Item 12: Letter to Reginald Turner (February 22, 1895)

When Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (1852–1917), the British actor-manager, embarked on an American tour in 1895, he brought along his half-brother, Max. It was Max’s only U.S. visit, and in this letter to Reginald Turner (1869–1938), he described his time in New York as “charming[,]” saying that this “beautiful town ... has given itself to me like a flower.” He even expressed a wish “to settle here for some years[,]” perhaps to tease Turner, who was devoted to Beerbohm and awaiting his return. Like Beerbohm’s close friend William Rothenstein, Turner, a novelist whose career never flourished, was Jewish. Unlike Rothenstein, Turner was gay, and in Oscar Wilde’s immediate social orbit.