Journal of the William Morris Society, Winter 1962[15] ‘She and He’ [poem by William Morris] Cockerell, who became Morris’ secretary and librarian in 1892, continued in that capacity after he became secretary of the Kelmscott Press in 1894. Morris’ business letters were written out for him in the diminutive but legible script that has become familiar to collectors and students all over the world. Where did Cockerell acquire this diminutive arid un-Victorian hand? St. Paul’s School and the firm of Geo. J Cockerell & Co., coal merchants, where he worked for seven years, seem improbable sources. It had several of the qualities of a formal hand — character, regularity, neatness and rhythm; but Cockerell was not encouraged to attempt formal writing despite, or perhaps because of, his close study of mediaeval manuscripts. His ‘tiny script’ served his purpose admirably and had no aesthetic pretensions. There was indeed one occasion on which he committed a ‘scribal indiscretion’ as he put it. In 1889, when he was twenty-two, he wrote out for Professor Norman Collie, the mountaineer, the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám. His sister Olive painted the initials and his brother Douglas bound the book. When, over fifty years later, a friend asked him what he should bid for it at Sotheby’s, Cockerell replied ‘Nothing at all, the writing is deplorable.’ ‘A poem by the way’ is a reference tothe collection of Morris’ shorter poems composed since the publication in 1858, of his first volume, The Defence of Guenevere and other poems. The later collection was first printed at the Kelmscott Press and issued in September 1891. R.C.H.B. [16] [image of She and He, Morris’s original draft, first page, script area 12 5/16 inches deep] I am, Sir, [18] IN the course of his long life Sir Sydney Cockerell wrote more than a hundred letters to the Press. These demonstrate his constant concern for precision, a concern stimulated by his awareness of the dangers of inaccuracy; for, as he wrote in the Times Literary Supplement for 6 July 1951, ‘errors and perversions once served up can never perish. In spite of their exposure they will go on being rehashed, often with new flavourings, for ever and ever’. The letters well display his gift for concise statement. They reveal also interest in a wide range of subjects. Letters about Morris, Blunt and Hardy, men well known to Sir Sydney, about rnediaeval miniaturists (almost as familiar to him) and mediaeval architect about the coal-trade in the ‘eighties and the Fitzwilliam Museum come as no surprise. But it is agreeably unexpected to find him campaigning against the overworking of hospital nurses or appealing for toys for toyless children. Most clearly exhibited of all his loyalty to his heroes and friends, whose reputations he was ever ready to defend. There is no fine writing in these letters, but a happy or memorable phrase often appears; and often embedded in one of them is the added treasure of an apt quotation from Ruskin. Sir Sydney in his correspondence to the Press could be cantankerous, pernickety and wrong, though usually he was not; but he was always lively. He wrote most frequently to The Times, which he evidently read closely, though in later years the Listener was also a favourite. ‘I am, Sir, your obedient servant’ was his usual form of termination as was it also that of his master, William Morris. In the following list the abbreviation S.C.C. is used to denote Sir Sydney. No doubt there are other letters that have escaped notice. Details of any omissions will be welcomed. 28 Jan. 1887 PALL MALL GAZETTE A fictitious fine lady’s lament about the inadequate width of seats and doors in railway carriages. [19] Weights and Measures in the London Coal-Trade (signed S.C.C.) 4 Oct. 1888 THE TIMES Short Weight in Coals (signed ‘Another London Coal Merchant’) 15 Nov. 1889 DAILY TELEGRAPH Architectural Restoration of Italy 28 May 1900 THE TIMES Memorials to John Ruskin and the Duke of Westminster 22 Aug. 1900 THE TIMES The Post Office and its Buildings17 May 1907 THE TIMES The Windsor Drawings 27 Jan. 1912 THE TIMES A Suggested Memorial 20 Oct. 1915 CAMBRIDGE REVIEW The Fitzwilliam Museum Short16 May 1921 THE TIMES The Spire of Old St Paul’s, A Woodcut of 1510 4 Feb. 1925 THE TIMES Portraits of Artists 5 Feb. 1925 THE TIMES Memorials to Thomas Hardy17 Jan. 1928 THE TIMES Literature and Prices April 1928 THE TIMES Universities and Rates 8 June 1928 THE TIMES A Memorial to Thomas Hardy 27 Oct. 1928 THE TIMES The Wilton Diptych 6 Aug. 1929 THE TIMES Lord Byron’s Library 15 Jan. 1930 THE TIMES Memorials in the Abbey 4 Aug. 1930 THE TIMES Another Thomas Hardy 18 Oct. 1932 THE TIMES The Kelmscott Types 8 April 1933 THE TIMES A Belt of Open Spaces24 Jan. 1935 THE TIMES Pointing out that Octavia Hill advocated a green belt forty years earlier and that Ruskin’s idea of the National Trust was put into practice by her and Canon Rawnsley. ‘How deeply indebted is England to those who set this beneficent ball rolling and how greatly we should honour their memories.’ [21] ‘A Gracious Lady’14 July 1935 THE TIMES Overworking of Nurses 20 Aug. 1936 THE TIMES Stalky &Co.March 1938 THE TIMES ‘The Temple-Haunting Martlet’ 9 May 1938 THE TIMES ‘The Temple-Haunting Martlet’ 14 May 1938 THE TIMES Swinburne & San Gimignano 17 Aug. 1938 THE TIMES Hardy’s Library 17 Sept. 1938 TIMES LITT. SUPP. ‘The Fawn’ 14 Oct. 1938 THE TIMES ‘What’s Dunton?’ 23 Nov. 1939 SUNDAY TIMES Private Diaries 16 Jan. 1942 SPECTATOR Dante Gabriel Rossetti 9 May 1942 NEW STATESMAN AND NATION Cologne Cathedral 13 July 1943 THE TIMES Cologne Cathedral 21 July 1943 THE TIMES [22] Rouen Cathedral 7 Sept. 1944 THE TIMES 'The mutilation of Rouen Cathedral is one of the major cultural disasters of the war . . . One has only to reflect on the science, imagination, craftsmanship, piety, and collective aspiration that went into the making of the mediaeval cathedrals, wherever they may be situated, to realize that they enshrine in stone the very quintessence of humanity.' Edward Johnston 29 Nov. 1944 THE TIMES 'The Yellow Duck' 19 Dec. 1944 THE TIMES Yellow Duck Clubs 17 Jan. 1945 THE TIMES The Classics 24 April 1945 THE TIMES On Victory Stamps 25 June 1946 THE TIMES Memorials to Keats 14 Aug. 1946 THE TIMES Fountains Abbey 1 Nov. 1946 THE TIMES William Morris 27 Mar. 1947 LISTENER William Morris 24 April 1947 LISTENER William Morris 1 May 1947 LISTENER William Morris 15 May 1947 LISTENER Battle of Britain Memorial 12 July 1947 THE TIMES The Split Infinitive 4 Sep. 1947 THE TIMES [23] William Morris 14 Sep. 1947 SUNDAY TIMES Questionable Literary Practices 25 Sep. 1947 LISTENER William Morris 28 Sep. 1947 SUNDAY TIMES Wilfrid Scawen Blunt 2 Oct. 1947 LISTENER Wilfrid Scawen Blunt 16 Oct. 1947 LISTENER All For a Penny 30 Oct. 1947 THE TIMES Lord Baldwin 17 Dec. 1947 THE TIMES Walter Howard Frere 3 Jan. 1948 TIMES LITT. SUPP. W. R. Lethaby 29 Jan. 1948 LISTENER Ruskin & Socialism 19 Feb. 1948 LISTENER England's Gothic Treasure 23 Mar. 1948 SUNDAY TIMES England's Gothic Treasure 11 April 1948 SUNDAY TIMES The English Private Press Movement 29 April 1948 LISTENER Portrait of William Morris 1 May 1948 TIMES LITT. SUPP. A Garden in Southwark 21 July 1948 THE TIMES [24] Wilfred Scawen Blunt 16 Sep. 1948 LISTENER Wilfred Scawen Blunt 14 Oct. 1948 LISTENER The Nature of Ruskin 11 Aug. 1949 LISTENER William Morris 20 Nov. 1949 OBSERVER William Morris & Oscar Wilde 3 Feb. 1950 TIMES LITT. SUPP. Burns Manuscripts 11 Feb. 1950 SUNDAY TIMES Epitaph on the Fallen 24 Feb. 1950 RADIO TIMES William Wordsworth 26 April 1950 THE TIMES William Morris' Home 20 May 1950 THE TIMES Misericords for Nurses 26 May 1950 THE TIMES Yours Ever, Doodle 20 Nov. 1950 THE TIMES Better Handwriting 29 Nov. 1950 THE TIMES Morris & Rossetti 3 Dec. 1950 OBSERVER Rossetti & Mrs Morris 6 July 1951 TIMES LITT. SUPP. [25] Minor Decorations 8 Aug. 1957 THE TIMES Rossetti & Mrs Morris 24 Aug. 1951 TIMES LITT. SUPP. E. Gillick 1 Oct. 1951 THE TIMES Bernard Shaw's Mistakes 19 Oct. 1951 TIMES LITT. SUPP. Turner's Character, light thrown by letter of 1857 27 Dec. 1951 THE TIMES Arden of Feversham 2 Oct. 1952 THE TIMES A Book Which Inspired Eric Gill 15 Feb. 1953 SUNDAY TIMES Dickens & Ellen Ternan 22 Mar. 1953 SUNDAY TIMES Everest 19 June 1953 THE TIMES Tradition and Innovation 17 Sep. 1953 THE TIMES Artistic Licence for Noses 4 Oct. 1953 SUNDAY TIMES Hardy After Fifty Years 22 Jan. 1954 TIMES LITT. SUPP. [26] Blunt's Burial 28 May 1954 TIMES LITT. SUPP. Writing Ink 7 Oct. 1954 THE TIMES Oxford's Beauty 16 Feb. 1955 THE TIMES William Morrris 17 July 1955 OBSERVER Dyson Perrins & The Gorleston Psalter 7 Feb. 1958 THE TIMES A Dream that Failed 23 Oct. 1958 THE TIMES Portrait of Byron 1 Mar. 1959 SUNDAY TIMES Perpetuated Misprints 11 Sep. 1959 TIMES LITT. SUPP. Pedestrian Prowess 7 Jan. 1960 THE TIMES Shavian 29 July 1960 TIMES LITT. SUPP. An Echo of Tess (uncorrected) 4 Mar. 1961 TIMES LITT. SUPP. Melbourne Art Gallery 4 Mar. 1961 THE TIMES Thomas Hardy's Heart 9 Mar. 1961 LISTENER No Blame for Ruskin 7 Mar. 1962 THE TIMES A Recommendation from William Morris [of S. C. C.] [27-28] [image of William Morris’s recommendation of Mr. Sydney Cockrell to the Royal Academy, 1892] [28] A RECOMMENDATION FROM WILLIAM MORRIS Sydney Cockerell first saw Morris in 1885 when he attended Morris' public meetings. Through his brother, Theodore, who was a member of the Hammersmith branch of the Socialist League, Cockerell came to know Morris; and John Ruskin was also a point of contact. After his election to the Committee of the S.P.A.B. in April 1890, he met Morris much more frequently. From 1884 to 1892 Cockerell worked in the family firm of Geo. Cockerell & Co., coal merchants - employment for which he felt little enthusiasm, but which provided him with a business training which he always considered to have been valuable. In 1892 he determined to devote the remainder of his life to activities that interested him. On 19 October, during a stay at Kelmscott Manor, Morris invited him to prepare a catalogue of his library. Cockerell started work on 1 November. But this was not at first seen as a permanency. He contemplated applying for the curatorship of Sir John Soane's Museum in Lincoln's Inn Fields, and obtained the recommendation reproduced above, only to discover that architectural qualifications were required. Tearing Johnston to pieces [29] 'If a young man came to me with work like that I should tell him there was no hope for him.' Sir Sydney Cockerell was commenting, years after Johnston had established his pre-eminence in the sphere of calligraphy, on some of his friend's early work. Their first meeting was proposed by W. R. Lethaby, who had discerned the promise in Johnston's preliminary ventures; the date and place is precisely fixed by the records they both made: 28 October 1898 at the British Museum. 'I was asked to point out the manuscript that I thought most worthy of the attention of a potential scribe', Sir Sydney recalled '. . . we did not go behind the scenes. I merely took Johnston from case to case, pointing out the finest pieces of handwriting and laying a special stress on the Winchester scripts of the 10th and 11th centuries . . .' Johnston was twenty-six and had recently abandoned the study of medicine at Edinburgh University. Cockerell was thirty-one; six months earlier, he had completed the winding-up of the Kelmscott Press. On 31 October Johnston visited Cockerell at his lodgings in Richmond and saw his Morris manuscripts - some experimental leaves of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam, some leaves of the Heimskringla Saga, the Saga of Kormak, the Story of Haider, as well as original designs for the Kelmscott Press. In her biography his daughter writes that Johnston was impressed by the sweetness and naturalness of Morris' work and thought his own the better for having seen it. His progress as a calligrapher was rapid. In July 1899 Cockerell, who had secured him his first public commission, wrote: 'I am happy to congratulate you as having passed beyond the experimental stage and reached a degree of accomplishment that would not discredit a first-rate mediaeval scribe'. He commissioned Johnston to write out for him The Song of Songs; the scribe accepted joyfully - but Cockerell never got it. Six years later in a letter dated 15 September 1904 Johnston recalled the meeting at the British Museum and Cockerell's 'criticism and advice (for about half an hour) which were and have been of great value to me'. During those years he had been preparing his great book Writing and Illuminating and Lettering. 'We met fairly frequently and discussed its preparation' recalled (30) Cockerell. In particular he was able to help Johnston with the plates, both as owner of several of the manuscripts illustrated as the partner of Emery Walker in the famous photo-engraving firm. The book was first published in October 1906. In a characteristic comment on it, thirty-nine years later, Cockerell observed: 'I have sometimes made bold to assert that this small volume, now in its nineteenth edition, is the best handbook ever written on any subject. That is a rash claim that could only be made after a perusal of all other handbooks on all other subjects I will now be content to declare that, with its faultless illustrations by Noel Rooke, Johnston's handbook is a masterpiece, immensely instructive and stimulating.' Johnston sent Cockerell copies of the successive editions of the book, noting in them the alterations and additions he had made. The copy he sent of the fifth edition bore the splendid dedication illustrated. The joyous mood evident from the inscription was no doubt accounted for by the return from a T.B. sanatorium of Johnston's wife, Greta, to whom he was devoted. In the accompanying letter he wrote: Ditchling, Sussex
Dear Cockerell, Here at last is your book and another edition which I hope you will not find in the way. I admit it was rather slack considering how much I owed to your help and criticism, but now that I am a little better off, I am trying to atone for this by sending you a specially (tho' not v. well) inscribed copy of the 5th edition. I am hoping to revise the book considerably - especially some of the (31) [image of Edward Johnston’s dedication to Sir Sydney Cockerell of a copy of the fifth edition of his Writing and Illuminating and Lettering. Original size] (32) figures — if it reaches a 7th edn, &, I need hardly say, that I should so very greatly value any criticisms which you might have the leisure and interest to make. Yours sincerely, Edward Johnston Cockerell replied promptly. Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge. Dear Johnston, It is most good of you not only to send back my old copy of your book - but to add a new one, nobly inscribed and annotated. I have been through it from first page to last with much interest, noting the marked passages, which are all improvements. I cannot remember which, of these I suggested, though I seem to recognise myself in the reference to Morris & I should like to think that the addition to the paragraph on correcting is due to me. I am always declaring that a little book like most of those done by modern scribes for good prices - intended to be cherished and scrutinised - should never be disfigured by corrections. A book of 1000 pages, like the 13th century Bibles, is another matter. But think what a deal of tearing up and painting out an artist like Burne-Jones (& for that matter every other artist of note) had to indulge in before he was satisfied to relinquish a piece of his work - & shall a scribe, who claims also to be an artist, spare himself the penalty of a blunder by making it doubly apparent? By the way from which of my sermons, written or spoken, does 'always tore Johnston in pieces' come? I don't remember using the phrase - was it some old banter? This inscription, & another on a rubbing of Gill's Gloria in altissimis etc are the only samples of your formal calligraphy that I possess. Are you still open to a ten guinea commission? If so a little book of Johnstonian sample scripts is what I should like best to show my young friends here. The sum is small, but I am now the father of three children, and I have to be stingy or at any rate retiring - & of course I do not wish you to do anything at less than your present figure - I only mean that if you accept small commissions I am good for the amount named & you must give me in return whatever number of written lines you are nowadays prepared to produce for that sum. I am very sorry to hear that you have been in anxiety about Mrs. Johnston's health. I hope that she is now better. With many thanks I am, Yours sincerely, Sydney C. Cockerell (33) [image of Letter S.C. Cockerell to Edward Johnston dated 21 November, 1913: page 3, original size] Johnson’s careful note of this letter records that he received it on the morning of 22 November and that in answer he sent a postcard on the 25th and a letter on the 27th. The letter read: (34) P.S. On the flap of the envelope you have Ditchling, Dear Cockerell, Thank you for your very kind letter of the 21st wh. I only acknowledged the other day. I greatly admire your care, and appreciate your interest in going through every page of the marked book. The reference to Morris came from you, and merited a better position than I gave it in my haste. The addition to the paragraph on correcting was due to you. I think I appreciate your remarks on the matter of corrections in small modern MSS. perhaps I do not regard such MSS. seriously enough considering that a craftsman - if anyone - knows that what is worth doing, is worth doing well. I too have painful experience of the 'tearing up' process and have even spoilt 30/-s worth of precious vellum in one day; in fact it is almost an evil temptation for me: in doing single pages or 'broadsides' I rewrite about one out of every three. It is not, however, what I should call humane faults that fret me but the inhumane ones due to bad materials (or bad humour): thus ordinary misspellings, writing smaller, occasional hand slips seem to me (&, indeed, are to me) natural frailties, but bad skins, bad ink, or false strokes are clearly from the Devil (in spite of Tennyson, there is no lie 'blacker' than a false pen stroke, especially if the ink be too thick). And again by nature & the course of my work it is the education of freedom that I seek, or the chase & capture of one's birthright propriety -that in the avoidance of slavery to 'the proprieties' may perhaps tempt me into occasional ostentatious carelessness. (Forgive this 'fine writing' - the Handbook is fairly free of it, at least.) The quotation you inquire about is the answer you made to a question by Mr. E. Walker. I think I had taken that Gill-rubbing & something of mine to show you at Cliffords Inn & was thoroughly enjoying your usual bracing criticism when Mr. Walker came in & asked in surprise if it was not good. You answered 'No ('Not bad' substituted in Cockerell's hand - ed.) but I always tear Johnston in pieces, and I must say he stands it very well!' Your criticism was invaluable to me; you cannot imagine how really 'bracing' it was. Generally not at all fault-finding, but, 'you didn't say it was bad, but you didn't like it - that green was a sour green but look at this' and you would produce, from your trouser pocket apparently, a marvellous work of an earlier century, that completely disconceited me, for the time, and presently spurred me on enthusiastically. I should be delighted to do the little book of scripts for 10 guineas. Please let me have any ideas for it you would wish me to follow, and say how much you would leave to me: Also, would you like me to have it bound in plain leather out of the fee. I can hardly begin it before Christmas. Yours sincerely Edward Johnston (35) [image of Letter of Edward Johnston to S.C. Cockerell dated 27 November 1913: page 3, original size] (36) Cockerell's immediate reply, dated 28 November, 1913, contained a significant paragraph: 'It is a great satisfaction to me - seeing that I can produce nothing at all myself - to be told that I have helped other people to produce things that the world will prize - & if my cold bath comments were really bracing to you I am thankful to have been allowed to make them. It is my round-about way of praising what I know to be good but think could be bettered. You will have discerned eager and admiring sympathy in the naughtiest things I said.' Ditchling, The MS Book is now posted to you & I hope you will receive it on Lady Day. I have not had time to read it over properly (& there may be a lot of mistakes besides the ones noted) You perhaps have no notion how difficult a task it is to make a collection of suitable quotations - when you are given a free hand - and I fear you make take objection to my choice. I thought over the matter for weeks and, finding no comfort in your phrase 'unadulterated Johnston. I at length was held and helped by your direction 'written primarily for your own pleasure & only incidentally for mine'. I thought then it should be a story with other quotations related coherently. But as you did not bargain for a religious treatise, nor for any erasures,* will you please consider it carefully, and, if you would prefer something else, I should be delighted to do it instead (I know a man who would almost certainly take over the present MS.) *Note: You wd. not believe the number of trials made & of vellum abandoned, but I am rather out of practice & apparently constitutionally careless. Yrs. sincerely, [37] [image of The House of David, his Inheritance: A book of sample scripts 1914 A.D: title page. Red and black; script area 6 13/32 inches deep] [38] [image of Contents page A book of sample scripts. Script area 5 22/32 inches deep] [39] Hispostscript added that he had mentioned the book to Sir J. Spielmann as a possible item for the Paris Arts and Crafts exhibition. The superb MS book Johnston sent Cockerell bore the title The House of David, his Inheritance: A book of sample scripts, 1914 a.d. It is 10 x 7 3/4 inches, written on vellum in black and red, and was bound by C. & C. McLeish in roan calf. Johnston's dummy for the book contains a fascinating collection of trials, drafts, notes and calculations. It appears that the work took him five weeks. Cockerell, in his reply, rose to the occasion - and asked for more. Wayside, My dear Johnston, I have been in London & on returning today find your letter & the Book. The latter is exactly what I wanted -a very noble, strong & dignified work of art - though I had not expected so much for the money. The sum agreed on is yours as soon as I know what I owe for the binding - & I will send along, as a kind of makeweight, a couple of books containing reproductions of pages of MS. The selections you have made form an admirable whole & please me thoroughly - I have read them from beginning to end. As to the erasures they need some looking for even when the pages are indicated - & are therefore much better than your old method of calling special attention to all slips. Now for remarks: (a) The titlepage is very ingenious & beautiful, & could only have been bettered by the addition of the scribe's name & of a letter i that has tumbled out of divisit. (b) The list of contents is charming in every way & the italic is exquisite. (c) The Greek looks splendid but I think the time has passed for running words together & should have therefore preferred to sacrifice solidity to ease of reading by dividing them. (d) The whole Goliath story is almost as much beyond praise as a piece of writing as it is as a piece of literature - I note that I prefer the effect of d to that of s , as the oblique stroke of the latter form slightly disturbs the massiveness of general effect. I like the line endings. (e) Psalm XXIII is altogether magnificent & gives me wonderful pleasure & elation. (f) Acts. I like this least of the samples. The caps are beautiful - but I regard half uncials as an illogical & transitional form of script that should not be revived. All the same the two pages are very handsome. (g) The piece from the Apocalypse is glorious & most stately. It fills me with admiration, & the last page of caps is monumental. (h) The final page of notes is very nice indeed. (i-z) The sum total is a wonderful possession, of which I am very proud indeed. There are few books in my library, whether old or new, from which I can count on getting the continual pleasure and stimulus (40) that this sample book will give me. This afternoon a schoolboy enthusiast
came to consult me about an address that he has to write out when the king comes to his school here next month. I asked him home to tea & let him look at your book afterwards. He went away both abashed and en-couraged. I shall grudge it much to Paris for six whole months, but I will lend it if asked to do so. I have had to consent to lend my wife's books & am downcast at the thought of being deprived of them for so long. Or can you come here for a day or two & talk it over - & see some of the wonderful MSS. in Cambridge? It would be very nice if you could. Yours always Johnston expressed his gratitude, and evident relief, in two postcards he sent as temporary acknowledgement of Cockerell's thanks. Later, in a letter, he proposed that MS. No. 2 should be some chapters of St. Luke at £16. Cockerell readily accepted. But as with the Song of Songs he waited in vain. A book of Sample Scripts was exhibited at Paris. As Cockerell foresaw, it was for him an abiding source of pleasure. Years later he wrote: My dear Johnston, This evening, as on so many a previous occasion, I have been gloating over the Book of Sample scripts you made for me four and twenty years ago. When I consider what I paid for it I am filled with shame. I hope therefore that you will allow me to offer you this trifling addition by way of conscience money. What a fool I was not to bully and cajole you into finishing the Song of Songs all those years before! But I am indeed lucky to have this fine specimen of your work, together with the very beautiful Christmas Carol. This last hangs in my bedroom opposite my pillow, so that I may see it first thing in the morning and last thing at night. We have left Cambridge and are happy in our new quarters, very near Kew Gardens. It is long since I had news of you. I hope you are well. Yours always [41] [image of the Colophon of A book of sample scripts. Script area 5 3/16 inches deep] [42] The fifteenth-century carol to which Cockerell refers in the letter is Adam lay ybounden. Johnston presented it to him on 23 December 1925. This, the letters here quoted, and the superb book of sample scripts itself, Cockerell generously presented to the Victoria & Albert Museum. Johnston had by this time received universal acclaim, but the depth and sincerity of his gratitude for his old friend's praise are again apparent from his reply of 17 February 1938, in which he refers to 'a dear Master who used to "tear" me "in pieces - his own words.' 'Your letter,' he confessed, 'is charming, encouraging and kind. Sincere, competent praise seems very rare and, even at sixty-six, I feel it and am helped by it and can dream, at least, of doing better.' He wrote but twice more to Cockerell, on 16 May 1943 and on 7 August 1944. Both letters are included in The Best of Friends. In the first he again acknowledges the value of Cockerell's assistance at the outset of his career. He died on 26 November 1944. In an address delivered at a meeting arranged by the Society of Scribes and Illuminators in the Hall of the Art Workers' Guild on 10 November 1945, later printed by the Maidstone College of Art 1947, Cockerell paid a noble and moving tribute to the man he had been wont to 'tear in pieces': 'Johnston has had numberless pupils and followers, but not one of them has attained to his degree of accomplishment. Nor do I think that it is possible to rival him by technical skill without an accompanying range of imagination equivalent to his. Such a quality is exceedingly rare. Artists, poets, dramatists or composers of the highest rank do not occur many times in a century, and Johnston at his best was an artist of the highest rank . . . He was a man apart, a genius, not to be weighed in the same balance with an ordinary mortal. Moreover, he suffered from continual ill health by which he was greatly hampered. I have already referred to a fineness of spirit. Even more than his preeminence as a craftsman it was his clear vision in other directions, his gentle bearing, his unconscious saintliness, his unworldly outlook, his whimsicality, and his whole philosophy of living that endeared him to his pupils and friends and roused their ardent unwavering devotion. By none of them will he ever be forgotten. HOME · LIFE · ART · WRITING · SOCIAL THOUGHT NEWS/EVENTS · JOIN · THE SOCIETY · CONTACT US LAST UPDATE 30 JAN 2008 · PLEASE REPORT BROKEN LINKS TO WEBMASTER @ MORRISSOCIETY.ORG |