Miscellaneous Letters II

  • Reference
    • GB 133 Eng MS 1258
  • Dates of Creation
    • 1837-1893
  • Physical Description
    • various sizes. 76 items; single sheets unless otherwise stated;

Scope and Content

Miscellaneous letters addressed to John Ruskin from a wide range of correspondents, mainly dating from the 1880s. They have been arranged in alphabetical order of writers. Amongst those whose names occur are:

  • Angelo Alessandri (number 6, 1887);
  • Mrs W.T.S. Kevill-Davies (Lily Armstrong) and Isabel Marshall (numbers 2-21, 1865, 1887);
  • Mrs Ewing (number 23, 1880);
  • Anna Maria and Samuel Carter Hall (numbers 28-31 , 1864 and n.d.);
  • Geraldine Jewsbury (number 36, 1866);
  • Charles Eliot Norton (number 50, 1870);
  • (Sir) Richard Owen (numbers 51-52, 1865, 1868);
  • W.G. Palgrave (numbers 54-55, 1887);
  • Coventry Patmore (number 56, 1864);
  • Lily Rawlinson (number 57, 1884);
  • Henry Swan, (number, 63, 1887)
  • Georgiana Cowper-Temple, Lady Mount-Temple (number 67, n.d.);
  • Amy Yule (number 74, 1868);

Acquisition Information

Numbers 1-30, 32-49 and 51-76 were purchased by the John Rylands Library at auction at Christie's on 22 April 1959 (Lot 186). Numbers 31 and 50 were purchased at Sotheby's on 8 July 1959 (Lot 800).

Custodial History

Numbers 1-30, 32-49, 51-76 were until 1959 the property of Mrs David C. Brown, who had acquired the items from the library of Ruskin's cousin Joan Severn and her husband Arthur, of Brantwood, Coniston, Lancashire.

Bibliography

Numbers 20-21 are printed in Van Akin Burd (ed.), The Winnington Letters: John Ruskin's correspondence with Margaret Alexis Bell and the children at Winnington Hall (London: Allen & Unwin, 1969) .