperor of India from 1901. [For the talbotype of the Prince of Wales see Doc. No: 05464 ].
5. Rev George Wilson Bridges (1788-1863), photographer & traveller. His convent pictures resulted from a trip to the Mediterranean [See Doc. No: 05840, and Doc. No: 05759].
6. One of these images, ‘Sailors by the Wheel of the H.M.S. Superb’, Schaaf 1006, taken by Nicolaas Henneman, is reproduced in Larry J Schaaf, Sun Pictures Catalogue III: The Harold White Collection of works by William Henry Fox Talbot (New York: Hans P. Kraus, 1987), p. 55. Also see Doc. No: 05660.
7. Caroline Edgcumbe was lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria.