Houghton Fellowship, Week 3

Hi friends,

Had a great week in the archive: the ex-ill collection at HTC continues to be stunning in its breadth and quality. I got to look at one of David Garrick's journals (including to-do lists), saw some very cute letters from Peter Garrick's kids, and saw a contract from 1762 signed by Priscilla Rich, the only female manager of Covent Garden in the 18th century! SO COOL.

Not Priscilla Rich. This is a 19th c imagined scene of Sarah Siddons (being borderline FLIRTATIOUS) selling benefit tickets from her home, in this case to a dashing young man..

I also got great feedback on my Jordan chapter from the incredible Fiona Ritchie, and good work in on my Introduction revisions. I'm finding the Loker reading room at the Widener a conducive space for writing (and we all know how crucial the right space can be).

Loker Reading Room

We also saw two shows, I spent 30 hours with dear dear friends, went to the beach, did a ghost tour in Salem, and when I arrived back at the Cambridge homestead amazing Emily greeted me with a cheese plate and Murder She Wrote. So... basically killed it this week.

I'm grateful for the good work, but I'm also so grateful for the space and time I had this weekend. These Fellowships are somewhere between a marathon and a sprint, and it's easy to get burned out quickly.

Happy happy writing to all!