Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of February 21, 1874

Overview

Her failing eyesight and the doctor’s uncertainty cast a heavy pall over the day, and even talk of Lourdes suggests how little comfort she can find in practical remedies. Still, the household keeps moving, with house matters, Feustel’s travel, news of illness and public affairs, and a useful donation from Heintze offering scattered signs of support.

Content

Saturday, February 21:

Bad eyes, which refuse to function any longer. The doctor does not know what to do. We think of the water at Lourdes, of which R. has read much in Daumer’s book!

Busy with the house; R. again to Feustel, who is going to Vienna. Hoffmann, the painter, is ill. Fine speech by Count Moltke about the extraordinary exertions the French are making in connection with their army.

The piano teacher Heintze sends 100 thalers for our undertaking. In the evening Gibbon.