Sepolcro di Vergilio Eurisace. <1>
Albano
Saturday Septr 23rd 1848
My dear Henry
My conscience rather smites me when, on looking at my Agenda, I find I have not written to you since the 28th April! nearly 5 months! But then on the other hand my conscience is comforted on finding that the last letter I received from you only arrived the day after – 29th – so I think we are quits & you have no occasion to find fault with me. – However to propitiate you, I send you a view of the Baker’s Tomb, <2> a very curious monument discovered since you were at Rome. It dates from the time of the Republic, & stands just outside the Porta Maggiore of wh you see a portion in the print <3> – just between the two gateways, in the embranchement <4> of the Via Labicana & the Via Prenestina. The reason of it’s [sic] remaining so long undiscovered was that it was built up in an old Tower & divers other buildings adossés <5> to the Porta Maggiore wh had been there since the dark ages no doubt. Those strange looking cylinders, wh resemble cannon looking out of a fortress, are supposed by the learned to represent the kneading-troughs! Round the upper part is a frieze representing all the different phases of the Baking Art, & a statue of the Artiste himself & his wife were also found. – I hope Amandier received a long letter from me of the 17th Septr with a view of St Peter’s. We had a sudden change ten days ago to very cold weather with Tramontana <6> – it was quite unnatural – quite like England the end of Novr – I am happy to say it is again much warmer – today was delightful, & we all drove four in hand to Rocca di Papa, thro’ such a lovely chesnut wood! The beautiful trees laden with fruit, & the vineyards smiling with their purple & golden bunches! You ought to come to Rome this winter. It is thought houses [will] be cheaper this year, as so few foreigners are ex[pected]. Ld Mt E. <7> went to Rome a few days ago, & saw a v[ery] nice one wh he thinks will suit us – but we have not taken it yet. – I had lately two very interesting letters from Captn Key <8> – one from Messina, just after the City was taken, & another yesterday of the 18th on his return to Naples. – He says that another expedition was on it’s [sic] way to Syracuse & Melazzo, but that the French Admiral Baudin signified his intention of preventing farther hostilitées, & that Admiral Parker <9> recommended an Armistice; wh was immediately agreed to. I do hope we are going to mediate more successfully than the first time – At any rate an armistice can but do good – The Palermitani <10> are prepared for a desperate resistance – & I do trust they will not be drive to such an extreme but that some negotiation for their good may take place – Think of poor Annie! Porcelli <11> is in command of the whole of the Artillery, & consequently liable to be always in the most exposed situation – & she herself not in a state to encounter the dangers & hardships she wd inevitably be exposed to. We heard yesterday of a very sad event in the Macdonald Family yesterday – the death of Alfred Wodehouse, <12> the husband of Mrs Cust’s next Sister Emma, <13> the handsomest of all except Flora. <14> – He had just been presented to a new living with a charming house & garden, & they were so happy settling themselves in it – Now she has next to nothing I believe [text missing] young Children. – I am going to give you a commission [which I am]<15> sure you will execute as quickly as you can, when I [mentio]n it as very essential for my teeth & consequent comfort. Pray to send me in a letter, (if you are in town, or going there [soon],) some of Mr Clarke’s Anodyne Paste – if not, if you would [wri]te to him, he could send it me – Only you must be particular in yr directions – It is generally done up in a small roll, the size of my little finger – & when Aunt Louisa <16> sent me some to Palermo she committed the error of flattening it down to suit the shape of a letter – it being a soft substance – By so doing it became quite hard & almost useless – now a small roll is difficult to pack in a letter, & will almost flatten itself – therefore the best way is to pack 5 or 6 pieces together – thus: [sketch] crosswise; so that the letter being filled, they are not so likely to flatten – Besides I want a good quantity – I must tell you it costs nothing – It is essential however that it shd be wrapt in cotton to exclude the air as much as possible – so it will make a fat heavy letter – but that can’t be helped – Please do this directly for me – The Address is J. Paterson Clark [sic] Esqre or No 5 Sackville St – Or as he is generally out of town in Sept F. W. Rogers his partner will do it. Please direct care of Æneas Macbean Esqre <17> 93 Piazza di Spagna Roma
Addio – dear Henry – Love to Constance & the Chicks <18> – Tell A – Horatia <19> received her last letter & will write to her soon. The woods are full of cyclamens!!!
Yr affte Sister
Caroline –
Inghilterra
Henry Fox Talbot Esqre
Laycock Abbey
Chippenham
Wiltshire
Notes:
1. Printed letterhead featuring a detailed line drawing of the tomb above the text.
2. Built for the baker Marcus Virgilius Eurysaces and his wife Atistia, in the form of a baker’s oven, dating from ca.30 BC and discovered in 1838.
3. At the top of the page is a printed letter head with a line drawing of the Baker’s Tomb, under which the text reads, “ Sepolcro di Vergilio Eurisace”.
4. Forking.
5. Erected against.
6. A North wind, i.e. one coming ‘over the mountains’ – the Alps.
7. Ernest Augustus Edgcumbe, Lord Valletort, 3rd Earl of Mt Edgcumbe (1797–1861), WHFT’s brother-in-law.
8. Sir Astley Cooper Key (1821–1888), admiral; commanded the Bulldog steamer in the Mediterranean, 1847–1850.
9. Sir William Parker (1781–1866), admiral of the fleet.
10. People from Palermo.
11. Caroline's husband's niece through his sister, Lady Caroline Sophia Edgcumbe (d. 10 April 1824), who was the first wife of Reginald George Macdonald (d. 1873) - earlier in 1848, Annie Sarah (sometimes Sarah Anne) married Alfredo Salvatori Ruggioro Andrea, Baron Porceilli di Sant Andrea, a Sicilian nobleman and revolutionary commander.
12. Alfred Wodehouse (1814–1848).
13. Another of Caroline's husband's nieces, Emma Hamilla (d. 5 Apr 1852) married Rev. Hon. Alfred Wodehouse on 21 April 1840.
14. A third niece, the Honorable Flora Isabella Clementina (1822-1899), Maid of Honor and later Woman of the Bedchamber to Queen Victoria.
15. Missing text.
16. 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.
17. See Doc. No: 06216.
18. Constance Talbot, née Mundy (1811–1880), WHFT’s wife; Ela Theresa Talbot (25 Apr 1835 - 25 Apr 1893), WHFT's 1st daughter; Rosamond Constance Talbot (16 Mar 1837 - 7 May 1906), 'Rose'; 'Monie'; artist & WHFT's 2nd daughter; died & buried at San Remo, Italy, with a memorial at Lacock; Matilda Caroline Gilchrist-Clark, née Talbot (25 Feb 1839-1927), 'Tilly', WHFT's 3rd daughter; Charles Henry Talbot, (2 Feb 1842 - 26 Dec 1916), 'Charlie'; 'Tally'; antiquary & WHFT's only son.
19. Amélina Petit De Billier, ‘Mamie’, ‘Amandier’ (1798–1876), governess and later close friend of the Talbot family [See Amélina's journal ], and Henrietta Horatia Maria Gaisford, née Feilding (1810–1851), WHFT’s half-sister.