Burne-Jones jokingly chastises Price for his last "skinny" letter and promises that "now [he]'ll be revenged" in his response. Burne-Jones describes at length how he spends his time in the River Wye area, which he says is like "Elysium." He describes his daily routine of walking in the countryside, reading and going to the cathedral. He says in his time in the area he has "endured two" parties and complains about the questioning he receives from guests, commenting "girls are such -- hm -- hang 'em they do quiz so, and I [Burne-Jones] make such a capital subject." Burne-Jones asks Price how he is finding reading "Fasti" but admits that he himself has begun the book. He states that, on the "urgent orders of [sic] eminent physician," he is returning home in the next week. He asks his friend if he might see him upon his arrival at Worcester. Burne-Jones ends his letter: "I would have sent you a long illustrated letter, if you had behaved like a gentleman to me, but as it is: good bye." In a postscript, he notes "Oh I have fallen in with such cant, but thank heavens I am still alive, aren't [?] you glad - eating sweetmeats till you burst." In an additional sheet, Burne-Jones asks Price to visit Faulkner and draws for Price "an illustration to his article." The drawing is titled "Faulkner's Improved Sewerage" and depicts a set of many bottles and instruments connected to an underground pipe. Burne-Jones admits that he was "in a fearful state" about his writing. He tells Price that he has received a letter response from "the greatest man alive" [John Ruskin] and says that since receiving the missive he is "a reformed character, [he is] not Ted anymore" but "E.C.B Jones," the "man who wrote to Ruskin and got an answer by return.". He declares that he can "better draw [his] feelings" and sketches Ruskin as a saint at whose feet a figure -- perhaps Burne-Jones himself -- is prostrate. He also draws a pig, captioned "THE MAN etc. as before". He ends by sending his good wishes to Price's family and enquiring after the "pretty hand" which addressed the envelope of Price's last letter.
This collection comprises 16 items, including 15 letters from Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones and Cormell Price and 1 autograph envelope from Burne-Jones addressed to Price. The correspondence was written over the course of a decade, between 1852 and 1862. The letters are indicative of Burne-Jones and Price’s long and close friendship and are very affectionate and personal in nature. The letters are rich in detail, with Burne-Jones sharing news of mutual friends, his Oxford lessons, his social life and his artistic and literary endeavors. The collection gives an account of the early activities of what came to be known as “The Birmingham Set” and Burne-Jones’s letters frequently refer to many of the group’s members, including William Morris (often affectionately dubbed “Topsy”), William Fulton, Charles Faulkner, Richard Watson Dixon, Edwin Hatch and Harry MacDonald. The close friendship held between Burne-Jones, Price and the wider group is evident in a letter dated May 18th, 1856, in which Burne-Jones sketches for Price a heart surrounded by the names of their friends, including many members of the Birmingham Set. The early publishing and exhibition activities of the group are recounted in Burne-Jones’s letters. The first letter in the collection, dated January 24, 1852, describes Burne-Jones’s agitation to receive articles from Price and Charles Faulkner for a forthcoming publication, perhaps a precursor to The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine. Discussion of The Oxford and Cambridge Magazine also features prominently in the correspondence. In one letter (circa 1856 January), Burne-Jones instructs Price to send him a piece of writing for a forthcoming issue while also lamenting the scandal caused by the January issue’s article on the work of Charles Kingsley, a university professor, historian, social reformer, novelist and Church of England priest. The letter goes on to state that William Morris has passed editorship of the magazine on to William Fulford, which Burne-Jones remarks is a “great relief” to Morris. The post-university activities of the Birmingham Set are also presented in the correspondence. Burne-Jones’s letter of June 28, 1861, announces the foundation of Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. by Burne-Jones, William Morris, P.P. Marshall, Ford Madox Brown, Philip Webb and Dante Gabriel Rossetti. The letter describes the company’s products as "stained glass, furniture, jewelry, decorations and pictures" and notes that the organization has received many commissions in the short time since its inception. Also evident in the collection is Edward Burne-Jones and The Birmingham Set’s place within the wider literary and artistic circles of mid-nineteenth century Britain. The letters often demonstrate Burne-Jones’s connection and friendship with prominent figures of the era. For instance, in his letter dated January 24, 1852, Burne-Jones expounds, at great length, upon his love of the influential art critic, John Ruskin, and his delight in receiving a letter from Ruskin, an event which Burne-Jones claims has transformed him into “a reformed character.” Later letters reveal a closeness with a variety of artists, patrons and writers. Burne-Jones’s letter of June 21, 1861, provides a particularly detailed account of the lives of a variety of such figures. In it, Burne-Jones describes the stillborn birth of a child of Elizabeth Siddal and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, the death of the Pre-Raphaelite art collector, Thomas Plint, the death of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and the marriage of Valentine Cameron “Val” Prinsep. The letters abound with contemporary cultural references and accounts of major events in Victorian society. Burne-Jones expresses, at length, his deep love of the poetry of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, who he describes as “save Shakespeare only […] the only guide worth following far to dream-land.” In the same letter, Burne-Jones warns Price that he should avoid seeing Chevalier Count George Jones’s “mangling” of Shakespeare and, in another, recommends the work of Edgar Allan Poe (see May 1 and October 29, 1853). The letters also give details about major public events, including the Tooley Street Fire in London and the Victorian superstitions surrounding the Great Comet of 1861 (see June 28, 1861). The collection chronicles some of the political and academic history of Oxford University in the early to mid-1850s. In a letter dated March 5, 1853, Burne-Jones describes the employment and promotions of various Oxford professors and chaplains and how they relate to the philosophical and ecclesiastical debates of the Oxford Movement. Later, in his encouragement of Price’s application to study at the university, Burne-Jones gives long descriptions about Oxford fellowships and scholarships and how to write “Oxford Latin” (see February 28, 1854). The long and close friendship between Burne-Jones and Price is reflected in the personal and quotidian events about which Burne-Jones writes to his friend. He sends Price a lengthy description of his infant son’s features and personality and the health and happiness of his family(see February 23, 1862). The letters are full of details and references to Burne-Jones’s father, aunt, friends, social life and the romantic exploits of his and Price’s mutual acquaintances. In one letter, he gives Price an hour-by-hour account of his holiday in the River Wye area. (see January 24, 1852).