1 / I wish I had a hard pencil & / some writing paper to write you / a long letter - yes I do - Sundays / are so tiresome, no telegram / possible - & I suspect Williamson / of being an elder of his chapel - / & dont like to take him away / from his devotions - but I want / to send you word about me, for / fear you should come - I am / so frightened of you coming - for / you are stronger now and it / makes so great a difference / to my happiness that it matters / all the world / to say the truth I was in a good / deal of pain really at Marble / Arch, yet so happy that it / mattered not at all - & all the / time I could laugh at it - / I went to Margarets first - she / looks very ill I think, but says / she is better - what can it / be? Georgie says it is anxiety / & exhaustion & that soon she / will be better. / I sent for the doctor tp me there / and he is coming this morning - / I am better & the discomfortable / pain that was sometimes very / sharp & knify has gone for / a bit - so that I lie here quite / painlessly - & wish I could / stay in bed all day so / much - but there is no way / of sending to Morris - no I / had better get up - but I should / like it. / 2 / I only have 1/2 sheets of chance / letters to write to you on - / such a strange thing - a passionate / wave of emotion, feel on me at / Margarets - she played me an air / that I love on her harpsichord - & / suddenly as clear as if the walls of / the room had opened I saw you - / - a girl in the corner of a field / I saw you - it was clear as a / vision & then I began to heart / beat & think of you - & followed / you into that little drawing room / in the college, & saw you sit at / the piano there - & saw your / father & mother - & then in a / moment I saw all your life - / as I remembered things I / fell into a passion of tears / that I think no one saw but / Georgie - pain always excites / me & sometimes I have had a / strange exultation after a time of / pain - it was that I suppose / - but O me, how you hold my life / in your hand - it is seldom / enough I cry - & pain could never / draw a tear for me - but I saw / you in the room by the piano, / a quite young girl - & for a / few moments I did verily feel / the agony of heartbreak. / how sweet you were with those / children - how beautiful you looked / & tender & perfect - Oh you - / there is none like you, nor / ever has been - nor will be / ever again - / & its no use I do feel like / dust beneath you / 3. / Later / I have got up / after all - it make such / a fuss to stay in bed - & / Georgie wouldn't go to R.dean / this week if I gave way. / - & I want to be well for / Tuesday - Oh I want it so / much - & trying will make / me well - ? its nonsense / I am much better - nothing / to keep me from going to see / you this afternoon - only / I won't because I want / not to imperil Tuesday - / but I am quite rested & / slept well & work / happily & have been / thinking, thinking - oh / how I have been / thinking - / I am glad Mr Milner / will go to play with you / this morning - that / will keep you in / & amuse you / but Oh! isn't he lucky - / O my word / & now goodbye - William / must commit a sin to / day & stay for chapel. / I want to send to you - / - & tell me quickly shall / I fix Thursday for / Lyceum? or what shall / we do - until Friday / do for you & Amy as / well? Your ? / creature / ? - 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."