Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Mrs Stowe and Her Neighbors in Rome," Lowell Daily Citizen and News, July 23, 1860
Dublin Core
Title
Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Mrs Stowe and Her Neighbors in Rome," Lowell Daily Citizen and News, July 23, 1860
Subject
Cushman, Charlotte Saunders, 1816-1876
Artists--US American
Artists--Sculptors--US American
Actors and Actresses--US American
Italy--Rome
Social Critique
Gender Norms
Gossip--Private
Gossip--Published
Intimacy--As Source
Description
Originally, the article was published in the New York Independent on July 12, 1860. Stowe describes social gatherings in Via Gregoriana in Rome. She explicitly mentions Cushman's household, Stebbins, and Hosmer, who are living together. The short article eventually explains the nature of gossip and distinguishes different forms of gossip, ranging from irreprehensible daily talk to harmful practice.
Credit
Readex: America's Historical Newspapers
Creator
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896
Source
Lowell Daily Citizen and News;
reprint from New York Independent
reprint from New York Independent
Publisher
Chauncy L. Knapp
Date
1860-07-23
Type
Reference
Article Item Type Metadata
Text
"Mrs Stowe and her Neighbors in Rome.
Our own establishment in Via Gregoriana seemed to us in a day or two as natural and homelike as if we had always lived here. [...] and is a street, moreover, full of agreeable neighbors. Miss Cushman has established herself in a set of rooms on this street, where she lives in company with Miss Hosmer and Miss Stebbins. Nothing could be more artistic and charming than her rooms. They are furnished with that quaint old carved furniture which has come down from olden times of Italian magnificene, and which is both historic and poetic. Gems of modern art adorn the walls – a portrait of a Roman girl by Page, and a superb view of Venice by Tilton. Both these paintings are characterized by a peculiarity of color and style which could not fail to make them remarked in any collection. [...] Opposite to Miss Cushman lives Mr. Tilton, and this little knot of artists seem to have many pleasant little reunions. Receptions in Rome are the finest and pleasantest things possible. As so many are sojourning together in a strange land, there is all the kind of freedom of a continual journey or pic-nic. One discourses about one's room, one's tea, one's bread and butter, one's china, and in short everything that belongs to one's establishment. One tastes your tea and pronounces it excellent, and asks you where you got it, and delightedly imparts to you in return the grand secret of a place where you can find English biscuits. [...] Rome is said to be a great place for gossip. We believe it–not from any peculiar experience of the kind, but form the nature of the case. Gossip is generally one of the fruits of sociality. If you think about your neighbors much you will talk about them; if you talk about them it turns to gossip; and so, doubtless, there is much wondering about Mr. A., and surmising about Mr. B., which does not harm unless it becomes uncharitable. – H.B.S. in the New York Independent of July 12th"
Our own establishment in Via Gregoriana seemed to us in a day or two as natural and homelike as if we had always lived here. [...] and is a street, moreover, full of agreeable neighbors. Miss Cushman has established herself in a set of rooms on this street, where she lives in company with Miss Hosmer and Miss Stebbins. Nothing could be more artistic and charming than her rooms. They are furnished with that quaint old carved furniture which has come down from olden times of Italian magnificene, and which is both historic and poetic. Gems of modern art adorn the walls – a portrait of a Roman girl by Page, and a superb view of Venice by Tilton. Both these paintings are characterized by a peculiarity of color and style which could not fail to make them remarked in any collection. [...] Opposite to Miss Cushman lives Mr. Tilton, and this little knot of artists seem to have many pleasant little reunions. Receptions in Rome are the finest and pleasantest things possible. As so many are sojourning together in a strange land, there is all the kind of freedom of a continual journey or pic-nic. One discourses about one's room, one's tea, one's bread and butter, one's china, and in short everything that belongs to one's establishment. One tastes your tea and pronounces it excellent, and asks you where you got it, and delightedly imparts to you in return the grand secret of a place where you can find English biscuits. [...] Rome is said to be a great place for gossip. We believe it–not from any peculiar experience of the kind, but form the nature of the case. Gossip is generally one of the fruits of sociality. If you think about your neighbors much you will talk about them; if you talk about them it turns to gossip; and so, doubtless, there is much wondering about Mr. A., and surmising about Mr. B., which does not harm unless it becomes uncharitable. – H.B.S. in the New York Independent of July 12th"
Location
Lowell, Massachusetts, United States
Geocode (Latitude)
42.6334247
Geocode (Longitude)
-71.3161718
Secondary Texts: Comments
Culkin comments on Stowe's and Cushman's coexistence in Rome: "Harriet Beecher Stowe, who stayed on the same street when she visited Rome in 1860, described the space, noting that the rooms were "charming" and "artistic" and were furnished with "that quaint old carved furniture which has come down from olden times of Italian magnificence, and which is both historic and poetic." [FN 186 no. 24: Harriet Beecher Stowe, "House Keeping in Rome," Independent, July 12, 1860]” (Culkin 60–61)
Social Bookmarking
Geolocation
Collection
Citation
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 1811-1896, “Harriet Beecher Stowe's "Mrs Stowe and Her Neighbors in Rome," Lowell Daily Citizen and News, July 23, 1860,” Archival Gossip Collection, accessed April 25, 2024, https://www.archivalgossip.com/collection/items/show/89.