Volume 1

The Farington diary / edited by James Greig.

  • Joseph Farington
Date:
[1922?-1928]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Farington diary / edited by James Greig. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    July 17. —Sir Jos. Banks is to call on me with him [Mr. Lysons] ; and to engage Mr. Gibbon [the historian], who is on a visit to Lord Sheffield, to sit to Mr. Dance. Breakfasted with Mr. Dance and compared my views of Blenheim with his edition of Campbell’s “ Vitruvius,” in which I find some varia¬ tions in the decorations from the present state of the building. Probably though originally designed, some decorations which were found in Campbell* were never executed. Mr. Dance made a remarkable likeness a profile of Mr. Lysons. July 20.—Went with [G.J Dance and Lysons to breakfast at Mr. Piozzi’s, at Streatham—Mr. Dance made drawings of Mr. and Mrs. Piozzi [Thrale, friend of Dr. Johnson and author of “ Anecdotes ” about him]. In the Library at Streatham are £ portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, of Lord Sandys, Lord Westcote, Mr. Murphy, Dr. Goldsmith, Sir Joshua Reynolds, Sir Robert Chambers (Judge in Bengal), Mr. Garrick, Mr. Thrale, Mr. Barretti, Dr. Burney [brother of Fanny Burney, author of “ Evelina ”], Mr. Burke, and Dr. Johnson. Over the chim- neypiece whole length portraits of Mrs. Piozzi and her eldest daughter, Miss Thrale [“ Queenie,” who became Viscountess Keith]. Mr. Piozzi obligingly played on the pianoforte and sung in a charming taste. He is a very obliging, unaffected man, and as much English as a foreigner can be in manner and way of thinking. He and Mrs. Piozzi are nearly of the same age, somewhere about fifty. Miss Hamit Lee, authoress of a novel called “ Errors of Innocence,” was on a visit to them. The youngest Miss Thrale is also with them. July 21 .—Went with Mrs. Farington and Mr. Lysons by Putney and East Sheen and through Richmond Park, to the Star and Garter to breakfast. Went on to Strawberry Hill. Lord Orford showed us the house, which we had sufficient time to view at our leisure. We saw the small room in which are Lady Di Beauclerk’sf designs for Lord Orford’s play of the Mysterious Mother—also his China Closet, neither of which are shown but seldom. Lord Orford has the best picture of Paul Brils I have seen. We dined at 5, and in the afternoon Mr. Berry and the Miss Berrys came. Lord Orford mentioned that at Richmond and in the neighbour¬ hood there are a great number of French emigrants, many of them of high fashion. That party spirit rages among them, some being Royalists, others as they call themselves, Constitutionalists, which makes it neces¬ sary to be cautious not to assemble them, together, though they labour under the common grievance of being expelled from their native country. [This was in the time of the French Revolution.] July 23 .—Mrs. Piozzi received from Cadell, the Bookseller, .£150 for the Manuscript of her Anecdotes of Dr. Johnson, and .£500 for her * Colin Campbell was one of the leading architects of his day. t Lady Di’s work was much praised in her lifetime. She was the wife of Topham Beauclerk, the well- known wit. I* VOL. I.