Reading with Rose: Tea Time

If you’ve ever visited the Nichols House Museum, you will already know that Rose Standish Nichols was an avid tea drinker. This is not only reflected in the museum’s physical collection but in its history. For years, Rose hosted salon-style tea parties, attended by a carefully cultivated group of influential society members with a connection to the host herself or the topic of the day. For our December blog post, we will examine the relationship between tea and our matriarch, Rose.

Cover. The Book of Tea (1906).

The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzo was published in 1906. Kakuzo was an influential art critic who eventually became curator of the Oriental art department at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Born in Yokohama in 1863, he attended Tokyo Imperial University, where he met a fellow art critic who strove to defend traditional Japanese art against westernization. Kakuzo became an outspoken defender of the traditional Japanese art forms, co-founding and later becoming head of Tokyo Fine Arts School. He later founded the Japan Academy of Fine Arts. It was toward the turn of the century that he came to the Boston MFA, where he continued to assert the importance of traditional Oriental art. His books, including The Book of Tea, were published in English so that even Westerners would be able to understand his ideas and opinions on Oriental art. Kakuzo died in Japan in 1913. [1]

Front. Postcard from RSN collection.

Back. Postcard from RSN collection.

In Kakuzo’s book he mentions tea in connection with three major Chinese dynasties: Tang (618-906), Sung (960-1279), and Ming (1368-1644). Tea became the “undisputed national drink of China” under the Tang Dynasty; began to be “powdered and whisked” under the Sung Dynasty; and began to be sipped from porcelain instead of wooden bowls under the Ming Dynasty [2].Rose Nichols’ extensive postcard collection features several images attributed to these dynasties.

Postcard from RSN collection.

 

Postcards from RSN collection. Tang Dynasty.

In addition to The Book of Tea, Rose also collected many books that could have easily been featured in her reading club. Her salon-style discussion were known to push the boundaries of what some might consider traditional tea-time talk. As Rose was keen on world peace, many of the books she collected reflect her interests in global affairs. It’s quite possible she used these books to draw attention to events and governments her guests were unaware of. An extensive traveler, Rose collected such broad topics as covered in books like the ones you see below, including George Orwell’s Animal Farm (1946) and Olive Schreiner’s Woman and Labor (1911).

Some books from Rose Standish Nichols’ library collection. Featured here in the parlor where she held weekly discussions.

The relationship between Rose Standish Nichols and tea has continued to influence the museum. Our interpretation of this independent, accomplished woman’s house would be incomplete without calling attention to how and why Rose hosted lively discussions over tea in the parlor of her home for decades. If you have yet to visit the museum, come by before February 3rd, 2018 to see our pop-up exhibit, Peace and Prosperity: Rose Standish Nichols and Tea, which includes special items that showcase the relationship we’ve examined here today.

Notes

[1] Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Okakura Kakuzo.” 16 March, 2016.  Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.

[2] Moxham, Roy. Tea: Addiction, Exploitation, and Empire. Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2003.

By Victoria Johnson, Visitor Services and Research Associate

 

 

 

 

Reading with Rose: Second Star to the Right

 

“The child’s map of Kensington Gardens,” from The Little White Bird, or Adventures in Kensington Gardens, 1920.

This November marks the 115th anniversary of the publication of J.M. Barrie’s The Little White Bird. Less known today than the idea it gave birth to, this novel was the world’s introduction to one of the most popular literary and cultural figures to date: Peter Pan. This month we will take a look at three books by Sir James Matthew Barrie held by Rose Standish Nichols in her library collection.

Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1892.

James Matthew Barrie was born May 9, 1860 in Kirriemuir, Scotland. The ninth child of David and Margaret, Barrie’s academic aptitude was identified and nurtured early in his life. He began his academic career in 1868 as his brother Alexander’s pupil at Glasgow Academy. Throughout the next several years, Barrie continued to follow his brother to various schools, including Dumfries Academy, where he composed his first play for the drama society. In 1878 Barrie enrolled at Edinburgh University, where he received his MA in 1882. With his education complete, Barrie began work almost immediately as a journalist. His literary career coincided with his journalistic one–he wrote six novels while contributing to fifteen journals. [1]

RSN’s copy of Auld Licht Idylls.

Detail of cover showing J.M. Barrie’s initials.

Rose Standish Nichols owned three of Barrie’s works:  two story-collections, When a Man’s Single (1888) and Auld Licht Idylls (1888), and the novel The Little White Bird, or Adventures in Kensington Gardens (1902;1920). The former are widely regarded as autobiographical fictions, while the latter is mainly remembered as the work that introduced the world to the boy who wouldn’t grow up. The Peter Pan in The Little White Bird only slightly resembles the one we have come to know through various film and stage adaptations, but his life began here.

Title page.

Rose’s copy of The Little White Bird, or Adventures in Kensington Gardens was published in 1920 by Charles Scribner’s Sons, the owners of Scribner’s Magazine in which the tale first appeared in America. This version of Peter Pan’s story was revised to include the earlier tales from both The Little White Bird and Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, a children’s book published in 1906 that expanded the mythology of Peter. Her copy of When a Man’s Single dates to 1890; Auld Licht Idylls to 1891. Rose would have been twenty years old and already traveling through the United Kingdom.

Inscription from Rose Standish Nichols’ copy of Auld Licht Idylls. 

Barrie’s works gained widespread attention and admiration during the 1890’s, when many of his plays were put on. He continued to write (mostly plays) throughout his life, but it was undoubtedly Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up that became his most endearing and successful work. In 1913 King George V made Barrie a Baronet, and in 1922 Barrie was awarded the Order of Merit. Barrie’s plays continued to be produced on stage–to varying degrees of success– until his death in 1937. He is buried alongside his family in Kirriemuir. [2]

J.M. Barrie’s London residence, near Kensington Gardens, is marked as a member of London’s Blue Plaque Heritage landmarks.       [Victoria Johnson, 2014.]

Notes

[1] R. D. S. Jack, ‘Barrie, Sir James Matthew, baronet (1860–1937)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Sept 2014.

[2] Ibid.

By Victoria Johnson, Visitor Services and Research Associate

 

 

 

 

Reading with Rose: The Delusion in Salem

“Hallowe’en Festivites. From an Old English Print.” From The Book of Hallowe’en (1919) by Ruth Edna Kelley.

This time of year, the streets of Beacon Hill are whimsically decorated with skeletons, pumpkins, gourds, and cobwebs in anticipation of that ever-popular holiday, Halloween. Based on the dearth of references to this occasion in the Nichols family’s papers, we don’t know how much–if at all–the family celebrated. This might explain why Rose’s book collection features very few spooky tales–Macbeth being perhaps the most well-known. During this time of year, when Edgar Allan Poe and Gothic tales reign supreme, we thought it would be fun to see exactly what kinds of spooky tales Rose collected. (She actually did collect Poe’s works, too!)

“The witches cauldron [Macbeth, act IV, scene 1],” n.d. Folger Shakespeare Library.

Illustration for Poe’s The Raven in “The Raven and other Poems” (1910) by John R. Neill.

This Nichols House Museum recently hosted the first event in our new series, Nichols after Dark, in which we delivered a special tour focused on Victorian spiritualism and Salem witchcraft. For this month’s blog, we will take a look at some books that were featured during our special Hallowe’en tour. Along with Poe’s works, William de Morgan’s cheekily titled novel When Ghost Meets Ghost (1914), and the works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (who wrote extensively on her experiences with spiritualism), we wanted to call everyone’s attention to one particular book with ties to the Nichols family: Charles Wentworth Upham’s Lectures on Witchcraft Comprising a History of the Delusion in Salem, in 1692 (1831).

Inscription from Rose Standish Nichols’ copy of Lectures on Witchcraft Comprising a History of the Delusion in Salem, in 1692 (1831).

 

Half-title page of Upham’s Lectures.

Title page of Upham’s Lectures.

Charles Wentworth Upham was a Canadian-born (Unitarian) clergyman, congressman, and the seventh mayor of Salem, MA. Born in St. John, New Brunswick to Joshua and Mary Upham, Charles was the son of a Loyalist who fought for the British during the American Revolution. After the Revolution, Joshua emigrated to Canada, where Charles lived until 1816, when he was sent to Massachusetts to apprentice with a merchant cousin. In 1817, after his cousin perceived Charles’ real interest was in studying, not business, Charles was sent to Harvard College, where he placed second in his class. Having done well, Charles spent another three years studying at Cambridge Divinity School; he was finally ordained as an associate pastor of the First Church (Unitarian) of Salem in December of 1824. He retired twenty years later. [1]

Charles Wentworth Upham.

Charles’ political life gathered momentum in 1848, when he aligned himself with the Whig party. From 1849 to 1850, he was a member of the state House of Representatives; 1850-1851, a member of the state Senate; 1853-1855, a member of the 33rd Congress. In 1857, he began a two-year term as the presiding officer of the Massachusetts state Senate, and in 1859 began another two-year term as a member of the state House of Representatives. [2] Throughout his professional career, he became known as a historian of the Salem witch trials, writing multiple volumes on the subject. In Lectures (p. 6-7), he describes his reason for publishing this volume:

“In the hope that they may contribute, in combination with the great variety of other means now employed, to diffuse the blessings of knowledge, to check the prevalence of fanaticism, to accelerate the decay of superstition, to prevent an unrestrained exercise of imagination and passion in the individual or in societies of men, and to establish the effectual dominion of true religion and sound philosophy, they are now presented to the public.” [3]

“Witchcraft at Salem Village,” 1876.

We aren’t quite sure why Rose collected this book on witchcraft, but we do have our theories. It’s possible she wanted to study more about her paternal great-grandmother, Susannah Towne Nichols, whose portrait hangs in the Nichols House dining room. Susannah was a descendant of Rebecca (Towne) Nurse, who was famously persecuted during the Salem “delusion.” Whatever the reason, the inclusion of Upham’s book is an certainly a welcome–and appropriate–companion to the portrait of Susannah Nichols.

Notes

[1] “Charles Wentworth Upham.” Dictionary of American Biography, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1936. Biography in Context.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Upham, Charles Wentworth. Lectures on Witchcraft Comprising a History of the Delusion in Salem, in 1692. Boston, Carter, Hendee and Babcock, 1831.

By Victoria Johnson, Visitor Services and Research Associate

 

–

Reading with Rose: The “Poet Laureate of Hope End”

Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning might today be known to popular readers as one half of a grand literary couple. While her love story is certainly one for the ages, Barrett Browning was in her time one of the most successful and lauded poets in Europe. Her works were widely read, controversial enough to ruffle some (mostly male) feathers, and good enough to propel her name onto the lips of everyone in England as they debated who should be named the next Poet Laureate upon William Wordsworth’s death (an honor which ultimately went to Alfred, Lord Tennyson). While some still debate the various nuances of her work, upon examination we can understand why Rose Standish Nichols would have collected the works of this brilliant woman.

The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, 1898.

EBB, or “Ba,” as she was called as a child, was born in 1806 in Durham, England. She would go on to have eleven younger siblings, sharing her father’s new property at Hope End with them. Both of her parents came from families who owned land and plantation in Jamaica, a fact which led EBB to believe there was a curse upon her family–a curse caused by being complicit in profiting from slavery. As such, EBB was against slavery, and was “glad” when slavery was abolished in the British colonies with the Emancipation Act of 1833. [1] Her poem, “The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point,” explores the themes of slavery that EBB was concerned with.

Inscription in Rose’s edition of The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. “Frank [illegible] 1882.”

EBB began writing in her childhood. Her mother, who educated her, and father, who called her “the Poet Laureate of Hope End,” were her earliest supporters. She studied the typical poets of her day–Shakespeare, Homer, Milton, etc.–but was besotted with Mary Wollstonecraft’s Vindication of the Rights of Woman, a feminist work whose themes EBB would return to again and again in her own compositions. Today it is known that EBB spent much of her life afflicted with various illnesses; the first of these struck when she was a teenager. As a woman with limited opportunity, she continued her education on her own, culminating with the first publication of her poems in 1821. [2]

Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning, n.d.

By the 1830s the Barretts moved to London, where EBB met and mingled with John Kenyon, the highly successful and influential Mary Russell Mitford, and William Wordsworth. After suffering from further illnesses, EBB confined herself to her home on Wimpole Street. During her confinement she wrote and was published so prolifically that fan Edgar Allan Poe, who read her Poems published in America in 1844, dedicated  The Raven and Other Poems (1845) to EBB, “the noblest of her sex.” [3]

Florence. Postcard from Rose Nichols Postcard Collection.

“Villa Gamberaia Settignano Florence,” back of postcard.

Her relationship with fellow poet Robert Browning began in 1845, when Browning wrote to EBB after she expressed her admiration for his works in one of hers. They wrote to each other for months, until she finally agreed to his proposal of calling on her at Wimpole Street. After roughly 90 visits, EBB agreed to marry Browning, setting of a chain of events which led to great happiness and great sorrow. Her father, and consequently her siblings, did not approve of her marrying out of the family, cut her off from any further funding. In Italy, where EBB and Browning had made their way so that she could live in a better climate, EBB experienced four miscarriages and one successful pregnancy, giving birth to a son known as Pen. It was during these married years traveling between Rome, Paris, and London that the Brownings became part of a literary circle which consisted of many  lauded writers, including themselves. [4]

Title page of Aurora Leigh from Rose’s edition of The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

In 1856 EBB’s most enduring (and controversial) work was published: Aurora Leigh.
An epic poem written in blank verse, Aurora Leigh is arguably EBB’s most overtly feminist–and therefore controversial– work, because of its focus on the woman question and the Victorian fallen woman. Today, this work is remembered as Barrett Browning’s crowning  achievement; it is hardly a wonder that Rose Standish Nichols collected the works of this champion for female empowerment.

---

Notes

[1] Marjorie Stone, ‘Browning , Elizabeth Barrett (1806–1861)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Oct 2008.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

By Victoria Johnson, Visitor Services and Research Associate.

 

Reading with Rose: Three Queens for BB

Bernard Berenson in 1887 courtesy of National Portrait Gallery, London.

Bernard Berenson (1865-1959) was an art critic and historian whom some believe was the definitive art historian in America during the 20th century. Born in Lithuania, Berenson and his family moved to Boston in 1875. Bernard, or BB, as he was later called, attended many of this city’s most enduring schools: Boston Latin School, Boston University, and Harvard University. Upon his graduation, patrons such as Isabella Stewart Gardner supported his definitive Grand Tour of Europe. Berenson continued to travel throughout his life, learning and observing art on an international scale. Eventually, patrons solicited his opinion on Renaissance art in particular–his area of expertise. Today, Berenson is considered (by some) a controversial figure for his secret partnership with Joseph Duveen (1869-1939), an international art dealer. Upon his death, Berenson bequeathed his estate and works to Harvard University. (1)

 

The book in its case in the parlor secretary.

Key to the parlor secretary.

Lorenzo Lotto and The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance in the library secretary.

 

Cover of Berenson’s Echi e Riflessioni

Bernard’s inscription to Rose: “To Rose Nichols / With the best remembrances of friendship of / Bernard Berenson / [illegible]/ March 1950”

Less renowned for her art collecting than her impressive activism, landscape architect and fellow world traveler Rose Standish Nichols became friends with the legendary art connoisseur. The two Bostonians shared an admiration for the Italian Renaissance in particular.

Raphael’s “Madonna of the Tower;” postcard from Rose Standish Nichols’ collection.

As a friend and an admirer of his work, Rose’s library at the Nichols House Museum contains no less than four books by the art historian: Lorenzo Lotto; An Essay in Constructive Art Criticism, The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1894), The Venetian Painters of the Renaissance (1897), and Echi E Riflessioni (Diario 1941-1944); the last of which Berenson personally inscribed to Rose.

Letter from Bernard Berenson  to Rose Standish Nichols, December 7, 1954.

 

Another friend of Rose’s provides us with a particularly humorous glimpse into Rose and Bernard’s friendship. In 1995, Polly Thayer Starr–whose portrait of Rose, you might recall, hangs in the Nichols House Museum library–gave an interview to Robert Brown for the Archives of American Art. Starr was the daughter of Rose’s friend Ethel Thayer. In 1927, Rose reluctantly agreed to sit as Starr’s subject, which she writes about here. With no shortage of anecdotes about Miss Rose Standish Nichols, Starr tells Brown one story about our matriarch which has become a favorite among the museum’s staff:

“There was one other story of Miss Nichols, that interested me because she had the Crown Princess of Greece come and stay with me. She was great friends with Bernard Berenson, the critic and writer, and one day she took a carriage out from Florence to see him, and the servant came to the door. She said she wanted to see Bernard Berenson, and the servant said she was very sorry, but Berenson was indisposed and couldn’t get up–wasn’t feeling well. “Well,” she said, “tell him I have three queens that have come to see him,” and wrote it on her card. The servant, quite impressed, took it up to Berenson, who looked out the window, and there he saw Queen Sophie of Greece, the Queen of Italy–Margarita, I believe her name was–and the Queen of Yugoslavia. So he said he’d be right down. [laughter] But she knew all the politicians, crowned heads and prime ministers that she could contact, and they were all amused by her. So when I went to Spain I went with her, and it was great fun.” (2)

 

Queen [H]elena of Italy*, Nichols Family Photograph Collection.

Queen Olga of Greece*, Nichols Family Photograph Collection.

Letter to Rose Nichols from Queen Sophie.

*A note about the queens: if the Queen of Italy Thayer is referring to is Queen Margarita (reigned 1878-1900), she would likely not have been Queen at the time of this story. The above photograph, part of the Nichols Family Photograph Collection, shows Queen [H]elena, daughter-in-law of Queen Margarita, wife of Victor Emmanuel III, with whom she reigned from 1900 and 1946. Queen Sophia of Greece served from 1913 to 1917, then again from 1920 to 1922. Queen Maria of Yugoslavia reigned from 1922 and 1934. The photograph of Queen Olga Constantinovna of Russia shows that Rose was fascinated by many queens!

(1) Margaret Moore Booker. “Berenson, Bernard.” Grove Art Online. Oxford Art Online. Oxford University Press. Web. 18 Jul. 2017.

(2) Oral history interview with Polly Thayer, 1995 May 12-1996 February 1. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Reading with Rose: Defoe’s Crusoe

The Wonderful Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe.

The Life and Strange Surprising Adventure of Robinson Crusoe

Detail of cover of Robinson Crusoe

We have a special treat to explore in this month’s Reading with Rose: Robinson Crusoe. Considered by some to be the first modern novel [1], Daniel Defoe’s isolation epic is a touchstone of childhood reading the world over. That was certainly the case in New England in 1809, as evidenced by this month’s special book from Rose’s library. This object is special not only for its physicality, but perhaps even more so for its home: the Nichols House Museum’s archives. This book, part of Rose’s collection left to the museum at our matriarch’s behest, is so precious that it must be housed in our archives in order to ensure its preservation.

Interior of Robinson Crusoe.

Child’s primer, 1806.

This edition of Robinson Crusoe looks very similar to children’s primary schoolbooks of the early nineteenth-century. We can compare this edition of Crusoe to one of those schoolbooks–called primers–thanks to their shared ownership. Both of these books belonged to Charles Nichols.

Charles Nichols’ signature inside of his schoolbook.

Charles Nichols’ signature inside of his edition of Robinson Crusoe.

Charles Nichols (1808-1885) was Rose’s great-uncle; Arthur Howard Nichols’ uncle. Both of these books are dated within the first few years of Charles’ life, lending to the probability that they were used to teach him literacy. Coincidentally, Robinson Crusoe could have done more than merely teach Charles to read.

Charles Nichols, n.d.

After working as a painter and furniture maker, and in daguerreotype galleries, Charles gave up his work and devoted his life to the study of religion and became a missionary. While Robinson Crusoe is today remembered as an adventure story, Daniel Defoe imbued his classic with his own fervent religious sentiments–a fact which can be said about most of his works.

Daniel Defoe, from a 1900 edition of Robinson Crusoe.

Daniel Defoe (1660?-1731) was not merely an expert at writing fictional adventures–he lived them, too. When Robinson Crusoe was first published in 1719, Defoe was fifty-nine. In the years between Defoe’s birth and the birth of his legendary literary figure, the author had been involved in numerous altercations with the law. Defoe was a known dissenter, which would have earned him a reputation even without his writing religious pamphlets arguing for religious freedom. He knew the dangers of writing such works, which were confirmed when the anonymous author of the pamphlets was caught. Defoe was arrested for seditious libel, put in the pillory and subsequently imprisoned for his writings. Upon his release, he was endlessly threatened with arrests, and eventually became a “master spy” for the government. Continuing his writing career, Defoe authored novels, conduct books, and geographical books; he also raised corn and bred cattle. Defoe’s final years were full of debts and debt-collectors. He died in 1731. [2]

Charles Nichols’ diary.

Pages from Charles Nichols’ diary.

While Charles Nichols did not spend decades marooned on an island, he did write down his inner most thoughts. Nichols kept a diary from 1861-1878; he wrote about his thoughts on the Civil War, his religious sentiments, and his daily activities. Today, this diary lives next to his schoolbook edition of Robinson Crusoe–which may have inspired many of his own adventures.

Notes

[1] Allen, Walter Ernest. Six Great Novelists. H. Hamilton, 1955.

[2] Paula R. Backscheider, ‘Defoe, Daniel (1660?–1731)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, Jan. 2008.

 

By Victoria Johnson

Visitor Services and Research Associate

 

Reading with Rose: In the Valley of Wharton

Edith Wharton. Courtesy The Mount.

On Wednesday, March  8th, 2017, the Nichols House Museum joined the world in celebrating International Women’s Day–a day devoted to celebrating women and affirming our intention to further their progress. This year,  the theme was “Be Bold for Change.” In honor of celebrating women’s history, this month’s book blog will take a look at Rose Nichols’ Edith Wharton collection, which consists of three novels and one non-fiction work.

The Valley of Decision and Hudson River Bracketed in situ (Rose’s library).

Ethan Frome in situ (Rose’s library).

Edith Wharton was born Edith Newbold Jones in New York in 1862. As a child, she traveled Europe with her parents and two brothers, which cultivated a lifelong passion for literature, architecture, and art. In 1885, at the ‘old’ age of 23, she married Edward Robbins Wharton, thirteen years her senior. Their unconventional marriage ended in divorce in 1913. Her experience during this time led to her therapist suggesting that she focus on fiction writing as a way to cope with stress. In 1902, Wharton and her husband settled in Lenox, Massachusetts. Today, their estate, known as The Mount, is open to visitors.[1]

Today, Edith Wharton’s is remembered as the first woman to be awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and as the quintessential author of American high society. [2] What is less well-known is that Wharton’s first love was not fiction, but architecture. Her first novel explored a theme my regular readers might recognize: Italian villas.

Cover of Edith Wharton’s Italian Villas and Their Gardens.

Italian Villas and Their Gardens was first published in 1897. Rose’s 1904 edition features illustrations by Maxfield Parrish, a renowned American illustrator. The illustrations (examples below) featured in this book make up for the fact that the other three Wharton novels in Rose’s library do not include illustrations.

Illustration from Italian Villas and Their Gardens.

Illustration from Italian Villas and Their Gardens.

The three novels in Rose’s library are eclectic. The Valley of Decision (1902) pays homage to her fascination with eighteenth-century Italy. Next to this novel in Rose’s library is Hudson River Bracketed (1929), a lesser-known novel featuring protagonist Vance Weston, a writer, and his lover, Halo Spear. Critics believe this novel divulges Wharton’s own personal and professional experiences. [3] The third Wharton novel in Rose’s library is notable as one of Wharton’s most popular and enduring works. Ethan Frome (1911) features the longing and desire explored in many of Wharton’s novels, as well as a Massachusetts setting—forging another connection between Wharton and our matriarch Rose Standish Nichols.

 

Notes

[1] The Mount. Edith Wharton: A Biography. http://www.edithwharton.org/discover/edith-wharton/

[2] Dwight, Eleanor. Edith Wharton: An Extraordinary Life. Abrams, 1994.

[3] Ibid.

By Victoria Johnson. Visitor Services and Research Associate.

 

 

 

 

Reading with Rose: Winnie-the-Pooh

90 Years in the Hundred-Acre Wood

Rose Nichols’1950 edition

Rose Nichols’ 1950 edition

The most recognized book in Rose Standish Nichols’ library is, without a doubt, A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh. Few visitors have passed through its home on the second shelf of the third floor landing bookcase without noticing its bright pink spine. For those of you who have—and those of you who will—you may be interested to know that this year marks the 90^th anniversary of the publication of the first Winnie-the-Pooh book.

First published in 1926, Winnie-the-Pooh was the first of Milne’s stories that officially introduced readers to Winnie. The inspiration for this lovable teddy bear came from a stuffed-animal, bought at Harrods luxury department store, that belonged to Milne’s son. Milne’s stuffed-animal collection soon grew to include the inspirations for Pooh’s friends, and they now live permanently in the New York Public Library. Christopher Robin Milne—the namesake for the boy who travels with Pooh in the Enchanted Forest—named his stuffed teddy bear ‘Winnie’ after a black Canadian bear he had seen in at the zoo. Winnie-the-Pooh was so successful that it overshadowed much of A.A. Milne’s other work (including adult fiction), but he did appreciate that his stories resonated with children and adults. His son, Christopher Robin Milne, became a successful bookseller and writer. [1]

A.A. Milne; Christopher Robin Milne by Howard Coster, 1926. National Portrait Gallery, London.

Rose’s edition of Winnie-the-Pooh is the 203^rd, printed in 1950 in New York and published by E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. If you have come for a tour with us, you might wonder how Rose came to acquire this book. Unfortunately, this will remain a mystery for visitors and staff, as we have no record of how or why Rose acquired it. She would have been aged 78 in 1950, well past childhood. Perhaps Rose was one of those readers whom Milne was referring to when he said:

“These stories are about these good companions having wonderful times getting in and out of trouble. It is all very exciting and, really, quite thrilling, no matter how young or how old you may be.” [2]

One of the book’s illustrations by Ernest Howard Shepard.

[1] Thwaite, Ann. “Milne, Alan Alexander (1882–1956).” Ann Thwaite In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by David Cannadine, January 2012.

[2] Milne, A.A. Winnie-the-Pooh. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc.1950.

Reading with Rose: Treasure Island & The Weir of Hermiston

Books: Treasure Island

               The Weir of Hermiston

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson by John Singer Sargent, 1887. Taft Museum of Art.

Robert Louis Stevenson was born on November 13, 1850 in Edinburgh, Scotland. His prolific career produced some of the most enduring novels of the Victorian era. [1] Two of his most significant works, Treasure Island and The Weir of Hermiston, can be found in Rose Standish Nichols’s eclectic library collection.

Treasure Island

Stevenson began writing what is arguably his most famous novel in 1881. This story was originally published between October 1881 and January 1882 in serialized form in a magazine for young boys called Young Folks [2], under the pseudonym “Captain George North.” The wild plot contains the swashbuckling adventures the Scottish author became known for. Upon its release in Young Folks, the story received little fanfare. It was published in book form in November 1883, and was so well-received that to this day it has never been out of print. [3] Rose’s edition of Treasure Island is inscribed “To Rose Standish Nichols 1894.” It lives in the bookcase behind Arthur Nichols’ desk in Rose’s library.

Dedication to Stevenson’s stepson Samuel Lloyd Osbourne.

“To the hesitating purchaser…”

The Captain’s Papers “The Squire and I were both peering over his shoulder.”-Page 49.

The Weir of Hermiston

The full title of Stevenson’s last novel is, appropriately, The Weir of Hermiston: An Unfinished Romance. Stevenson began writing this novel, which many critics portended to be his true masterpiece, in 1892. Stevenson spent hours working on the story the very day he suffered a fatal cerebral hemorrhage—leaving Hermiston “unfinished.” Today, this novel is overshadowed by the raw psychological thriller Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and Stevenson’s aforementioned children’s stories; however, the plot of The Weir of Hermiston is perhaps his most personal. According to biographers, the damaged relationship between father and son mirrors Stevenson’s own relationship to his father. Furthermore, the figure of Adam Weir was based on the real life Lord Justice Clerk Robert McQueen, Lord Braxfield. [4]

Although Stevenson died before completing the novel, he reportedly left notes detailing its intended ending. Some of these notes appear in editions edited by the author’s friend Sidney Colvin. [5] Rose’s edition of The Weir of Hermiston was published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1896 and is inscribed with her name. It lives in the bookcase Margaret Nichols Shurcliff built for Rose, in the corner of her bedroom.

[1] Mehew, Ernest. “Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850–1894).” Ernest Mehew In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by David Cannadine, September 2014.

[2]”Chronology.” The RLS Website. http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/. 14 October 2016.

[3] Mehew, Ernest. “Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850–1894).” Ernest Mehew In Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, edited by H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed., edited by David Cannadine, September 2014.

[4] Ibid.

[5] “Works. Weir of Hermiston.” The RLS Website. http://www.robert-louis-stevenson.org/. 14 October 2016.

By Victoria Johnson, Visitor Services and Research Associate.