Boston Adventure

by Jean Stafford

  125.37–126.12 Well they know . . . while we may.] See note 10.8–13.

  127.35–38 Till with age . . . a pretty girl!] See note 10.8–13.

  133.25 judge . . . Rastus] Minstrel shows often featured a character named Rastus appearing before a judge.

  135.35 Dr. Joachim’s Hungarian Concerto] Violin Concerto No. 2 in D Minor “in the Hungarian Manner” (1861) by the Hungarian violinist and composer Joseph Joachim (1831–1907). Joachim was awarded an honorary doctorate by Cambridge University in 1877.

  136.1 gamsbart] A tuft of hair used for decoration on traditional men’s hats in the Bavarian and Austrian Alps.

  139.11 Ethan Frome] Novella (1911) by Edith Wharton.

  144.8–11 the Point . . . lights of Boston] The geographic location of the fictitious town of Chichester corresponds with the town of Nahant northeast of Boston.

  147.18 Ars longa est] “Art is long,” from Ars longa est, vita brevis est: Art is long, life is short.

  151.27 Devitschiepol convent] The Novodevichy convent in Moscow, founded in 1524.

  151.36–152.6 They shout . . . pass the Don.] From The Empire of the Czar, volume III (1843), an English translation of La Russie en 1839 (1843) by Astolphe-Louis-Léonor, Marquis de Custine (1790–1857). In The Empire of the Czar the “air” is described as “the national song of the Don Cossacks.”

  162.11 Verzeihung] Forgive me.

  163.29–30 one in Concord . . . authors were buried.] Sleepy Hollow Cemetery in Concord, where Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864), Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882), and Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) are buried.

  164.12 Revere or Otis] Paul Revere (1735–1818) and James Otis (1725–1783) are interred in the Granary Burial Ground in Boston.

  164.20–21 Cabot . . . Windsor] John Cabot (1680–1742) emigrated to New England in 1700, sixty years after John Prescott (1604–1681), who arrived in 1640. The Howard family has held the dukedom of Norfolk since 1483, while the House of Windsor, created in 1917, is descended from the House of Hannover, the dynasty that ascended to the British throne in 1714.

  168.13–14 The Boston Evening Transcript] Daily newspaper (except Sunday) published in Boston, 1830–1941.

  168.15 author of its contumely] T. S. Eliot (1888–1965). His comic poem “The Boston Evening Transcript” (“The readers of the Boston Evening Transcript / Sway in the wind like a field of ripe corn”) was first published in Poetry in 1915 and later included in his collection Poems (1920).

  168.30 the Athenaeum] The Boston Athenæum, an independent library and cultural institution founded in 1807.

  168.38 Holy Sonnets of John Donne] A series of nineteen devotional sonnets by John Donne (1572–1631) that were first published posthumously in 1633.

  169.3–4 Except you’ . . . ravish me.] Lines 13–14 of Holy Sonnet 14, “Batter my heart, three person’d God.”

  169.11 Groton] An Episcopal boarding school for boys, founded in Groton, Massachusetts, in 1884.

  169.19 Porcellian Club] An exclusive social club for Harvard College students, founded in 1791.

  172.19–21 Apthorp . . . Henry Adams] In chapter V of The Education Adams recounts meeting Robert E. Apthorp (1811–1882) in Berlin, where Apthorp spent the winter of 1858–59 “for the sake of the music.”

  172.22 The Americanization of Edward Bok] Autobiography (1920) by Edward Bok (1863–1930), a Dutch-American magazine editor and social reformer.

  181.22–23 The Deserted Village] Poem (1770) by Oliver Goldsmith (1728–1774), included in Literature and Life, Book Four (see note 117.25–26).

  183.25–26 Ode on Intimations of Immortality] Poem (1807) by William Wadsworth (1770–1850).

  183.32–34 In medio ramos . . . Somnia vulgo] Virgil, Aeneid, book VI, lines 282–83. In the translation by Henry Rushton Fairclough (1862–1938) for the Loeb Classics (1916): “In the midst an elm, shadowy and vast, spreads her boughs and aged arms, the home which, men say, false Dreams hold, clinging under every leaf.”

  193.13–14 “Die 28 Apr . . . a Cruce,”] April 28 was the feast day of St. Paul of the Cross (1694–1775), founder of the Passionist order.

  205.34–35 Lady-of-the-Lake voyage] Ellen Douglas rows a skiff across Loch Katrine in canto I of Sir Walter Scott’s poem The Lady in the Lake (1810).

  213.5–6 Little Sister of the Poor] A member of the Little Sisters of the Poor, a Roman Catholic religious institute founded in France in 1839.

  214.3 Fox sisters . . . Mr. Slipfoot] In 1848 Maggie Fox (1833–1893) and her sister Kate (1837–1892) began giving demonstrations at their home in Hydesville, New York, of their supposed ability to communicate with the dead through rapping sounds. They initially addressed the spirit allegedly haunting their home as “Mr. Splitfoot,” a nickname for the Devil, but later claimed that it was the ghost of a murdered peddler. Their sister Leah Fox Fish (1814–1890) became the family impresario, arranging séances for paying audiences in cities across the United States. In 1888 Maggie Fox confessed that she and Kate had made the rapping sounds themselves; she recanted her admission the following year.

  225.36–37 consistency . . . little minds.] In his essay “Self-Reliance” (1841), Emerson wrote: “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.”

  225.39 Harriet Martineau’s peregrinations] The English political economist Harriet Martineau (1802–1876) visited the United States in 1834–36. She wrote favorably about Emerson and the Unitarian clergyman and essayist William Ellery Channing (1780–1842) in her Retrospect of Western Travel (1838).

  227.21–22 Shreve, Crump, and Low . . . Mark Cross case.] Shreve, Crump, and Low, Boston jewelry store founded in 1796; Mark Cross, Boston luxury leather goods store founded in 1845.

  233.29 Ladies’ Home Journal] American women’s magazine that was published monthly from 1883 to 2014.

  235.33 lebkuchen] Gingerbread cookies.

  241.37 The Rise of Silas Lapham] Novel (1885) by William Dean Howells (1837–1920).

  245.30 Arma virumque cano] “Arms and the man I sing,” the first line of book I of the Aeneid.

  245.37–38 Shall I compare . . . more temperate.] William Shakespeare, Sonnet 18, lines 1–2.

  246.6–7 When in disgrace . . . outcast state.] Sonnet 29, lines 1–2.

  246.12–13 That time of . . . few do hang.] Sonnet 73, lines 1–2.

  246.18–23 She shall be . . . insensate things.] William Wordsworth, “Three Years She Grew” (1800), lines 13–18.

  246.28 The Prelude] Autobiographical poem in blank verse by William Wordsworth, published posthumously in 1850.

  246.32 those Lucy poems] Name given to five poems by Wordsworth, including “Three Years She Grew,” that were first published from 1800 to 1807.

  249.26–27 ‘east is east . . . twain shall meet.’] Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936), “The Ballad of East and West” (1887).

  249.31 Bartlett’s] Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, reference work first published in 1855 by American writer and bookseller John Bartlett (1820–1905).

  250.4 the Country Club] Founded in Brookline, Massachusetts, in 1882, the Country Club was the first of its kind in the United States.

  250.13–14 Chilton Club . . . St. Botolph] Chilton Club, see note 21.5–6; St. Botolph, Boston men’s club founded in 1880.

  253.7 tulipe noire] Black tulip.

  255.7 T Wharf] A wharf in Boston Harbor that adjoined the north side of the Long Wharf. Built in the early eighteenth century, it was removed in the 1960s.

  257.17 Winsor School] A private school for girls founded in Boston in 1886.

  258.15 Pierce’s] A Boston grocer
y store founded in 1831.

  262.34 post-Versailles] Under the terms of the peace treaty signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919, Germany lost 10 percent of its population and 13 percent of its territory. The treaty also severely restricted the size of the German army and navy.

  265.10 Badger] Boston portrait painter Joseph Badger (1708–1765) or his grandson, painter Thomas Badger (1792–1868).

  271.20 St. George] An Episcopal boarding school for boys in Middletown, Rhode Island, founded in 1896.

  272.4 Saint-Simon] Louis de Rouvroy, duc de Saint-Simon (1675–1755), French statesman whose memoirs of the court of Versailles were first published posthumously in 1829–30.

  274.19–20 Far from the . . . ignoble strife] Thomas Gray (1716–1771), “Elegy Written in a Country Church-Yard” (1751), line 73.

  276.18 Vanzetti’s sister] Luigia Vanzetti (d. 1950), who came to the United States from Italy in 1927 to visit her brother Bartolomeo Vanzetti (1888–1927) in prison. In 1921 Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco (1891–1927) were convicted of murdering two men during a payroll robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, the previous year. Their case became an international cause célèbre, with their defenders arguing that the two men had been unfairly convicted because of their Italian immigrant backgrounds and anarchist beliefs.

  276.22–23 the Committee’s decision] On June 1, 1927, Massachusetts governor Alvan T. Fuller (1878–1958) appointed a three-man committee headed by A. Lawrence Lowell (1856–1943), the president of Harvard, to review the Sacco-Vanzetti case. The Lowell committee reported on July 27 that the defendants had received a fair trial and were guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Fuller then denied their request for clemency, and Sacco and Vanzetti were electrocuted on August 23, 1927.

  279.15 anima mundi] World soul.

  279.30–31 ‘When Lilacs . . . Bloom’d’] Title of poem (1865) by Walt Whitman (1819–1892), written as an elegy for President Abraham Lincoln.

  280.16–17 Empress Augusta Victoria] Augusta Victoria (1858–1921), empress consort of Germany, 1888–1918, was married to Wilhelm II from 1881 until her death.

  281.6–7 “Der Tannenbaum . . . Thine Eyes”] “The Fir-tree,” song (1875) by Richard Wagner (1813–1883), with lyrics from a poem by Georg Scheurlin (1802–1872) that was also set to music (1891) by Alfred Tofft (1865–1931); “I Love You,” song (1803) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) with lyrics taken from the poem “Zärtliche Liebe” (“Tender Love”) by Karl Friedrich Herrosee (1754–1821). “Ich Liebe Dich” is also the title of a song by Edvard Grieg (1843–1907), with German lyrics by Franz von Holstein (1826–1878). “Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes,” song (1790) with music by John Wall Callcott (1766–1821) and words taken from a poem (1616) by Ben Jonson (1552–1637).

  282.28 Barrons] Weekly financial newspaper founded by Dow Jones & Company in 1921.

  282.29–30 Stearn’s . . . Mrs. Gardner’s palace] R.H. Stearn, Boston department store founded in 1845 that closed in 1978; museum modeled after a Venetian palace that was built (1899–1903) by Isabella Stewart Gardner (1840–1924) to house and display her personal art collection.

  292.8 malentendu] Misunderstood, mistaken.

  292.12–13 General Hooker . . . Loew’s Orpheum] The equestrian statue by Daniel Chester French (1850–1931) of Union Civil War general Joseph Hooker (1814–1879) outside the Massachusetts State House, dedicated in 1903; Goodspeed’s Book Shop, founded in 1898; Loew’s Orpheum, a vaudeville theater that had previously served as a concert hall.

  293.4–9 “Doch, ist’s so . . . auch deutsche.”] “Is it really so late?” / “No, it’s early, I think” / “Why then . . . ?” / “I’m a German girl, too.”

  294.3–4 “Ein Regenpfeifer! Still!”] “A plover! Quiet!”

  298.19 Sammlung] Collection.

  301.19 Japanerin] Japanese.

  302.36 Koussevitsky] Serge Koussevitsky (1874–1951), Russian-born music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, 1924–49.

  302.40–303.1 Fine Arts Museum . . . Luxembourg] The Boston Museum of Fine Arts and the Musée de Luxembourg in Paris.

  304.18 démodé] Old-fashioned.

  304.19 Père Goriot] Novel (1834) by Honoré Balzac (1799–1850).

  323.24–25 Priscilla Alden . . . Margaret Winthrop] Priscilla Mullins Alden (c. 1602–c. 1685) and Mary Chilton (1607–1679) were passengers on the Mayflower; Margaret Winthrop (c. 1591–1647) was the wife of John Winthrop, the first governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony.

  324.20 palmer] Pilgrim.

  325.11 Harvard Advocate] The Harvard College literary magazine.

  330.26 Weltschmerz] World-weariness.

  330.33 the Lincolnshire] A residential hotel in Boston.

  330.40 Amiel’s Journal] Fragments d’un Journal intime, posthumously published (1883–87) private journal of the Swiss critic and philosopher Henri-Frédéric Amiel (1821–1881).

  333.24–25 La Grande Mademoiselle . . . Madame de Maintenon] Anne Marie Louise d’Orléans, duchess of Montpensier (1627–1693), known as the “Grande Mademoiselle,” a leading figure at the court of Louis XIV, and Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon (1635–1719), the second wife (1683–1715) of Louis XIV.

  343.12 “Enfant Perdu”] Poem (1851) by Heinrich Heine (1797–1856).

  344.11 Radcliffe] Harvard undergraduate college for women, founded in 1879 as the Harvard Annex and chartered as Radcliffe College in 1894.

  344.34 Faerie Queen] Epic poem (1590–96) by Edmund Spenser (c. 1552–1599).

  344.35 La Grande Jatte] A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, painting (1884–86) by Georges Seurat (1859–1891).

  348.37 the North Shore] The Massachusetts coast from Boston north to New Hampshire.

  368.38 Somerset Club] Boston men’s social club, founded in 1852.

  374.35 Niersteiner] A white wine produced in the region around Nierstein in the Rhineland-Palatinate.

  374.38 daube glacé] A jellied beef stew made with beef stock.

  392.26–27 Elmer Tuggle and Gasoline Alley] Elmer Tuggle was the main character in Elmer, a newspaper comic strip written and illustrated (1926–56) by Charles H. (Doc) Winer (1885–1956). Gasoline Alley was a newspaper comic written and illustrated (1918–59) by Frank King (1883–1969).

  394.8 Der Traum der Roten Kammer] German translation (1932) by Franz Kuhn (1884–1961) of the classic eighteenth-century Chinese novel Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin.

  402.15–16 Gertrude or her king . . . villainy played out.] See Hamlet, III.ii.

  407.5–6 the Fifth Commandment] See Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16.

  408.4 Bernard de Ventadour] A Provençal troubadour (fl. 1140–1180).

  408.17 Mittelhochdeutsch] Middle High German, the form of German spoken from 1050 to 1350.

  408.18 Walther von der Vogelweide] A German minnesinger (c. 1170–c. 1230).

  408.22 Alte Gebäude] Old buildings.

  409.25 The Agenbyte of Inwyt] “Remorse of Conscience,” a religious work written in the Kentish dialect of Middle English in 1340 by the Benedictine monk Dan Michel of Northgate. It is a translation of the French moral tract La somme des vices et des vertues (The Book of Vices and Virtues) written in 1279.

  410.4 Metro Goldwyn Mayer] Hollywood motion picture studio formed in 1924.

  410.6 Immensee] Novella (1851) by Theodor Woldsen Storm (1817–1888).

  417.14–15 Lilly Daché, Mainbocher] Lilly Daché (c. 1904–1989), French-born American milliner; Main Rousseau Bocher (1890–1976), American couturier.

  418.12 Adrian] Professional name of Adrian Adolph Greenburg (1903–1959), American fashion designer who was the head costume designer for Metro-Goldwyn-Ma
yer, 1928–41.

  418.21 vieille furie] Old fury.

  418.39 chose merveilleuse] Wonderful thing.

  419.21 renarde] Vixen.

  419.24 mariage de convenance] Marriage of convenience.

  419.34 enceinte, ne c’est pas] Pregnant, isn’t it so?

  432.7–8 Al Smith . . . president] Governor Al Smith (1873–1944) of New York was the Democratic nominee in 1928 and the first Catholic to run for president on a major party ticket. Smith was defeated in a landslide by Herbert Hoover.

  433.40–434.1 Sacco and Vanzetti] See notes 276.18 and 276.22–23.

  436.10 march from Lohengrin] The bridal chorus from act three, scene one of the opera Lohengrin (1850) by Richard Wagner.

  443.12 Faneuil Hall] Boston meeting hall that opened in 1743, known as the “Cradle of Liberty” for its role in the American Revolution.

  444.15 Parker House] Boston hotel founded in 1855.

  445.37 Rebels in Spain] The Nationalists, led by General Francisco Franco (1892–1975), had rebelled against the elected left-wing government of the Spanish Republic in July 1936.

  446.5 Loyalist] A defender of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War, which ended in a Nationalist victory in March 1939.

  446.15 echt deutsch] Real German, true German.

  450.28 Best’s] Best & Co., a chain of stores specializing in clothing for women and children.

  450.37 Agassiz! . . . glass flowers] The Harvard natural history museums were often referred to as the Agassiz, after Louis Agassiz (1807–1873), the founder of the Museum of Comparative Zoology. From 1886 to 1936 the Harvard Botanical Museum acquired more than 800 glass models of flowers made in Dresden, Germany, by Leopold Blaschka (1822–1895) and his son Rudolf (1857–1939).

  451.14 dämmerung] Twilight.

  452.37 Mae West] An American actress, singer, playwright, and screenwriter with a successful career in vaudeville and film, West (1893–1980) became famous for her risqué wisecracks.

  457.27 Paolo and Francesca] In canto V of Dante’s Inferno, where they are condemned to the Second Circle of Hell.