Autograph letter signed : Pontassieve, to Dr. Baldwin, "Saturday" [1890] July 19.

Describing Vallombrosa; saying "This place is delicious, & I wish indeed you could come up. In not reaching the Paradisino the other day we failed to see the cream of it - for the lovely spot from which I write this must be seen close at hand to be appreciated. It is far superior to the larger building below - & so much more uplifted & detached that it is infinitely fresher & cooler - with the advantage too of a lovely little old terrace, which is just outside of my window, & which hanging forward, like the prow of a ship over the valley & the abysses below, commands the whole situation, the whole immense view, &c, & makes a delightful place to sit in the morning & the evening. In the afternoon it gets the sun, but from sunset on it is delicious, & in the evening glorious - with a tendency to be too fresh. In this house there are but 5 or 6 people (though I believe 10 or 12 more are expected from day to day) & it is thoroughly clean and comfortable; with excellent food & attendance - a big cool dining room, the former chapel of the old hermitage or monastery. The walls (all over) are 2 feet thick, & this a.m. (splendid here) I am almost cold as I sit writing this...I spent all yesterday afternoon lying under a tree, on a breezy upland, with a book...The moral of all this is, Do come up yourself;" expressing his hope "that life isn't a burden to you even at Via Palestro...I hope these days have brought you only simplifications - not complications."