Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of August 31, 1874

Overview

The day was spent in patient labor with the children, including the difficult start of French lessons for the younger ones, before the family took a walk to Rollwenzel in the evening light. The sunset and the town’s setting lifted spirits, though the writer also ended the day immersed in a letter that carried a sharp note of mockery.

Content

Monday, August 31:

Worked a lot with the children, began French with the little ones, a hard nut for them as well as for me. Family lunch; afterward, walk to Rollwenzel. R. goes ahead with Fidi; I follow with the girls. Very lovely sunset, joy in the town and its situation, hope that the children may prosper here.

In the evening continue with the Austrian letter: “I seem to hear an army of 100,000 fools.”