BIB_ID
119967
Accession number
MA 52.61
Creator
Wilson, Harriette, 1786-1846.
Display Date
1821 Dec. 20.
Credit line
Acquired before 1923.
Description
1 item (4 p., with address) ; 21.7 cm
Notes
Address panel with postmarks and remnants of a seal to "Lord Byron / Ravenna / Italy."
Part of a collection of autograph letters written by Lord Byron, Lady Byron, Catherine Gordon Byron, Contessa Guiccioli, Ada King Lovelace and others from 1788 to 1855. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection-level record for more information.
Part of a collection of autograph letters written by Lord Byron, Lady Byron, Catherine Gordon Byron, Contessa Guiccioli, Ada King Lovelace and others from 1788 to 1855. Items in the collection have been described individually in separate catalog records; see collection-level record for more information.
Summary
Apologizing for her second request for money and admitting that she has "no earthly claim, but if you only knew how very dishonorably I have been treated by trusting to the good character of my noble Lovers..;" saying she suffers "under the pressure of debts and difficulties which from constant ill health I have no means of preventing...;" saying he owes her £10 having promised her £50 but only paid her £40; adding that he owes her "dédommagement" [compensation] for having held out a show of friendship towards me and then cut me dead;" criticizing the second volume of Don Juan as "not equal to the first - you have made it too long & forced yourself to write gayly when your spirit was a dead flat;" appealing to him to have her as his servant "to take care of your rooms, dust your books, wear a red cloak & sometimes, I think, your honor would read me a few lines, or allow me to try and make you laugh? do you want an english maid who is not a maid? I whom you need not speak to for a month together, who can amuse herself alone, make your room look comfortable, pimp for you in french, but not in Italian, make your tea a l'Anglaise, your coffee bien a la francais, do any thing but mend your shirt for I can't do needle work -- if so pray have me and I would rather upon my word be your servant & live in your kitchen than wife to anybody else." adding in a postscript, cross-written over the first page, "A vulgar little Dandy called Livius says he [illegible] a week with you abroad. Do have me for a maid I should be cheap safe & pleasant in some corner of your house."
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