Letters from the Palazzo Barbaro Read online

  In the same decade the Barbaro walls witnessed a somewhat frivolous moment when my parents decided to give a ball in honour of Brigitte Bardot. I will never forget my astonishment at seeing Harry Belafonte striding alone through the portego singing “Matilda”!

  A few years ago, a most gracious Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands requested a private visit accompanied by her husband, Prince Claus, and a few friends. She visited the piano nobile, then drifted up to the library where Her Majesty instantly decided to forget all timetables and sat on a not so comfortable armchair. We enjoyed the candle-lit library while several bodyguards were pacing the floor of the entrance hall.

  Another wonderful friend of the Barbaro was the painter Giuseppe Santomaso, whose first words of greeting upon arrival were “Patricia, your extravagant folly is still part of you, is it not? Please answer yes.” I would smile, which meant that, yes, I was happily struggling to keep the atmosphere intact and the walls content.

  There have been multitudes of friends, and friends of friends, that during my lifetime have warmed these marble halls with their interest and their encouragement in not allowing the “soul” to escape.

  I thank them all.

  May 1997

  ABBREVIATIONS OF LETTER HEADINGS:

  Edel I, II, III, IV The Letters of Henry James, ed. by Leon Edel, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, volumes 1–4, 1974–1984.

  I.S.G.M. MS. and TS. Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Manuscript and Typescript.

  Dartmouth MS. and TS. The Dartmouth College Library, Manuscript and Typescript.

  Marciana MS. The Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana, Manuscript (Venice).

  The main sources for the notes of this book are: the four volumes of The Letters of Henry James, ed. by Leon Edel, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1974–1984, and the five volumes of Edel’s biography of Henry James (Discus Books); The Complete Notebooks of Henry James, ed. by Leon Edel and H.L. Powers, Oxford University Press, 1987; Henry James and Edith Wharton, Letters 1905–1915, ed. by L. H. Powers, London, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1990; Edith Wharton, A Backward Glance, New York, Scribner’s, 1984; R. W. B. Lewis, Edith Wharton. A Biography, New York, Fromm, 1985; The Letters of Bernard Berenson and Isabella Stewart Gardner, ed. by Rollin N. van Hadley, Boston, Northeastern University Press, 1987; More than Friend, The Letters of Robert Browning to Katherine de Kay Bronson, ed. by Michael Meredith, Armstrong Browning Library and Wedgestone Press, 1985; Regina Soria, The Dictionary of 19th Century American Artists in Italy, Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1982; Henry James, Lettere da Palazzo Barbaro, and Letters to Miss Allen, edited by Rosella Mamoli Zorzi, Milano, Archinto, 1989 and 1993.

  INDEX

  Adams, Henry 1

  Airlie, Lady 1

  Albrizzi, palazzo 1

  Aldrich, Thomas Bailey 1

  Alford, Lady 1

  Allen, Jessie 1, 2, 3, 4

  Alvarez, Eugenio 1

  Alvisi, casa or palazzino 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Angelo (Sitran) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Baldwin, William Wilberforce 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Balestra, Antonio 1

  Barbaro, Almorò 1, 2

  Barbaro, Antonio 1, 2

  Barbaro, Daniele 1, 2, 3

  Barbaro, Francesco 1, 2, 3

  Barbaro, Marc’Antonio (+1858) 1

  Barbaro, Marc’Antonio, 1, 2, 3

  Barbaro, Zaccaria, 1, 2

  Barbesi, casa 1, 2, 3

  Bardot, Brigitte 1

  Basso, Elisa 1

  Batten, Mabel 1, 2

  Beatrix, Queen of the Netherlands 1

  Belafonte, Harry 1

  Bellini, Gentile 1

  Bellini, Giovanni 1, 2, 3, 4

  Benson, Eugene 1, 2, 3

  Berenson, Bernard 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Berenson Pearsall Smith, Mary 1, 2

  Biondetti, casa 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Blumenthal, Jakob 1

  Bode, Wilhelm von 1, 2

  Boni, Giacomo 1

  Bonifazio (de Pitati), 1

  Boott, Francis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Boott, Lizzie 1, 2, 3, 4

  Bordone, Paris 1

  Bourbon, don Carlos de 1, 2

  Bourget, Paul 1, 2, 3

  Brichieri, villa 1, 2, 3

  Bronson, Arthur 1, 2

  Bronson de Kay, Katherine 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12,13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33

  Bronson Rucellai Edith 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Brooke, Lady (Ranee of Sarawak) 1, 2, 3, 4

  Brooke, Sir James 1

  Brown, Horatio 1, 2, 3

  Browning Fannie v. Coddington, Fannie

  Browning, “Pen” (Robert Wiedemann) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Browning, Robert 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,”7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14

  Browning, Sarianna 1, 2, 3, 4

  Bulwer-Lytton, Edward 1, 2

  Byron, Lord 1, 2

  Caliari, Carlo 1

  Cantoni, Israele 1

  Cantoni, Sofia 1

  Cappello, palazzo (Grand Canal) 1

  Cappello, palazzo (Rio Marin) 1, 2, 3, 4

  Carpaccio, Vittore 1

  Carrer 1, 2, 3, 4

  Carriera, Rosalba 1, 2

  Carter, Grace 1, 2

  Casanova, Giacomo 1

  Clairmont, Claire 1

  Claus, Prince Consort, 1

  Clerlé, Anselmo 1

  Coburn, Alvin Langdon 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Coddington, Fannie 1, 2

  Constable, John 1, 2

  Contarini Corfù, palazzo 1

  Contarini dagli Scrigni, palazzo, 1

  Contarini dal Zaffo, palazzo, 1, 2

  Contarini Fasan, palazzetto 1, 2

  Cooper, James Fenimore 1, 2, 3, 4

  Cornaro, Caterina 1, 2

  Cotman. John S, 1, 2

  Crawshay, Robert Thompson 1, 2

  Curtis Lisa 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Curtis, Mary 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Curtis, Osborne 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Curtis, Ralph, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17

  Da Mula, palazzo 1

  Dante Alighieri 1, 2, 3

  Dario, palazzo 1, 2, 3

  Delacroix, Eugène 1

  Diaghilev, Sergej 1

  Disraeli, Benjamin 1, 2

  Dodge, Mabel 1

  Domenico (D’Este) 1, 2, 3, 4

  Doré, Gustave 1, 2

  Duran, Carolus 1, 2, 3

  Duveneck, Franck 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Eames, Emma 1, 2

  Eden, Frederic and Caroline 1, 2, 3, 4

  Ehrenfreund, Alberto 1

  Elisa 1, 2

  Fiske, Willard 1, 2

  Fletcher, Constance 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Flower, Cyril 1

  Fontebasso, Francesco 1

  Foscari, palazzo 1, 2

  Franchetti, palazzo 1

  Frederick III, Emperor of Germany 1

  Frederick, Empress 1, 2, 3

  Fuller, Margaret 1

  Furnivall, F.J. 1

  Gamba, Countess 1, 2

  Gamba, Guiccioli Teresa 1, 2, 3

  Gardner, Isabella Stewart 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34

  Gardner, John Lowell 1, 2, 3, 4

  Gaspari, Antonio 1

  Gatterburg Morosini, Loredana 1

  Gautier, Théophile 1, 2, 3, 4

  Gay, Walter 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

  Giordano, Luca 1, 2

  Giusti, Giuseppe 1

  Giustinian Recanati, palazzo 1, 2

  Gordon, Sir Alexander 1

  Greenough, Horatio 1, 2

  Greenough, Laura 1

  Greenough, Sara 1, 2, 3

  Guggenheim, Peggy, Collection v. Venier dei Leoni

  Hamilton, Eugene Lee 1, 2

  Hardy, Thomas 1

  Hébert, Antoine Auguste 1

  Hickey, Emily 1

  Hildebrand, Adolf
von 1, 2

  Hohenlohe family 1

  Holas, Maria 1

  Holford, Mrs. 1

  Horsey, General de 1, 2, 3

  Howells, William Dean 1, 2

  Huebner, Baron 1

  Hulton, Zina 1, 2

  Hunt, Richard Morris 1, 2

  Huntington, Henry 1

  Huntington, Mrs. 1, 2

  Hurtado family 1

  Incontri, Marchesa 1, 2

  Jack, Mrs., v. Gardner, Isabella Stewart

  James Henry Sr. (father) 1

  James, Alice (Henry’s sister) 1, 2, 3

  James, Alice (William’s wife) 1

  James, William 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Jenna, Isacco 1

  Johnson-Brooke, Charles Anthony 1

  Kemble, Fanny 1

  Kenmare, Lady Gertrude-Harriet 1, 2, 3

  Kenmare, Lord 1

  Ker, Miss 1

  Ker, Olga 1, 2

  LaFarge, John 1, 2, 3, 4

  Lathrop, Frank 1, 2

  Latimer, Ralph 1, 2

  Layard, Lady Enyd 1, 2, 3

  Layard, Sir Austen 1, 2, 3

  Leiter, Margaret 1

  Lifar, Serge 1

  Loredan, palazzo 1, 2

  Louisa, Princess of Denmark 1, 2

  Louisa, Queen of Sweden 1, 2

  Lovelace, Lord 1

  Lowell, Johnny 1, 2

  Lowell, Percival 1

  Ludovisi, villa 1

  Lyall, Barbara 1, 2

  Mancini, Antonio 1, 2

  Mantegna, Andrea 1

  Marcello family 1

  Marcuard, Friedrich von 1, 2

  Marsh, George Perkins 1, 2

  McClellan family 1

  Meiningen, Charlotte von 1, 2

  Meissonnier, Jean-Louis-Ernest 1

  Mettemich, Prince Paul and Princess Mélanie 1, 2, 3

  Mocenigo family 1, 2, 3

  Mocenigo, Laura 1, 2

  Monet, Claude 1

  Montalba family 1, 2

  Montecuccoli, Count 1

  Montenegro, King of 1

  Montenegro, Princess Olga of 1

  Montenegro, Queen Darinka of 1, 2

  Moore family 1, 2, 3

  Morelli, Giovanni 1, 2

  Morosini, Annina v. Rombo

  Morosini family 1

  Morosini, Francesco 1

  Morosini, palazzo 1, 2

  Muenthe, Axel 1

  Mundella, Anthony 1, 2

  Musatti, Cesare 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Nash, Thomas 1

  Nassau, Sophie of 1, 2

  Norton, Charles Eliot 1

  Norton, Grace 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Oliphant, Laurence 1

  Ombrellino, villa 1

  Paget, Violet 1, 2

  Palladio, Andrea 1, 2

  Palma II Giovane and Palma il Vecchio 1

  Peabody Russell, Mr. 1

  Perrault, Charles 1

  Perry, Thomas Sargent 1, 2

  Peruzzi Story, Edith 1, 2, 3, 4

  Peruzzi, Ubaldo 1

  Peto, Harold 1, 2

  Petrarch, Francesco 1, 2

  Piazzetta, Gian Battista 1, 2, 3

  Pilat, Mme de 1

  Pisani, Almorò 1, 2, 3, 4

  Pisani family 1

  Pisani van Millingen, Evelin 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Polignac, palazzo 1

  Poliziano 1, 2

  Potter, Howard 1, 2

  Primoli, Giuseppe 1

  Prince, Morton 1, 2

  Reynolds, Sir Joshua 1

  Rezzonico, palazzo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Ricci, Sebastiano 1, 2, 3

  Richetti 1, 2

  Rietti 1

  Rives, Amelia 1, 2

  Rodd, Sir James Rennell 1, 2

  Rogers family 1

  Rombo family 1

  Rombo Morosini, Annina 1, 2

  Romney, George 1, 2

  Rucellai, Cosimo 1

  Ruskin, John 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11

  Russell, Henry 1, 2

  Sagredo, palazzo 1

  Sanderson, Sybil 1

  Santomaso, Giuseppe 1

  Sargent, John Singer 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

  Scamozzi, Vincenzo 1

  Schuster, Frank 1

  Semitecolo, palazzo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Shakespeare, William 1, 2

  Shelley, Percy Bysshe 1

  Shenstone, Ann 1, 2

  Stein, Gertrude 1

  Story, Julian Russell 1

  Story, Waldo 1, 2, 3

  Story, William Wetmore 1, 2, 3, 4

  Sturges, Jonathan 1, 2

  Symonds, John Addington 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Taine, Hyppolite Adolphe 1, 2

  Talleyrand, Charles-Maurice, Prince of 1

  Tappan, Caroline Sturgis 1, 2

  Tchiateff, Madame de 1, 2

  Temple, Minnie 1

  Tiepolo, Giambattista 1, 2, 3, 4,5, 6, 7

  Tilton, Paul 1

  Tintoretto 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

  Tita 1, 2, 3

  Titian 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

  Trevisan, palazzo 1

  Van Dyck, Antonie 1, 2, 3

  Venier dei Leoni, palazzo 1, 2

  Vermeer, Jan 1

  Veronese, Paolo 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

  Victoria and Albert Museum 1

  Viel, v. Wiel

  Vitruvius 1

  Vittoria, Alessandro 1, 2

  Vulliany, Lewis 1

  Wagner, Richard 1, 2

  Wagnière Huntington, Laura, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Walsh, Catherine 1, 2, 3

  Wharton, Edith 1, 2, 3, 4

  Wiel, Alethea 1, 2

  Wiel, Taddeo 1, 2

  Wister, Sarah Butler 1, 2

  Wolkoff, palazzo 1,2

  Woolson, Constance Fenimore 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

  Wormeley Prescott, Katherine 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

  Worth 1, 2, 3

  Yriarte, Charles 1, 2

  Zanchi, Antonio 1

  Zorn, Anders 1, 2, 3

  Zorzi, Alvise Piero 1, 2

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  Copyright

  © Copyright Alexander R. James,

  Leon Edel and the Belknap Press of Harvard University Press

  Foreword © Copyright 1989, Leon Edel

  Introduction © Copyright 1998, Rosella Mamoli Zorzi

  This edition first published in 2012 by

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  ISBN 978 1 908968 63 0

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  Cover design by David Pearson and Clare Skeats

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