Memories of a Hostess

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Excerpt from Memories of a Hostess: A Chronicle of Eminent Friendships Drawn Chiefly From the Diaries of Mrs. James T. FieldsIN the years immediately before the death Of Mrs. James T. Fields, on January 5, 1915, she spoke to me more than once Of her intention to place in my posses sion a cabinet Of Old papers - journals Of her own, let ters from a host Of correspondents, Odds and ends Of manuscript and print which stood in a dark corner Of a small reception-room near the front door Of her house in Charles Street, Boston. On her death this intention was found to have been confirmed in writing. It was also made clear that Mrs. Fields had no desire that her own life should be made a subject of record unless, she wrote, for some reason not altogether connected with myself. Such a reason is abundantly suggested in her records of the friends she was con stantly seeing through the years covered by thejournals. These friends were men and women whose books have made them the friends Of the English-speaking world, and a better knowledge Of them wouldjustify any ampli fication Of the records Of their lives. In this process the figure Of their friend and hostess in Charles Street must inevitably reveal itself not as the subject Of a biog raphy, but as a central animating presence, a focus Of sympathy and understanding, which seemed to make a single phenomenon out Of a long series and wide vari ety Of friendships and hospitalities.The blue books more than fifty in number which Mrs. Fields used for the journals have already yielded many pages Of valuable record to her own books, especially James T. Fields: Biographical Notes and Personal Sketches and Authors and Friends also even, here and there, to Mr. Fields's Yesterdays with Authors Yet she left unprinted much that is both picturesque and illumi nating: so many of the persons mentioned in the jour nal were still living or had but recently died when her books were written. There are, besides, many passages used in a fragmentary way, which may now with pro priety be given complete.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.