Vokins, William, 1815-1895

Scope and Contents: "Xmas Day 1863. My dear Vokins, Poor Thackeray has gone! I suppose you saw this morning an account of his death in the "Times". Poor fellow. What a loss! & so young too. At one time I knew him well. Your note gratified me much this morning & when I opened & saw the Photograph, I thought you had put your real self in - & had got somebody to seal you up! Thanks for it - it is very like [...] God knows yet what I shall get by April - I will do my best, if my health holds out -...

Abstract: The collection comprises 15 letters from Thomas Woolner to John Frederick Lewis, written between 1874 and 1876. It also includes 5 letters from Woolner to Lewis’s wife, Marian Harper, one letter from Lewis to dealer William Vokins, and several letters from Woolner’s wife and daughter. The letters primarily concern Lewis’s declining health—he died several months after the last letter in the collection—Woolner’s admiration for Lewis’s painting, updates on the politics of the Royal Academy and...