1895_8-Daisy Elliot from San Servan001-not-1897 copy.jpg

Daisy Elliot Europe Travel Correspondence

PI

Version: 4 (current) | Updated: 12/9/2025, 9:51:01 PM | Created: 12/9/2025, 7:37:21 PM

Added description

Description

Daisy Elliot Europe Travel Correspondence Collection

Overview

This collection comprises handwritten letters and their typed transcriptions written by Daisy Elliot during her European travels in August 1895. The documents are preserved as scanned JPEG images and accompanying text files, and are housed in the Alice Austen House Museum on Staten Island. The material offers a first‑hand account of Victorian travel, social interactions, and personal reflections across France, England, and Italy.

Background

Daisy Elliot (active 1883‑1898) was an American traveler and correspondent whose letters were exchanged with friends and family, notably W. Ewing, a fellow traveler and correspondent. The collection was created on 20 August 1895 and later digitized by the Alice Austen House. It reflects the broader context of late‑19th‑century transatlantic travel and the social networks that sustained it.

Contents

  • Letters (JPG scans): Two primary letters—one from Daisy to Alice Austen, describing Paris, London, Saumur, San Servan, and the Bay of Naples; the other from W. Ewing to Daisy, detailing his stay in San Servan and remarks on French society.
  • Transcriptions (TXT files): Typed reproductions of the handwritten correspondence.
  • Metadata: Subject tags include Travel, Europe, France, Personal Correspondence, Victorian Social Life, and 1890s.
The letters provide vivid descriptions of travel logistics, social encounters, and personal musings, offering insight into the everyday experiences of a Victorian woman abroad.

Scope

The collection covers the period of August 20, 1895, documenting travels across Paris, London, Saumur, San Servan (Bretagne, France), and the Bay of Naples (Italy). It focuses on personal, informal correspondence rather than official travel reports or photographic records. The material is valuable for researchers interested in Victorian travel culture, transatlantic social networks, and the lived experience of women travelers in the late 19th century.

Raw Cheimarros Data

@file_pinax -> documents -> @daisy_elliot_europe_travel_correspondence:collection {title: "Daisy Elliot Europe Travel Correspondence", creator: [@daisy_elliot, @w_ewing], institution: @alice_austen_house, created: @date_1895_08_20, language: "en", subjects: ["Travel","Europe","France","Personal Correspondence","Victorian Social Life","1890s"], places: [@paris, @london, @san_servan, @italy, @bay_of_naples]}

@daisy_elliot:person {full_name: "Daisy Elliot", active_years: [@date_1883, @date_1898]}

@w_ewing:person {role: "correspondent"}

@alice_austen_house:place {institution: "Alice Austen House Museum", location: @staten_island}

@staten_island:place {city: "Staten Island", state: @new_york, country: @united_states}

@san_servan:place {region: @bretagne, country: @france}

@bretagne:place {region_of: @france}

@bay_of_naples:place {location: @italy}

@file_1895_8_daisy_elliot_from_san_servan001_not_1897_copy_jpg -> is a -> @letter_001:document {date: @date_1895_08_20, location: @paris, recipient: @alice_austen, sender: @daisy_elliot, mentions: [@w_ewing, @saumur], content_summary: "Letter describing travel in Paris, London, Saumur, and reflections on the Bay of Naples"}

@saumur:place {country: @france}

@daisy_elliot -> wrote -> @letter_001

@daisy_elliot -> mentions -> @w_ewing

@daisy_elliot -> traveled to -> [@paris, @london, @saumur, @bay_of_naples]

@file_1895_8_daisy_elliot_from_san_servan002_not_1897_copy_jpg -> is a -> @letter_002:document {date: @date_1895_08_20, location: @san_servan, recipient: @alice_austen, sender: @daisy_elliot, mentions: [@lucie, @victor], content_summary: "Letter describing fast travel, meals, lodging, and social interactions in France"}

@lucie:person {first_name: "Lucie"}

@victor:person {first_name: "Victor"}

@daisy_elliot -> wrote -> @letter_002

@daisy_elliot -> mentions -> [@lucie, @victor]

@daisy_elliot -> traveled to -> @san_servan

@daisy_elliot -> experienced -> @travel_experience:concept {description: "Victorian-era European travel with social observations"}

Metadata

Files (2)

1895_8-Daisy Elliot from San Servan001-not-1897 copy.jpgJPEG
4.37 MB
OCR Text

Paris, Aug 20. In Paris and now in London. I am glad to hear you are finally free from cares away from France and get back to London. Mr. Dunn had such a good time. As yet I have had even fewer chances to see foreigners here, but the few I have seen wear "pants." This is a dull letter and hardly worth sending; but it does take my love to you which I am in Saumur. A month from today we shall be sailing toward home! Your friend, Daddy W. Ewing San Servan, Bretagne, France. Alice dear, It is Sunday afternoon and as I sit here at my window unlooking the pretty town & bay it seems almost as if I had gone back to Italy and was looking over the Bay of Naples. It is very beautiful and I am enjoying so much. My thoughts have been way over the water today even more than usual, perhaps youreller and me from Violes which came last night together have taken possession of me for certainly I've decided longing in that direction. But the time is

1895_8-Daisy Elliot from San Servan002-not-1897 copy.jpgJPEG
4.53 MB
OCR Text

Going very fast and in a few weeks this trip will be over. You have no idea how almost ideas it has been. Everything seems to have favoured us, the weather, the roads, the country and all. We keep saying one and one, "Oh isn't it lovely." Lucie & I landed in France & you had a good deal of fun; so began with us failed to draw enough money to carry us through easily to the next place where we could get money, and our scheming and planning to pull through on luck has been amusing. One day we have coffee & rolls for breakfast and for lunch tea & boiled eggs and bread and that night we settled up a hotel where we could get a cheap room & dinner! Then the French we make some funny mistakes occasionally. The other morning when I asked for my Mek bie, she was thought I wanted soft boiled eggs; ask Victor to tell you how ever got locked in our room & had the cut out! I make a point of opening conversation at table with reputable looking people; yesterday the Ma'am thought I was asking him if he had to buy

Version History (4 versions)

  • ✓ v4 (current) · 12/9/2025, 9:51:01 PM
    "Added description"
  • v3 · 12/9/2025, 9:02:13 PM · View this version
    "Added knowledge graph extraction"
  • v2 · 12/9/2025, 7:55:06 PM · View this version
    "Added PINAX metadata"
  • v1 · 12/9/2025, 7:37:21 PM · View this version
    "Reorganization group: Daisy_Elliot_Europe_Travel"

Parent

01KC29F4QSG3SZ0SBGTMH85KKH

No children (leaf entity)