Rose at 7 or 8 ― & unpacked till 9. Breakfast. ― Very warm & lovely day. At 11 came in a cab for 11½ to Woodberry. Willy ˇ[Guy] N. only at home. At 1½ W.N. & Geoff came. Day passed on the whole well: W.N. & I walked to E. Wood[thorpe’s] & found him & Mrs. W. at home. Odd little girl. Merriment & hospitality. “Why didn’t you get a ‘place’ from Lord D.?” ― Walk back by twilight. Comet.1 ― Showing photographs. Supper ― prayers ― bed. Hot & clear all day.

[Transcribed by Marco Graziosi from Houghton Library, Harvard University, MS Eng. 797.3.]

  1. Donati’s Comet was named after the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Donati who first observed it on June 2, 1858 After the Great Comet of 1811, it was the most brilliant comet that appeared in the 19th century. It was also the first to be photographed. It was nearest the Earth on October 10, 1858. [↩]