May 1893 / Sunday / I wonder how you spent / yesterday - / not as piously as I did I warrant. / Can you guess where I spent the / day from mid-day onwards? no / you will never guess. it was / in church I passed hours and hours - / feeling mighty religious I can / tell you - it was a sacred day / with me - a day of consecration / & renewal of life - but its / best not to talk about mysteries / Eves, & I only tell you that / much & no more - and / where / were you? not in stuffy / London I hope - you should / go, if it wouldnt tire you / too much, out of town into / some near country, on Saturday, / & come back heartened for / the week. / its just after lunch - Giulia / Ravegli is here & her sister. / & I am writing to you till / I have to join them which / must be in a minute. / & this morning came Morris - / - I couldn't draw at all this / morning - for though I slept / soundly & deeply, yet I / couldnt settle to any work. / & Margaret came up - & / said sweet & loving things of / you, which made me ready to / cry, so happy it made me / for her to care for you - / when I so care for. / Crom had his evening here alone / for it was late when I got back - / & I had forgotten my latch key / so it was lucky he was here / & sitting up for me. / Now for plans for the week / here is my list of engagements / tomorrow so busy I cannot / see you I know - Ly. Windsor / in early morning - business men / in afternoon - appointments, / worries, ?, - a tiresome / day. / Tuesday Mary Drew's baby / 2 / - therefore a heavy / day - in evening Georgie / & I dine at Robin Bensons & to the / play with them. / I dont see how I could get to / you on Tuesday either. & to / ask you to come here in the / afternoon is cruel, for the / journey is far & fatiguing for / you - but from one o'clock onwards / I shall be alone - & if you / can't come then I will go / to you about 6 & meet / Georgie at Robin Bensons' / instead of taking her. / & I have sent this morning for / Mr. Webb, the gesso man, & told / him that he must be ready / to give you lessons tomorrow week - / & you will arrange where the / lessons shall be - he would go / to you, or anywhere you choose - / there is the garden studio / all at your service, but that / is so far for you to come - & / I can't have you to be / tired, sweet as it would be / for me - I couldnt bear you to / come so far in the hot days. / a very little span is needed, & / in half a dozen or less lessons / he could teach you all about / it - & would give you 2 / or 3 hours for 5/- - I / made that arrangement with / him. & you shall tell / me where the lessons shall / be. / I said you were not steely & / it might have you to come so / far & he said he would go to / you, & would need very little / room - very little - a small / sheet on a table would be enough / to work on & cover up the things. / he is a good & obliging fellow. / though his pompous ways and his / diction will make you smile. / will you tell me when you have / thought of it. / I wish for my heart you could / ever know in life such true / happiness as I knew yesterday. / or be as near to the knees of / God as I felt my unworthy / self to be. but I need / it more than you do - & my / ? I have known the best thing / in life now - Always Yours / e.
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."