Holograph of a diary kept by 14-year-old Dorothy Walpole, who records primarily routine social activities, both her own and those of family members, especially her mother, father, sister Rachel, and brother Horace, such as visits to and from friends; trips every Monday and Friday to the dancing academy; visits by the music master; and breakfasts, teas, and dinners with acquaintances; attendance at balls. She visits with Jane, Charlotte, and Fanny Pepys in London; on another occasion, she accompanies her mother to the Pantheon where she buys worsteds and patterns. She records the gifts she receives for Christmas; and, at the end of the volume, her travels through Italy, where she describes the quality of her lodgings in various towns; views paintings and churches; and declares Parma "the most horrible place I ever was in." Elsewhere, she records several verses, including an epitaph and a poem on mortality called The common lot; as well as a prose narrative of the life of St. Dorothy
Description:
Lady Dorothy Fanny Nevill (née Walpole) (1826-1913), hostess, horticulturist, and writer, was the youngest daughter of Horatio Walpole, third earl of Orford, and his wife, Mary, daughter of William Augustus Fawkener. In 1847, she married her cousin Reginald Henry Nevill (1807-1878); their 23-acre garden at Dangstein, in west Sussex, soon became well-known in horticultural circles, particularly for its collection of exotic plants and silkworms. She was the author of five books: Mannington and the Walpoles, Earls of Orford (1894), a book on silkworms, and three autobiographical volumes: The Reminiscences of Lady Dorothy Nevill (1906), Leaves from the Notebooks of Lady Dorothy Nevill (1907), and Under Five Reigns (1910)., In English., On title page: Journal begun May 1st 1840 Friday., On verso of title page: My Journal book. Dorothy Fanny Walpole. May 1st 1840 Friday., Pasted inside front cover: advertisement for W. Creswick, Paper Maker, 5 John Street, Oxford Street., and Binding: green half calf over marbled boards.
