1709
Mar 17
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[17 March 1709] This day the opera of “Camilla” is acted expressly for Lord Marlborough. Our famous Nicolini got 800 guineas for his day; and ’tis thought Mrs. Tofts, whose turn it is on Tuesday next, will get a vast deal. She was on Sunday last at the Duke of Somerset’s, where there was about 30 gentlemen, and every kiss was 1 guinea; some took 3, others 4, others 5, at that rate, but none less than one.[1] |
[Grand Prince Ferdinando de’ Medici to Johann Wilhelm, Elector of Pfalz, 9 November 1709; facsimile reproduction of the letter][2]
[1] The Wentworth Papers, 1705-1739, ed. by James J. Cartwright (London: Wyman & Sons, 1883), 66, n. (citing Seventh Report of Historical MSS. Commission, p. 246).
[2] Carlo Vitali and Antonello Furnari, “Händels Italienreise – neue Dokumente, Hypothesen und Interpretationen,” Göttinger Händel-Beiträge 4 (1991), 41-66: 63.