By MAJOR W.E. FRYE
EDITED WITH A PREFACE AND NOTES
By SALOMON REINACH
Member of the Institute of France
LONDON 1908
To
V.A.M.
S.R.
PREFACE
The knowledge of Major Frye's manuscript and the privilege of publishing it
for the first time I owe to the kindness of two French ladies, the Misses
G - - . Their father, a well known artist and critic, used to spend the
summer months at Saint Germain-en-Laye together with his wife, who was an
English woman by birth. They had been for a long time intimately acquainted
with Major Frye, who lived and ended his life in that quiet town. The
Major's hostess, Mme. de W - - , after his death in 1858, brought the
manuscript to Mrs. G - - and gave it to her in memory of her friend. It was
duly preserved in the G - - family, but remained unnoticed. The Misses
G - - rediscovered it in 1907, when it had been lying in a cupboard for
upwards of half a century. On their showing it to me I thought it was
interesting for many reasons, and worthy of introduction to the public. I
hope the reader will share my opinion, which is also that of several
English scholars and men of letters, to whom I communicated extracts from
the manuscript.
The reminiscences are in the form of letters addressed to a correspondent
who, however, is never named and of whose health, family and private
circumstances not the slightest mention is to be found.
