Henry Gilman Correspondence to Alice Austen
PI
Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:38:06 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:24:42 PM
Added description
Description
Henry Gilman Correspondence to Alice Austen (MS1)
Overview
This is a small collection of two handwritten letters written by Henry H. Gilman to Miss Elizabeth Alice Austen, dated 2 November 1891 and 2 December 1891. The letters were scanned as high‑resolution JPEG images and accompanied by typed transcriptions. The collection is part of the Austen Family Papers (MS1) housed at the Alice Austen House Museum, Staten Island, New York.Background
Henry H. Gilman was a contemporary of Alice Austen, a prominent Staten Island photographer. The correspondence reflects their friendship and the social milieu of late‑Victorian New York. Gilman’s letters were sent from 103 Montague St., Brooklyn, and from Flushing, New York, indicating his mobility within the city. The letters were digitized by the museum’s archival project and are available through the museum’s online portal.Contents
- Letter, 2 November 1891 – Gilman expresses loneliness and proposes evening meetings, quoting a poem and describing his new residence at 103 Montague St.
- Letter, 2 December 1891 – Gilman replies to Austen’s note, discusses plans for a Friday evening visit, and reflects on the anticipation of seeing her.
Scope
The collection covers a two‑week period in late 1891 and documents the personal and social interactions between Gilman and Austen. It is geographically focused on Brooklyn, Flushing, and Staten Island, and thematically on friendship, social engagements, and the everyday concerns of upper‑middle‑class residents of the era. The collection is limited to these two letters; it does not include other correspondence, photographs, or related materials from the broader Austen Family Papers.Raw Cheimarros Data
@henry_gilman:person {full_name: "Henry H. Gilman"}
@alice_austen:person {full_name: "Elizabeth Alice Austen", birth: @date_1866, death: @date_1952, occupation: "photographer"}
@date_1866
@date_1952
@montague_st_brooklyn:place {address: "103 Montague St.", city: @brooklyn, state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@clifton_staten_island:place {city: "Clifton", borough: "Staten Island", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@flushing_ny:place {city: "Flushing", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}
@henry_gilman_correspondence:collection {title: "Henry Gilman Correspondence to Alice Austen", creator: @henry_gilman, recipient: @alice_austen, date_range: {start: @date_1891_11_02, end: @date_1891_12_02}, subjects: ["Correspondence","Personal letters","Victorian social life","Friendship","Staten Island history"]}
@date_1891_11_02
@date_1891_12_02
@letter_nov_2_1891:document {from: @henry_gilman, to: @alice_austen, when: @date_1891_11_02, location: @montague_st_brooklyn, content: "Letter expressing loneliness and proposing evening meetings; includes poetic quotation."}
@letter_dec_2_1891:document {from: @henry_gilman, to: @alice_austen, when: @date_1891_12_02, location: @flushing_ny, content: "Letter responding to Miss Austen's note, discussing plans for Friday evening and expressing anticipation."}
@henry_gilman -> wrote -> @letter_nov_2_1891
@henry_gilman -> wrote -> @letter_dec_2_1891
@letter_nov_2_1891 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_dec_2_1891 -> addressed to -> @alice_austen
@letter_nov_2_1891 -> sent from -> @montague_st_brooklyn
@letter_dec_2_1891 -> sent from -> @flushing_ny
@henry_gilman_correspondence -> contains -> @letter_nov_2_1891
@henry_gilman_correspondence -> contains -> @letter_dec_2_1891
@file_pinax -> documents -> @henry_gilman_correspondence
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@file_1891_12_2_henry_gilman_dec_2_1891003_copy_jpg -> documents -> @letter_dec_2_1891Metadata
Files (5)
OCR Text
a poor, grubbing, dissolute soul, and lay up for yourself treasures in Heaven by a charitable action—and experience the highest pleasure in life, by making another's lot in life less misery. Expectancy yours, Henry H. Gilman 103 Montague St. Brooklyn— Evening this week, I shall find you disengaged—either Wednesday, Thursday or Friday—I am living at 103 Montague St. Brooklyn now and any evenings are free to the pitch of absolute loneliness. In fact I feel like saying with our friend "Bunthorne": "Oh to be wafted away From this black aceldama of sorrow Where the dust of an earthy today Is the earth of a dusty tomorrow!" So do take pity on
OCR Text
Miss E. Alice Austen Clifton Staten Island (Richmond County) New York
OCR Text
Dear Miss Austen, I was very much pleased at receiving your note last evening and was promising myself the pleasure of spending Friday evening at your house but your "second edition" which has just come in puts a different complexion on the affair and puts my expectation under the heat of
OCR Text
"Hopes deferred" until Monday evening. A.V. I hope to go with you— I look forward to it (as a weary traveler in the desert might to a cool shady spring) as one of the few pleasures in a life full of trouble and worry and annoyance. There are many things to thee you—though when I come to see you, I am sure I am bound to admit that most of them are about myself or matters closely concerning me and therefore not of the most interesting character to you—but egoism seems to be as natural to some people as being attractive is to others! Till Monday, then, believe we Truly yours, Henry Kilgway
OCR Text
FLUSHING DEC 2 1 PM 1891 N.Y. Miss E Alice Austin, Clifton Staten Island Richmond County, New York
Version History (4 versions)
- ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:38:06 PM
"Added description" - v3 · 12/9/2025, 8:24:50 PM · View this version
"Added knowledge graph extraction" - v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:47:01 PM · View this version
"Added PINAX metadata" - v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:24:42 PM · View this version
"Reorganization group: Henry_Gilman_Correspondence"
Parent
No children (leaf entity)