Præraphaelite diaries and letters by Brown, Rossetti, and Rossetti

"Præraphaelite diaries and letters" by Brown, Rossetti, and Rossetti is a collection of diaries and correspondence written in the late 19th century. It gathers primary documents—letters, journals, and working notes—from leading figures of the Pre-Raphaelite circle, illuminating their methods, friendships, travels, and the inner mechanics of the movement. Editorial headnotes provide context while preserving the immediacy of the original voices. The opening of the collection sets out the editor’s aim and the book’s three parts: early correspondence (mostly from a young poet-painter), letters and a diary by a senior artist, and a Brotherhood journal. It then counters the cliché of the “pallid aesthete” by sketching a brisk, humorous, practical character and listing key associates. Early letters range from childhood notes about family gifts, fairs, and Shakespeare, to a sharp-eyed comparison of an Italian lyric with Sir Henry Wotton, a teenage poem submission, and a vivid travel letter from Flanders praising Memling and Van Eyck amid playful asides. Brief, lively notes chart studio scrapes, moves, large pictures taking shape, PRB gatherings, would-be patrons, and the emergence—and ill health—of a gifted pupil. A father’s tender, sober counsel punctuates the sequence. The next section shifts to a painter’s letters home about exhibitions, fresco and cartoon work, and studio life, before his diary begins with the conception of a grand Chaucer canvas and day-by-day entries on grief, discipline, fabrics and lay-figures, museum research, and art-society wrangles—an unvarnished record of work at its start. (This is an automatically generated summary.)

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About this eBook

Editor Rossetti, William Michael, 1829-1919
Author Brown, Ford Madox, 1821-1893
Author Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 1828-1882
Author Rossetti, Gabriele, 1783-1854
LoC No. 01019030
Title Præraphaelite diaries and letters
Original Publication London: Hurst and Blackett, 1900.
Credits Mairi, Dori Allard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)
Language English
LoC Class ND: Fine Arts: Painting
Subject Rossetti, Dante Gabriel, 1828-1882
Subject Pre-Raphaelitism -- Great Britain
Subject Brown, Ford Madox, 1821-1893
Subject Pre-Raphaelites -- Great Britain -- Diaries
Subject Pre-Raphaelites -- Great Britain -- Correspondence
Category Text
EBook-No. 78022
Release Date
Copyright Status Public domain in the USA.
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