Letter from Dante Rossetti, London, to Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, March 1870 : autograph manuscript signed.

Writing to thank her for a "much more independent and promising pied-a-terre" than he could have found elsewhere; describing how the snow has begun to vanish and he no longer feels so sure that his bones are heavy after all; sharing that he is getting to work and starting to benefit from the change; noting that Stillman is a wonderful companion and describing their walks; sharing that he has heard that a gamekeeper's daughter is nearby; asking Barbara if she could ask her to sit for him; referring to three sketches and noting that one was created by by A.M. Howitt; promising to keep her informed of future adventures; likening himself to Sancho, and Stillman to Don Quixote; sharing that he heard from William Allingham. Postscript is a copy of a sonnet that he has recently written on Burne-Jones' painting, Circe, which he knows she saw at the Water Lantern Gallery; the poem is titled, "The Wine of Circe".