UNIVERSITY of GLASGOW

System Number: 05940
Date: [July/September 1896]^[1]
Author: JW
Place: [London]
Recipient: Antonio Fradeletto^[2]
Place: [Venice]
Repository: Glasgow University Library
Call Number: MS Whistler V29
Document Type: ALdI^[3]

Dear Sir -

May I beg that you will present my compliments to his Excellency the Mayor^[4], and my apologies for a long silence of apparently an inexcusable nature in return for the many courtesies I have received from the authorities and my brother artists of Venice -

For the last year and a half, I [p. 2] [have] been overwhelmed with the anxieties of the continued ^prolonged illness of my wife^[5] - which to my great unhappiness All other matters during that period of continued absence and travel, remaining unheeded -

It was her ^especial wish that I should recognise by every way in my the by any return in my power the distinctions conferred upon me, that had given her such pleasure - and I therefore now, however tardily, beg to say how highly sensible I am of the honour ^{high compliment} conveyed in the wish expressed by the Mayor, that my name be placed on the list of my distinguished confreres as one of the Committee of the forthcoming Exhibition^[6] -

I ho wish therefore to express my thanks, and to accept the honour of serving in that capacity - If too late for official purposes, I trust that I may cause no disarrangement of ⁱⁿ the printed lists - and that at least my acknowledgments will may be recieved [sic] [with] my ^sincere regrets.

And I have the honour to be
dear Sir
Your obedient Ser[van]t

J——

This document is protected by copyright.

Notes:

1.  [July/September 1896]
This letter, with its deep mourning border, was evidently written after the death of Beatrix Whistler (1857-1896), née Beatrice Philip, artist [more] (10 May 1896). It may be a belated response to Fradeletto's letter, #05939, and arrived (if indeed it was ever completed and sent) too late for JW's name to be added to the Committee.

2.  Antonio Fradeletto
Antonio Fradeletto (1858-1930), literary historian, art critic and writer, radical politician, and general secretary of the Venice Biennale [more].

3.  ALdI
The paper has a mourning border.

4.  Mayor
Comte Filippo Grimani (1850-1921), Mayor of Venice, President of the Internation Art Exhibition of the City of Venice [more]. See also his letter inviting JW to exhibit, #05936.

5.  wife
Beatrix Whistler (1857-1896), née Beatrice Philip, artist [more].

6.  Exhibition
Second International Art Exhibition of Venice, 1897.