Rare 1899-1903 Diary and Scrapbooks by Student of Mathilde Marchesi

Sensational 1899-1903 Belle Époque collection of two scrapbooks and one handwritten personal diary by a young singer named Ethel Fiske who studied under some of the greatest vocal instructors of her time. Fiske was the daughter of Harvard professor and author Dr. John Fiske. She lived on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was 27 years old when she began writing the diary. 

Sensational 1899-1903 collection of two scrapbooks and one handwritten personal diary by a young singer named Ethel Fiske who studied under some of the greatest vocal instructors of her time. Fiske was the daughter of Harvard professor and author Dr. John Fiske. She lived on Brattle Street in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and was 27 years old when she began writing the diary. 

Fiske’s entire diary is concerned with her voice lessons in the United States and in Paris. She records what happens in her lessons, names the songs that she sings, and comments on and critiques her music teachers. 

When Fiske lived in Cambridge, her teacher was Mademoiselle Avigliana, a Dramatic Soprano who had once worked at Covent Garden and the Royal Italian Opera. There are several long letters from Avigliana to Fiske included in the diary.

The following are excerpts taken from Fiske’s dairy: 

“I took a lesson. I sang all the lessons through. …Mlle gave us a new arpeggio several notes longer than the second one ... then I sang ‘Thou That Tellest.’ She said ‘this is a good lesson’” (February 22, 1899).

 

“I sang to Miss Willis and Mr. Frank Lee in Nichewaug music room, without accompaniment. Mr. Lee said ‘it was delicious’” (September 7, 1900). 

In October 1900, at age 28, Fiske travels to France with her friend Francis Ames where Fiske, along with a successful young student named Miss Dodge, becomes the student of Paul Marcel. Fiske hopes to become a singing sensation, and her diary is full of the compliments and words of praise that she garners.

Her father dies and she returns to the United States for several weeks. She then returns to France to become the student of famous German mezzo-soprano Mathilde Marchesi at her school on Rue Jouffroy. There are two original handwritten letters from Marchesi tucked into the dairy. Fiske does not explain why she left the tutelage of Marcel. Marchesi is known today as the teacher of a significant number of great singers, including Nellie Melba, Emma Calvé, and Frances Alda.

One entry indicates that by 1903, Fiske had established her own salon: “I sang in my salon to Mr. & Mrs Hallett. Sallia played for us, ‘L’Eselave’. ... Mrs  Hallett said my voice was ‘magnificent’ (October 29, 1903). 

Tipped in or laid in the diary are seven music programs, eleven original handwritten letters, nine news clippings, seven original photographs (including two of Ms. Ames), and six miscellaneous pieces of ephemera. 

The diary ends somewhat abruptly. There is a short section dated 1904, which indicates that Fiske is still in France and has a salon at which she sings for very small audiences. 

Fiske’s scrapbooks contain extensive clippings of opera and theater performances in Paris during the 1902, 1903, and 1904 seasons. The covers of both scrapbooks have separated from the binding but all pages are  intact. 

Included are numerous playbills and magazine clippings regarding shows and actresses. Fiske has recorded the dates of every performance she attended as well as many of the restaurants she dined in (she includes names or initials of her theater and dinner companions). The newspaper clippings and theater  programs are in excellent condition. 

Examples of items preserved include detailed restaurant bills, calling cards, invitations, and personal notes and letters. There are several news articles about a famous criminal fraud case involving the notorious Therese Humbert, as well as photographs of various theater stars including Sarah Bernhardt. There is also a 1902 map of the Paris Metro. 

Fiske’s scrapbooks offer a comprehensive look at the cultural and theatrical life in Paris over a century ago. 

This collection is a valuable piece of Belle Époque history, with first-hand accounts of Ethel Fiske’s interactions with some of the most famous vocal instructors of the time.

1899-1903 Diary 

• 8.5 x 6.76
• 96 pages
• 100% Complete 
• Good condition
• legible, text with many blank pages at end, maroon leather with initial E. F. 1899 on front. 

1902 Scrapbook:

• 9” x 12” 
• 60 pages
• Cover has separated from the book; pages in good condition
• 95% complete

1903 Scrapbook:

• 9” x 12”
• 60 pages
• Cover has separated from the book; pages in good condition
• 95% complete