Call Number:

C1637

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

1 box

Language:

English

Date:

1872-1901 (bulk) and 1853-1910 (inclusive)

Creator:

Rivière, Briton (1840-1920)

Form:

Correspondence -- 19th century

Abstract:

Consists of letters to Briton Rivière (1840-1920), the Victorian artist and illustrator, and to his family members, including from many contemporary artists and writers.

Briton Rivière (1840-1920) was a British artist and illustrator best known for his paintings of animals. Born into a family of artists, Rivière went on to study art with his father, William Rivière (1806–1876), at the Cheltenham School, and later, at Oxford University. He became associated with members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in the early 1860s and made friends with many Victorian artists and writers.

Consists of a collection of over one hundred letters, primarily to Briton Rivière (1840-1920), the Victorian artist and illustrator, and to his family members, as well as some letters to others. One notable item is a 1872 letter by Charles Darwin relating to Rivière's illustration of two dogs for Darwin's The Expressions of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). Members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and other Victorian artists and writers figure prominently among the correspondents, who include Lawrence Alma-Tadema, Edward Burne-Jones, Arthur Conan-Doyle, Frank Dicksee, Alfred Gilbert, Edmund Gosse, Anstey Guthrie, William Holman Hunt, George Dunlop Leslie, Frederick Lewis, Robert Walker Macbeth, John Everett Millais, George du Maurier, Edward Onslow-Ford, Edward Poynter, Linley Sambourne, John Singer Sargent, Herbert Spencer, John William Waterhouse, and others. Letters pertain to both personal and professional matters and are sometimes decorated with sketches and drawings. The collection sheds light on artistic cooperation, philanthropy, and friendship among a circle of predominantly English writers and artists in the late 19th century.

Letters are arranged alphabetically by the name of the sender, with some miscellaneous letters and other material at the end.