March 15, 2011

The post wherein Miss Havisham meets Judge Stephen W. Blount

judge stephen blount house
The 1897 Judge Stephen W. Blount House in Nacogdoches

In her autobiography, A Kind of Magic (1963), Edna Ferber compared Galveston, Texas, to wealthy spinster Miss Havisham, the "gray, mournful abandoned bride of Dickens' Great Expectations."

gustave heye housedarragh parkgus reymershoffer housejake davis house1301 avenue j
That quote about Miss Havisham is from The Galveston That Was, a photography book that came out the year I was born in Galveston, and my parents had a copy of laying around in the house for as long as I can remember (a copy which they still have, and I will still occasionally thumb through) and a copy of which I now also own. What a lasting impact that book has turned out to have had on my life. Astounding, really. See, kids! The power of books (and reading)! Anyway, they include a quote from A Kind of Magic as a dedication at the beginning of the book. I think it (the quote) could be somewhat applied to Nacogdoches and specifically the Judge Stephen W. Blount House (in Nacogdoches). Please note I've made alterations not at all subtle to the following quote (sorry Edna Ferber):

judge stephen blount house
Here in Galveston NACOGDOCHES the humidity was like a clammy hand held over your face. Yet the city had a ghostly charm. The scent of the tangled gardens hung heavy on the muggy air...Here was a remnant of beauty -- gray, shrouded, crumbling. What did they resemble? Of what did this city remind me? Miss Havisham, of course. That was it. Miss Havisham the spectral bride in Great Expectations."

judge stephen blount house
judge stephen blount house

1 comment:

JohnRHuffJr said...


That is quite original , Chris. I believe it fits Nacogdoches even more so than Galveston.