Henry James, Sr. (Albany, New York, 1811 - 1882, Boston)
Letter to Isabella Stewart Gardner, 22 August 1882
Ink on paper, 17.8 x 22.2 cm (7 x 8 3/4 in.)
Blue Room
Commentary
Isabella Stewart Gardner maintained a cordial friendship with Henry James’s father and namesake, who wrote to decline a social invitation she had extended in 1882. He states that his daughter Alice, a writer who suffered from a range of illnesses, was unwell enough “to prevent her making any engagements out of her house for a month to come.”