Hooker, Sir Joseph Dalton
JHC582
Hotel de Londres, Rue des Petitstits Augustins, Paris, [France]
JDH/2/8 f.57-60
Evans Lombe (nee Hooker), Elizabeth 'Bessy'
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
8-2-1845
© Descendants of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker
Letters during a tour in Paris and Leyden
The Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
English
Contemporary MS copy
8 page letter over 4 folios
 
Transcript

marvellously lively, though enclosed in a mass of solid crystal. From the upper end of the conservatory opens an exquisite little withdrawing room or cabinet, furnished with sofas & books, the walls painted in arabesque & profusely gilt: it is like entering a casket of jewels or an enchanted Palace of the Arabian Nights. The second Salon is large & hung with rare & beautiful pictures, exquisite pieces by Raphael, Murillo & the great Masters & many paintings of recent date & (to my mind) of great excellence: there is a fine Pianoforte & many other decorations in this room. The 3[r]d Salon is smaller & contains pictures by recent or living artists, exceedingly good I thought & had not supposed that such works by were produced in this so-called degenerate age of Painting. The 4th Salon is small, but contains a beautiful copy in marble of the Apollo Belvedere terminating the rooms & directly facing a Nymph, placed at the commencement of this suite of apartments, which being all of one length & the statues, both of white marble & placed alike against dark crimson curtains, a most elegant termination is formed at each end. These rooms were built lately & intended chiefly for the use of the family, not of the Baron himself, who seldom gives large parties, but oftener entertains a small number, either of fellow peers, or of Naturalists. I meet there many great men, as the Duke de Broglie*6, & M. Cordier*7 the geologist, who is also a Peer, though plain Monsieur this often occurs, & is the case with M. Brongniart*8 the Geologist & Director of the Royal Sevres China manufactory & with many other persons.

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*1
rec[eive]d Tuesday Feb[ruary] 11th
Hotel de Londres
Rue des petits Augustins
Friday Feb[ruary] 8 1845
My dear Elizabeth*2
I have been so much occupied of late that my correspondence is rather slack; partly owing also to the circumstance that it was not until yesterday I could obtain an apartment with a fireplace, & my former lodging was too cold to allow of my sitting to write in it at night; for, as you know, turning in cold ensures the continuing so for several hours afterwards. Now I have a very commodious little apartment conformable to Humboldt's*3 which is immediately below it: there is a bed-kennel & washing room off the chamber, so that I am quite nicely lodged. The tables in almost all these houses, are made of a coarse marble, full of fossils, & though this material may be very agreeable in summer, it is woefully cold in winter. Every morning I take my breakfast before going out, bread coffee & eggs, when not invited; but only coffee when asked out, & in the latter case the hour is never earlier than 11 o'clock.
This Paris is the prettiest place possible, whether by day or night, & one could hardly ever tire of looking at the shop-windows, which are universally well-glazed & tastefully arranged. As in other foreign parts, the different Trades cluster, more or less together: & the groups of jewellers, confectioners, print sellers & especially of vendors of ornaments-of-no-use are exceedingly beautiful.

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Most single people dine at a Restaurateur's, where the meals are good & cheap, & the cooking of such things as plain fish, & roast fowl, is unexceptionable, as are the plain soups; but every such article of cutlets is abominably ill dressed, soaked in butter & burnt up to hide the faults. It seems customary to eat of 5 dishes, but 3 are quite as many as I can manage, & these would be are soup, fowl & fish, often indeed substituting oysters or an omelette for the first & last. However, my friends often invite me, & thus I seldom go to the restaurateur's. There is no beer, & I take instead half a bottle which is generally tolerable; & for all this, including bread & another dish, if I choose to order it, the price is charged 1s/8d. My companion is generally a droll little Frenchman, called Montagne*4, who lives alone, up 4 pairs of stairs (there is "such a getting up stairs here. As you never did see,") he resides close by me, is nearly 80 years old & a very good Cryptogamic Botanist.
M. De Lessert*5 is the great man among Naturalists in Paris: he lives in the Rue Montmartre, his house is fine & well-worth seeing. I very often go thither to visit his collection, but being a Banker, he has no time to spend in his museum during the day, nor is he a Botanist himself, though a great Patron of that Science. A brother's family reside with M. De Lessert; the brother is a member of the Chamber of Deputies & a very pleasant little man, his wife too is exceedingly agreeable & both are most kind to me. The customs at dinner here are not precisely like what we are used to in England, for the chief gentleman takes

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the 2[n]d chief Lady & so on. The names are put on the plates in large parties, which is an excellent plan though it often separates the couples; for there is often sometimes an advantage in departing from the ceremonious mode of entrée, & the individuals may gain by the change since it does not follow that the gentleman of highest rank must necessarily find himself most comfortably placed by the greatest lady -- or vice versa. After dinner, the guests go away together, each gentleman leading the lady next to whom he has been seated. I did not understand this, at first, but luckily took the hint, by Mme De Lessert saying she could not afford to lose me so soon, which was very polite. Indeed the people here are wonderfully polite, which I fear often cloaks a great deal of hypocrisy. The dinner is served by many "flunkeys", who are generally black (not in the face) & neither gold nor silver is commonly seen in the footmen's dresses: they hand round dishes innumerable & inform you of their names though none have been so polite as Mr Lawrence's servant was in telling me that something was "most particular good". After dinner we go into the Salons: these, in M. De Lesserts house are most spacious & agreeable; they run back from the house about 100 yards. There are besides two beautiful drawing rooms, richly furnished & adorned with good pictures. The first "salon" is a conservatory, carpeted & full of most exquisite flowers, especially Camellias, Aeonias, Mimosa etc. There are also gold fishes, in a large square tank of plate glass, full to the brim & placed on a high table near the wall, so that the fish look as if swimming in a piece of rock crystal. At the back are birdcages, where the birds have equally the appearance of being

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marvellously lively, though enclosed in a mass of solid crystal. From the upper end of the conservatory opens an exquisite little withdrawing room or cabinet, furnished with sofas & books, the walls painted in arabesque & profusely gilt: it is like entering a casket of jewels or an enchanted Palace of the Arabian Nights. The second Salon is large & hung with rare & beautiful pictures, exquisite pieces by Raphael, Murillo & the great Masters & many paintings of recent date & (to my mind) of great excellence: there is a fine Pianoforte & many other decorations in this room. The 3[r]d Salon is smaller & contains pictures by recent or living artists, exceedingly good I thought & had not supposed that such works by were produced in this so-called degenerate age of Painting. The 4th Salon is small, but contains a beautiful copy in marble of the Apollo Belvedere terminating the rooms & directly facing a Nymph, placed at the commencement of this suite of apartments, which being all of one length & the statues, both of white marble & placed alike against dark crimson curtains, a most elegant termination is formed at each end. These rooms were built lately & intended chiefly for the use of the family, not of the Baron himself, who seldom gives large parties, but oftener entertains a small number, either of fellow peers, or of Naturalists. I meet there many great men, as the Duke de Broglie*6, & M. Cordier*7 the geologist, who is also a Peer, though plain Monsieur this often occurs, & is the case with M. Brongniart*8 the Geologist & Director of the Royal Sevres China manufactory & with many other persons.

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People here have all been most kind to me & I receive much more attention than I could possibly have expected, especially from persons of rank, who, like our politicians I suppose, are very busy at this season. M. F. De Lessert got me an excellent place at the Chamber of Deputies, which is a beautiful apartment, with 20 beautiful marble pillars, placed in a semicircle. The Members sit in a sort of amphitheatre; & at one end, or rather at the centre of the half-circle, there is a Tribune for the President & Speakers. The room is fitted up with deep red marble, on which the decorations in white marble look like cameos: & marble friezes, gilding & green velvet complete the ornaments. A huge & (to my mind) very ugly picture is placed over the Tribune. The Chamber is lighted by a ground glass window, which is opened when dusk comes on, & thence descends a most exquisite lustre; you can conceive nothing more tasteful, it is neither large nor gaudy.
Next week I am to visit the Chamber of Peers, where M. [space left in text where a name should appear] has got a place for me & hopes to take me with himself though this must depend on my being able to suit his time, & my many engagements render it doubtful. I have also an order to see the Hotel de Ville, a most magnificent building outside, compared with which our new Exchange is very poor, though the new Houses of Parliament will beat the Hotel de Ville. Great ingenuity has been bestowed on its embellishment, within & without: for the covered ways & arched galleries are of exquisitely carved stone & the ceilings of the corridors running at the top of the top of the building are brilliantly painted in Frescos. In Paris, wherever there is a fine edifice, space is left

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for it to be advantageously seen. The French show wonderful taste in embellishing & though it is easy to call it French Taste by way of disparagement, it is not so easy to impart the beauty of [the] effect which they produce. I dare say most of the buildings & fine sights here may be full of faults & certainly they do not look well upon paper, but the reality is both striking & pleasing.
The Italian Opera House in Paris is a small, but brilliantly decorated. The roof is a light canopy, up borne by 10 female figures about twice the size of life & all the supports of the tiers of boxes are of carved figures. There is a profusion of gilding, arabesque & painting: the cushions are of crimson velvet & the front boxes which project considerably, have the whole line of balustrade gilt & they are papered with crimson & furnished with cream damask draperies, with gold fringe, setting off to great advantages the dresses & jewels of the ladies. The theatre itself for the performance is small, but exquisitely ornamented. I Puritani & Lablache are attracting great crowds & the singing is quite wonderful. There is no Ballet, & the price of the Pit is but 3s/6d; whilst in England it is 10s/6d & in a house at least 5 times as big. But the French prefer the Drama to Vocal music, & frequent the other theatres, of which I am told there are no less than 18 & all more or less dirty.
I have now so many invitations that I hardly know how I am to get away from this place: -- not before Friday next & more probably Monday: for tomorrow I go to M. Gay's*9 & Baron De Lessert's (the latter in the evening) & on Monday & the other days of next week, to Brongniart, Decaisne*10, Richard*11, Comte Jaubert*12 & sundry others. I generally visit the Jardin

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des Plantes*13 in a morning, about 2 miles distant from this house & a most horribly dirty walk, through the worst part of Paris, which is bad indeed! With all the beauties of Paris, it has many unpardonable faults, as the filth of the streets which are abominable in bad weather: the pavement too is wretched; few streets are flagged on both sides, but here a bit & there a bit; sometimes on one side, sometimes on the other, obliging you to keep dodging across over the gutters & rough stones, to gain a scrap of pavement. The omnibuses are very ordinary & though celerity, expedition & the like are very "slow Coaches"; the cabs are better, but not particularly good nor to be compared with those in London. The price is 1 franc & /4' for which you may go from [one] end of Paris to the other provided, you do not stop, if you do, the charge is double, or you may pay by the hour: the plan is excellent for practical purposes. The horses are generally small. Two-horse carriages are rather rare, Broughams are common & Pilentums innumerable, the latter being quite the rage, & as they are tastefully fitted up, they look very well with a good horse. Though noblemen in England would not put even their coronets on such small affairs, the owners here emblazon their arms fully on the pannels.
The weather has been rather improving lately, though still raw & uncomfortably cold. There are however so many miles of covered way in Paris, that foot passengers do not experience the same inconvenience during rain that they do in London. Indeed the comfort & amusement of the populace seem to be most sedulously studied here; probably because they are such captious customers to deal with.
The public buildings are enormously large. The Palais Royal, begun

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by Richelieu, a Minister who seems to have had many of Wolsey's faults, is at least 3 times or 4 times the size of Somerset House. It has 3 Courts or Quadrangles, all with arcades & the whole length within is filled with shops, so closely & regularly placed as to look like a wall of glass & pretty things. This place was once the Bazaar of Paris, but the more beautiful shops on the Boulevards have cut it out. It still contains the best Restaurateurs in Paris, Véry & some others, whose establishment are filled out like superb Palaces. Baron Humboldt took me to Véry's[?] the other day & gave me as luxurious a dinner as could be provided, for which I am sure he paid most tremendously. It is seldom he has to buy his own dinner & when he does, I suppose he likes a good one.
This morning I received letters from my father & mother & from Maria*14, enclosing the chart: pray thank them all. Tell Maria I am much obliged to her for the care she takes of my letters. I something ought certainly to have left directions for a colored[?] copy of the Antarctic Cryptogamia*15 to be sent to Mr Wilson & I suspect papa cannot read my writing. The old plates of Cryptogamia which he mentions are probably proofs for the next number, but Fitch*16 should know, they should number after LXIV. Pray ask him to prepare Reeves*17 for my breaking off after Part X. Tell Maria that I suspect the Mr Browne she tells me of, to be an Assistant Surgeon whom I knew in the Island of Ascension. Many thanks to mamma for her letter. I am very sorry to hear grandmamma is so poorly; this weather is against present amendment; but the worst, I hope is over. Love to grandpapa Hooker X*18
X*18 What can I get for him - Y[ou]r aff[ectiona]te brother Joseph D Hooker

ENDNOTES


1. This letter is a copy written in a hand not that of the original author, Joseph Dalton Hooker. The copy was probably made by Hooker’s mother or sister so that a version could be circulated amongst family and friends.
2. Elizabeth (Bessy) Evans-Lombe (née Hooker) (1820--1998). Joseph Hooker's younger sister.
3. Baron Alexander von Humboldt (1769--1859). German naturalist, explorer and plant collector in Spanish America, Russia and Asia. His most famous work was Cosmos -- a survey of the physical sciences and their interrelation.
4. Jean Pierre François Camille Montagne (1784--1866). A French military physician and botanist. Upon retirement from military service in 1832 he concentrated on the study of cryptogams.
5. Jules Paul Benjamin De Lessert (normally written Delessert) (1773--1847). French banker, businessman and member of the Chamber of Deputies. He was created a baron of the Empire for developing the industrial manufacture of sugar from sugar beet. He was an ardent botanist and conchologist with renowned private museum and botanical library.
6. Probably Jacques-Victor-Albert, 4th duc de Broglie (1821--1901). French monarchist politician, diplomat and writer.
7. Pierre Louis Antoine Cordier (1777--1861). French geologist and mineralogist. He was professor of geology at the Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle in Paris from 1819--1861 and a founder of the French Geological Society. He was elected to the French Academy of Sciences, made a Commander of the Légion d'honneur and a Peer of France.

8. Alexandre Brongniart (1770--1847). A French chemist, mineralogist and zoologist. Appointed director of the Sèvres porcelain manufactory in 1800 a post he held for 47 years. He introduced a new classification of reptiles, studied trilobites and pioneered the use of fossil markers for dating strata.
9. Claude Gay (1800--1873). A French botanist, naturalist and illustrator who abandoned his medical studies for natural history. He taught and collected in Chile -- carrying out a scientific survey of the country for the Chilean government. He donated his collections to the Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle. The Chiliean government conferred Chilean nationality on him and he was elected a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
10. Joseph Decaisne (1807--1882). French botanist and agronomist. He worked at the Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle and the Jardin des Plantes studying plants brought back from around the world, contributing to taxonomy and applied horticulture. He held the chair of horticulture at the Muséum and was one of the founders of the Société botanique de France.
11. Achille Richard (1794--1852). French botanist and physician. He studied and described several genera of orchids. He was a member of both the French Academy of Sciences and of Medicine.
12. Hippolyte François Jaubert (1798--1874). French politician and botanist. He originally studied law but inherited the title of Count and a large fortune. In his early life he studied the flora and geology of the Auvergne and Provence. He was active in politics up until 1848 but then devoted himself to business and botany. He was elected to the Academy of Sciences in 1858 and was among the founders of the Société botanique de France. He used material from his collections and those of the Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle to publish Ilustrationes plantarum orientalium.
13. Jardin des Plantes, originally known as the Jardin du Roi, is the main botanical garden in France. It was founded in 1626 and is one of seven departments of the Muséum nationale d'histoire naturelle.
14. Maria McGilivray (née Hooker) (1819--1889). Joseph Hooker's sister.
15. Antarctic Cryptogamia or Cryptogamia Antarctica. The crytpogamic botany of the Antarctic voyage of HM discovery ships Erebus and Terror in the years 1839--1843 under the command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross by Joseph Dalton Hooker. Printed and published by Reeve Brothers.
16. Walter Hood Fitch (1817--1892). Originally a pattern-drawer in a calico printing factory. He entered Sir William Hooker's service in 1834, and for half a century continued as the official draughtsman for the Kew botanical publications.
17. Lovell Reeve & Co. Publishing Company. The company was considered the leading natural history publishers of the era. Augustus Lovell Reeve (1814--1865) was the founder of the company. In 1845 the Botanical Magazine was launched by William Hooker and Reeve later acquired it. When Lovell Reeve died, the management of the firm passed to his partner, Francis Lesiter Soper, and the editorship of the Botanical Magazine was passed to Joseph Hooker.
18. The valediction of this letter, marked with an X, was inserted down the left hand side of page 1.

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