Collection of Edward Burne-Jones letters to Margaret Burne-Jones Mackail, 1873-1898, undated

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Summary

Abstract:
Collection of letters from artist Edward Burne-Jones to his daughter, Margaret Burne-Jones Mackail, dating from her young childhood to his death (approximately 1873-1898). Many letters contain ink drawings and caricatures of Burne-Jones himself.
Extent:
2 bound volumes (15 linear inches)
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, Box/Folder number], Edward Burne-Jones Letters to Margaret Burne-Jones Mackail, MS.2018.011, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Background

Scope and content:

This collection consists of letters written by artist Edward Burne-Jones to his daughter Margaret Burne-Jones Mackail, dating from her childhood to his death (approximately 1873-1898). Letters often include sketches by Burne-Jones of birds, cats and other animals, as well as frequent caricatures of Burne-Jones himself. Many letters also include their original envelopes. The earliest letters to Margaret are written in block capitals, clearly for a child just learning to read on her own. Letters often include information about Burne-Jones' work (sometimes quite specific) as well as discussions about those his circle of friends, including William Morris, Henry James and Cormell Price, among others. Though most letters are affectionate and humorous (many include jokes clipped from newspapers), Burne-Jones also shares despondent and depressive thoughts with his daughter, especially frustrations with his work, as well as sadness when she leaves home to marry husband Jack Mackail. The collection also includes one letter from Georgiana Burne-Jones, Margaret's mother, and a letter from Edward Burne-Jones to Jack Mackail.

Letters are housed in modern cloth slipcases.

Biographical / historical:

Edward Coley Burne Jones was born in 1833 in Birmingham. He studied theology at Exeter College, Oxford, where he became friends with William Morris, and, like Morris, decided pursue a career in art instead of one in the Church. Burne-Jones became one of the leading figures in the contemporary British art world, closely allied with the pre-Raphaelites and with the Aesthetic movement. A founding member (along with Morris) of the firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner, and Company, Burne-Jones was a significant force in the rebirth of stained glass design in England and designed a number of notable windows, though he was most known for his paintings. Burne-Jones married Georgiana MacDonald in 1860, with whom he had 2 children, Philip and Margaret. He died in 1898.

Acquisition information:
Clark Library purchase, Sims Reed Rare Books, 2018.
Processing information:

This collection inventoried and described in 2019 by Rebecca Fenning Marschall.

Physical location:
Clark Library.
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Indexed terms

Subjects:
Letters -- England -- 19th century

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is open for research.

Terms of access:

The Clark Library owns the property rights to its collections but does not hold the copyright to these materials and therefore cannot grant or deny permission to use them. Researchers are responsible for determining the copyright status of any materials they may wish to use, investigating the owner of the copyright, and obtaining permission for their intended publication or other use. In all cases, you must cite the Clark Library as the source with the following credit line: The William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item, Box/Folder number], Edward Burne-Jones Letters to Margaret Burne-Jones Mackail, MS.2018.011, William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Location of this collection:
2520 Cimarron Street
Los Angeles, CA 90018, US
Contact:
(310) 794-5155
clark@humnet.ucla.edu
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