BURNE-JONES (Sir Philip, 1861-1926, Painter, eldest son of Edward Burne-Jones)

Amusing series of three illustrated Autograph Letters Signed to "My dear Martin" two of them have his cat 'Guest' by its dish at the beginning of the text, the first one says that he must "have thought me a very ungracious or a very forgetful old man, never to have answered before now your two nice postcards with the drawings of 'Dreadnoughts' ... I do assure you I am neither of these things, and I should have written long ago ... but for 2 reasons. The first reason was that I was not quite sure of the name of your school and as I didn't want any other little Martin at any other school to get a letter intended for my own little friend Martin, I just put off writing till I could see Mummy and ask her ... the second reason ... I have been so very very busy going about and seeing my friends ... I have had no single moment in which to sit down quietly & write neatly ... all the time I have thought of your dear little messages, & I loved getting them ...", he continues about the things he has been doing, staying with friends "in the country and it rained ... this afternoon the sun is going to shine ... I am going to a pretty garden at ... Syon, not far from Kew, where I hope I shall see Mummy ... I had a tea party ... it poured with rain but friends came all the same & they had strawberries and cream & ices & little cakes - and 'Guest' (you remember 'Guest') was washed the day before, so as to be neat & clean, but I had to lock it up ... because I had some very pretty music, & a musical party is no place for a cat, however clean & white ... when the music was over 'Guest' was let out and was greatly admired. The ladies at my party wore such funny hats. They were like this ..." and then he has pictured four ladies wearing huge hats, he ends by sending his love to Mrs Churchill, 4 sides 8vo., 30th June, the next is just a picture of a similar young lady with the question "Ask Mrs Churchill if she has a hat like this?" not signed, 1 side 8vo., 12th July and the last letter thanks him for his "nice letter ... I have determined not to let so long a time go by as I did with your last ... so here comes my answer, almost by return of post ...", here he has drawn a letter with wings travelling from London to Broadstairs, he then describes a visit to the White City with friends, he "watched them while they went up into the air on the 'Flip Flop' or sat in big tubs which turned round & round & knocked them from side to side, down a sloping platform - or got lost in a labyrinth ... and the wonderful big Labyrinth there once was in Crete, where the people who went into it got lost and were finally devoured by a horrible person called the Minotaur - who had a man's body & a bull's head - quite an unpleasant gentleman to meet! Until a hero called Theseus came and killed it. I'm glad to say he hasn't left any descendants ... we all came out again quite safely, without the help of any Theseus. There was a room full of silly looking glasses which bulged out & made one look like this ..." then there is a picture of a very fat distorted man, "or this" and he has drawn a very tall thin man "and we laughed so much at the ridiculous reflections that we could hardly walk & then some of us went on the 'Scenic Railway' & a voyage in a boat along a raging river which went into a mountain & when we were all in the dark, in a great cave, suddenly some moving pictures ... burst out of the darkness & a gramophone began singing ... then we had TEA & cake & ices!! ..." these have then been drawn, he carries on that he has "to wash my face & put on neat clothes, too go to a Garden Party to meet the King ..." and his final drawing is a self portrait showing him in top hat and tails bowing in front of the King in full robes with a crown and sceptre, 4 sides 8vo.,all on 41 Egerton Terrace headed paper, 12th July

Sir Philip was the first child of the British Pre-Raphaelite artist Sir Edward Burne-Jones and his wife Georgiana Macdonald. He became a well-known painter in his own right, producing more than 60 paintings, including portraits, landscapes, and poetic fantasies.

Item Date:  1909

Stock No:  39873