This file group is arranged into three subsequent file groups.
This file group contains manuscripts, drafts of poems and prose works, corrected page proofs, record books, binding dummies, bound volumes, sketches and engraved illustrations, correspondence, and personal documents of William Bell Scott, pertaining to his activities as a painter, poet, and art critic, as well as to his personal life.
Materials are arranged alphabetically by title, with unidentified notes and sketches at the end.
A significant group of manuscript materials exist relating to Scott's final volume of poetry, A Poet's Harvest Home, first published by Elliot Stock in 1882, and again years later with an "aftermath" of additional poems, published by Elkin Mathews and John Lane in 1893. Of note is a complete bound manuscript, which William Bell Scott copied out by hand, day by day, for several months in 1881 as a gift for Alice Boyd. The manuscript, which contains various corrections, additions, and deletions, also served as a mock-up for the printed volume. Also present are many drafts of individual poems that appeared in A Poet's Harvest Home, including a group of poems William Bell Scott wrote during a flurry of activity in the late 1870s and early 1880s during his time at Penkill Castle.
Materials related to other published works, including drafts, page proofs, and print proofs of engraved frontispieces for the 1854 and 1875 editions of Poems are also present, along with notes for chapters of his autobiography, binding dummies and title-page mock-ups for books to which he provided engraved illustrations, notes regarding his contributions to encyclopedias, and manuscripts of essays and letters published in various journals. Several bound volumes are additionally included, some containing original prints of Scott's engraved work, as well as a few association copies of his books inscribed to friends. Also of note are several of Scott's sketches for a proposed addition to Penkill Castle in the 1870s and 1880s, following the completion of his murals on the castle's staircase.
In addition to his individual pursuit of poetry, painting, and engraving, Scott served as the master of the Government School of Design at Newcastle-on-Tyne for over twenty years. Accordingly, these files also contain assorted ornamental drawings and sketches, woodcut illustrations, and decorative stencils related to Scott's study of design and ornamental arts.
Inscribed to Alice Boyd of Penkill Castle, in commemoration of the publication of A Poet's Harvest Home on April 15, 1882. William Bell Scott wrote out the poems by hand in August and September of 1881 at Penkill Castle. While some poems contain crossed out lines, annotations, and edits, the layout of this manuscript, including placed proofs of woodcut illustrations, is a very close mock-up of the published version. Bound in green morocco by Roger de Coverley.
These poems, originally housed together, were produced in 1878-1884, during a period of intense writing at Penkill Castle, following the publication of Poems in 1875. Most were later published in A Poet's Harvest Home. Titles of individual poems include: "1881," "A Dieu," "Continuity of Life," "Despondency," "Destiny," "Ego," "Infancy," "Love and Death," "The Madonna di San Sisto," "Morality," "My Rhyme of Love," "Of Love, III. One Day," "Of Love, IV. Another Day," "Of Poets, IV. Dante and Beatrice," "St. Dominic," "The Twenty Fifth Anniversary," and an untitled poem beginning, "A. B. and C. are well known men..."
The second version of this poem was used in A Poet's Harvest Home.
[Albrecht Dürer]. Includes three notes by William Bell Scott tipped into the front cover.
Published in the Athenaeum, no. 2735, pages 415-416.
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Related to Chapter XIX of Scott's Autobiography, "Penkill and Miss Boyd, 1880."
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Related to Chapter XVIII of Scott's Autobiography, "Artistic Inquiries, 1879-1880."
Contains engraved illustrations by William Bell Scott.
Gilt seal on cover was designed by William Bell Scott.
[Albrecht Dürer]. Note says, "Printed at Nuremberg by Wolff Drechsel."
Regarding the "Master of the Caduceus".
"The King's Quair" refers to a group of large historical murals that William Bell Scott painted on the spiral staircase at Penkill Castle over several years, illustrating a poem attributed to King James I of Scotland. In 1887, Scott published Illustrations to the King's Quair of King James I. of Scotland, which featured engravings modeled on his earlier paintings.
Includes Scott's plans for a later "proposed addition" to Penkill Castle in the 1870s-1880s.
Printed book with engraved India ink illustrations, etched in 1885 from paintings made in June, 1856 through August, 1868.
Includes an introductory essay on ornamental art by William Bell Scott.
Consists of a preface and two chapters on Spanish art.
Possibly used to make edits for later version of Poems, published in 1875.
34 copies.
Inscribed to the author's wife, Letitia Scott.
Privately printed author copy of book by William Bell Scott with plates engraved by his father, Robert Scott. Includes William Bell Scott's bookplate.
Presentation copy inscribed to Alice Boyd. Includes William Bell Scott's illustrations to William Blake's writings. Several of Scott's tracings from sketches by William Blake are also tipped into the volume's rear cover.
Two copies of the 1846 volume are present. One is an association copy inscribed to Lucy Madox Brown. The other is a presentation copy inscribed to Lady Wilde with a letter tipped into the front cover, dated October 29, 1879, requesting her corrections.
Drawings include an assortment of 19 cartoon sketches, floral motifs, decorative designs, figures, and borders.
5 pieces.
Includes a page of notes regarding Jean-Antoine Watteau, symmetry, ornamental art, and painting; a list of names beginning with C-D, for which Scott wrote entries for a new edition of the Edwards Encyclopedia; and a page of notes, reading "fresh flowers, little fishes, row of trees by the riverside" with a list of animals.
Letters are arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
This file group includes personal correspondence of William Bell Scott, primarily letters received, regarding books and publishing, the work of other writers and artists, and invitations to events. A significant portion of the correspondence, dated 1887, consists of letters thanking William Bell Scott for gifted copies of The Illustrations to the King's Quair, an edition of engravings Scott published that year based on his paintings at Penkill Castle.
Of note is a letter from William Morris regarding a work contract that Scott held with Morris, as well as Morris's impressions of Stonehenge and his decision to take up tapestry work. Also present is a detailed letter from William Bell Scott's brother, David Scott, regarding his views on art. Several postcards from William Bell Scott, along with a watercolor valentine addressed to Alice Boyd, can be located among her personal correspondence.
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This lengthy letter contains David Scott's answers to many questions on art and philosophy that William Bell Scott had posed to him over the years. William Bell Scott published his brother's memoirs in 1850, likely using many of these insights therein.
The original letter can be found tipped into the cover of the presentation copy of The Year of the World inscribed to Lady Wilde, located in Box 5.
Signed "U.F.U."
Items within this file group are arranged alphabetically by format.
This file group includes personal documents and effects belonging to William Bell Scott, which remained at Penkill Castle after his death. Included are Scott's address book listing the names and addresses of his friends and fellow artists and writers, as well as notes on his models and travel arrangements, a passport bearing many stamps from his frequent trips to Italy and France in the 1850s and early 1860s, calling cards for Scott and Alice Boyd, and an envelope of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's monogram stamps that Scott kept with his effects. Also present is a small document box bearing Scott's monogram, in which he stored many of his most personal documents. Of note are two record books documenting prints sold by Scott, including prices, type, and location information for artwork sold between 1870 and 1884.
Contains over 100 holograph entries with addresses for William Bell Scott's friends and acquaintances, including many central Pre-Raphaelite artists, writers, and associated figures, including William Morris, John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Christina Rossetti, and William Michael Rossetti. Also includes notes about travel accommodations and Scott's models.
Includes several copies of William Bell Scott's calling card, listing his residence as Belle Vue House at 92 Cheyne Walk in London, and one that Scott kept from Alice Boyd at Penkill Castle.
This cedar and metal document box with "WBS" inscribed on lid, contained many of William Bell Scott's most personal documents, including his passport, address books, and other items. Included inside is a key for Scott's large metal strong box, which contained various personal and family papers.
Two booklets of records of prints sold by William Bell Scott, including one containing information on prints sold from 1870 to 1878 and the sale of Scott's private collection to Ellis in 1882 and one documenting the sale of prints in 1884.