Call Number:

C1459

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

6 boxes

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); William E. Fredeman Collection of William Bell Scott, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1820-1895 (bulk) and 1733-1897 (inclusive)

Creator:

Fredeman, William E. (William Evan) (1928)

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century, Documents. -- 19th century, Drawings -- 19th century, Manuscripts. -- 19th century, and Poems -- 19th century.

Abstract:

Manuscripts and corrected page proofs for poetry and prose writings, drawings and engraved illustrations, personal documents, record books of print sales, correspondence, inscribed books, binding dummies, and family papers of William Bell Scott (1811-1890), a Scottish poet, painter, art critic, and engraver, known for his association with the Pre-Raphaelite circle in London, and also personal and family correspondence of Alice Boyd, Scott's long-term companion, from 1859 until his death. The collection consists of materials acquired by the eminent Pre-Raphaelite scholar, William E. Fredeman (1928-1999) from members of the Boyd family, which were once housed at Penkill Castle, the residence of Alice Boyd, where Scott spent much of his later life.

William E. Fredeman was a prominent professor, scholar, and collector of Victorian literature and Pre-Raphaelitism. Born in 1928 in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Fredeman pursued his BA at Hendrix College. After receiving his PhD in English at the University of Oklahoma in 1956, he joined the faculty at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, where he taught until 1991. Best known for his book Pre-Raphaelitism, A Bibliocritical Study (Harvard University Press, 1965), Fredeman also wrote a major two-volume study of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's letters, and contributed to many major projects, including four volumes of the Dictionary of Literary Biography, The Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood Journal, the collected letters of William Bell Scott, and numerous articles and books on Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Morris, Alfred Tennyson, and the Victorians. From the 1950s through the 1990s, he was also a well-known and avid collector of books, artwork, and manuscripts related to the Pre-Raphaelites and their circle, and his vast collection drew many scholars and researchers in the field. He died in 1999.

The collection includes personal and family papers of William Bell Scott (1811-1890), a Scottish poet, painter, art critic, and occasional engraver, known for his association with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in London, founded by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, William Holman Hunt, and John Everett Millais. Also present are personal and family correspondence and an estate document of Scott's life partner and mistress, Alice Boyd (1824-1897). William Bell Scott met Alice Boyd, also a painter, in London in 1859. They began a relationship that lasted for the rest of Scott's life. Beginning in the 1860s, Scott and his wife Letitia lived with Boyd in the summer and fall, while the three resided together at Scott's house in London during the other half of the year. Penkill Castle, the family estate in Ayrshire, Scotland, which Alice Boyd owned, served as an occasional refuge for many artists and writers associated with the Pre-Raphaelite circle, including the Rossetti family, William Morris, and W. J. Linton. Scott completed many books and paintings while in residence, and died at the castle in 1890, leaving many of his papers.

Scott's materials include manuscripts, drafts, and corrected page proofs for poetry and prose writings, drawings and sketches, engraving proofs, correspondence, record books of print sales, inscribed books, binding dummies, and personal documents, such as an address book and passport. Also included are many important official documents, autograph letters and ancillary holograph material regarding the Scott family, including William Bell Scott's brother, the painter David Scott (1806-1849), their father, the engraver Robert Scott (1777-1841), grandfather Robert Scott, and great-grandfather George Scott. Alice Boyd's papers include personal and family correspondence, as well as an estate document regarding her grandfather, William Losh, and an unsigned manuscript chronicling the history of Alice Boyd and the Pre-Raphaelites at Penkill Castle. A small group of related materials, with holograph poems by others and clippings, is also included.

The following standard abbreviations, or their variations, are used to identify materials in this collection: ALS = autograph letter signed, AL = autograph letter, TLS = typed letter signed.