Dear Madam Macmillan published both series of the Store House of Stories. I do not know that the second series is gone out of print, I should think they had it in stock. If not I could lend it to you- or my own old copy of ‘the Puzzle for a curious girl’ which I inherited from my mother, and is somewhere in the house, though I cannot lay my hand on it ... continue reading

Dear Miss Walker Thank you for writing to tell me of the fate of the letters, I am afraid such has often befallen the like when they descend to a generation too young to care for them and not wishing for the encumbrance. I have a screen worked in that way by my mother, but I think almost all my other possessions of the kind have worn out.

Mr Hobart Hampden has his eldest sister Sarah ... continue reading

Dear Miss Walker I read a review of Miss Winslow’s diary, which must have given a fair idea of it. Most Grandisonian days those were! Did you see ‘Like Another Helen’ in which very good imitation letters are written by a young lady who actually was the one woman in the Black Hole. I thought it the best novel I had seen of the season. I wonder whether Gaffer Two Shoes was an ... continue reading

My dear Miss Walker Did people in 1800 think as much about war as we do? In fact I think they had a respite then, while the Peace of Amiens prevailed. I knew the old Dean of Winchester who had been at a levee of the First Consul in that year with Sir James Mackintosh. I made my niece look at him (the Dean) he was 90, by way of making a link

I have ... continue reading

Dear Miss Walker I was much interested in your letter, though I am afraid I had not heard Miss Lawrence’s name. I believe my mother left school at 14 in consequence of her father’s very sudden death, so her career there must have been a short one. I have always thought it must have been a very good school, her knowledge was so thorough, and she taught me almost entirely except a French master ... continue reading

Dear Miss Walker I should like much to know your Grandmother’s name, in case I should have heard of her from my mother. The curious thing is that my mother had no idea that she was a success. She was very miserable at school, being really too delicate for the treatment of those days and never well in London. She thought her lessons were always marked ‘très mediocre’, and her comfort was watching ... continue reading

Dear Madam I have found my Puzzle for a Curious Girl - 2d edition, 1805, given to my mother ‘Miss Fanny Bargus’ as her name is written. The illustrations are cuts, very tightly dressed, the father in knee breeches, the servant opening the carriage door in a cocked hat. I was guilty of painting the first cuts very badly indeed

I have also ‘the Little Queen’ in the Children’s Miscellany where are also Little ... continue reading