The Postcard
A postcard on the back of which is printed the following:
''This beautiful series of Fine Art
Post Cards is supplied free exclusively
by Shurey's Publications, comprising
'Smart Novels,' 'Yes or No', and 'Dainty
Novels'.
The finest 1d. Magazine is 'Weekly
Tale-Teller.'
Great Prize Competition
(See 'Smart,' 'Dainty' or 'Yes or No'
for full particulars)".
The card was posted in Lewes on Monday the 25th. July 1910 to:
Mrs. B. Penfold,
Haylock Cottage,
High Street,
Walton-on-the-Hill,
Near Epsom.
The pencilled message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Dear Mrs. P,
Got down here alright.
We are both in the same
tent.
We nearly got washed
out last night.
B's cold is better.
From Tom."
Drownings in Hungary
So what else happened on the day that Tom posted the card?
Well, on the 25th. July 1910, a sudden downpour at the Hungarian town of Diósd caused flash flooding of the Danube River, drowning at least 25 individuals.
Clara Gottschalk Peterson
The 25th. July 1910 was not a good one for Clara Gottschalk Peterson, because she died on that day.
Born Clara Gottschalk in 1837 in New Orleans, Louisiana, Clara Gottschalk Peterson was an American pianist, composer, and editor.
She was the sister of virtuoso pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk; she edited a collection of his writings, and worked to preserve his memory after his death. She is remembered as a staunch protector of her brother's music in its original form, as well as a composer of considerable ability in her own right.
Clara Gottschalk Peterson - The Early Years
Clara Gottschalk was one of the seven children of London-born Edward Gottschalk and Aimée (née Bruslé).
The Gottschalk and Bruslé families were slave owners, and the children were raised in part by a nurse named Sally, whom the Bruslés had taken with them as chattel from Saint-Domingue, and from whom they heard Creole legends and lullabies.
Their maternal grandmother was also from Saint-Domingue, and between the two women its music was a constant and vital presence in the Gottschalks' family circle.
In 1847, Aimée left her husband, and moved with six of the children to Paris, France, where Louis Moreau was already studying music. Aimée believed that all the Gottschalk children would be musically gifted, and although not all of them went on to be as acclaimed as Louis Moreau, all performed publicly and/or composed at one time or another.
The youngest brother, Louis Gaston Gottschalk (1845–1912), was an eminent opera singer and vocal teacher. Clara and Blanche were both professional pianists, and Celestine and Augusta also performed.
Marriage and Notes of a Pianist
In 1880, Clara Gottschalk married Dr. Robert E. Peterson in Philadelphia.
In 1881, she published a collection of Louis Moreau's travel notes and diaries, entitled 'Notes of a Pianist', with a long biographical preface gathering many testimonials and reviews from newspapers (all very positive).
It has been speculated that Clara may have bowdlerised her brother's writings in efforts to preserve his reputation. Bowdlerising means the removal of material that is considered improper or offensive from a text or account, especially with the result that the text becomes weaker or less effective. The term derives from Thomas Bowdler's 1818 edition of William Shakespeare's plays, which he reworked in ways that he felt were more suitable for women and children. He similarly edited Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.
However, it is generally accepted that her reliance on published versions of the gathered texts means that omissions were Louis Moreau's, rather than hers. In his biography of Louis Moreau Gottschalk, S. Frederick Starr argued that:
"The one major flaw in her edition of the Notes
is that the English translation by her husband,
Robert E. Peterson, is an appallingly anaemic
rendering of Gottschalk's pungent French prose."
he added that:
"Clara's work enabled the public to peer behind
the mask of aloofness that Gottschalk invariably
wore before the public, revealing him to be an
ironic commentator on everything from politics
to religion."
Clara assumed responsibility for memorialising her brother, and for the rest of her life campaigned to confirm her brother's standing as the bard of Creole New Orleans.
It was she who encouraged a drab New Orleans insurance man, William H. Hawes, to collect every scrap of Gottschalk memorabilia and present them to the City of New Orleans. The bewildered mayor had to endure endless visits from Hawes, who doggedly checked to make sure that Gottschalk's bust was displayed prominently in City Hall.
Creole Songs
In 1902, Clara published 'Creole Songs from New Orleans' in the Negro Dialect. Transcribed from memory, she stated in the collection's introduction that:
"Dr. Dvořák has claimed that there is in time to be
a native school of American music based upon the
primitive musical utterances of the Indian and the
negro among us.
Then truly these melodies of the Louisiana negroes,
which, quaintly merry or full of a very tender pathos,
have served to rock whole generations of Southern
children, are historical documents of some interest
to the student and lover of music."
The influence of the songs gathered by Clara on Louis Moreau Gottschalk's compositions was also noted, with some being based on them directly.
The Death of Clara Gottschalk Peterson
Clara died at her home in Asbury Park, New Jersey on the 25th. July 1910. The New York Times noted:
"Her house has been for many years the
gathering place of Asbury Park's musicians,
and even during the past Winter, despite
her failing health, she gave musicales at
which she played her brother's compositions."
Clara was survived by two step-children and her sister, Celestine Gottschalk, with whom she had lived for a number of years.