W. Graham Robertson Papers: Finding Aid
Processed by Jean f. Preston in February 1976; supplementary encoding and revision
supplied by Xiuzhi Zhou and Diann Benti.
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
© 2000
The Huntington Library. All rights reserved.
Overview of the Collection
Title: W. Graham Robertson Papers
Dates (inclusive): 1875-1948
Collection Number: mssWR 1-707
Creator:
Robertson, W. Graham (Walford
Graham), 1866-1948.
Extent:
1,606 pieces in 17 boxes and 1 envelope.
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Manuscripts Department
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2129
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection consists of correspondence both to and from English
painter and writer W. Graham Robertson (1866-1948), including letters from literary and
theatrical persons and fan mail regarding his published reminiscences, Time was (1931).
There are approximately 800 letters from Robertson to Kerrison Preston and also 15 notebooks
and sketchbooks of Robertson's.
Language: English.
Access
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department.
For more information, contact Reader Services.
Administrative Information
Publication Rights
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item]. W. Graham Robertson Papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino,
California.
Provenance
Gift of Kerrison Preston, 1971 and Jean Preston, 1977.
Biographical Note
Walford Graham Robertson (1866-1948) was a wealthy English painter, writer, and collector of William Blake watercolors.
Robertson was well known in art and
theatrical circles of the 1880s and 1890s as a rising artist. A bachelor, he lived with his
mother till her death in 1907, and thenceforth as a country gentleman. He developed
numerous friendships with actors, artists, and collectors. Among his correspondents were artists such as Burne-Jones and
Whistler, playwrights such as Pinero, James Barrie and Terence Rattigan, actors and
actresses such as Ellen Terry and Sarah Bernhardt in the old days, the Lunts and Laurence
Oliviers later on, and collectors such as Mrs. (White) Emerson of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Although he painted and wrote little after 1914, he maintained extensive
correspondence with numerous literary or stage personalities during his long retirement, and
many of them made the journey to Sandhills, his Surrey home. As a collector he was best known for the number and
quality of his Blake watercolors, many of which he gave to the Tate Gallery on the outbreak
of World War II in 1939; the rest were widely dispersed to public and private
collections after his death in 1948. He had no relatives or heirs; to his long-time friend
and executor, Kerrison Preston, fell the task of distributing his books, pictures and estate
among various charitable causes. Among these was set up the William Blake Trust, founded
with Graham Robertson money, to publish the now well-known Trianon Press facsimiles of
Blake's illuminated books.
Bibliography
Graham Robertson's reminiscences,
Time Was 1931 (American title:
Life
was worth living)
describe his many friendships
Letters from Graham Robertson, edited by Kerrison Preston, 1953, with a
biographical introduction;
The Blake Collection of Graham Robertson, 1952,
edited by Kerrison Preston.
Scope and Content
The collection consists of correspondence both to and from W. Graham Robertson, including
letters from literary and theatrical persons and fan mail regarding his published
reminiscences, Time was (1931). There are approximately 800 letters from Robertson to
Kerrison Preston and also 15 notebooks and sketchbooks of Robertson's.
Correspondents include: James Agate, Henry Ainley, William Allingham, Helen Paterson
Allingham, Helen Rossetti Angeli, Elizabeth Arnim, Marie Bancroft, Squire Bancroft, J.M.
Barrie, H.N. Bate, Julies Bastien-Lepage, Clifford Bax, Sir Max Beerbohm, Sarah Bernhardt,
R.D. Blackmore, Algernon Blackwood, Arthur Bourchier, Edward Hugessen Knatchbull-Hugessen
(Baron Brabourne), James Bridie, Gordon Bottomley, Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, Mrs.
Patrick Campbell, William Frederick Cody ("Buffalo Bill"), Noel Coward, Edith Craig, Edward
Gordon Craig, Walter Crane, E.M. Delafield, Alan Dent, Charles Dickens, Jr., Alix Egerton,
Nellie Farren, Sir Johnston Forbes-Robertson, Loie Fuller, Sir Edward German, Philip Gibbs,
Sir John Gielgud, W.S. Gilbert, Ronald Gorell Barnes (3rd Baron Gorell), Harley
Granville-Barker, Weedon Grossmith, Paul Hellew, Robert Smythe Hichens, Violet Hunt, Sir
Henry Irving, Rufus Daniel Isaacs (Marquess of Reading), Henry James, Geoffrey Keynes, W.M.
Letts, Georgette Leblanc, Vivien Leigh, Belloc Lowndes, Desmond MacCarthy, Denis George
Mackail, Norman McKinnel, Maurice Maeterlinck, Arthur Melville, Mortimer Menpes, Alice
Christina Thompson Meyell, Robert Montesquiou-Fézensac, Albert Joseph Moore, Jane Burden
Moore, May Morris, and Montrose Jonas Moses. Additional correspondents include: A. Edward
Newton, Julia Neilson, Frederic Norton, Laurence Olivier, Will Owen, Bernard Partridge,
Walter Pater, Hesketh Pearson, William Lyon Phelps, Sir Arthur Wing Pinero, Sir Nigel
Playfair, Sir Edward John Poynter, Sir Hugh Edward Poynter, Terence Rattigan, Sir Michael
Redgrave, Ada Rehan, Athelstan Riley, Sir William Rothenstein, Sir John Rothenstein, Arthur
William Row, Archibald Geoge Blomefield Russell, Frederick Sandys, John Singer Sargent,
Emily Sargent, Athene Seyler, Robert Harborough Sherard, Robert E. Sherwood, Louis Shipman,
M.H. Spielmann, Alfred Sutro, Arthur Symons, Una Taylor, William Terriss, Dame Ellen Terry,
Fred Terry, Kate Terry, Ruthven Todd, Herbert Trench, Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree, H.M.
Walbrook, Theodore Watts-Dunton, James McNeill Whistler, Maude Valerie White, Oscar Wilde,
George Charles Williamson, Alexander Woolcott, and William Butler Yeats.
Indexing Terms
Subjects
Robertson, W. Graham (Walford
Graham), 1866-1948.
Actors -- Great Britain -- Correspondence.
Art -- Collectors and collecting -- Great
Britain -- Correspondence.
Artists -- Great Britain -- Correspondence.
Artists -- United States -- Correspondence.
Authors, English -- 19th century --
Correspondence.
Authors, English -- 20th century --
Correspondence.
Forms/Genres
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain --
19th century.
Letters (correspondence) -- Great Britain --
20th century.
Alternate Authors
Preston, Kerrison, correspondent.
Agate, James, 1877-1947.
Ainley, Henry, 1879-1945.
Allingham, William, 1824-1889.
Allingham, Helen Paterson,
1848-1926.
Angeli, Helen Rossetti.
Bancroft, Marie, 1839-1921.
Bancroft, Squire, 1841-1926.
Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew),
1860-1937.
Bate, H. N. (Herbert Newell),
1871-1941.
Bastien-Lepage, Jules,
1848-1884.
Bax, Clifford, 1886-1962.
Beerbohm, Max, Sir, 1872-1956.
Bernhardt, Sarah, 1844-1923.
Blackmore, R. D. (Richard Doddridge),
1825-1900.
Blackwood, Algernon, 1869-1951.
Bourchier, Arthur, 1863-1927.
Bottomley, Gordon, 1874-1948.
Brabourne, Edward Hugessen
Knatchbull-Hugessen, Baron, 1829-1893.
Bridie, James, 1888-1951.
Buffalo Bill, 1846-1917.
Burne-Jones, Edward Coley,
1833-1898.
Campbell, Patrick, Mrs.,
1865-1940.
Coward, Noel, 1899-1973.
Craig, Edith, 1869-1947.
Craig, Edward Gordon, 1872-1966.
Crane, Walter, 1845-1915.
Delafield, E. M., 1890-1943.
Dent, Alan.
Dickens, Charles, 1837-1896.
Egerton, Alix, Lady.
Farren, Nellie, 1848-1904.
Forbes-Robertson, Johnston, Sir,
1853-1937.
Fuller, Loie, 1862-1928.
German, Edward, 1862-1936.
Gibbs, Philip, 1877-1962.
Gielgud, John, 1904-2000.
Gilbert, W. S. (William Schwenck),
1836-1911.
Gorell, Ronald Gorell Barnes, Baron,
1884-1963.
Granville-Barker, Harley,
1877-1946.
Grossmith, Weedon, 1852-1919.
Helleu, Paul, 1859-1927.
Hichens, Robert, 1864-1950.
Hunt, Violet, 1862-1942.
Irving, Henry, Sir, 1838-1905.
James, Henry, 1843-1916.
Keynes, Geoffrey, 1887-1982.
Leblanc, Georgette, 1869-1941.
Leigh, Vivien, 1913-1967.
Letts, W. M. (Winifred M.),
1882-1972.
Lowndes, Marie Belloc,
1868-1947.
MacCarthy, Desmond, 1877-1952.
Mackail, Denis, 1892-1971.
McKinnel, Norman, 1870-1932.
Maeterlinck, Maurice, 1862-1949.
Melville, Arthur, 1855-1904.
Menpes, Mortimer, 1855-1938.
Meynell, Alice, 1847-1922.
Montesquiou-Fézensac, Robert, comte de,
1855-1921.
Moore, Albert Joseph, 1841-1893.
Moore, Jane Burden.
Morris, May, 1862-1938.
Moses, Montrose Jonas,
1878-1934.
Newton, A. Edward (Alfred Edward),
1864-1940.
Neilson, Julia, 1868-
Norton, Frederic, 1869-1946.
Olivier, Laurence, 1907-1989.
Owen, Will, 1869-1957.
Partridge, Bernard, 1861-1945.
Pater, Walter, 1839-1894.
Pearson, Hesketh, 1887-1964.
Phelps, William Lyon, 1865-1943.
Pinero, Arthur Wing, 1855-1934.
Playfair, Nigel, 1874-1934.
Poynter, Edward John, 1836-1919.
Poynter, Hugh E. (Hugh Edward), Sir,
1882-1968.
Rattigan, Terence.
Redgrave, Michael.
Rehan, Ada, 1857-1916.
Riley, Athelstan, 1858-1945.
Rothenstein, William, 1872-1945.
Rothenstein, John, 1901-1992.
Row, Arthur William, 1878-1961.
Russell, Archibald George Blomefield,
1879-1955.
Sandys, Frederick, 1829-1904.
Sargent, John Singer, 1856-1925.
Sargent, Emily, 1857-
Seyler, Athene.
Sherard, Robert Harborough,
1861-1943.
Sherwood, Robert E. (Robert Emmet),
1896-1955.
Shipman, Louis Evan, 1869-1933.
Spielmann, M. H. (Marion Harry),
1858-1948.
Sutro, Alfred, 1863-1933.
Symons, Arthur, 1865-1945.
Taylor, Una.
Terriss, William, -1897.
Terry, Ellen, Dame, 1847-1928.
Terry, Fred, 1863-1933.
Terry, Kate, 1844-1924.
Todd, Ruthven, 1914-1978.
Trench, Herbert, 1865-1923.
Tree, Herbert Beerbohm, Sir,
1852-1917.
Von Arnim, Elizabeth, 1866-1941.
Walbrook, H. M. (Henry Mackinnon),
1865-1941.
Watts-Dunton, Theodore,
1832-1914.
Whistler, James McNeill,
1834-1903.
White, Maude Valérie, 1855-1937.
Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900.
Williamson, George Charles,
1858-1942.
Woollcott, Alexander, 1887-1943.
Yeats, W. B. (William Butler),
1865-1939.
Box 1
Notebooks and sketchbooks (WR 1-6)
WR 1
Robertson, W. Graham. Notebook and sketchbook.
[Approximately 1900]
WR 2
Robertson, W. Graham. Sketchbooks 1-3.
[Approximately 1900]
WR 3
Robertson, W. Graham. Notebook I including dramatization of Thackeray's
The Rose and the Ring for stage.
[Approximately 1900]
WR 4
Robertson, W. Graham. Notebook II including Guildford Pageant,
etc.
[Approximately 1900]
WR 5
Robertson, W. Graham. Notebook III including reminiscences for
Time Was.
[Approximately 1900]
WR 6
Robertson, W. Graham. Notebook IV.
[Approximately 1900]
Notes on Ellen Terry, etc. in an old notebook of Greek translations.
Box 2
Lists of paintings; Lady Alix Egerton: Poems; Sutro play (WR 7-11)
List of Robertson's work as an artist [3 volumes].
1889-1904, 1904-1915, 1915-1938
Lady Alix Egerton: poems
1906-1930
Box 3
Addenda I (WR 684-688)
Note
Consists of bundle of 5 oversize folders.
WR 684
Robertson, W. Graham. Tan sketchbook I (including Sarah Bernhardt as
Cleopatra, signed and dated June 20, 1892).
1892
WR 685
Robertson, W. Graham. Tan sketchbook II (including Ellen Terry as Faire
Rosamund).
[Approximately 1892?]
WR 686
Robertson, W. Graham. French sketchbook (including two drawings of Sarah
Bernhardt dated January 19, 1888).
1888
WR 687
Robertson, W. Graham. Black sketchbook (including watercolor of Petruchio,
Paris, 1888).
[1888]
WR 688
Articles about Robertson in
The Magazine of Art,
Cassell's Magazine, and
The
Studio
[3 periodicals].
1899-1908
Box 4
Correspondence: Achnides, Th. - Bernhardt, Sarah
Correspondents include:
- Achnides, Thomas
- Achurch, Janet
- Agate, James Evershed
- Ainley, Henry
- Allen, Beatrice Ellen
- Allingham, William
- Allingham, Helen (Paterson)
- Angeli, Helen (Rossetti)
- Armstrong, Thomas
- Armstrong, William
- Arnim, Elizabeth
- Ashwell, Lena
- Atkins, Bertha
- Bagger, Esther Dean
- Balfour, Lady Mary Edith
- Bancroft, Marie Effie (Wilton), Lady
- Bancroft, Sir Squire
- Baring, Hon. Laurice
- Barrie, Sir James Matthew
- Bate, Rev. Herbert
- Bastien-Lepage, Jules
- Bax, Clifford
- Beerbohm, Sir Max
- Bellerby, Rev. Alfred
- Bernhardt, Sarah
Box 5
Correspondence: Blackmore, Richard Doddridge - Cole, Milton
Correspondents include:
- Blackmore, Richard Doddridge
- Blackwood, Algernon
- Blunt, Arthur
- Bourchier, Arthur
- Bourchier, Violet (Vanbrugh)
- Bridie, James, pseud, see Mavor Osborne Henry
- Bottomley, Gordon
- Burne-Jones, Sir Edward Coley
- Campbell, Mrs. Patrick
- Coates, Austin
- Cody, William Frederick
- Cole, Milton
Box 6
Correspondence: Colefax, Sibly - Ellis, C. F. Corbould
Correspondents include:
- Colefax, Sibyl
- Coward, Sir Noel Pierce
- Craig, Edith
- Craig, Edward Gordon
- Crane, Walter
- Davies, Hubert Henry
- Davis, Fay
- De La Pasture, Edmée Elizabeth Monica
- Dent, Alan
- Dickens, Charles, Jr.
- Drew, John
- Drinkwater, John
- Du Maurier, Sir Gerald
- Egerton, Lady Alix
- Ellis, C. F. Corbould
Box 7
Correspondence: Evans, J. Roland - Hutchinson, Ursula C.
Correspondents include:
- Evans, J. Roland
- Farren, Nellie
- Forbes-Robertson, Ian
- Forbes-Robertson, Sir Johnston
- Fuller, Loie
- German, Sir Edward
- Gibbs, Sir Philip Hamilton
- Gielgud, Sir John
- Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck
- Gorell, Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd baron
- Granville-Barker, Harley Granville
- Granville-Barker, Lillah (McCarthy)
- Grey, Sylvia
- Grossmith, Weedon
- Halsey, Jean M.
- Hamilton, Hamish
- Hamilton, Jean (Forbes-Robertson)
- Helleu, Paul C. F.
- Hichens, Robert Smythe
- Holland, Henry Thurstan, 1st viscount Knutsford
- Holland, Lionel Raleigh
- Hunt, Violet
- Hutchinson, Ursula C.
Box 8
Correspondence: Huxley, Harry - Lunt, Lynn (Fontanne) (through
1940?)
Correspondents include:
- Huxley, Harry
- Irving, Sir Henry
- Isaacs, Rufus Daniel, 1st marquess of Reading
- James, Henry
- Jeffreys, Ellis
- Jekyll, Lady Agnes
- Kendall, Dame Margaret
- Kerr, Frederick
- Keynes, Sir Geoffrey Langdon
- Knatchbull-Hugesson, Edward Hugesson, 1st Baron Brabourne
- Lavery, Sir John
- Letts, Winifred M.
- Lewis, Kate (Terry)
- Lowndes, Marie Adelaide (Belloc)
- Lunt, Alfred
- Lunt, Lynne (Fontanne)
Box 9
Correspondence: Lunt, Lynn (Fontanne) (1943-1948) - Melville, Arthur (through
1899)
Correspondents include:
- Lunt, Lynne (Fontanne)
- MacCarthy, Sir Desmond
- Mackail, Denis George
- McKinnel, Norman
- Maeterlinck, Georgette
- Maeterlinck, Maurice
- Martin, Sir Alec
- Matthay, Jessie
- Mavor, Osborne Henry
- Melville, Arthur
Box 10
Correspondence: Melville, Arthur (1900-1904) - Montesquiou Fezensac, Comte
Robert de (through 1886 September 21)
Correspondents include:
- Melville, Arthur
- Menpes, Mortimer
- Meynell, Alice Christina (Thompson)
- Milton, Ernest
- Milton, Naomi (Royde-Smith)
- Millward, Jessie
- Montesquiou Fezensac, Comte Robert de
Box 11
Correspondence: Montesquiou Fezensac, Comte Robert de (1886 September 29-1891)
- Playfair, Sir Nigel
Correspondents include:
- Montesquiou Fezensac, Comte Robert de
- Moore, Albert Joseph
- Morris, Jane (Burden)
- Morris, May
- Moses, Montrose Jonas
- Murray, A. Hallam
- Nasmyth, James
- Newton, Alfred Edward
- Neilson-Terry, Julia
- Norton, George Frederic
- Norton, Emily
- Olivier, Sir Laurence
- Olivier, Vivian (Leigh), Lady
- Owen, Will
- Palmer, Lady Margaret
- Parker, Eric
- Partridge, Sir Bernard
- Pater, Walter Horatio
- Pearson, Hesketh
- Phelps, William Lyon
- Pinero, Sir Arthur Wing
- Playfair, Sir Nigel
Box 12
Correspondence: Pleydell-Bouverie, Douglas - Sargent, Emily
Correspondents include:
- Pleydell-Bouverie, Douglas
- Pleydell-Bouverie, Dorothy
- Pollock, Sir Adrian
- Poynter, Sir Edward John
- Poynter, Sir Hugh
- Preston, Ivor Kerrison
- Pryde, James
- Rattigan, Terence
- Redgrave, Sir Michael
- Rehan, Ada
- Riley, Athelstan
- Robertson, Marion
- Robson, Hon. Harold
- Robson, Iris
- Rothenstein, Sir William
- Rothenstein, Sir John Kewstub Maurice
- Row, Arthur William
- Russell, Archibald George Blomefield
- Russell, Annette (Beauchamp) Countess Russell
- Sandys, Frederick
Box 13
Correspondence: Sargent, John Singer - Terry, Ellen (through 1899)
Correspondents include:
- Sargent, John Singer
- Sargent, Emily
- Saur, Emil
- Seyler, Athene
- Shannon, James Jebusa
- Sherard, Robert Harborough
- Sherwood, Robert Emmet
- Shipman, Louis Evan
- Simon, Ruth
- Snowden, James K.
- Spielmann, Marion Harry
- Stahl, Rose
- Sutro, Alfred
- Symons, Arthur
- Taylor, Una
- Terriss, William
- Terry, Edward
Box 14
Correspondence: Terry, Ellen (1900-1917 May 31)
Box 15
Correspondence: Terry, Ellen (1917 May-?) - Yeats, William Butler
Correspondents include:
- Terry, Dame Ellen
- Terry, Fred
- Thompson, Dorothy
- Todd, Ruthven
- Trench, Herbert
- Tree, Sir Herbert Beerbohm
- Tree, Viola
- Tweed, John
- Walbrook, Henry Mackinnon
- Watts-Dunton, Walter Theodore
- Watts-Dunton, Clara Jane (Reich)
- Whistler, James Abbot McNeill
- White, Maude Valerie
- Wilde, Oscar
- Williamson, George Charles
- Woollcott, Alexander
- Yeats, William Butler
Box 16
Addenda I and II (correspondence and three photographs) (WR 689-706)
Box 17
Robertson, W. Graham. Letters to Kerrison Preston (WR 707)
Approximately 840 letters, mostly published in
Letters from
Graham Robertson.