Sep 30. 1893 / My dear Mr. Spielmann. / I enclose an note to / Mr. Hollyer, in your request. / My son shewed me your / very kind & sympathetic letter / about the destruction of the original. / - it was a kind & warm hearted / letter. I was absolutely / ignorant of the fact that / photgraphers abroad tamper / with the surface of the works / committed to them - and took / it for granted that beyond the / customary risks of / transit, no peril threatened the / picture. / I hear now that an oil picture / of Mr. Richmonds was injured / sometime ago - but I have / not verified the rumour. / the picture (Love in Ruins) is absolutely destroyed. / - I could paint it again - if it / were ?, but I could / not make it the same - here / and there it might be a little / more skilful - at the cost / perhaps of some simplicity / that / pleased people - it couldn't be / the same - and now if the loss / can be made to serve the / general good I should be / glad - these photographic / processes - at the best for mechanical affairs - have / driven out of the world a / skilful & beautiful act, / and I suppose we are in / the last days of engraving. / it will be too bad if / more ? still is needed / for the existence & career / of these detestable processes. / Hollyer's last photograph / of the picture is very clear & good / believe me / my dear sir / Yours very truly / Edward Burne-Jones