- Collection Overview
- Collection Description & Creator Information
- Access & Use
- Collection History
- Find Related Materials
Expanded View
Collection Overview
- Creator:
- Rossetti, William Michael, 1829-1919
- Collector:
- Princeton University. Library. Special Collections
- Title:
- William Michael Rossetti Collection
- Repository:
- Manuscripts Division
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/bz60cw27q
- Dates:
- 1868-1907
- Size:
- 1 box and 0.4 linear feet
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1
- Language:
- English
Abstract
The William Michael Rossetti Collection consists of manuscripts, sketches, correspondence, and miscellanea of the English art critic and essayist William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919).
Collection Description & Creator Information
- Description:
The collection consists primarily of original letters and manuscripts of William Michael Rossetti, one of the Pre-Raphaelite "brothers." Rossetti's correspondents include Charles Aldrich, William M. Colles, E. H. Leggatt, Everard Meynell, David M. Main, Frederick Locker, Ford Madox Ford, Theodore Watts-Dunton, Walter Severn, Octavia Susman, and others. The manuscripts include an introduction to Miscellaneous Essays, Sketches, and Reviews, a volume of William Makepeace Thackeray's works; two undated essays attributed to Rossetti entitled "Flowers in Ancient Egypt" and "The Gardens of Ancient Egypt;" a prefatory note to Charles Dicken's Pictures from Italy; and a biographical sketch of Ford Madox Brown. Also present are several drawings and three photographs of Rossetti and family members, and a small selection of miscellanea, including an article on Italian history and the politics of the Papacy by Rossetti's father, Gabriele Rossetti.
The following standard abbreviations, or their variations, are used to identify materials in this collection: ALS = autograph letter signed, ACS = autograph card signed, ANS = autograph note signed, AMs = autograph manuscript, and TMs = typed manuscript.
- Arrangement
Organized into four series: Writings and Artwork, Correspondence, Unidentified Correspondence, and Documents and Miscellaneous Material.
- Collection Creator Biography:
Rossetti, William Michael, 1829-1919
William Rossetti, brother to Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Rossetti, as well as art critic and literary editor, was born on September 25, 1829. When he was sixteen years old, Rossetti started working in the Excise Office. In 1850 he started working for The Spectator as an art critic, and between the two jobs helped support the entire Rossetti family. In 1894, Rossetti stopped working at the Excise Office, by then known as the Inland Revenue Office. He was the diarist for the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and editor of the associated journal The Germ. He also edited volumes of poetry by his siblings, and put together D.G. Rossetti: A Memoir with Family Letters in 1895. In addition to these editorial accomplishments, Rossetti also a sharp critic, generating early support and praise for Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and William Blake. He passed away on February 5, 1919.
Collection History
- Acquisition:
Mostly purchased in 1977-2011, with some later additions. 1 Letter from Rosetti is a gift of Mark Samuels Lasner.
- Custodial History
This collection was formed as a result of the departmental practice of combining into one collection manuscript material of various accessions relating to a particular author.
- Appraisal
No material was separated during processing.
- Processing Information
This collection was processed by Karla J. Vecchia in 2002. Finding aid written by Karla J. Vecchia in 2002.
Biography written by Alyxandra Cullen, '09.
Access & Use
- Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research use.
- Conditions Governing Use
Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. No further photoduplication of copies of material in the collection can be made when Princeton University Library does not own the original. Inquiries regarding publishing material from the collection should be directed to RBSC Public Services staff through the Ask Us! form. The library has no information on the status of literary rights in the collection and researchers are responsible for determining any questions of copyright.
- Credit this material:
William Michael Rossetti Collection; Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library
- Permanent URL:
- http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/bz60cw27q
- Location:
-
Firestone LibraryOne Washington RoadPrinceton, NJ 08544, USA
- Storage Note:
- Firestone Library (scamss): Box 1
