Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Burne-Jones (Edward), Letters to Margaret Burne-Jones
Mackail
MS.2018.011
View entire collection guide
Search this collection
Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
Title: Letters to Margaret Burne-Jones Mackail
Creator:
Burne-Jones, Edward Coley, 1833-1898
Identifier/Call Number: MS.2018.011
Physical Description:
2 bound volumes
(15 linear inches)
Date (inclusive): 1873-1898, undated
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.
Physical Location: Clark
Library.
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.
Clark Library purchase, Sims Reed Rare Books, 2018.
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.
Related Materials at the Clark Library
Edward Burne-Jones Letters to Violet Maxse, MS.2010.010, William Andrews Clark Memorial
Library (
online finding
aid
This collection is open for research.
[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.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Letters -- England -- 19th century
Mackail, Margaret Burne-Jones,
1866-1953