Ashley MS A1384, A1395, A1445, 1447, A1883, A1935, A3864

Letters (34), one postcard and one letter-card from W. M. Rossetti to W. T. Watts[-Dunton]; 3 April [1876 or 1879?]- 15 April 1910. The letters reflect Watts-Dunton's career as solicitor turned man of letters, adviser on practical matters to the Rossetti's, and guardian of Swinburne. Among the subjects on which his advice is sought are the libel case R. H. Shepherd v. The Athenæum, arising out of a review contributed by W. M. Rossetti to the issue of 14 Sept. 1878, in which he described Shepherd as a 'literary vampire' (1447, ff. 5-6), and various problems connected with the estates of D. G. Rossetti (A1395; A1445; 1447, ff. 8-30 passim; A3864) and of his mother (1447, ff. 31-32b). Among other subjects discussed are the death of Christina Rossetti (A1384; 1447, f. 45), the writer Charles Wells and D. G. Rossetti's great interest in his works (A1883), the Collected Works of D. G. Rossetti, 1887-8, ed. W. M. Rossetti (1447, ff. 29, 29b, 33, 33b), and the design of D. G. Rossetti's gravestone (1447, ff. 24b-26), Swinburne's Marino Faliero, 1885 (A3864), his skit 'La Soeur de la Reine' (destroyed after his death by Watts-Dunton) (A1935), his death (1447, ff. 54-55), and the inscription for his grave-stone (1447, ff. 58b, 59), W. M. Rossetti's D. G. Rossetti as Designer and Writer, 1889 (1447, ff. 39-40b), Watts-Dunton's projected biography of D. G. Rossetti (1447, ff. 15-16b, 34, 37-42) and his novel, largely based on Rossetti, Aylwin, 1899 (1447, f. 47b), and various biographies of, and references to, D. G. Rossetti and Swinburne (1447, ff. 16b-17, 50-52b). Mostly printed in Roger W. Peattie, Selected Letters of William Michael Rossetti, 1990, pp. 437-663 passim. Ashley Library Catalogue, iv, pp. 106, 120-122, 150-151, 170, 173; vi, pp. 115, 199.