Documents associated with: Whistler, Thomas
Record 1 of 5
System Number: 08983
Date: [25 March 1863][1]
Author: JW
Place: [London]
Recipient: James Anderson Rose[2]
Place: [London]
Repository: Library of Congress
Call Number: Manuscript Division, Pennell-Whistler Collection, PWC 2/46/4
Document Type: ALS[3]
Dear Rose -
They have not sent me the key, I sent for it again today and no one was to be found and the house was shut up - Isn't it too bad that Keene[4] should be going on in this way! - Now about the exhibition[5] tomorrow - I have brought you 6. proofs - ready to frame - (Vokins[6] has promised that the frames for them will be there in time quite); - also two large proofs framed - Vokins will send you one more of the same size with a fine proof of the large "Rotherhithe"[7] - making in all with the six proofs you exhibit for me, 15 etchings - The van calls for "The White Girl."[8] at 2 o'clock - I have heard from Mr Winans[9] and my brother George Whistler[10], who seem delighted to have the opportunity of going to the soirée -
[p. 2] By the way, in case the letter[11] I wrote to you at Southampton, may not have reached you, I think I had better tell you again that my brother's address is 156. Strand[12], and Mr Winans ticket you could send with his. -
Ah! and am I to have a ticket[;] if so, send it with my brother's -
Stevens[13] need not have any - If you can give William Rosetti[14] a ticket I shall be very glad -
I shall drive down to Salisbury St[15] directly the van has gone and try to see you -
Ever Yours
J Whistler
12.)79[16] (6.7.1/26 72
7.
This document is protected by copyright.
Notes:
1. [25 March 1863]
Dated from the reference to a soirée 'tomorrow', which was the Artists' and Amateurs Conversazione, on 26 March 1863 (see below).
2. James Anderson Rose
James Anderson Rose (1819-1890), solicitor [more].
3. ALS
'4' is written at the top of p. 1 in another hand.
4. Keene
Isaac Henry Keene, builder, landlord of 7 Lindsey Row [more] (see #11858).
5. exhibition
'The Artists' and Amateurs Conversazione', Willis's Rooms, London, 26 March 1863; see JW's letter to Rose, #08987.
6. Vokins
William Vokins (1815-1895), picture framer and dealer [more].
7. Rotherhithe
Rotherhithe (K.66). Rose himself had a magnificent collection of Whistler's etchings. See Rose, James Anderson, Catalogue of a Collection of Etched and Engraved Works by the Best Masters Formed ... by James Anderson Rose ... Including the Most Complete Series of Mr. Whistler's Works Yet Formed ... Which will be Sold by Auction, by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, sale catalogue, London, 1876; Rose, James Anderson, Catalogue of the Remaining Portion of the Collection of Etched and Engraved Portraits by the Best Masters formed by James Anderson Rose Esq. ... Which will be Sold by Auction by Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson and Hodge ... 11th day of May, 1887, sale catalogue, London, 1887.
8. The White Girl
Symphony in White, No. I: The White Girl (YMSM 38), was exhibited at the Conversazione before being sent to Paris, where, after being rejected by the Salon, it hung in Ouvrages de peinture, sculpture, gravure, lithographie et architecture, refusés par le Jury de 1863, et exposés, par décision de S. M. l'Empereur, au salon annexe, Palais des Champs Elysées, Paris, 1863. George W. Whistler later paid a deposit on it, but it was not until 1875 that it was sent to George's son, Thomas, in Baltimore (see #06679, #08052).
9. Mr Winans
Thomas De Kay Winans (1820-1878), locomotive engineer and collector [more].
10. George Whistler
George William Whistler (1822-1869), engineer, JW's half-brother [more]. He was visiting from St Petersburg, where he worked with the railroad company of Harrison, Eastwick and Winans.
11. letter
Not located.
12. 156. Strand
George was noted at this address in JW's passport/notebook (#12745). He later wrote to JW from the Bedford Hotel on 2 May 1863 (#06676). He was, like Winans, a patron of JW, having acquired both prints and paintings ( (YMSM 21), Portrait of Major G. W. Whistler (1) (YMSM 28), The Coast of Brittany (YMSM 37)).
13. Stevens
Possibly Arthur Stevens (1825-1900), dealer and, as 'Graham', art critic [more].
14. William Rossetti
William Michael Rossetti (1829-1919), civil servant and critic [more].
15. Salisbury Street
The Arundel Club was in Salisbury Street but it is most likely JW was referring to Rose's office at 11 Salisbury Street.
16. 12.)79
This sum is written upside down to the main text at the bottom of the page, and has been partly crossed out. It is not certain that it was written by JW but it may have been on the sheet before it was used for this letter. However, the sum does show a shaky grasp of simple arithmetic similar to that seen in other documents of this period (see #12745).