Thursday, 4 February 1858
Intensely cold, & quite clear all day long. Not at all well all day. Suddenly took it into my head to begin 8 small paintings, & actually got outlines of Corfu, Corfu, Zagóri, Philátes, Philae, Constantinople, S. Paul, & Iviron ― onto canvass. ― Then Shakespeare called, & he paid me for the Photographic Machine1 ― 15£. The Zinc man packed & mailed my box of paintings. At 5 or later, walked a small round. Called on the Reids for a minute. Dined at home.
Diarrhoea at times all day ― better at night.
[Transcribed by Marco Graziosi from Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng. 797.3. Previously published in part in Lear 1988, 126.]
I think you will find it was 15/- (shillings) not £ pounds that my ancestor paid Lear for the camera. There were 24 shillings to the pound.
Whoops! There were 20 shillings to the pound!
& Shakespear has no final ‘e’.