Description

Description: This effusive letter was written by Laura Ormiston Chant on February 13, 1892, and addressed to her friend Mrs. Arthur Warren. Mrs. Warren’s sister, Charlotte (nee Gunnison), who had been living with the Warrens in London for the past few years, had recently gotten married to fellow American expat Dr. Benjamin Martin, and Chant couldn’t have been more pleased about it, writing in part: "O, I am so glad to think of that tender-hearted, sensitive man gettin taken in tow as it were by so bright and so delightful a personality as your sister’s!" Chant proceeded to invite the Warrens and Martins over to her new home on Gower Street for a visit, and responded colorfully to a prior inquiry from Mrs. Warren about whether she might know of any good maidservants looking for work — "My work brings to me the labour-failures mostly, not the competent." The letter ends as it begins, with mention of Chant’s recent brief but busy lecture tour of Guernsey, and congratulations to the newlyweds. It is signed "Yours sincerely, L. Ormiston Chant."

Written on all four pages of a sheet of Chant’s stationery, measuring approximately 7" x 9" when unfolded. She crossed out her old address, embossed in red at the top, and wrote in the new Gower Street address by hand. The signature is located on page one, as Chant ran out of room on page four and used the left-hand margin, rotated 90 degrees, to close out her last sentence and sign off. Item #A00605

Laura Ormiston Chant (1848-1923) was an English nurse, writer, and lecturer, who advocated for temperance, purity, women’s suffrage, and aid to refugees, among other social and political causes. She wrote pamphlets, poetry, songs, and a novel, Verona and Other Poems being perhaps her best-remembered work  

Condition: A few spots otherwise in very good condition and a nice addition to any number of collections.