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MRS. CORA WELCH SMITH [MRS. DAVIID STANLEY SMITH] nee Cora Deming Welch : 1923 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT TRAVEL DIARY OF FAMED YALE PROFESSOR OF MUSIC, CONDUCTOR OF THE NEW HAVEN SYMPHONY AND RENOWNED COMPOSER DURING HIS GRAND EUROPEAN TOUR

24mo - over 5" - 5¾" tall. On offer is a super, original 1923 manuscript diary handwritten by Cora Welch Smith, wife of the famous composer, David Stanley Smith of New Haven Connecticut. The 116 pp diary represents a European trip Cora and David took in the year 1923. Collectors and historians of musical personages or Yale related famous figures will find a great deal of retrospective biographical entries relating to Smith's early travels as Cora relates anecdotes of their past trips to Europe and her husband's previous life as a student abroad. Cora and David traveled to Europe in the summer of 1923 on board the White Star line ship, Regina and both are shocked by how the war has affected Europe. At one point they go to stay with a family by the name of Henderson in Surrey England. It's called the Randall's estate which is noted for its relationship with the novels of Jane Austen. Cora is a super diarist, very descriptive and she adds even more depth with the several [8] quaint little drawings adding even more charm. When the diary starts out they are leaving New Haven and head to Montreal where they stay at the "Mont Royal" Hotel. Here are snippets: 1923 "June 9th, In a taxi to the White Star Dominion Line Docks. The "Regina" (Named for a city in Saskatchewan) 16,500 tons. Cabins on C Deck, chairs on B. Sailed about 10:30, standard. Down to St. Lawrence to Quebec. A pleasant day. Landscape unimproved in interest as the day progressed. The banks changing from flats to hills with an occasional village with it's one spire church. Was glad to see the promontory of Quebec again. The new tower of "Frontenac" does not improve the hotel and unfortunately dwarfs the citadel. We took a few passengers on board that evening." "June 10th, A fine sunny day. From our chairs on the south side we looked at the beautiful shores of New Brunswick. Very green and hilly with pretty white towns in the bays. Later there were mountain ranges with a streak of snow here and there. From our porthole in the early morning we saw a small steamer come out from "Father Point" and when alongside our ship, mail was taken on board and two men left our boat. The next morning before breakfast we saw the high embankment of Newfoundland to the North. It had much snow upon it and looked very bleak. Then came the fog. It is still with us (Friday). On the next day (very little fog that day), the only incident was the passing by two ice bergs [she has a drawing of them]…" Then they dock at Liverpool and end up staying at Harker's Hotel. Several pages about Liverpool and then on to Edinburgh.) "June 20th, We reached Edinburgh in the evening. We entered Scotland by crossing the Tweed at Berwick. Pretty ride along the coast. Saw "Holy Island" from which the Lindisfarne Monks went to Durham taking with them the bones of St. Cuthbert. North British (or Waverly Station). Hotel from Wednesday night till Sunday. An improving city. View of the old town and castle from Princes St. very impressive……." "July 1st, In the afternoon of that first Sunday we took a train to Leatherhead, about a half hour ride. There we visited until Tuesday morning at Randall's Park, the estate of the Henderson family. Mr. and Mrs. Henderson and their three daughters, Mabel, Frances and Cicely, were at home. The two sons are married and living elsewhere. Mr. Leslie Smith came for Monday night. Miss Marjorie Still came in for tea on Monday. Randall's Park is a delightful place. The present house, of Grey Stone, was built about 1820. The former house was on the Mole River which flows placidly by and beyond the long front lawn. It was the former house in which Jane Austin placed Miss Taylor, Emma's governess, who married and went to live nearby at Randall's, Leatherhead is the "Highway of Emma". On one side of the front lawn is the wilderness, a wood with splendid trees. Many rabbits live in holes in the ground there. On the other side of the lawn are the gardens. These are surrounded by a high brick wall with fruit trees trained up the sides. The flower beds were filled with bloom. On the outside of our long wall is glass to protect the peaches and make them ripen earlier. Mrs. Henderson was vice president of the local Red Cross and head of a hospital. Frances was a nurse in the war for four years. The people do not talk much about the war, or complain, but it is always there in the background. The Henderson's have been obliged to sell the farm, part of their estate……" "July 3rd, On the afternoon of our return from Randall's, July 3rd, we had the opportunity through tickets sent by Mrs. Dewick, of being present at the memorial service for our war ambassador, Mr. Walter Hines Page, in Westminster Abbey. Mrs. Smith and cousin Alice smith were in the North Transept and David and I were in the Poet's Corner. The memorial tablet was unveiled by Viscount Grey of Fallodon on the staircase entering the Chapter House beneath a tablet and window in memory of James Russell Lowell……..After the service we talked with the Ludington's and as a gate was closed in the side aisle down which we were moving, we went through a small opening into the next and soon realized that we had involuntarily entered the outgoing assembly of dignitaries, ambassador's, members of Parliament and such……." Now on to Norwich, Ely, Cambridge, Bath, Bruges, Ghent, Brussels: "July 19th, From Ghent we came to Brussels, arriving about five. We chose the "Grand Hotel Brittanique" from a list. It is a good hotel and pleasantly situated on the "Place du Trone" by the side gates of the Royal Palace. We happened to arrive at the time for celebrating the Fete Nationale, July 21st, being the anniversary of the occasion of Leopold…." "July 23rd, On Saturday morning we went by train to Lorraine, a ride of 45 minutes or so. There a cocker with another Victoria took us to the library which is being rebuilt and about the center purposely burned by the Germans by means of explosions. The cathedral near the library can be used only at the choir end. The nave is boarded up. From outside we could see the demolition of the nave and the partial destruction of the west towers. There were ruins of houses about a square where a university building had stood. A good deal of reconstruction has been completed, however, the houses are built of a pretty reddish brick with cream color stone trimmings……The cocker told us a little about the German occupation, a four year's horror. He said that the Saxon's were worse than the Bavarian's…." "July 30th, The eight o'clock train from Paris brought us to Montreux about 7:15 A.M. and there an auto was waiting to bring us the short distance to the Grand Hotel at Territet which Mrs. Willinger told us about. We have lovely rooms on a corner of the fourth floor with two balconies. On the front balcony, looking at the lake and mountains across. We had our breakfast. It is a wonderful spot. At the end of the lake the mountains on the sides of the Rhone Valley frame the long jagged mountain, la Dent du Midi……" "……On several evenings there was a beautiful pink glow on the snow tops, on our last evening in particular it was so striking that we all left the dining room for the balcony. Twice in the evening we went to the Palace Hotel to hear Mr. Harold Monro (Poet and Editor) read poetry. The last time he gave a lecture (much too condensed) on Poetry of Today and Tomorrow. He read from various anthologies…." "August 19th, Our passports were taken from us as we landed and looked over and returned later amid a good deal of confusion and no explanation of the proceedings was made. At Menaggio we took a boat which, after a stop at Bellagio, landed us at Cadenabbia about 6. Here we are at the Grand Hotel Britannia, recommended by Miss Gifford. As usual we have a room facing the lake, a corner room with two little balconies. The lake is very lovely…..One day we spent many hours on the water, going by steamer to the end of the Lake Como. At Bellagio we climbed the hill behind the Grand Hotel at which I stayed with father and mother in 1909, to the Villa Serbelloni……." Then also head to Pisa, Florence, Rome and this is where the diary entries stop. BIO NOTES: YALE: "David Stanley Smith was born in Toledo, Ohio, on July 6, 1877. He grew up in a musical household, and by the age of fifteen he had found employment as a church organist. In 1895 he went to Yale, where Charles Ives (Class of 1898) was numbered among his friends; he would later serve as the organist at Center Church in New Haven, a position formerly held by Ives. Smith was an outstanding student, and he became the protégé of Professor Horatio Parker. Smith's graduation ceremony in 1900 featured a performance of his Ode for Commencement Day, conducted by Parker. After college, Smith traveled throughout Europe, where he took lessons with Ludwig Thuille and Charles-Marie Widor. In 1903 Smith returned to Yale as an instructor in music theory. He would remain a member the Yale faculty until his retirement in 1946. Horatio Parker died in 1919, and the next year Smith succeeded him as Dean of the School of Music, a post he would hold until 1940. Again following in Parker's footsteps, he also became the conductor of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Despite his duties as a teacher, administrator, and conductor, Smith was able to compose a substantial amount of music, including one opera, Merrymount, five symphonies, ten string quartets, many sacred works, and a variety of other compositions. Smith married On offer is a super, original 1923 manuscript diary handwritten by Cora Welch Smith, wife of the famous composer, David Stanley Smith of New Haven Connecticut. The 116 pp diary represents a European trip Cora and David took in the year 1923. Collectors and historians of musical personages or Yale related famous figures will find a great deal of retrospective biographical entries relating to Smith's early travels as Cora relates anecdotes of their past trips to Europe and her hu

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