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William Morris letters show artist was a political firebrand until his death William Morris letters show artist was a political firebrand until his death
(35 minutes later)
Two newly discovered, unpublished letters by William Morris, written within three years of his death, show that he had lost none of his fiery principles.Two newly discovered, unpublished letters by William Morris, written within three years of his death, show that he had lost none of his fiery principles.
The social activist and artist set his correspondent a formidable list of tasks: she was to work her way through a weighty reading list of socialist literature – “there is other literature which I cannot now think of which might be useful to you”, he added – take out a subscription to the Commonweal journal “and try to get other people to do so”, and join the Hammersmith branch of the Socialist League, “which is active and has many intelligent members in it”.The social activist and artist set his correspondent a formidable list of tasks: she was to work her way through a weighty reading list of socialist literature – “there is other literature which I cannot now think of which might be useful to you”, he added – take out a subscription to the Commonweal journal “and try to get other people to do so”, and join the Hammersmith branch of the Socialist League, “which is active and has many intelligent members in it”.
He was writing to a young married woman with leftwing leanings, and the letters, discovered by an Oxford undergraduate, were donated almost a century later by her daughter to Kelmscott Manor, Morris’s medieval country home in the Cotswolds.He was writing to a young married woman with leftwing leanings, and the letters, discovered by an Oxford undergraduate, were donated almost a century later by her daughter to Kelmscott Manor, Morris’s medieval country home in the Cotswolds.
Morris, whose political views are highlighted in the Anarchy and Beauty exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, was keen to stress the importance of women to the cause: “I should suggest that you should try to influence women that you come across: in the working classes, especially, much depends on the women (wives especially) being sympathetic with the men who are in the movement. You can have more leaflets if you think you can distribute them usefully.” Morris, whose political views are highlighted in the Anarchy and Beauty exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in London, was keen to stress the importance of women to the cause. “I should suggest that you should try to influence women that you come across: in the working classes, especially, much depends on the women (wives especially) being sympathetic with the men who are in the movement. You can have more leaflets if you think you can distribute them usefully.”
“He does lecture a bit, but his intentions are always good,” says Thomas Wilson, the Belfast-born history student at Oxford University who found the letters during an internship at Kelmscott. “The archive there is very small, which I think is why people hadn’t thought there was much new to discover there – but I kept opening boxes and finding things, letters from May Morris, 17th-century legal documents … I would go downstairs almost every day to the curators with something new – it was an extraordinary feeling that I was really discovering history.”“He does lecture a bit, but his intentions are always good,” says Thomas Wilson, the Belfast-born history student at Oxford University who found the letters during an internship at Kelmscott. “The archive there is very small, which I think is why people hadn’t thought there was much new to discover there – but I kept opening boxes and finding things, letters from May Morris, 17th-century legal documents … I would go downstairs almost every day to the curators with something new – it was an extraordinary feeling that I was really discovering history.”
The letters had not been catalogued or published, and Wilson believes that probably nobody had looked at them since the curator to whom they were sent, Dick Dufty, who lived at Kelmscott in the 1960s and 70s. He found a note with the letters, saying that they were given by the daughter of the woman Morris wrote to – her family have asked for her to remain anonymous – in the 60s, when she was 92. She recalled that her parents, who were among the earliest customers for furnishings and textiles made by Morris’s company, first brought her to visit the artist-poet-designer-philosopher when she was 10.The letters had not been catalogued or published, and Wilson believes that probably nobody had looked at them since the curator to whom they were sent, Dick Dufty, who lived at Kelmscott in the 1960s and 70s. He found a note with the letters, saying that they were given by the daughter of the woman Morris wrote to – her family have asked for her to remain anonymous – in the 60s, when she was 92. She recalled that her parents, who were among the earliest customers for furnishings and textiles made by Morris’s company, first brought her to visit the artist-poet-designer-philosopher when she was 10.
Her mother wrote first, asking if socialism was worth taking up. Morris let fly, his mind occasionally racing ahead of his pen: “As to your question as to socialism will make men honest; I should rather say that it will not prevent them from being honest as the present system does. When society is made up of slaves and slaveholders and the parasites of the latter, as it is nowadays, honesty is impossible for the average man, and difficult for even the heroic to practice.Her mother wrote first, asking if socialism was worth taking up. Morris let fly, his mind occasionally racing ahead of his pen: “As to your question as to socialism will make men honest; I should rather say that it will not prevent them from being honest as the present system does. When society is made up of slaves and slaveholders and the parasites of the latter, as it is nowadays, honesty is impossible for the average man, and difficult for even the heroic to practice.
“However these are somewhat abstract questions to deal with, and if you wish to study socialism you will find that the primary question is whether all men shall be free to exercise their natural Capacities to the utmost; and you will find that this cannot be so long as there is a privileged mopolist (sic) class which withholds the means of production from the producers except on the condition that the producers shall pay for the use of them by keeping the said privileged class as their pensioners.”“However these are somewhat abstract questions to deal with, and if you wish to study socialism you will find that the primary question is whether all men shall be free to exercise their natural Capacities to the utmost; and you will find that this cannot be so long as there is a privileged mopolist (sic) class which withholds the means of production from the producers except on the condition that the producers shall pay for the use of them by keeping the said privileged class as their pensioners.”
Even Morris seemed to question whether the tone of his letter was a bit strong. “Excuse this lecturing: only since you asked me a question I thought you might be interested in the whole subject – on which by the way there is plenty of literature,” he wrote.Even Morris seemed to question whether the tone of his letter was a bit strong. “Excuse this lecturing: only since you asked me a question I thought you might be interested in the whole subject – on which by the way there is plenty of literature,” he wrote.
Wilson remains on the Morris trail, including through the archives of his college, Exeter, which was also Morris’s.Wilson remains on the Morris trail, including through the archives of his college, Exeter, which was also Morris’s.
David Barnes, a lecturer in English literature at Oxford, said the letters showed how engaged and lively Morris’s mind was right to the end. “These letters show Morris was still keen to find new recruits to the socialist cause just a few years before his death. What’s interesting is that he clearly thought women were important to the success of socialism, though he still frames that in terms of the ‘support’ they can give to their socialist husbands.David Barnes, a lecturer in English literature at Oxford, said the letters showed how engaged and lively Morris’s mind was right to the end. “These letters show Morris was still keen to find new recruits to the socialist cause just a few years before his death. What’s interesting is that he clearly thought women were important to the success of socialism, though he still frames that in terms of the ‘support’ they can give to their socialist husbands.
“This is a Morris torn between a commitment to freedom, equality and justice, yet still conditioned by what we might see as typically ‘Victorian’ views on gender.” “This is a Morris torn between a commitment to freedom, equality and justice, yet still conditioned by what we might see as typically Victorian views on gender.”
The exhibition – Anarchy and beauty: William Morris and his legacy, 1860-1960 – is at the National Portrait Gallery until 11 January 2015. The exhibition – Anarchy and beauty: William Morris and his legacy, 1860-1960 – is at the National Portrait Gallery until 11 January 2015