1991.1016.332.2

J.W. Mackail (author), Philip Webb (architect)

Handwritten letter dated 6th December 1898 from J W Mackail to Philip Webb seeking clarification of whether or not Webb had been apprenticed to the architect George Street. See 1991.1016.332.4 for Webb's reply. Found inserted in the book, Life of William Morris by Mackail, J.W. when acquired by the museum, shelf V18 - V19 . Part of the Emery Walker Library.

London, London

1898-12-06 - 1898-12-06

, Arts & Crafts, 19th century

printed, handwritten

Letter from John William Mackail to Philip Webb dated 6th December 1898. Found in ‘The Life of William Morris’ by Mackail 6 Pembroke Gardens 27 YOUNG STREET, KENSINGTON SQUARE, W. 6 Dec 1898 Dear Mr Webb[i] Since I saw you last we have moved to this house: our lease in Young Street being up, & the house having become too small for us. This is a gloomy ugly house that we are trying to make the best of. In the life of Morris[ii] I have [incidentally] mentioned the revolution in common domestic architecture from the early Victorian type as intimately associated with the homes of Morris, yourself, and Norman Shaw[iii], who had all been in Street’s[iv] office. I had spoken of you as “those three pupils” but it has been suggested to me that you were not technically Street’s pupil but only a clerk in his office. Will you let me know please whether the phrase is correct? It would not of course imply that any of the three had owed ideas or style to Street, but only that you had begun the study of architecture under him: & if not absolutely incorrect as regards you, it is the [highest] form of words that I could use. I should be glad to know [whether I could legitimately used]. Yours very truly J. W. Mackail[v] In the top left hand corner the letter is marked in a different hand (probably Webb’s), as having been answered on 8th December 1898. The answer is at 1991.1016.332.d [Footnotes: [i] Philip Webb (1831 – 1915), architect and friend of, inter alia, William Morris. [ii]William Morris (1834-96), textile designer, artist, writer and socialist. [iii]Richard Norman Shaw (1831-1912), Scottish architect. [iv]George Edmund Street (1824-81), architect. [v]John William Mackail (1859 – 1945) was a Scottish man of letters and socialist and a biographer of William Morris. CAW]