Autograph letters signed (28) : Venice; San Marcello per l'Abbetone, Pistoia; Bassano Veneto; and Florence, Italy; and Lugano, Switzerland; to [E. Constance Oldham], 1885 June 18-1894 Aug. 8.

Record ID: 
192888
Accession number: 
MA 3880 (1-28)
Author: 
Alexander, Francesca, 1837-1917.
Credit: 
Purchase, Acquisitions Fund; 1973.
Description: 
28 items (95 p.) ; 20.5 cm and smaller (many 15.7 cm) + with 16 envelopes.
Notes: 

All on personalized stationery with "Francesca" embossed in corner.
Most were torn in half and mended.

Summary: 

Discussing at length the ill health of John Ruskin (Ms. Oldham's godfather) and urging him to make a visit to Italy; concerning Ms. Oldham's contributions to the poor, and Ms. Alexander's work. A letter of 1885 Aug. 19 notes, "I am finishing a picture which he asked me to draw for him just before he was taken ill, and I want to have it ready to send to him as soon as he is well enough to be amused by it." She mentions Ruskin's work in a letter of 1894 Aug. 8: "The page which our dear friend gave you from the Roadside Songs is part of an old hymn to the Cross: I am very glad that it is in your hands, and that it reminds you sometimes both of him and of me. I have not the heart to write about him; but I hope, as you do, that he does not suffer ... "