Rossetti, Dante Gabriel

[Fabulous DG Rossetti holograph DRAFT LETTER, Hitherto Unknown, to Hall Caine, Rossetti's Bibiographer and Close Ally] Two-page Draft Letter for Early Published Letter to Hall Caine

Two pages, about 350 words (including cross-outs), written by Dante Gabriel Rossetti on a single octavo sheet, in pencil by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, comprising a draft of a letter in Rossetti’s hand, to Hall Caine (Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine) with significant original material, cross-outs, additions and deletions, not appearing in the final published poem, as given in Fredeman’s “Correspondences (80.103). AN EXTREMELY RARE EXAMPLE OF A DRAFT LETTER, ALMOST NEVER SEEN BY ROSSETTI, AND OFFERING SIGNIFICANT AND INTERESTING BACK-VIEW OF THE POET/ARTIST’S THINKING. The letter was first alluded to in Hall Caine’s “Recollections of Dante Gabriel Rossetti,” first published by Eliot Stock, in London, 1882, where Caine states concerning this letter, “The extract from Rossetti’s letters with which I shall close this chapter is perhaps the most interesting yet made.” Fredeman dates the letter, 28 March, 1880, early on in Rossetti and Caine’s loquacious letter-writing exchanges. The lengthy letter deals with Rossetti’s critique of Caine’s style of writing, and bringing in substantial references to Coleridge, and specifically the events during his years of conscription in the army when he took on the surname, Cumberback, his acts of patriotism, and perhaps how close we came to be losers of his poetry. The draft appears to be a fragment of the larger letter as published by Fredeman. Following is a sampling from the draft, where differences are highlighted by [words appearing in draft not in published letter] appear in brackets. “[To vs My Dear] Caine, Shall I give you another [contrast vs parallel] in your [purist vs own style? “In” is crossed out to “During” the [“month in which” vs months for which] Poet Coleridge became Private Cumberback, (a name in which he says his horse must have concurred) it seems strange that, in such stirring times (his regiment shd not have been ordered off on foreign service. In such case, that pre-eminent member of the Awkward Squad wld assuredly have been the very first man killed. Should we have been more the gainers in his patriotism or the losers by his poetry? The very last man killed in the last sortie from Paris during the Prussian siege (he would get behind a buttress to “pot” a Prussian after orders were given to retire and so got “potted” himself), was Henri Regnault, a painter [three illegible words crossed out] whose brilliant work was a guiding [torch- vs “beacon”] on the road of improvement in French methods of art...” Large second on second page not appearing in published letter. Some slight age-related fading, a very good copy of an immensely scarce DGR draft letter, and one waiting to be further mined.

Price: $5,500.00   Item #5141