LETTERS: 5 ALS by an English girl writing from Moscow to her cousin in Sheffield.
Five Autograph Letters Signed (all 'Maisie') by an English girl writing from Moscow in 1896 (the year of the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II) to her cousin in Sheffield, with much interesting detail about life in Russia.
22 Peterburska Chaussie, Moscow. The seven letters total 83pp., 12mo. Five of the seven are complete, with the other two (Five and Seven) both consisting of the commencement only. Six of the seven are in good condition, on lightly-aged paper; the other letter (Five) is worn, with both leaves carrying closed tears. A marvellously vivid and sprightly correspondence, written to her cousin by an observant and cultured young woman (see the reference to Ruskin in letter Three). The family would appear to be from the north of England (there is a reference to Ashopton in Derbyshire in the first letter, and to Sheffield in the third), and to have travelled to Moscow for the father to take up a position as one of the directors of the English factory in Moscow. As the following extracts indicate, the description of Russian people and places is interesting and informative, with the references to the writer's servant Marie particularly entertaining. Of interest are the references to the preparations for the coronation procession. ONE: To 'Dear darling everybody'. 6 February [1896]. 20pp., 12mo. A description of the family's 'adventures' begins with some clues as to their identity, as they travel down to London to catch the train to the continent. On the train they are accompanied by 'Mr Orel the German-Russian man & Mr Brown & Mr. Humber. Mr Orel is rather nice, tho' rather funny & not at all as he flatters himself "quite Englisc". [sic] He gets himself up in grand style but he does not object to lugging a great fish & a few tons of groceries through the streets. [...] Mr. Brown is the workman who puts up the machinery & is a very amusing character, tho' with the manners of a pig & the assurance of a British working man.' After a 'beautifully calm passage', they travel through Holland to Germany. 'From Berlin our misfortunes began [...] It was simply killing trying to sleep night after night in a jolting carriage & sitting up. On Wednesday morning we got into Russia, & realized the fact at once, when they brought us tea in a glass with sugar & lemon & no milk. I have consciously drank [sic] 6 cups of Russian tea & I can only endorse Miss Robinson's elegant description of it as "filthy." From 'Alexandorowo [sic] to Warsaw' they are 'miserable', 'in a carriage, heated by steam. It was quite warm outside, yet the carriage was so hot it burnt your feet to touch the floor. [...] the carriage & corridor were crowded with people in thick furs, every one of the men smoking [...] & as soon as I opened a window in the corridor [...] some Russian evolved himself out of his sables & banged it up tight again'. In Smolensk they 'woke up on Thursday morning to find the ground covered with snow. [...] All along the line the men were clearing away the snow, but they could not keep pace with it & we were stuck in a snowdrift 6 ft high'. In Moscow they are met by 'Mr. Bottomer, the Beeston man, head man at Fletchers', and go 'up in a sleigh to the house'. She describes the house in detail, with two crude drawings and a floor plan. There follows an amusing description of the two hours of wrangling involved in buying a bedstead, following a ride in 'two sleighs': 'the ride was lovely, like flying over the snow & the town was very pretty. All the buildings are white, pale yellow or pinky terracotta, with green shutters & palings. The churches are magnificent with gilded minarets & gorgeous pictures & shrines. There are about 5 in every street to 10 "Tommy Parkers"'. 'We had a milkwoman the 1st morning she came with two great cans swung over her shoulders & I held open the double swing back doors to let her get out. This was a little attention she was evidently not accustomed to, for she commenced invoking saints & blessings & kissing my feet & grabbed hold of my hand & began slobbering over it. The next day she tried for 1/2 hr to cheat me out of 5 kopecks.' She ends by describing her purchases: 'The first thing we bought was a samovar, a nice plated one. There is a niche built for it in the kitchen, everyone has them.' TWO: To 'My dearest Dot, & Cousies'. 16 February 1896. 16pp., 12mo. Of her servant she writes: 'Our damsel Marie seems a very nice girl but she cannot cook. You would be amused to see me getting up at 7 o'clock in the morning to cook the breakfast, every day. There servants here are not like independent English girls. Whenever I come in Marie flies up to take my cloak & goloshes & she nearly has a fit if she sees me putting on my own boots. I feel quite a dook when I go inside the factory yard. Everybody stops their work to bow & perform. Even people like the Bottomers who would not have a servant at all in England, have a man & when Mr. Bottomer wants a cigarette this man flies up & lights it for him, & the people in the shops do the same. It is funny to see Father having a slave to light his cigarette for him.' She gives a vivid description of the 'most awful creature' who comes to 'mend the stoves', looking 'just like what I have always pictured the lesser Ptah in "Ethics of the Dust"', mixing up mortar with his 'baboon-like paws', and smoothing it over 'with his bare arm': 'They don't know what a trowel is in this country they do everything with their hands.' She finds the effect of the cold on 'two fowls [...] really the funniest thing I have seen for ever so long'. She describes a trip to the Kremlin with Mr Orel, with a crude drawing of the old wall ('it is of the piecrust style of architecture') and another of typical tower ('just like a toy fort'). She is struck by 'a splendid view of the hundreds of coloured & gilded domes & towers sparkling in the sun', and sees 'the great historic bell' with 'the piece that is broken off'. She is amused by Marie's efforts to learn English: 'The other day she did something silly & I said "Oh, you are a goose." A little while afterwards when I was in the kitchen I saw she was thinking about something & after a bit she turned to me with a sweet smile & said "Youragoss", she looked so pleased with herself.' She explains why 'Russian washstands are very queer', and reports that her brother (?) 'Frank has chummed with an English boy called Sydney Bigsby next door'. She reports that in Moscow '[t]hey are putting up electric light all over for the coronation & getting up the hoardings. The procession will pass by the end of our garden / We are going to have a stage put up.' She gives a further description of a Samovar, with drawing. She describes the 'pretty' appearance of the soldiers, and the activities of the police who regulate traffic. THREE: To 'My dearest Cousie'. 26 February 1896. 9pp., 12mo. She is writing to wish her a happy birthday: 'I wish I were in Sheffield to give you a big hug'. She describes a visit to the 'passages' with her mother, to get her a present. She gives examples of the 'very funny' prices (oatmeal, pearl barley, white beetroot sugar, 'lovely big cranberries [...] but very sour'), and describes the practice of binding babies, together with the 'dowdy' dress of the women. Together with 'Frank & Sidney Bigsby', she has 'built a large snow fort & a lovely snow lady in a ball dress with lovely puffed sleeves' in the garden. In preparation for the coronation procession '[t]he streets are very busy now with the decorations which are being put up in grand style. Wooden buildings with domes & arches are arising everywhere. There are some barracks near here rather a dismal building & they are making quite an imposing thing of it with a whole fagade towers & battlements etc.' On the day 'free food & drink will be given away to any extent', and 'all the directors & their families are coming' to watch from the stage at the bottom of the garden. She wishes 'Mr. Temlitzka' were visiting her cousin, instead of his brother. FOUR: To 'My dearest Cousie'. Undated [docketed '? March 1896']. 2pp., 12mo. Sending her cousin's 'long delayed birthday present', with lists of the Russian days of the week and months of the year. 'Tell Dot to turn it every day or else I know these sort of calendars are apt to be worse than useless.' FIVE: To 'My dearest Dot'. Undated [docketed 'Date unknown but 1896 / Spring or Autumn?']. 4pp., 12mo. First part only. SIX: To 'My dearest Cousie'. 3 November 1896. 24pp., 12mo. She has visited the Kremlin with 'Miss Vizatelly [sic]', who is 'staying with Mrs. Bigsby. She is as queer as ever but very nice. She is the daughter of the once Editor of the Illustrated News [Henry Vizetelly (1820-1894)], & her father knew all sorts of literary people. [...] she knew Sala very well, & Marie Correlli [sic] & Rosa N. Carey & heaps of other people. She came out at a reception at Versailles & has been to America & nearly all over the continent & lived in a Russian "boyard" family in the country'. She describes the 'huge pictures', 'grand gilded doors', halls and 'magnificent rooms' ('though almost bare of furniture & the walls & chandeliers & everything [...] covered up'). 'What we much admired were the floors beautifully inlaid, like an old table, with various kinds of wood, in elaborate designs & then polished'. The 'apartments of the Tsaritza & her children' are 'a sort of Western harem'. She next describes a visit to the Treasury: 'there was a room full of most ancient carriages, Katherine the Great & others, which were simply extraordinary, & covered sleighs made before glass was invented & they had windows of mica - sort of gelatine cooking stuff. Then there was the bed that Napoleon slept in when he came to Moscow which he left behind him; it was a very plain camp bed & all folded up into a satchel.' The throne room, and the Tsar's and Tsaritza's coronation robes, are described next, then the Chapel of the Patriarchs, where they are shown by a verger 'the cherished bits of remains of the defunct saints & patriarchs'. From there they go to the Cathedral of the Assumption, Red Square and the Church of Saint Basilio. The letter ends with news of the Bigsby house and her mother's bad health ('She has the blues if there is not a letter from Dot, & she has the blues if there is, because that reminds her about it.') In a postscript she wonders what Alice 'would think of Russian ways. Cook & Marie eat out of the frying pan with their fingers or big wooden spoon & then Marie sits on the table & sucks the bones!' SEVEN: To 'Dearest Everybody'. Undated [docketed 'Dec. 1896? / after her birthday']. 8pp., 12mo. First part only. She describes her birthday and presents, and 'Mrs. John Smith' and her residence, 'the prettiest house I have ever seen. It is a flat in the Nevski Boulevard, upstairs.' Her Moscow acquaintance are 'all very charming, though dreadfully rich & they can all speak four languages, & are nearly all something wonderful in music singing or fancy work. At first they all seemed rather "silver papery," except indeed Mrs. Whitehead, but after the first time or so, they are all as friendly as possible.'
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