Book contents
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 First Considerations of an American Tour
- 2 Underway to America
- 3 An Auspicious Welcome: New York City
- 4 The Tour Begins: Upstate New York
- 5 Readings and Responses: Philadelphia, Boston and New York
- 6 The Second Swing: Baltimore and Washington
- 7 A Change of Managers: The Northeast
- 8 The ‘Double Difficulty’: Montreal, Toronto and Buffalo
- 9 The Final Circuit: Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago
- 10 Arguments and Accolades: Return to New England
- 11 Winding Down: New York and Wallingford
- Conclusion: Wilkie Collins and the American People
- Appendix A ‘The Dream Woman’
- Appendix B Performance Summary
- Appendix C Itinerary
- Appendix D Contacts
- Appendix E Press Portraits
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
4 - The Tour Begins: Upstate New York
- Frontmatter
- CONTENTS
- Dedication
- Acknowledgements
- List of Figures
- Preface
- Introduction
- 1 First Considerations of an American Tour
- 2 Underway to America
- 3 An Auspicious Welcome: New York City
- 4 The Tour Begins: Upstate New York
- 5 Readings and Responses: Philadelphia, Boston and New York
- 6 The Second Swing: Baltimore and Washington
- 7 A Change of Managers: The Northeast
- 8 The ‘Double Difficulty’: Montreal, Toronto and Buffalo
- 9 The Final Circuit: Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago
- 10 Arguments and Accolades: Return to New England
- 11 Winding Down: New York and Wallingford
- Conclusion: Wilkie Collins and the American People
- Appendix A ‘The Dream Woman’
- Appendix B Performance Summary
- Appendix C Itinerary
- Appendix D Contacts
- Appendix E Press Portraits
- Notes
- Works Cited
- Index
Summary
Rather than travelling directly to Albany from New York City, Collins made arrangements to go by train to Highland Falls, a town on the Hudson River about fifty miles away. He wanted to pay a visit to his old friends Jane and John Bigelow at their country estate, The Squirrels. He had met the couple in London at a dinner party given by Dickens's biographer John Forster in 1867 and had continued a friendly correspondence with them, particularly Jane, over the years. The Bigelow's home in Highland Falls was later described in the local paper:
‘The Squirrels’ looks out over the Hudson River, a quiet, charming old house, with lawns that sweep to the steep cliff 's edge. Far below and at one's very feet, West Shore trains dash, slowing up for their stop at Cranston's on the riverbank under this same hill.
In a letter dated 30 September 1873, John Bigelow wrote to Henry Huntington,
Wilkie Collins has come to give his American cousins reading lessons this winter and from a note rec. since this letter was commenced, I learn that he expects to spend the night of the 6th with us on his way to Albany where he is ‘to open’ on the 7th.
Bigelow gave a colourful description of Collins's visit to The Squirrels in his diary. In his entry for Tuesday, 8 October he wrote,
Went up to meet Collins by the 5.40 pm train. It rained and blew as if it never expected another chance. To my surprise he came, but did not bring his baggage so I had to send Odell up after them.
After a description of fellow dinner guests, Bigelow continued,
Collins enjoyed his dinner but his brandy after it, yet more. He says Benzon is dead. Forster he thinks more hipped [i.e. depressed] than sick. His Life of Dickens worries him because of the [illegible] it has provoked. It presents the selfishly appearing side of Dickens's character because it seems to be Forster's plan to give only his letters. […]
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Wilkie Collins's American Tour, 1873–4 , pp. 27 - 36Publisher: Pickering & ChattoFirst published in: 2014