Volume 1

The letters of William James / edited by his son, Henry James.

  • William James
Date:
1920
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The letters of William James / edited by his son, Henry James. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Aet. 5/] TO SHADWORTH H. HODGSON To Francois Pillon. [Post-card] London, June 17, 1893. You can hardly imagine how strong my disappointment was in losing you in Paris — when we might have found you by going to Alcan’s on Monday, or by writing you before we came. It seems now sheer folly! But I did n’t think of the possibility of your being gone so early in the summer. Our three young children are all in Switzerland, the older boy in Munich, and my wife and I are like middle-aged omnibus-horses let loose in a pasture. The first time we have had a holiday together for 15 years. I feel like a barrel without hoops! We shall be here in England for a month at least. After that everything is uncertain. I may not even pass through Paris again. W. J. To Shadworth H. Hodgson. London, June 23, 1893. My dear Hodgson,— I am more different kinds of an ass, or rather I am (without ceasing to be different kinds) the same kind more often than any other living man! This morning I knocked at your door, inwardly exultant with the certainty that I should find you, and learned that you had left for Saltburn just one hour ago! A week ago yester¬ day the same thing happened to me at Pillon’s in Paris, and because of the same reason, my having announced my presence a day too late. My wife and I have been here six days. As it was her first visit to England and she had a lot of clothes to get, having worn out her American supply in the past year, we thought we had better remain incog, for a week, drinking in London irresponsibly, and letting the dressmakers have
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