Henry Christian Mayer letters to Eliza Blaikwell Mayer [manuscript], 1838-1839.

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Mayer, Henry Christian, 1821-1846. Henry Christian Mayer letters to Eliza Blaikwell Mayer [manuscript], 1838-1839.

Henry Christian Mayer letters to Eliza Blaikwell Mayer [manuscript], 1838-1839.

http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/180923293

Mayer, a law student, writes to his stepmother from the University of Virginia. 1838, Nov.2: He is glad to receive her letter for he has come "to a desert land, a land not flowing with milk & honey, but tough beef, bad butter & miserable coffee." Mayer comments that it is wrong to give the hotelkeepers a monopoly over the students, but all in all, he has not suffered too badly. He asks his mother to send him Baretti's large Italian dictionary, or if that is not available, any large one except Graglia's, which he has. He also asks for a lock with two keys and a box of cigars to be sent with his German books. He closes with family news. 1839, Jan. 22: Mayer notes that he has finished his law examinations and hopes to be "distinguished." He gives an account of his journey to the University from Baltimore, through Washington, D.C., Alexandria, Va., Fredericksburg, Va., and Richmond, Va. He comments on attending a small party at "Prof. [George] Tucker's": "the old lady, the most ridiculously affected woman I have ever met with in my life, daughters gloomy , intellectual looking creatures, verging toward the 'sear [sic] and yellow leaf.' Don't know how the affectation of the mother, the sentimentality and bluestockingness of the daughters (they write books & o horrors, one of them perpetrated a novel) and my visiting will agree together." Mayer concludes with rembrances to his family and appends a note to his father giving his expenses and asking for additional money for the session. 1829, Feb.10: Written on a printed invitation to a ball celebrating Washington's birthday. Asks his mother to remind his father that he needs to receive $100 by March 1. 1839, Mar. 20: Apologizes for not writing sooner. Mentions that he has been "smitten" by a young lady, but it is nothing serious. Mayer has had a cold for the past week and was confined to bed for two days. The fare at his boarding house is miserable. 1839, Apr. 6: Mayer states that he is over his cold and back to his regular good health. He has transferred to a new room on the Lawn with "a view of the Professors houses with their Corinthian pillars in front." He wishes that his stepmother could visit for "this is one of the most beautiful places which can be imagined in the spring." Mayer is so disgusted with the food at his hotel that he has begun taking meals at a private boarding house.

5 items.

University of Virginia. Library