Request a high resolution copy

Letter from Gertrude Bell to her stepmother, Dame Florence Bell

Summary
There is currently no summary available for this item.
Reference code
GB/1/1/1/1/14/17
Recipient
Bell, Dame Florence Eveleen Eleanore
Creator
Bell, Gertrude Margaret Lowthian
Creation Date
Extent and medium
1 letter, paper
Language
English
Location
France ยป Paris
Coordinates

48.856614, 2.3522219

Fri. Dearest Mother. I think this is admirable. What delightful and wise things you have found to say! She will be very much pleased. I have spent the whole day seeing ivories at various museums. As far as Paris is concerned I've seen all the ivories that concern me and I find to my joy that I'm beginning to be able to place them so that this afternoon at Cluny I knew a good deal more than the catalogue - which I'm bound to add was very bad. They have some wonderful things here.
This happy result is a good deal caused by having looked through such masses of picture books with Reinach. Last night he set me guessing what things were - even Greek heads - it was a sort of examination and I really think I passed. Reinach was much pleased but then he loves me so dearly that perhaps he is not a good judge. He is such a little dear. He has simply set all his boundless knowledge at my disposal and I have learnt more in these few days than I should have learnt by myself in a year.

But you can't think what odd things they made about the 3rd and 4th centuries in Gaul. It's a most fascinating study.

Now I'm going to try and see a Syrian explorer name of DusSa'ud. Your affectionate daughter Gertrude

IIIF Manifest
https://cdm21051.contentdm.oclc.org/iiif/info/p21051coll46/8234/manifest.json
Licence
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/