Diary of Annie Adams Fields

Monday—weather still perfect, a little cooler. Delightful evening at home. The Bartols & Miss Anne Whitney to tea. Perabo played for us in the evening. Furness & Johnston (artists), Mr & Mrs Whipple, Aunt Harriet & Henry came beside, all we asked save two. It was harmonious and interesting....

Friday. A busy week as far as visiting goes.

Saturday. Sat to Lissie for the hand in Mrs Abington’s portrait after Sir Joshua today. The hand in the engraving is nil.

Sunday. Heard Mr Bartol and felt a deep gratitude for such friends.

Monday Eve. Went to Club party at Mrs Dresel’s. Music fine—Mozart chiefly—a trio & duet for voices with piano as well as piano solos. Miss Cary, Mary Quincy Gould and Misses Goodwin singers. Mr & Mrs Agassiz were there and she was pleased when I told her I liked her Brazilian sketches for...

Wednesday Eve—the Dante nights at Longfellow’s revived. Company, Lowell, Norton, Baron Macky (I don’t know how his name is spelled, he is a Dutch baron of intelligence), J., L. & Ernest L.—just 6 all told. They had a good jolly time. Norton told such a good story about Count Lubersac,...

Friday morning. Professor Holmes and Adj. Genl Read of New York—(a young man despite his title) breakfasted here at eight o’clock. They were both here punctually at ¼ past 8, which was early for the season, especially as the Genl was late out, at a ball, last night. He was only too glad of...

Saturday—preparing for Christmas—saw a shop shut up because it was so full of people no more could get in.

Sunday. Heard Mr Bartol, slushy walking, rather warm—went to Louisa’s—read L. Hunt’s Book of Sonnets—struck with Aubrey de Vere—& Fanny Kemble after the great ones—many pour over these.

Monday a thaw, bad walking, all the world Christmasing—came home full of quiet happy thoughts,—would have enjoyed a few blessed hours but Winwoude Reade came in and passed an hour, we dressed the Xmas tree, then it was late and time to rest,—so I ended the evening with Miss Thackeray’s...

Christmas. Perfect weather—a day full of jollity and beautiful gifts with fifteen at dinner, a bit of an Xmas tree for the chicks and tea with a tiny gold cross in a cake afterward. 20 in the evening at tea. The children were perfectly happy.

Wednesday. Still wondrous weather. J. & I took a long walk in the afternoon—sky pellucid, air full of invigoration but not cold.

Saturday Jan. [sic] 29. J. went to Saty Club dinner—fuller table than usual. I went down to see him in his office a moment just before dinner-time, found Longfellow there who joked a little about ladies being admitted to the Club and laughed aloud over J’s representation of Emerson who had...

Sunday walked to Roxbury & back with J. to see mother, went to L.’s in the evening, returned early to send off a few New Year’s gifts.

Monday morning Miss Anne Whitney came in on her way to the studio—bringing me flowers from a friend’s green-house—talked of her work of the hard fight she had always with loneliness in her art, of entire lack of true recognition from any quarter though only too much praise from the...

Jan 2d 1867. Now I feel as if the New Year had begun, though Aldrich says a new year never did slip in so surreptitiously as this one. Yesterday was snowy but we went to see the dear Bartols so to inaugurate the good season also our old teacher Miss Susan Whitney who was sitting down in the...

Thursday morning—two visits before eleven with 2 letters to write, housekeeping to attend to. Went to Lissie early at studio. Mrs Howard, George Sumner’s friend, came.

Sunday a driving snow-storm. Last night Jamie went to the Club: met W. Everett who said that while his father was member of Congress and was at one time returning from Washington to Boston he was stopped in the streets as he passed through Philadelphia by a haggard man wrapped in a cloak. “I...

Monday Eve. went to a gay party at Mrs Murray’s where a play was capitally performed & a comic lecture by W.R. Emerson. J.T.F. went to the meeting for relief of Candia where Dr. Howe spoke most touchingly. Something must be done for the poor Candiotes. It seemed strange to me last night to be...

Thursday Jan’y 10th Yesterday J. fell in with a Mr Kellogg a clergyman from Harpswell Maine the author of many noble things, among the rest of the “Speech of Spartacus” which is in Sargent’s School Speaker, a piece of which the boys are very fond but the masters are obliged to forbid...

Sunday. Walked to Roxbury in the morning to see mother. On our return about one oclock we found Mr Whittier here. He was contentedly looking over the old books and seemed to be enjoying himself. After dinner we talked of many things, of Leach he has one volume at home, and keeps it as a perfect...

Monday morning we were out bright and early soon after nine o’clock, shopping,—work I detest for it sets me thinking about my “roba” until life seems made up of threads and patches however went home and made bold to patch up my sonnet on Mrs Browning’s bust which is but a second-rate...

Tuesday again down town early to finish shopping; in the afternoon Mr Whittier & Lucy Larcom called together & passed nearly two hours. He told us of finding the money short to support the teacher from Amesbury among the Freedmen, so he went to the carriage makers and proposed that one should...

Wednesday. Had a touching note from Whittier with reference to my verses in memory of his sister “Elizabeth’s Chamber.” My day grew very sunshiny—should it not be always so, this and every day, with so much love to shine upon me so little deserved, a pure gift.

Thursday morning. A wondrous snow storm of the kind which snows up country folk. I don’t know when we have seen such surely not for years, the windows are covered with the wooly drift so we can hardly see out and all is still in the streets—truly as J. loves to quote