Collections : [Yale University -Yale Center for British Art]

Rossetti apologizes for the delay in sending Heaton's drawing which he has now sent along with a sketch of Dante. He has sent the Rachel and Leah case as it reached him, with a broken lid. He says he has a case for the Dante which was not made for it bespoke but which was created by Ruskin's frame maker. Rossetti thinks the case may have been sent to Ruskin's address in Oxford. Rossetti says he hopes he will have the St. John sketch ready to show Heaton before she leaves London. He asks if the drawing of Dante will remain in London after Heaton leaves, expressing his desire to have it easily available to him, should he like to make alterations. In a postscript Rossetti says he thinks that the Brownings will be in London by the 1st of July at the very latest.

"With your leave I will keep the drawing till Saturday -- possibly over Saturday, unless you write to me to the contrary, as people are asking me to look at it. I must apologize for all this delay, but needn't trouble you to answer, unless in the negative. I have not received the other drawing from Mr. Ruskin. Still trusting to show you some progress with the St. John drawing before you leave town."

Rossetti tells Heaton that the subjects he is working on for inclusion in a new work by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, are The Palace of Art, Sir Galahad, The Lady of Shalott, Mariana in the South and possibly the Vision of Sin. He describes the drawing of the Palace of Art as being inspired by Tennyson's lines about St. Cecily and says it was commissioned as a watercolor. Rossetti says that if he does not find the repetition too unpleasant, he will produce a duplicate of the work for Heaton but only after he has finished his present work. Rossetti urges Heaton to acquire works by Ford Madox Brown, saying that he has only a few small works left. Rossetti describes Madox Brown's Our Lady of Good Children, a chalk drawing from Beauty and the Beast and a drawing of the Virgin Mary. He provides Heaton with Madox Brown's address and assures Heaton that Brown's work will only increase in value now that "the tide of justice is at last beginning to set in toward [Madox Brown]." Rossetti notes that Madox Brown's Christ Washing Peter's Feet received the Liverpool prize. Rossetti goes on to praise Arthur Hughes, expressing his disappointment that neither he, nor Madox Brown, have been included in the Tennyson work. Rossetti thanks Heaton for her enquiry after the health of Elizabeth Siddall, who is currently in Bath. He states that he would like it if Siddall went to a warmer region for the winter. Rossetti hopes that Siddall and Heaton will one day meet as Siddall "could have no kinder or better friend." Rossetti praises Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Aurora Leigh as "almost beyond anything for exhaustless poetic resource" and as possessing the potential to reveal social truths as did Tennyson's Maud. Rossetti expresses his happiness in hearing that Barrett Browning is in better health.

"I'm sorry that I have nothing else to show you since your last visit. The drawing of St. John will soon be getting forward, I trust, but there is nothing of it yet fit to see. I believe the Brownings leave for Florence on Saturday, as perhaps you know. If you are at a loss for some one to take charge of my drawing in London (as I think you said it would not go to Leeds with you) I shall be happy to do so." In a postscript: "I deferred answering your note till near the end of the period of your stay, lest I might have something by then."

Rossetti apologizes for his delayed response to Heaton's last letter. He wishes Heaton a merry Christmas. Rossetti says that if he had known that his response would be delayed, he would have written to Heaton to say that he was not sure about the price of the St George watercolour until he was further along with it. He admits that he has been unable to work much on the piece due to other commissions ill health of his wife, Elizabeth Siddall, which prevented her from sitting for the work. He promises that the work will be finished soon and gives its price as 65 guineas, a "very low price compared to many things [Rossetti] has done lately." Rossetti says he has offered Heaton this low price as he is anxious to sell the piece, despite a previous, smaller and less accomplished work selling for 55 guineas, some years ago. Rossetti enquires after a picture that has been sold to a Mr. Miller of Liverpool and expresses his surprise that the work (from the Plint estate) had gone to market. Rossetti asks whether Heaton has been in touch with any of their friends, including her sister and brother-in-law. [The remainder of the letter is lacking.]

Rossetti is saddened by the death of Mrs. Plint and asked how her children will be looked after. He asks Heaton when the children will be able to benefit from the sale of their mother's collection. Rossetti expresses his happiness that his St George was liked by Ruskin but that he would not make the sale of any of his works dependent on Ruskin's approval. Rossetti says he is offering Heaton the St George at a price "certainly below [his] usual scale of late.". Rossetti complains that artists are at present having difficulty in finding markets for their works while "dealers seem able to make profit enough." Rossetti says the St George should be ready in about a week and says he would be happy to show it to Ruskin before sending it to Heaton. Rossetti asks Heaton not to write about it to Ruskin until Ruskin returns from his travels as "his father opens all his letters in his absence, which is hardly what one reckons on when writing to him of one's affairs."

"I am sorry to hear from my friend Mr. Rose that his presentation is gone, as I feared, and that he will not have another for three years. Thanks for the list of Governors. The only one I can see who seems at all within reach is Mr. Russell Gurney, but Munro is very intimate in the family. Tomorrow is I believe Munro's wedding-day, as you perhaps know -- or supposing not tomorrow it will be very soon. So he must be busy enough, but I will write him a word."

Rossetti apologizes to Heaton for asking her to send her most recent payment to him by P.O. order rather than check at a time when she is unwell and tells her not to organize the order until she is better. Rossetti remarks that "everyone seems to have had these attacks lately" and that "we may see that they need care to be taken at once, as one has heard lately of so many bad cases beginning with colds of this kind." Rossetti says that he will send Heaton the St. George by the time Heaton specifies and explains that he has not made the "out-of-window bit" brighter, claiming it would create an imbalance of light in the work. Rossetti tells Heaton that Ruskin is visiting him on the day of writing the letter and he can "give no particulars as to [Ruskin's] apparent state when I last saw him, because to tell truth his account of himself was discouraging." Rossetti cannot take the photograph of the oil painting requested by Heaton as it "would be sure to prove a distressing failure." Rossetti recommends Edward Burne-Jones's work Cupid and Psyche Sharpening Arrows to Heaton, remarking that she "could not possibly make a more delightful acquisition." Rossetti ends by telling Heaton that Robert Browning had seen Heaton's St George and expressed a desire to tell Heaton herself what he thought of it.

Rossetti tells Heaton that he has sent St. George and Princess Sabra to Green and so cannot further alter it, saying that he thought it was better with the previous changes. Rossetti admits that he cannot tell Heaton exactly what Mr. Ruskin said of the piece because he can't remember Ruskin's comments except that "the picture pleased him decidedly." Rossetti promises to mention the "matter of the presentation" to his friend Mr. Rose. Rossetti is sorry that he does not have a day to spare on his return from Newcastle, or he would have visited Leeds and Liverpool on his way home. In a postscript, Rossetti says that he has seen Robert Browning and his son, who is "vastly improved and quite robust."

Rossetti apologizes for his delay in writing to Heaton. He admits that Ruskin did not view the St George again, as Ruskin was so delayed in arranging a viewing that Rossetti thought it best to send the drawing to Heaton. Rossetti describes the picture of St George saying "his attention is for the moment diverted by the shouts and trumpeting outside and that he is gazing out toward the procession and crowd." Rossetti promises Heaton that if he has any uncomisssioned work he thinks will please her, he will let her know. Rossetti will send Heaton pieces for a charity exhibition but admits that the only two pieces he has are a watercolor portrait of Robert Browning and a pen and ink drawing from Le Morte d'Arthur. He tells Heaton he will send her the works and requests that she return them the day following the exhibition. Rossetti says that there was a good review of his The early Italian poets in the Spectator a few weeks earlier "but it a sort of work that takes time to get up by a competent reviewer, though fools rush in and the best will necessarily be the latest."