['Stuart Cumberland' [Charles Garner] (1857-1922), Victorian 'Mentalist' or 'Muscle Reader'.] Twelve Autograph Letters Signed ('Laura') from his wife to her father and sister, written during tours from Egypt, India, Spain and Australia.

Of the twelve letters, nine are to her sister Ellen Alice Webb ('Nell'), two are to her father the Oxford gunmaker George Webb (d.1892, of 85 High Street, and later 36 Iffley Rd), and one is to both father and sister. They total 57pp, in a variety of paper shapes and sizes (10pp., 32mo; 20pp., 16mo; 23pp., 12mo; 4pp., 4to). In good condition, on aged and worn paper. One letter lacking the final section, including signature. As Barry H. Wiley's 'The Thought Reader Craze: Victorian Science at the Enchanted Boundary' (2012), points out, Garner [Cumberland] was an extraordinary figure, beginning his career debunking spiritualism as a sort of Victorian precursor of Derren Brown. A small archive relating to Garner himself is offered separately. The present collection of letters by his wife are well written and entertaining, and give a vivid impression of his great success within the highest circles of society. They start in the period following Garner's most celebrated success, the reading of Prime Minister Gladstone's mind on 19 June 1884. Topics include: a cheetah hunt in Baroda, quarantine in Athens, the state of Cairo following the British bombardment of 1882, hospitality and receptions in India, problems with the state theatre system while performing in Zagreb, her intense dislike of Australia, a bullfight in Madrid, the preparation for publication of Garner's book 'A Thought-Reader's Thoughts. Being the impressions and confessions of Stuart Cumberland' (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle & Rivington, 1888). Individuals mentioned include Sir Drummond Wolff's daughter (the novelist 'Lucas Cleeve'), Sir George Greaves, Salar Jung, Lady Bage, Lady Gregory and her husband, the Gaekwad of Baroda, Lord and Lady Dufferin, the Comte de Paris. ONE. To her sister ('My dear Nell'). Trieste. 30 September [1885]. 2pp., 12mo; 4pp., 16mo. After discussing family matters she turns to her travels. 'I wrote to you from Vienna, suppose you had my letter. From Vienna I joined C. at Graz. Well, I thought I had seen pretty well every thing in the way of scenery, but found there has, as yet, been nothing like the Alps. She describes the journey to Graz ('I have never climbed mountains in a railway carriage before!), whence the party journey to Agram (Zagreb), 'the most Eastern looking place I have been to [...] I did nothing but stare at the peasants all the time, they were too delightful. Our windows looked on to a large square, & there they came at 7 in the morning & stayed all day with their fruit baskets.' Of Cumberland's performance in Zagreb she writes: 'Tho' the hall was full & there was plenty of money taken, we had empty pockets, for the officialism [sic] is so harassing - First the theatre is a State affair, so an official comes from the theatre & puts his mark on all our tickets & takes 10 per cent of all the money taken, because it might hurt his blessed theatre business - (It is all the same if the theatre is shut) Then every bill you put up must have a stamp, & every circular a half penny stamp, & as they have to be sent out by 1000s, that mounts up - then there is police permission to pay for & a per centage for the poor - & so on, so that by the time you have paid for hall, printing & interpreter you find yourself drawing in your bankers instead of sending money to save'. She finds Trieste 'a very beautiful place', but 'nearly all the people here are Italians, & speak Italian, so C. [her husband, born Charles] has had his liebe <?> with the interpretation. They would not have Germans. The feeling is pretty strong.' She explains that they are going straight to Egypt because of the cholera, and asks her sister to 'Look out for G.'s book, it will be published soon. If the Standard gives any criticism please cut it out & send, one is always curious to know. The Daily News is already on at him, of course because of politics, they are mad against everyone who is not a Rad: - However a little adverse criticism gives flavour, & I think does good in the way of advertizement. It is silence that damns. We are correcting proofs. It really reads well, & I think will go down for what it is - viz. a 1/ railway boom, - it is not meant for anything else. It is a great improvement on his former things, wh: were very washy. I am curious to hear what you think of it & how the green paper & blue ink will act on the eyes.' TWO. To her father and sister ('My dear Dad & Nell'). Cairo. 8 October [1885]. 10pp., 16mo. She feels she is in a 'fairy-land' or 'ever continuing theatre, for the scenes here are just like the scenes in the theatre, only it is more exciting as one is oneself an actor sometimes'. She describes a storm and 'terrible whirlwind' the party experienced on the day they left Trieste. 'It was an Italian boat, [...] I think we had pretty well every nationality represented by the passengers. I was fortunate in my cabin, as I shared one with Sir Drummond Wolff's daughter [Adeline Georgiana Isabel Kingscote (1868-1908), the novelist 'Lucas Cleeve'] & her maid. She was just married & going to join her husband who is Commander of the Citadel here. We made friends directly & got on nicely.' Cholera prevented the ship from landing at Corfu: 'Ships going to Athens are quarantined there - on a bare rocky island about as big as the cricket ground in front.' The ship reached Athens after six days, and while waiting to enter the harbour 'drifted on to the bar wh: is a ridge of sharp rocks. The effect woke us all with a start. It was a succession of violent bumps & a sawing & grating noise as if the ship were being sawn in two, & then the ship gave a kind of shiver, just like a human being, being hurt. [...] There are no docks to land in, so one has to land in small boats. We were instantly swarmed by these small boats, I should say there were about a hundred all round, & each had 3 or 4 Arabs in, all dressed in the brightest & most flowing garment. It was a wonderful sight. I dont think there were two alike, though the predominate [sic] colours were white light mustard colour & blue. At a given signal from the captain this motley crew rush on board, they swarmed like ants, & how they gon on deck I could not say; but in 2 seconds we could not move for them, & each one jabbered & threw his arms about like a madman. [...] We gave up entirely, & placed ourselves in Cook's agent's hands, & by dint of shouting in Arabic & pushing & screaming he got our things together some how & we got off. [...] Alexandria is in a terrible state of disorder, caused by the bombardment [by the British Mediterranean Fleet, 11 to 13 July 1882]. In the quarter that suffered there are only temporary booths erected whilst the houses are being build. They are building it very fast. Some of the buildings & streets are very fine. It is a general shake up of nations, many rich Greeks, English, Italians, French, & Arabic is the general language of the people & all the English residents speak it to their servants.' She describes their adventures in Cairo ('You cant get on without some good big oath & a good big stick.'): 'Of course the first thing we did was to get donkeys. As soon as this was expressed there suddenly appeared before us about 100 donkeys led by as many boys each shouted "Me good donkey". [...] There are thousands of them. It is quite the thing to do. One sees most venerable old Turks ambling along holding a white umbrella open over themselves.' She describes the fruit and foliage, and other aspects of their stay ('The hotel here is like a palace, lighted by electric light.'). She concludes by asking for letters to be directed to the Esplanade Hotel, Bombay. THREE. To her sister. Post Office, Calcutta. Latter part of letter dated 11 November [1885] ('Recd Nov 30th'). 8pp., 12mo. An informative letter covering topics including the hiring of servants, bazaars, native costume, a visit 'to the Elephantine Caves with the man who explored them'. 'On board I made great friends with Sir George Greaves who succeeded the Duke of Connaught in command of the Meerut Army. He made us promise to go & visit him, says I must mind & get a habit, as I shall have to ride all the time! He has a very grand place near Delhi, over 100 servants. I am afraid I shall be sadly lacking in toilettes. [...] Sir G. is so particular. He was here 2 days, & we were inseparable all the time: he even wanted us to come to breakfast! He was buying Arab horses here, & I trudged to all the stables with him, viewing them; he paid 100 gns: a piece for his.' The letter concludes with information on Calcutta, including: 'There are no W.C's here. There is a corner portioned off in each room for bath & night stool, & someone comes night & morning to see after it.' FOUR: To her sister. Embossed letterhead of the Government of Bombay. 3 December 1885. 4pp., 4to. 'You cannot imagine what a wonderful time we have been having & what nice kind people we meet. A lady is rather a rarity out here I fancy, & is treated accordingly. Consequently I am in a fair way of being spoilt for after life. In Bombay we made acquaintance with the son of a Parsi high priest, who lost his heart to us. He accompanied us to Poona where his father's Palace is. We stayed there 3 days. He placed his carriage & pair at our disposal & we saw all that was to be seen. Amongst these a very queer old Hindu temple at the top of a high hill wh: we had to climb. The Hindu high priest showed us round for a consideration - he was a horrid man with nothing on but a bit of calico, & his head closely shaven except a long lock in the middle behind. The Parsi high priest is a very grand & venerable old man, quite European & speaks beautiful English. We paid him a visit at his Palace & were received in state by him & his wife & family.' She describes their reception, and their adventures at Poona and Hyderabad. 'Fortunately at Bombay we made acquaintance with Malidi Ali, finance minister (Asa ['High Priest's son']) was his secretary) & he placed a carriage & pair of superb horses at our disposal. Mr. Furdoouizi, secretary to the Prime Minister, Salar Jung, placed his bungalow at our disposal [...] Went for moonlight picnics in steamers to dine under tents, & end in fireworks on the water. Went on elephants all through the town, [...]'. References to 'Lady Bage (the Governor of Bombay Presidency's wife)' and 'Lady Gregory & her husband who was formerly Governor of Ceylon'. 'From Bombay we go to Baroda, as the Signor has expressed a wish to see C. We stay with the English resident General Watson. From there we go to my old friend Sir George Greaves & thence to Calcutta.' FIVE. To her sister. Agra. 28 December 1885. 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. The first four pages only, and so no signature. She describes the party's further adventures in Baroda, 'where the Gaekwad placed a bungalow, 15 servants, carriage & pair & a Brahmin official (as guide) at our disposal. He gave a reception which was a very slow affair. He gave us a Cheetah Hunt - we had to get up in the pitch dark at 5 & went 10 miles in a bullock cart. There the gentlemen got horses to ride, & I had another bullock cart (without springs) & we went off with two cheetahs on carts in search for deer. I have certainly never had such experiences before. These bullocks dragged me over hedges & ditches ploughed fields through rivers, nothing was an obstacle to them, every tooth in my head seems loose, & every now & then I got out to walk, but the ground was so rough that was almost impossible - We saw lots of deer, but unfortunately never could get near eno[ugh] - so the cheetahs could not be used, but C. got some good shooting. At 12 we gave it up & went home quite tired out. They killed a deer afterwards & brought it to us.' They have an elephant ride, and go to Bhavnagger [Bhavnagar], where the Prime Minister takes them 'for a drive to see the sights of the place, & also gave us a <?> dance at his palace. The dresses of the girls cost £100 each'. She describes a reception given for them by the prince: 'The courtiers did not wear trousers at all.' SIX. To 'My dear Dad'. No place [India]. 9 January 1886. 4pp., 32mo. 'We had a long journey here from Benares, a day & night & arrived at 6 in the morning; to my dismay we found an invitation to Government House, from Lord & Lady Dufferin for that same evening. Of course we went & never got home again till 1 in the night. It was a grand affair. All Calcutta Society was there in all the grandest dresses & jewels [sic]. The Maharajah of Cashmere & suite, & all the rajahs & nabobs in the queerest dressing gowns of cloth of gold & diamonds &c. [...] Lord D: was looking very fagged, but he has quite recovered of his fever. There was such a crush to get the carriages that we had to wait (in a dense crowd) for half an hour in the porchway before we could get ours'. SEVEN. To 'Dear Dad'. Without place [India] or date. 2pp., 32mo. 'Our next place to visit will be Hyderabad, but we shall not stay long. We want to get to the Nizam of Hyderabad who has about a million a year. There is no hotel there, we go to a bungalow, I am rather curious how it will be. [...] I hope if the Nizam gives us a present, it wont be a couple of white elephants, there are plenty there, & that I believe is the usual thing to present one with.' EIGHT. To her sister. On letterhead of Petty's Family Hotel, Church Hill, Sydney. 26 May 1886. 4pp., 12mo; 2pp., 32mo. She finds Australia 'a most wretched country, one feels quite out of the world, no news or letters seem possible in any decent time'. She gives details of their planned return journey from Auckland: 'I go via Cape Horn, Rio Janeiro, Madeira & land at Plymouth [...] C. will go via San Francisco, over the new Pacific line & on to Newfoundland to look after his grant of land there. We have been in Sidney [sic] a week now, there is nothing particularly nice about it except the harbour & that is wonderfully beautiful.' She has been to Ashfield 'to see Miss Stevens (Bessie Glanville's friend). She lives about 20 minutes by train, is matron of Infants' Home', and has 'stayed at McArthur's while C went to Tasmania, he had two most wretched voyages, sea something awful, & bad boats; coming back they struck a rock, propeller broken off, a regular panic - were fetched off by another steamer, wh: also broke down'. NINE. To her sister. Sydney. 10 June 1886. 3pp., 12mo. She is 'very happy to think this is my last letter from this misguided country. It is all settled now, I have taken my ticket by the "Kaikoura" of the New Zealand Shipping country which starts from Wellington the 1st. of July, & after 40 days purgatory I am expecting to land at Plymouth. [...] I have not a bit of news from this most uninteresting place, I have been here now 3 weeks, as dull as ditch-water; - quite a collapse from India - Sampson, the editor of "The Referee" is here with his wife & does a good deal of bad language daily at being stuck in such a hole'. TEN. To her sister. Hotel de Paris, Madrid. January 1887. 4pp., 16mo. She and her husband have travelled over from England, via France. 'The Comte de Paris & his family & about 12 servants came over by the same boat & the Countess came on to Madrid where the Queen was at the station to meet her. [...] At Madrid the English ambassador sent his head man to receive us & see to us generally'. ELEVEN. Latter part of letter to her sister, with signature. Without place or date. 2pp., 32mo. Her husband's book will be published 'by Sampson & Low with most advantageous conditions, & will be a magnificent turnout - either 10/ or £1. book. Their reader said it was brilliantly & most interestingly written. It will gain him much reputation. [...] Thought reading is profitable, but very nervous work.' TWELVE. Latter part of letter to her sister, with signature. Without place or date [Spain]. 2pp., 12mo; 2pp., 16mo. Describing the Alhambra, Cordova and Barcelona, and a bullfight in Madrid. References to Sir Clare Ford (1828-1899).