New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-10-03
ROSSETTI.
Further Souuenirs of the Painter
Poet and His Circle.


rstt g matter OF interest TO the world at large
,ba, william Bell Scott. being in Venice In 1857,
burned a small hole in his trousers with
,uci>e-. and could not, with the aid OF either
money or magic. procure a 5obbing tailor TO re-
pair the damage? We DO not think 1t is ana &C
cordingly We are disappointed TO find the cpl
eoe and scores OF others equally uiFiAl'
solernnly cornrnemorated in the book before US
But. on the other hand book Of this sort al
uavs requires 20 be rather carefully sI'eo OS
she reader, and Mr. William Rossetu is not per
hans. 20 be too harshly blamed. He means Wen
~ ever q man did. He has already puohsheu
two books filed with information ABOUT hls
,ar,ous brother and his friends. and the task
f.e.,n ir .hem he now continues-the TASK Oh
making Il impossible for posterity to nlisunder-
Stand the celebrated pre-Raphaelite painter ana
mo. rse wants 10 show him 20 US exactly as ne
I,,-os -,,..inr every detail into the picture tha'
,n,sb. serve TO give ct reality. He promises 10
spcceed an his aim for from the material tha'
no is slowly but steadily putting into PRINT
,,,,,-. b,osraphers Will be able 10 obtain many
suggestive points.
For example. we have In the past HeN-N
enough and 10 spare about Dante Rossetu
.,o-ti5,., This element in his nature is not TO
he ignored but neither should It be pun TOO COT
s.sntlv IN The foreground. and nothing is more
-. g., che Y,-asent volume than it's frequent
welcome
,,.,sls+,on of the high spirits and POPULARITY OF
,sb,cb he WAS capable II can't get on with men
~ ne MT men OF the world" he is quoted as
.o,-,n- and indeed these pages make the dry
homes OF many an old scuabble ra1ue asaih' i''
divers Of the individuals in his circle We're any
rhinr but men OF the world. But ne h@u n.s
happy moments, and even some OF ms oiin-
culties with obstreperous clients are ht Oh ID
his letters with a blithe touch. hossetu hau d
;zeen eve for the main chance ano IN ms Oios
,-apl,v one IS always coming across mAtteIs oi
mounds. shillings and pence. AT one nloIleii' We
,- s,,r,na.h,z,ng with him in his wrath over the
800 slow approach OF fortune, and IN the next
We rejoice with him over some addition to MS
,,l,octfor Il have Just bought for e., ne
,,--,,ss =, MADDOX Brown "a most soolike picture
81 The Ole Swan Inn ana Market Flace at
Rarnet'-the chef d'oeuvre Of the BRUSH schooi
+ should think by Morland in his best time.
Tse makes purchases Of blue china and writes
,o,,ouslv 10 Brown: My Pots now battle de-
scrirtion altogether, while the Inauguration
which could remotely conceive them would oe-
serve a tercentenary celebration Hoses anu
no,evsuckles have left me penniless." he says IN
another note abiding to his efforts TO achieve
accuracy IN the flower painting OF q work upon
,,,.ot no Was engaged In the course OF his
reading he comes upon title that appeals to bis
,snse ~ the comic Essays Written In the
Intervals OF Business" and with chucke he
,o+s down this parody Of 81: Essays Written In
the Intervals OF Lockjaw, Elephantiasis' ano
Penal Servftude." The impulse toward sheer
fan which came from time TO time 10 counter
act ri. melancholy is shown by the nonsense
verses which be liked TO compose. and Of which
his brother gives us an abundant sheaf Here
a. one of these characteristic squibs:
There is 8 conbative artist named whistler
who is, like his own hog hairs, a oristier;
And a punch on the head
f, offer varied attractions 10 Whistler
T2ossettfs famous recovery OF his poems from
she grave Of his wife is touched upon in this
volume. He appears to have been fun OF Tears
about the transaction. Talking with Scott, he
TOLD him how nervous he was about what his
own family might feel about the measure
necessary 10 be taken" His note to MADDOX
Brown is matter OF fact enough. He says:
went to-day to see those MSS. az the Doc
tors and ] shah be able to have them In a few
DAYS They are IN disappointing state. The
things have already seem almost perfect, and
there is a great hole right through al the
leaves OF Jenny" which the thing most
wanted. A good deal IS lost, but 1 have no
doubt the things as they are win enable me-
with little rewriting and GOOD memory ano
the rough copies I have, 20 re-establish the
whole IN perfect state
The fact is that. while the strange atmosphere
OF Rossetti's household and his own eccentricity,
have not been exaggerated IN the various notes
We have received on both. the different mem
bers Of that family seem 20 have proceeded
upon great many occasions in q merely nat
ural manner. We are glad to learn this as we
DO learn It from Mr.. William Rossetti's latest
volume In view OF the morbidity TO which
have alluded, IL IS well 20 know that Dante
Rossetti for some years OF his life at least, took
ed
fully With his sister Cristina about her poems.
and altogether behaved like rational human
being. The glinpses Of him given IN this book
show him TO generous. good natured hu-
nnorous. and more sympathetic than In most
previous records Of him.
Incidentally Mr. William Rossett offers us
some sidelights on more than one distinguished
15nglishman. lie prints note from Palgrave 20
This effect: 'fTennyson when here looked at
Miss Rossetti's poems. and expressed great pleas
lure 10 me al what he read. But one never gets
ecln 20 formularize neat Saturday or Lon
oedon Review Judgment on these matters" Moth
, ing could be more characteristic OF the late
z Laureate Swinburne IS quoted calling Mat
vhew Arnold more satisfactory a poetic writer
hthan either Browning or TennysOn. Elsewhere.
Teelluding 20 the death OF a beautiful Angora
egiven TO the poet by Mazzini Mr.. Rossetti adds
tthst at used to sit his head while he was
dfrVritingi" There are several passages relating
20 Ruskin. He was enchanted with a book OF
anchored Japanese landscapes lent 20 him ano
wrote, 4 should ike TO go and live IN Japan"
remark disclosing a phase OF taste IN him IN
come ways surprising There Was a quaint
hsf-quaTrel between him and Rossetd over
Photographic introduced TO him by the latter.
Il tell you the people you associate with Are
running YOU" he declared. But remember I
have personally some right 20 say this-for the