12^th July, 1877

Le Grand Hôtel, Paris

Dear Oscar,

I am sorry to not have written to you again about the Grosvenor. I had thought to receive your reply first, and then, with calling upon some friends and meeting with some publishers—none of whom, incidentally, I found particularly inspired—I had not time to write again before departing on the train. I have settled for a few days in Paris, and you must write to me here while I am in France. I may at a moment’s notice need to travel with a dear friend of mine, but will ensure that my letters are dealt with appropriately.

You had promised to send me a copy of your Grosvenor review in the magazine, for posterity, and I look forward to receiving it. Regarding the gallery, I agree entirely with you, except that you do an injustice to Whistler’s Rocket. It merits a great deal more attention than a lone flash across the sky. The very evanescence which it seeks to capture exemplifies the concept that art may stand apart from us and our time-bound sense of endurance or of urgency.

In a few days, I will to Rome, and expect to make my temporary home at the same hotel which you frequented. You said that your recollection of Rome’s wonders were fading. Do write to me I there are any points upon which you would like confirmation. I would gladly take you and your novel as a guide, as you did Ramsay and Hawthorne’s.

Yours,

Tafani