Handwritten Diary covering July 23-December 31, 1892
1892. Hardcover. Rush's daily diary entries cover the first 149 pages (our count), following by 35 blank pages. Rush has written a poem (copied?) and a list of hotels on the final 3 pages. The diary is written in a small (9 x 15cm.) somewhat worn black notebook which a stationer's ticket suggests that she bought in Munich. Rush, the unmarried daughter of Jeremiah McLain Rusk, who served as Governor of Wisconsin (1882-1889) and then as Benjamin Harrison's Secretary of Agriculture (1889-1893), writes in a rather neat and mostly clear hand which would probably become more clear with study. Mary is described, in an undated (1919) obituary for her mother which is laid in, as "dutiful daughter and companion to her mother during the years of her widowhood." The first portion of this diary is Rush's account of the latter portion of a European trip with someone referred to as Annie. It begins in Lucerne and wanders through Switzerland, Paris and London before they embark for home on August 31st aboard the "City of New York." After a few days in New York she returns to her life in Washington with her parents. She visits the White House several times during the illness of Mrs. Harrison, attends her funeral and endures Cleveland's election in November. She heads for Florida in December and spends a week in Kissimmee with stops in Tampa and Jacksonville on the way back to Washington. Her last entry ends: "I can't help but wish that another year will bring me what I so much wish for -- contentment. I sometimes feel that my life is so empty and I can't help thinking it is in a measure my own fault. Farewell forever 1892." Good. Item #85739
Price: $650.00