| AdminHistory | Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti: born in Portland Place, London, 1828; later known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti; educated at preparatory school and at King's College School, London; artistically precocious; left school at 13 and chose art as his profession; spent four years at F S Cary's Drawing Academy in Bloomsbury; admitted to the Antique School of the Royal Academy, 1846; applied for instruction to Ford Madox Brown, 1848; introduced to a circle of young men inspired by new ideas in art, and with Madox Brown, Thomas Woolner, William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais formed the Pre-Raphaelites; by 1849 had exhibited at the free exhibition, Hyde Park Corner, `The Girlhood of Mary Virgin'; sold for £80; initially shared a studio with Holman Hunt in Cleveland Street, then had his own studio in Newman Street, but took rooms at 14 Chatham Place, Blackfriars Bridge, 1852; hostile criticism made his pictures difficult to sell; fell in love with Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal, a consumptive, who sat for him as his model for Beatrice, and they became engaged, c1851; John Ruskin defended the Pre-Raphaelites'; work in 'The Times', agreed to take work of Rossetti's which pleased him, and later enabled Rossetti to publish his translations of the early Italian poets; Rossetti became friends with (Sir) Edward Burne-Jones, who introduced him to an Oxford circle destined to influence him greatly, which included Algernon Charles Swinburne and William Morris; his most inspired works dated from the 1850s; with other artists, illustrated the work of the poet Tennyson, 1857; married Elizabeth Siddal, 1860; his wife died, 1862; moved to Tudor House, Cheyne Walk, Chelsea, where he lived for a time with Swinburne and George Meredith, and occupied it until his death; ill-health led him to become addicted to chloral, and following a hostile article published in 1871 he fancied himself the subject of universal obloquy, and his continuing state of mind alienated many friends; died at Birchington, near Margate, 1882. Publications include: translations of the 'Early Italian Poets' (1861); 'Ballads and Sonnets' (1881).
Christina Georgina Rossetti: born in Charlotte Street, Portland Place, London, 1830; sister of Dante Gabriel Rossetti; artistically precocious, her verses were published by her maternal grandfather at his private press, 1842, 1847; under the pseudonym "Ellen Alleyne"; published verses in her brother's 'The Germ', 1850; taught a day school at Camden Town and afterwards at Frome; religiously inclined, and leaned towards high Anglicanism; devoted herself to domestic duties, works of charity, and composing works of religious edification; her religious sympathies caused estrangement between herself and a suitor, which explains the melancholy tone of much of her poetry; an invalid for many years; died at her residence in Torrington Square, London, 1894; buried at Highgate cemetery, 1895. Publications: 'Goblin Market and other Poems' (1862); 'The Prince's Progress' (1866); 'Commonplace' (1870); 'Sing Song' (1872); 'Speaking Likenesses' (1874); 'Annus Domini' (1874); 'Seek and Find' (1879); 'A Pageant' (1881); 'Called to be Saints: the Minor Festivals' (1881); 'Letter and Spirit' (1882); 'Time Flies: a Reading Diary' (1885); 'The Face of the Deep: a Commentary on the Revelation' (1892); 'Verses' (1893); unpublished poems printed by her brother W M Rossetti as 'New Poems' (1896); 'Poetical Works', ed W M Rossetti (1904).
George Price Boyce: born in Bloomsbury, London, 1826; apprenticed to the firm of architects Wyatt and Brandon, 1846-1849; lost interest in architecture as a career and decided to become a painter, 1849; of independent means, pursued his career with limited regard for the market; a friend of many painters; met Dante Gabriel Rossetti, with whom he was to form a close friendship, c1849; drew landscape and architectural subjects in watercolour in the early 1850s; exhibited at the Royal Academy, 1853-1861; travelled to Italy and painted buildings in Venice and Verona and semi-abstract twilight studies, 1854; in the late 1850s, adopted a technique of minute detail and bright colour in his watercolours, abhorring conventional compositions; exhibited at the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition at Russell Place, London, 1857; a founder-member of the Hogarth Club, 1858; his favourite subject was the Thames Valley between Reading and Oxford; frequently visited France and Italy; travelled to Egypt, 1861-1862; lived in rooms at Chatham Place, Blackfriars, vacated by Rossetti after the death of his wife, from 1863; elected an associate of the Old Water-Colour Society, where he exhibited frequently, 1864; commissioned Philip Webb to build a house, West House, at Chelsea, 1868; his house was completed, 1870; the house accommodated his collection of paintings, among them works by Rossetti including 'Bocca Baciata' (1859), commissioned by Boyce; a full member of the Old Water-Colour Society, 1878; died at Chelsea, 1897. |
| CustodialHistory | Part of the library of Charles Kay Ogden (1889-1957), linguistic psychologist, founder of the Orthological Institute and originator of the language system Basic English, whose interests in language systems are reflected in the subject matter of his collection, which comprised individual manuscripts and manuscript collections dating from the 14th to the 20th century. |