Cosima's Diaries

Diary Entry of January 28, 1875

Overview

R. and Glatz were both unwell, so study gave way to tense arguments that left us feeling a possible hope had collapsed. We wondered where to find our Siegfried, while my father’s "Die Glocken von Strassburg" arrived as a strange but forceful work, and I spent time reading Gfrorer and Buckle, though Buckle struck me as shallow. The mood remained unsettled and disappointed.

Content

Thursday, January 28:

R. not very well, nor is Herr Glatz. No study, but instead arguments, and not very pleasant ones. The object is to prove to the good man that he has learned nothing from Frau Richter and will learn nothing. R. and I are very melancholy at the thought that probably a hope has been destroyed!

Where to find our Siegfried? Arrival of my father’s Die Glocken von Strassburg, a curious work, done with great effect, but so alien to us...

In the evening read Gfrorer’s book. I read for myself Buckle’s History of Civilization, and, stimulating as the book is, I cannot help being astonished at the superficiality of its outlook.