Description:
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 1996-12-01. Hardcover. Good. 6x1x8.
A group of 12 autograph letters signed, pertaining to among other things her American tour of 1850-1852 by Lind, Jenny - 1852
by Lind, Jenny
A group of 12 autograph letters signed, pertaining to among other things her American tour of 1850-1852
by Lind, Jenny
- Used
Lübeck; London; New York; Niagara; Springfield; and Hamburg, 1852. Together 54 pp. With related ephemera, including handbill, program, etc. 8vo and 4to. Some old folds, occasional tears at folds, a few with stains, all letters legible with no loss of text, overall very good to near fine. Together 54 pp. With related ephemera, including handbill, program, etc. 8vo and 4to. Jenny Lind on her great American tour. A fine group of letters by the famed Swedish soprano Jenny Lind (1820-1887), the "Swedish Nightingale." Her concert tour of America in 1850-1852, the first half of which was sponsored and promoted by P.T. Barnum, was the cause of celebration unlike any before in the States, with Lind being met by throngs of admirers and playing sold out concerts everywhere she went. The present collection of letters range in date from the years leading up to that famous tour to two months after the tour had ended and include three letters written from America, in which Lind provides some of her impressions of and experiences in the country. All but three of the letters are in English. Five are to an English friend she addresses as the Baroness; one long and content-rich letter is to a Miss Livermoore, in England, written from Niagara, New York; and another is to the American poet Lydia Sigourney. Included with the letters is a group of printed ephemera related to Lind's American engagements, including a broadside promoting one of the concerts, a program from a Philadelphia performance, and a Jenny Lind songbook, as well as a lock of Lind's hair. A detailed list of contents is available on request.
Highlights:
Lübeck, 6 December 1849: "I feel much less agitated and more quiet than before ... we are kept up in this little place for four weeks and it is really a good thing that I don't much care for the World and its amusements ... I am happy with my music, my little dog - my books, my study - and the great number of sublime remembrances! ... I have sung / chanté / a few times, and my voice is grown stronger and better...."
Lübeck, 2.10 April 1850: "Now the great point: from Liverpool we will be saying farewell to Europe for one or two years! Yes! I have take[n] the decision to go to Amerika and gain as much money as possible for the fulfillment and performance of my favorite idea: a school-a large school for poor children in my native country. I know I never will love the American as I love the English- Ah, no! but I fancy the country there must be in some part magnificent...."
New York, 22 October 1850: "Many sincere thanks for your kind letter which I received at Boston ... I am quite well; do not feel any headache or indisposition; am in perfect good voice, and do hitherto not feel the least tired but, I have a good deal to go through, for indeed, people ask much of me and the curiosity is in this country gone to a very high degree. I am like a prisoner. I can go nowhere without having an immense crowd about me, and this is not pleasant, but nevermind: if I gain my object as I have every reason to believe I will I will be very happy and thankful. The people here is very kind to me. The concerts are going on beautifully, and Mr. Barnum conducts himself very well indeed...."
Niagara, 27th July, 1851: "I am sitting in a quiet little Parlour looking at the splendid scene of Niagara and trying to Worship God in my inmost heart ... I feel how at every moment Niagara increases in Grandeur ... I have been working so hard and feel so exhausted that I must soon rest myself, and yet, there is still work for me to do in this country ... People are very, very kind to me here ... the concerts are always splendid and money finds its way to my pockets ... I wish you could have seen Havannah and all the fine Palm-trees! oh! I wish I could have sent you a fresh orange or a fresh co-co nut / I don't know how to write that word / just as a black African took it down from the top of the tree! What a climate what a sky! ... I have seen splendid scenaries in Amerika too; I am afraid that Europe will look very small in comparison ... here ... one has room to take breathe [sic] - one does not feel oppressed on any side or in any respect and can look with steady eyes and tranquility in the future...."
Springfield, 8th July 1851, to Mrs. Lydia Sigourney, the "Sweet Singer of Hartford": "my servant had strict orders not to admit any one, never supposing for a moment that you would have taken the trouble to come up to the Church during the afternoon. I should have seen you after the concert but not wishing to face the crowd was compelled to leave by the rear entrance.... I regret exceedingly that you feel so deeply the disturbances of last Saturday evening, and wish most sincerely to assure you, that to me, the greatest trouble was that those persons present at the Concert were so much disturbed and annoyed by the noise ... I entertain no ill feeling whatever towards Hartford....
Highlights:
Lübeck, 6 December 1849: "I feel much less agitated and more quiet than before ... we are kept up in this little place for four weeks and it is really a good thing that I don't much care for the World and its amusements ... I am happy with my music, my little dog - my books, my study - and the great number of sublime remembrances! ... I have sung / chanté / a few times, and my voice is grown stronger and better...."
Lübeck, 2.10 April 1850: "Now the great point: from Liverpool we will be saying farewell to Europe for one or two years! Yes! I have take[n] the decision to go to Amerika and gain as much money as possible for the fulfillment and performance of my favorite idea: a school-a large school for poor children in my native country. I know I never will love the American as I love the English- Ah, no! but I fancy the country there must be in some part magnificent...."
New York, 22 October 1850: "Many sincere thanks for your kind letter which I received at Boston ... I am quite well; do not feel any headache or indisposition; am in perfect good voice, and do hitherto not feel the least tired but, I have a good deal to go through, for indeed, people ask much of me and the curiosity is in this country gone to a very high degree. I am like a prisoner. I can go nowhere without having an immense crowd about me, and this is not pleasant, but nevermind: if I gain my object as I have every reason to believe I will I will be very happy and thankful. The people here is very kind to me. The concerts are going on beautifully, and Mr. Barnum conducts himself very well indeed...."
Niagara, 27th July, 1851: "I am sitting in a quiet little Parlour looking at the splendid scene of Niagara and trying to Worship God in my inmost heart ... I feel how at every moment Niagara increases in Grandeur ... I have been working so hard and feel so exhausted that I must soon rest myself, and yet, there is still work for me to do in this country ... People are very, very kind to me here ... the concerts are always splendid and money finds its way to my pockets ... I wish you could have seen Havannah and all the fine Palm-trees! oh! I wish I could have sent you a fresh orange or a fresh co-co nut / I don't know how to write that word / just as a black African took it down from the top of the tree! What a climate what a sky! ... I have seen splendid scenaries in Amerika too; I am afraid that Europe will look very small in comparison ... here ... one has room to take breathe [sic] - one does not feel oppressed on any side or in any respect and can look with steady eyes and tranquility in the future...."
Springfield, 8th July 1851, to Mrs. Lydia Sigourney, the "Sweet Singer of Hartford": "my servant had strict orders not to admit any one, never supposing for a moment that you would have taken the trouble to come up to the Church during the afternoon. I should have seen you after the concert but not wishing to face the crowd was compelled to leave by the rear entrance.... I regret exceedingly that you feel so deeply the disturbances of last Saturday evening, and wish most sincerely to assure you, that to me, the greatest trouble was that those persons present at the Concert were so much disturbed and annoyed by the noise ... I entertain no ill feeling whatever towards Hartford....
- Bookseller James Cummins Bookseller (US)
- Format/Binding Together 54 pp. With related ephemera, including handbill, program, etc. 8vo and 4to
- Book Condition Used - Some old folds, occasional tears at folds, a few with stains, all letters legible with no loss of text, overall very good to nea
- Quantity Available 1
- Place of Publication Lübeck; London; New York; Niagara; Springfield; and Hamburg
- Date Published 1852
- Keywords Americana | Women | Performing Arts