The Letters of Sir Joshua Reynolds

by Edited by John Ingamells and John Edgcumbe

• ISBN13: 9780300087338
• ISBN10: 0300087330
• Format: Trade Book
• Copyright: 2000-12-11
• Publisher: Paul Mellon Centre BA

Summary

Sir Joshua Reynolds could never have anticipated an edition of his letters; he once told Boswell that "If I felt the same reluctance in taking a Pencil in my hand as I do a pen I should be as bad a Painter as I am a correspondent". Yet although his surviving letters are those of a busy man, and many are perfunctory responses or requests, they remain of considerable interest to the reader.

This is the first edition of letters by Reynolds to be published since 1929. Since that date the number of known letters has almost doubled. The new volume contains a total of 308 letters by the artist to friends, family, and patrons, all of which arc accompanied by detailed notes to identify the recipient and illuminate the text.

Table of Contents

Illustrations	vii
Preface	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Locations of Letters	xiii
Chronology	xv
Explanation	xvii
Abbreviations	xix
List of Letters	xxiii
Dated Letters	1	(230)
Undated Letters	231	(8)
Undated Letters to Unknown Correspondents	239	(2)
Letters Concerning Payments and Receipts	241	(18)
Untraced Letters	259	(4)
Appendix I The Reynolds Family	263	(4)
Appendix II Biographical Index of Correspondents	267	(14)
Index	281