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Full Description
Chronicles the creation of a picturesque home and landscape on the Hudson River by one of the nineteenth century's leading authors.
During the 1850s and '60s, by far the most prominent author in all of New York State was the writer, editor, and publisher Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867). Nearly as prominent as Willis himself was his Hudson Valley estate, Idlewild, where literary elites gathered and about which Willis himself wrote and published extensively. In 1846, Willis founded the Home Journal, which would go on to become Town and Country. In Out-Doors at Idlewild, first published in 1855, Willis chronicled the creation of his estate at Cornwall-on-Hudson (near West Point), as well as life amid its countryside. The land afforded brilliant views of the river and the mountains to the East. Calvert Vaux, the famed architect of both landscapes and houses, designed the elaborate and ornate Gothic Revival home, which Willis named Idlewood (whereas he called the estate Idlewild), and into which the Willis family moved in July of 1853. Here, Willis wrote a series of papers for the Home Journal documenting life at the seventy-acre estate. These papers were gathered together in Out-Doors at Idlewild, a celebration of Willis's home and estate.
Contents
New Introduction
Edward Renehan
OUT-DOORS AT IDLEWILD
Preface
LETTER I. The Highland Terrace
LETTER II. Highland Terrace, Continued
LETTER III. Lessening the Brook—Pig-Prophecy—Nearing of the City with Spring—the City Eye, as felt in the Country—Telegraph Wires, Æolian
LETTER IV. Slight of Small Streams in the Landscape—Character of Idlewild Brook—Legend and Name of our Nearest Village
LETTER V. Reasons for Neighbors moving Off—Morals of Steamboat Landings—Class that is gradually taking Possession of the Hudson—Thought-property in a Residence—Horizon-clock of Idlewild—Society for the Eye, in a View
LETTER VI. Evergreen Independence of Seasons—Nature's Landscape Gardening—Weakness as to Reluctance in Planting Trees
LETTER VII. Earlier City Migration to the Country than usual—Peculiar Dignity-plant—Object of Country Farmers in taking City Boarders for the Summer—Suggestion as to City and Country Exchange of Hospitality
LETTER VIII. Ownership in Nature worth Realizing—Thumb-and-finger Nationality of Yankees—United Experience of Many, as expressed in a Common-minded Man's Better Knowledge—Lack of Expression and Variety in Gates—Pigtight Gates
LETTER IX. Private Performance of Thunder-storms—Nature's Sundays—Marriage of Two Brooks—Funnychild's Deserted Bed
LETTER X. Making a Shelf-road—Character shown in Wall-laying—By-the-Day and By-the-Job—English Literalness and Yankee "Gumption."
LETTER XI. Plank Foot-bridge over the Ravine—Its Hidden Location—Value of Oldman Friendships—Friend S.—His Visit to the Bridge—His Remembrance of Washington—Tobacco Juice on Trees to Prevent Horse-biting, &c., &c.
LETTER XII. Foliage and its Wonders—Caprice of Tree-living—Auto-verdure of Posts—Hemlock, the Homestead Emblem, &c., &c.
LETTER XIII. Noon Visitors to Scenery—The Bull-Frog at the Gate—Inconvenient Opening of a Spring—Frog Curiosity and Intelligence—Process of Animal Progression, &c., &c.
LETTER XIV. Canterbury Rowdies—Pianos and Porkers—Unwelcome Visitors—Penalty of Pounding—A Public Benefactor
LETTER XV. Trouble in Gate Designing—Letter from an Unknown Correspondent, on Gates—Invisible Society at Idlewild—Correction of Error as to Hemlocks—Handsome Irishman's Mistake in Felling Trees, &c.
LETTER XVI. Laurel-blossoming—The Imbedded Stone, and Jem's Neglect of his Countryman's honors—Sabbath stop to our Running Water, &c., &c.
LETTER XVII. Effect of clearing out Underbrush from a Wood—Praise Disclaimed—Horror of Bloomeri-ized Evergreens—Neglect of departed Great Men—Carrion Nuisance, &c., &c.
LETTER XVIII. Summer of Even Weather—Lightning-rods falling into Disuse—Filling of Country Boarding-houses—Luxury of Rural Remoteness—Viewless Peopling of a Spot—Wallace the Composer, and his Tribute to Alexander Smith, &c., &c.
LETTER XIX. Neglect of Personal Appearance in Country Seclusion—Unexploring Habits of City People—Dignity of Un-damage-able Dress—Thoughts on Cooper's Mansion being turned into a Boarding-house—Suggestion to Authors, as to turning their Influence to better Account—Letter from Cooperstown, &c., &c.
LETTER XX. Timely Seasons and Untimely Age in America—Wild Glen so near the Hudson—Finding of Water Lilies—Anchoring a Lily in a Brook—Name of Moodna, &c., &c.
LETTER XXI. Avalanche or Storm-King—Idlewild Ravaged by the Flood—Accidents to Persons and Destruction to Property—House Laid Open—Rareness of such Phenomena, &c., &c.
LETTER XXII. Gentleman towing a Cow—Daughter taken out in the Storm to see the Freshet—The Power of a Flood—Lofty Bridge Swept Away—Extent of Desolation, &c., &c.
LETTER XXIII. Young Lady killed by Lightning at our Neighbor's House—Another Paralyzed—Careless General Attention to such Fearful Events, &c., &c.
LETTER XXIV. Dilemma as to Placing Settees—Double Service of out-of-door Seats—Difference Between Appreciation of Landscape by Men and by Women—Right of all Strangers to enter Beautiful Grounds—Favor of being Figures on the Land-scape—&c., &c.
LETTER XXV. A Wet September—Effect on Trees—Freshets—Dam-building—Nature's Lesson in Water-power, &c., &c.
LETTER XXVI. Wet Seasons Unfavorable to Hemlocks—The First Inland Mile on the Hudson—The American Malvern and Cheltenham—The Steamboat Landing a Fashionable Resort—The Highland Gap at Sunset, &c.
LETTER XXVII. Highway Pigs—Giving the Old Woman a Ride—Her Favorite Jemmy—Pork and Poets—Common Folks' Knowledge of Neighbors—Letter from a Correspondent, &c., &c.
LETTER XXVIII. Autumnal Privileges—Extent of Personal Orbit—Dignity of a Daily Diameter—Difference between Saddle and Carriage-Riding—Health in a Nobody-bath, &c., &c.
LETTER XXIX. October's First Sunday—Silverbrook, and the Blacksmith's Story of its History—Storm-King and Black Peter—Effects of the Avalanche—Tribute to Children's Love, &c., &c.
LETTER XXX. Working for Neighbors—Answers of Inquiries as to the price of Land, Farms, &c.—"Harriet's" Letter—Apples Promiscuous on Barn-floor—Account of Society around us, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXI. Autumn Splendors—Road Tax and amateur Road Making—Society for Volunteer Raking—Difference of Roads and Neighborhoods—North and South of Idle-wild, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXII. Discovery of an Iron Mine in the Neighborhood—Lack of National Quickness at Beautifying Scenery—Poem on the Flood-ravages at Idlewild—Drawing and Landscape-Gardening, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXIII. Sudden Fall of Leaves—November Haze—Fame of Newspaper-wrappers—Naming of a Village—Legend of Moodna, the Indian Chief—Importance of Immortalizing Men and Events by the Naming of Towns, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXIV. Mellow Middle in a November day—Ascent to Storm-King—Road from Newburg to West Point—Chances for Human Eyries—Difference of Climate between the two Mountain-sides—Home-like familiarity of a Brook, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXV. Instance of Stick-a-pin-there—Survey of Premises after a Freshet—History of a Dam—Specimen of Yankee Coax-ocracy, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXVI. Fine Specimen of a Boy—Young America—Mr. Roe's Boys' School—Surveying Class in the Paths of the Ravine, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXVII. Interesting to Invalids only—Letter from an Invalid Clergyman—Reply—Keeping Disease in the Minority—Climate of the Tropics—Importance of Attention to Trifles, in Convalescence, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXVIII. Summer in December—Flippertigibbet—Idleness—Annual Quarrelsomeness of Dogs—Pig-influence—Home without a Hog, &c., &c.
LETTER XXXIX. Visit to Seven Lakes and Natural Bridge—Torrey the Blacksmith—Sunday in Nature—My Companion's Hobby—Hollett the Quaker—Morning Sensations—Jonny Kronk's and its Cemetery—Mammoth Snapping-Turtle—Iron Mine, &c., &c.
LETTER XL. Many-Lake Alps and their Woodsmen—Highland Life—Contrast between it and New York, only three Hours' Distance—The Difficulty—Natural Bridge—Driven on the Rocks—Hollett's House, and our Ascent to the Peak—Seven Lakes—Quaker and Panther Meeting in the Woods, &c., &c.
LETTER XLI. Degrees of Horseback Acquaintance with a Road—Slaughter-House "Round by Headley's"—Geese and their Envy—Goose-Descent upon Unexpected Ice, &c., &c.
LETTER XLII. Pool of Bethesda above the Highlands—Climate of Highland Terrace—Late Snows—Christmas, and Dressing of Church—Poem on Farmers' Christmas Preparations—Black Peter—Snake Love of Solitude, &c., &c.
LETTER XLIII. Trip of the Family Wagon to Newburgh—The Fashionable Resort—Chapman's Bakery—Aristocracy "setled down"—Newburgh as a Neighbor
LETTER XLIV. Personal Experience interesting to Invalids—Difficulty as to Horseback Exercise—Advice as to Winter-riding—Economies in Horse-owning—New Idea as to Exposure—Philosophy of Exercise to Scholars, &c., &c.
LETTER XLV. Snow and its Uses—Winter View of Grounds, as to Improvements—Old Women's Weather-Prophecy—Finding of an Indian God in the Glen—Idlewild a Sanctuary of Deities of the Weather—Name of Moodna, &c.,&
