1894 / Sunday morning / it was so nice, it was so nice, / it was so nice, last evening - & / I am quite well - all / gone, all the rubbish gone / away, and now for fat & redness. It was / so nice, & I felt happy - so funny to feel / happy it is - tell me how to behave in happiness - / indeed touch me a thousand things - for I / shall need to know. / and Mr. Milner is much after my heart - he has / three facts, and all are good, and one is / very solemn & fine - one day I will show / you a ? miracle, a face that is a / God to look at one day, & a devil the / other - & you will be very i'prized. / And Mr. Frewin is very nice, & merry & chiffle. / and rattles away & keeps dull times off & / I liked him very much. / and Amy I could look at for the first time / & I thought her face infinitely sweet, & think / the more I looked the demur & sweeter / her face grew. / And Aggie was as she always is - such a / part of long ago time & so loving & / faithful. / But now will you answer this question as soon as / ever you can that it may be my guide / For when she talked to me in that dear little / room (& I was quite ?, it is lovely to have / that divided room, & you are quite right) she / suddenly said to me word's pretty closely like these she was so glad you & I were just friends / and that it might be so good for each of us. / & so on - & it came suddenly, & I scarcely / know what to answer till I know quite / all you had told her - of course with her / it was all easy enough, & I made shift to / reply readily enough - but tell me what / you really said to her & what you shall say / to Frances, that I may know - & may I / have an answer soon? I absolutely / trust your wisdom, & in your hands I / believe all will prosper - but I want to / know what ? you want her to say, & / they shall be said. Aggie my dear, / She seemed to have no grudging in her / Generous heart - once at dinner she watched / & then not again. how good you are to me, how / merciful & kind - if the end of life is / ay all sweet to me, & I go out blessing / the pageant it will all your doing. / What you have done for me already! shall / you get tired of it? - no, that isnt like / you. and as I shall never tease ? / ? new exact I don't well see how / you could ever get Tired. / May I come on Tuesday? try if you / can - tomorrow is unlucky - it was my / only engagement all this year - & I / have no other - but it would hurt / them if I were not here I know. / but Tuesday, if that is possible would / be sweet - & you could put me through / an examination & a rehearsal. / But if you have five little minutes / tomorrow morning do tell me what you / said to Aggie & shall I say that I may / know - probably they will both come on / Tuesday afternoon - and I will make Tuesday / free so that if you cant have me I could / go to you - and there is so much to say - / why years wouldn't say it in, & I have / seen so little of you. / in the Summer I shall paint you - make a / dream of you - & shall I do Amy for you / & will you have some things I have / made for your country house? there they / would be far out of sight - / O but I liked last evening - they were / nice men and Milner very very nice. / and Amy soft eyed soft-hearted, a most / little lady, and Aggie faithful & true - / & there was you. the kindest & most/ merciful & patient spirit that breathes. / & I thought very little of Kate Vaughan's / grace or lightness of foot - think I / exaggerated it a good deal formerly - /
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."