1991.1016.211.1

F.S. Ellis (author), Kelmscott Press (printer), Noel Rooke, The Observer (newspaper)

Letter/memo dated 1891 from the publisher F.S.Ellis to Emery Walker complaining about the proofs of Vitas Patrum. Found inserted in the book, Philip Webb and his Work by Lethaby, W.R., when acquired by the museum, shelf N58 . Part of the Emery Walker Library.

Torquay, London, London, London

1891-03-19 - 1891-03-19 1935-02-28 - 1935-02-28 1935-06-16 - 1935-06-16 1891 - 1891

Arts & Crafts, Arts & Crafts, Arts & Crafts, Arts & Crafts

handwritten, printed

Memorandum from F S Ellis to Emery Walker dated 19th March 1891. Found in a copy of ‘Philip Webb and His Work’ by W R Lethaby Memorandum from To F.S.Ellis[i] The Redhouse E. Walker Esq Chelston Torquay Mar. 19. 1891 Thanks for 2nd proof. Shoulder notes are better than nothing but I should infinitely & far away prefer headlines – That however is a matter in which of course I must bow to Morris opinion as the practical man. There is one print that is not exhibited in the proofs & that is the numbering of the lines 5. 10. 15 - &c that I should hold to be absolutely essential to the book being of any service for quotation – in the Oxford Dictionary for example, and also for reference in the glossary which must undoubtedly be added. Here is an objection to the shoulder notes which every now and again would interfere with the numbering. [Transcriber’s note: Next paragraph starts with 8 lines that are crossed out and rendered illegible] The more I think of it, the more distaste I have to my alteration of the text orthographically or punctatively (if there is such a word) – I could not if I would be a party to it. We must have all the v’s & u’s as they stand & the / bars must be the only punctuation & cannot be dispensed with if my humble efforts are to be continued on the [work]. [Footnote; [i]F. S Ellis was a late 19th century London-based publisher of works by, inter alia, William Morris, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Walt Whitman. Ellis was one of Morris’s executors. This letter relates to the Kelmscott Press edition of Vitas Patrum. St. Jerome’s Life of the Fathers of the Desert, Edited by Ellis. CAW]