Documents associated with: Paddon, Samuel Wreford
Record 13 of 36
System Number: 04367
Date: 27 March 1882
Author: Samuel Wreford Paddon[1]
Place: Surrey
Recipient: JW
Place: [London]
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler P6
Document Type: ALS[2]
[tower motif]
WOODLANDS,
REDHILL.
27 March 1882.
Dear Whistler,
You say that you hate long letters; so do I -
Howell[3] sent me down a week since a mass of correspondence from you covering nearly twenty years and if I may be allowed to express an opinion [,] your letters to me respecting him are scarcely a fitting sequel, but that of course is your own affair and not mine -
You show your hand so clearly in your last letter that it is quite unnecessary [p. 2] for me to reply to it -
In talking to some one on Friday last about the "Beaconsfield" matter[4], I was met by the answer "Why I was present on one occasion when Howell speaking to Mr Jack MacNay[5] referred to Mewburn[6] as ["]Beaconsfield"!
No, I have not found you at all dull, but so far an interesting study, but now I should like you to understand very clearly that nothing that you can say will prejudice my opinion of Howell -
I am sure you will give me credit for all kindly intentions towards you when I suggest [p. 3] your carefully reading over your letters to me and asking yourself whether you do not regret the position you have taken in this matter. - why I suggest this is because although I know you are incomparable as a painter and amazing as a story teller, I think your "creations" in black and white are not a success - the lines are too hard - there is nothing whatever soft about them, and in fact as a whole they are neither harmonies nor symphonies.
Now, my dear Whistler, I do trust you will consider this affair done with
Very sincerely Yours -
S Wreford Paddon
This document is protected by copyright.
Notes:
1. Samuel Wreford Paddon
Samuel Wreford Paddon (b. 1843), diamond merchant and collector [more].
2. ALS
This is a reply to JW to S. W. Paddon, [22 March 1882], #04366. Published in Whistler, James McNeill, Correspondence. Paddon Papers. The Owl and the Cabinet, London, [1882], Letter VI, p. 5. For full annotation of the pamphlet, see JW's letter to S. W. Paddon, 10 March 1882, #09519.
3. Howell
Charles Augustus ('Owl') Howell (1840? - d.1890), entrepreneur [more].
4. Beaconsfield matter
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1882), Prime Minister of Great Britain [more]. The matter concerned Howell's rather ill-judged boast that he knew Disraeli. The incident is recorded by JW in Whistler, James McNeill, Correspondence. Paddon Papers. The Owl and the Cabinet, London, [1882].
5. Jack MacNay
John ('Jack') Edward MacNay (1834-1893), General Manager of the Stockton and Darlington Railway [more].
6. Mewburn
Frank F. Mewburn (b. 1820 or 1821), solicitor and collector [more].