Friday / Oh my pictures look / hopeless this morning / - do come in & cheer me / about them - if you saw them you / would wonder what on earth I have / been doing all there merry days - when / were you here last - it was before you / went to Devonshire place - appledore / & shuttlecock or some such place - since then not a touch have you seen, / & I think that is years ago. so much / has happened since then - except the / twenty designs for Chaucer there is / nothing to show - nothing - in two or / three days I can finish a design, & / it looks as good as I can make - and / to carry out one of them in painting takes / me months - & the months run into years. / and yet I often think the material / difficulties - the long processes are good / for one - but at times a mood of / despair seizes me - and one is upon / me to-day / so I want your comfort - and indeed / though you are so far off, it feels near - / and I can imagine now quite easily what / you would say and how kindly you would / look, & & how you would cheer me - I can / look up from my writing & almost see you. / - I turn to you in all moods - in silly / moods & sleepy ones and keen sharp / moods and despairing ones. /I ? think if you ever took all that away / from me - what should I do - of course / I often think of that - because I am / sorry to say I am I. and sometimes / it feels impossible that I should tax / you as I do - always - how good you / are to write to me so often - for I / know it is almost impossible for you. / - & I feel ashamed - you wont quite / believe me that I could do finely / if you wrote less - especially now. / the dread of being an infliction upon / you in that way is extreme at times / - & yet I do often say "rest and dont / trouble about me" dont I? and / always mean it honestly - it isnt fair / on you. with me it is different - it / is so easy to write to you, & so happy for / me to have you to turn to - / and so I could go on for hours - but now / I will go back to what is a heavy / task to day / - / do you remember that nasty old / cheval glass in my studio, that / I have for reversing the aspect of my / pictures, & seeing where they are most / amiss? I? caught sight of me / in it, by accident, I did - and it is / literally impossible you could ever / look on such a thing without repulsion. / - so you are absolutely forgiven beforehand / for any & every change (which form / of words makes this a legal document) / this may & must inevitably happen. - or as some mirrors untrue and / unbecoming? - do you remember / a pretty ? they used to put / on mirrors in old times / "oncques je dri vrai" but language / changes, and they say oncques no more / - changes & goes to the worse & gets / pessimistic - when did bonny France / that used to be the gracefullest & / faithfullest of lands lose their old / meaning of jamais, that once meant / for ever & ever? they haven't / improved it have they? / - / When I make that stroke it stands / for resolution, & means I go back / to work instead of chatting all / day to you. - / - / There - now its dark - & if it / was as light as noon in Summer / I couldn't stand anymore - a / pretty good day's work - Olive / came for a bit at lunch time. / ...
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."