Letters from Kate Field to Eliza Riddle Field (excerpts)
Dublin Core
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Field also tells her mother about the professional advice she receives from Cushman about her singing lessions - which she rejects, however, since she is firm in her insistence on staying in Italy (Cushman recommends England).
The transcripts of the letters only contain a year, no specific dates.
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To Eliza Riddle Field (LW)
[1859] [Rome]
I like it, I love it, and I only wish I could remain here for moths. The weather is charming, the sky is so blue. The carnival was glorious, and I was in it all the time, and what fun I did have. I was in a carriage with a boy's hat on, the only on in the Corso. I have just sent a letter in rhyme to the "[Boston] Courier." I am having singing lessons with [Carlo] Sebastiani, and if I only enjoy there for a month, it will still a be great gain.
. . . Last Sunday I went with Miss Cushman, Miss Stebbins, Hattie Hosmer, Mr. Ward, a young sculptor, and Mr Ned Cushman, to a picnic at Hadrian Villa (six miles out of Rome). We had a glorious day among the ruins, the mountains, and the wonderful sky. The country around Rome is made for drives and rides.
To Eliza Riddle Field (LW)
[1859] [Rome]
Miss Cushman wants me to go to England this Spring, but I want to study with [Pietro] Romani in Florence. Miss Stebbins is a noble woman, and has certainly a great talent for sculpture. The Brownings are here, and have been all winter. [Nathaniel] Hawthorne and President [Franklin] P9ierce have just arrived. Rome agrees with me so much better than Paris. Then the green fields, the ruins, the paintings, the sculpture, all the life I love so much. If only you were with me, darling mother. There might be a bright future for us.
To Eliza Riddle Field (LW)
[1859] [Rome]
Miss Cushman says [Manuel] Garci, in London, is the finest teacher in the world and urges Uncle and Aunt to leave me in England. I am crazy to be at work. I want to see what effect the change in claimte will have on my voice, and I am so anxious to be independent, and have my dear little mother in a position worthy of her tastes and talents. I shall never feel comfortable until I am my own mistress and have an occupation. Not that I do not enjoy the present; not, indeed, that I do not appreciate my opportunities; but I feel that if anything is to be done, now is the time, and Aunt Corda has become willing that I should go on the stage as a profession. I am afraid there’s no chance for me, but I hope for the best. Rome is no place for music, Naples is better, but I want to study in Florence with Romani.
. . . . President Pierce called on us yesterday. He was very polite, but does not seem to be a man of much fun.
