Ah I was relentless - but there / are lies & lies - some in which / one may be knee deep & chin / deep & they are no more than / rippling water about one - and then / there is a lie that turns the / Sun black - but I was relentless / & with devils eyes for a bit. / She went to Morris, & lay on the groundall the morning that is in a ? way - poor boy / how he must have been bored - he / hates all that, hates tragedies, / hated her always - all the seven / years - he just told me of it - / "She came yesterday Ned, I dont / know what all the people in the / house thought, lay on the / ground - I dont know whether / I've done right, I told her it / was useless - she said could she see / you once, & I told her I didnt think / she would care to see your face now" / how words get burnt in - & he & I / have never mentioned the matter since / - not nice - & those are the only / 2 Maries I have known she & - - you know / if we were not acting on the stage / & were in the stalls or the pit - let me say the pit as more suited / to my position, what fun this world / would be. Shouldn't we be interesting / And I hope by this time this / letter is blazing up in the fire - / it is so strange to write things I / have never spoken about to anyone. / - what trust I have in you - oh / even to say that is a shame - pardon / me - I should be a devil if I hadnt. / ... upper half of the page destroyed / is sweet friendship, & yet strange things / have been - no, that couldnt be - / and yet I want think - need / your resolve? - Can't you have a little / peace. Wouldnt that be best, for you / to have a time of peace - to think of / all things in, what hurry is there? / I am here all the time - dont you / believe I am sincere? - that I am / seeking nothing for myself? if I never / have more than I have I should think / myself still infinitely happy. ... upper half of the page destroyed / it has been a nice morning with / Morris, though I couldn't talk much / (because of throat of him) so he / had it all his own way and could / arrange the world without dispute / it was on Sunday afternoon / & 20 years ago when I found out that / treachery - and I came away feeling / as if I should never speak again - but / when I came into the house & told / it to Georgie quite simply - and then / went into my room to think - & she / sent off a messenger for Morris - he didnt / leave me for days, & read to me all night / through - it must have been a horrid time / for him poor boy - once in the night / I said "It isnt true" and he said / "Its quite true old fellow, Ive' known it for long" - about eight in the / morning I went into a funny state, which / I felt sure was death, & asked Morris / to bring to me a certain gentleman / who had loved her for many years / without any return, & was one of / the best men that ever could have / lived - I wanted him to see how / much happier it was for him after all / - & he had been lovely in his un- / -selfishness always - he came at last / & sat by me, & said to Morris "Shall / I tell him the truth", & Morris said / "Yes" - then he told me what / had been going on for three or even / four / years, & it was a very dark story - / it had been so easy to cheat me - / nothing could be easier ever - I was / always here at work. When I heard / that grisly tale I stood up and / began to draw - I couldnt stand long / but it was a symbol of what I meant / to do - if I had been weak at / the beginning of the tale I was strong / at the end. Isent back all letters / unopened - I refused to hear one word. / or ever to see again - about 7 years / afterwards one day came a mournful / letter from her, saying that I was / ? & the most wretched woman / on earth was herself, the writer - I / consumed it courteously, - & there the / history ends for all I know - I never / ask - indeed I have no means of / asking - & alas I dont care. / did you think I could be harsh? /
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."