Last part (pages five and six) of an Autograph Letter Signed ('J M MacLeod'), describing a visit to his residence in Fez by the Victorian traveller Isabella Bird.

Sir James MacIver MacLeod (1866-1944), British Consul in Fez, 1892-1919 [Isabella Bird (Isabella Lucy Bishop, 1831-1904), English Victorian photographer and traveller]

Published by Fez Morocco, 1902

About this Item

Thirty-eight lines of text, on both sides of a 12mo leaf (dimensions roughly 17.5 x 11.5 cm). Text clear and complete, good on lightly aged, spotted and creased paper. One 0.5 cm closed tear not affecting text. The penultimate page is headed '5' and the text begins abruptly. Sixteen lines (all but the last three) of the first page describe ten days spent by Bird as MacLeod's guest in Fez. He describes her as an 'altogether delightful' guest. She is 'the most intelligent woman' he has ever met, 'as gentle & womanly and almost meek in manner as one could imagine'. She is however 'possessed of an energy of mind which staggers one'. He wonders that she has been able to do '1200 miles in Morocco [she had just crossed the Atlas Mountains] burdened with 71 years, a weak spine, a split knee cap, and a partially disabled arm.' He wishes she could have stayed with him the whole summer, and hopes that if his correspondent has not met her he will do so. His assistant has departed for England, but 'it won't be so utterly lonely as I've known it - when sometimes one didn't see a European face (save one's own in the glass!) for three or four weeks at a stretch!' Sends regards to common acquaintances. In a postscript he apologises for 'the sobriety of this letter. It has no atrocities by the natives or adventures & escapes of the writer - nor anything which the proper kind of letter from Barbary ought to have. - Better luck next time I hope.' See Image.

Seller Inventory # 7559

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Last part (pages five and six) of an Autograph Letter Signed ('J M MacLeod'), describing a visit to his residence in Fez by the Victorian traveller Isabella Bird.
• Publisher: Fez Morocco
• Publication Date: 1902