Your letter has just come. / I am so glad you laughed at the play - that is what / I have prescribed for a little while - as soon / as ever symptoms are better / you shall leave off silly plays. / and you shall be obeyed in what / you ask, & in everything. but indeed that is / what I too most want of all - for our friendship / to be a profound secret - the least murmur / or rumour of questioning jars & vulgarises, / whoever it is who asks - I want this to be a / most holy compact. I have come to you / without a thought for myself - I have nothing / ever to ask, neither now nor in the future, / all you give I shall take reverently and / very very gratefully; I dare say it will / never be more than I have to-day - it / shall be enough - I pray to God it will / never be less, dont make it less if you / can help - now & then if you give me / an hour like yesterday it shall be like / a gleam of heaven to me. no one has / a right to any secret of mine - none shall / hear the faintest whisper of this friendship / which is a real heavenly friendship for you / to help you and sustain you & make / you want to live, it will never tire / you nor drain you nor weary you - it / will do you nothing but good. besides a / doctor who has so failed deserves no fee - / no, you shall give nothing - at least you shall / never be asked for anything - you shall bless the / day when you opened your heart to me - it / was a week ago to-day - if one said it / was a week ago to-day - if one said it / was three months I could better believe it. / I will try very hard to put nothing in my / letter that shall ever recall the little secret / I told you - that wouldn't be fair - it / would be like a dog whining for a ? / & would fidget you. I am quite happy, / I can't help it, I feel as if a sweet spring / had begun. I'ii never seek opportunities / of seeing you - nor ever call except when / you tell me. I shall give you little things / like drawings, because I do, often, to / friends - they shall be very nice ones for you. / but people won't know that they are better / - and then I said I am past caring / for things or wanting anything - isnt it so / O my dear - well we'll pretend its like / that - and I'll bring you a cheery / will always, or as much as I can. / and we will never be long without news / of each other - I dare say twice a week / we could always write - I should like to / write every hour, but we must be / practical & have no romantic nonsense - / O won't I though. / wont you take that silly clock that / ticks - what have you to do with time / while you sleep. I would be so quiet / if I was the clock. / I woke at two - & thought I would write to / you & then I thought I would feel you / had made me wake & be sorry - because / you have the tenderst heart - if you / write in bed I shall. But some / rest will come - there is nothing here / to give consent - It is but to add you / to my prayers, not easy to write about - / Oh you know what / I mean - its sacred & beautiful / and shall be kept from the world, & / shall never fail you - so be of good / comfort, & grow well soon to reward / me - that will reward me - when / you have any ? you want to tell me you / will, but I shall never ask, I shall see / by your face if you are happy or suffering / and at your own good time you will tell / me all that concerns me to know about / you. & God bless you for ever & ever, - I / think I can make life richer for you - / I dont know - I'll try. and it will / be enough if I see life getting bonnier / for you / Well, a vague regret and a tender desire / wont hurt me if I carry them with me to / the end. I have had more company - / dont fear, my dear, my dear - & I / wont call you that too often - I shall / be much happier than I was - & the / more selfish you are & the more you / ask for, the better for me. Bonnell / didnt hurt - he was good: and I hurried / back hungry for a little letter and / ate it up in a minute, & then ate / it again, & yet again. - & presently / it shall go up in a blue flame. - perhaps / there will be another tomorrow, in this sweet earth / ...
The archive, which has remained with May Gaskell’s descendants, consists of more than 200 letters dating from 1892 up to the year of Burne-Jones’s death: three albums of intimate letters from the artist to Mrs Gaskell; two albums of illustrated letters to Mrs Gaskell and her daughter, Daphne; and other ephemera such as the artist’s brushes which he used when painting his famous portrait of Amy Gaskell. The letters are one of the most endearing records of all Burne-Jones’s friendships. They recount both his innermost thoughts and feelings and feature a cast of humorous characters, fictitious and real. They have been acquired for £200,000 with major support from the National Heritage Memorial Fund (NHMF); the Art Fund; the Arts Council England/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund; the Friends of the National Libraries; and numerous private donations. Two of the albums are on display in the Museum for its Great British Drawings exhibition where they can be seen until 31 August. They will now enter the Ashmolean’s permanent collection. Following conservation, they will be made available as an invaluable resource to students and scholars of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, and they will be published online. The letters will add to the collection of drawings by Burne-Jones bequeathed to the Ashmolean in 1939 by Mrs Gaskell, forming one of the richest Pre-Raphaelite archives in the country. Many of the letters were published by Josceline Dimbleby, May Gaskell’s great-granddaughter, in her acclaimed book, A Profound Secret (2004), which recounts the author’s research into her family’s history. On the occasion of this major acquisition, Josceline Dimbleby will give a Saturday Talk on 8 August at the Ashmolean, in conversation with the curator of Great British Drawings, Colin Harrison. Josceline Dimbleby says: "My discovery of so many intimate and often witty letters from Burne-Jones to my great grandmother May Gaskell, forgotten for decades in an old chest of drawers, was one of the most exciting moments in my life, together with finding, wrapped in old paper and string at the back of one drawer, the paintbrushes he used for his famous portrait of my doomed great aunt Amy Gaskell, still with paint sticking to them. The letters revealed a passion that made it hard to think of this friendship as platonic and I spent a fascinating and happy three years piecing together and writing the story of what was A Profound Secret, feeling that I was getting to know my ancestors, and a very private side of Burne- Jones." Burne- Jones met May Gaskell in 1892, and she became the last in the succession of women with whom he enjoyed especially close, but platonic, friendships. She was the wife of a dull cavalry officer, and, in an unfulfilling marriage, she corresponded with Burne- Jones up to five times a day. The letters include a series of cartoon-like tales featuring characters such as the ‘fat lady’ and the artist himself, caught in mishap and misadventure. Beneath the surface lies the black humour endemic to Burne-Jones’s frequent moods of depression and insecurity. There is, for example, a superb sequence of caricatures of the artist suffering from flu. In the course of their friendship, Burne-Jones became dependent on May, confessing to her that she ‘reached the well of loneliness that is in me’. He also sent whimsical letters to the infant Daphne Gaskell (1887–1966). She was only six when she met Burne-Jones and he took an affectionate and fatherly interest in her, his own children having grown up. His letters to Daphne, written in phonetic spelling, include birds and animals familiar from his other letters to children, and several fantastic inventions such as the ‘Phlumbudge’ and ‘Flapdabble’. The archive also includes some letters to May’s elder daughter, Amy (1874–1910), whom Burne-Jones painted in 1893 in one of the greatest Pre-Raphaelite portraits (collection of Lord Lloyd-Webber). Colin Harrison, Senior Curator of European Art, Ashmolean Museum, says: "May Gaskell was Burne- Jones’s closest friend in his last years. He gave her a selection of his finest drawings, which she in turn gave to the Ashmolean in 1939. The opportunity to acquire the albums of intimate and humorous letters that he sent to May and to her daughter, Daphne, was unmissable; and we are most grateful for the support from the NHMF, the Art Fund, and other bodies, as well as numerous private donors. Their generosity has ensured that the letters have ended up in their rightful home, and that the Ashmolean now has one of the most representative, as well as distinguished, collections of Burne-Jones’s work in the world." Sir Peter Luff, Chair of NHMF, says: “Sir Edward Burne-Jones was the most prominent of the second generation Pre-Raphaelites and his work had an enormous influence. This exceptional collection of letters, which throws light on the last years of his life, was the most important part of his collection in private hands. I'm delighted that National Heritage Memorial Fund investment will mean they can be available for everyone to explore and enjoy.” Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund, says: "The Ashmolean owns one of the finest collections of works by Burne-Jones in the world, which will be greatly enriched by this important and delightful collection of letters."