Footnotes

'THE JOY OF SEEING ON THE THRONE A PRINCE OF TASTE': WALPOLE WELCOMES THE NEW MONARCH AS A PATRON OF THE ARTS.

During the reign of George II, John Stuart, third Earl of Bute (1744-1814) held the position of tutor and principal advisor to the Prince of Wales and became, in the words of the future King George III 'his dearest friend' (Karl Schweizer, ODNB). On the accession of George III on 25 October 1760, Bute was sworn into the Privy Council and was subsequently instrumental in choosing Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz as a suitable royal bride. He served as Prime Minster from 1762 to 1763 and, at this time, was thus a person of influence whom Walpole was eager to cultivate; the "very agreeable present" referred to here no doubt being an advance copy of Anecdotes of Painting which was published two days after our letter on 15 February 1762. He had high hopes for the promotion of the arts under the new monarch; with the accession of the new King, Walpole wrote in his introduction to Anecdotes, 'The Throne itself is now the altar of the graces; and whoever sacrifices to them becomingly, it sure that his offerings will be smiled upon by a prince, who is at once the example and patron of accomplishments' (Works, iii, 8).

According to Bute, this was a timely presentation. George III, who had acceded to the throne just two months before Walpole's letter, had recently given orders to the Duke of Devonshire to "make out exact lists of all the pictures in the royal palaces". The catalogues in question were those of the pictures of Charles I compiled by Abraham Van der Doort (1757), and that of the pictures of James II and the late Queen Caroline and the Palace of Kensington compiled by W. Chiffinch (1758). Bound with them was A Catalogue of the Curious Collection of Pictures of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham of 1758, all three including introductions by Horace Walpole. The volume, finely bound with the royal monogram and with the bookplate of George III is held in the British Museum, (Yale online, footnote 1, p.189).

All three letters are published in the Yale online edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence (pp.189 & 210), but the whereabouts of the originals, until now, has remained unknown. They were first printed in The Works of Horatio Walpole, Earl of Orford, 1798, Vol.2, pp.376-378, edited by Mary Berry, the text taken from the originals in her possession, although, according to the editor of the Correspondence, Walpole's draft letter was printed from a photostat of the original in the possession of Lord Bute at Mount Stuart. The letters bear the consecutive numbers in ink, 5, 6 and 7 and pencilled page references to the Works, where they are included in the chapter 'Letters to and from Ministers'. They formed part of the Walpole correspondence retained by Mary Berry and bequeathed to Lady Lewis in 1852.

Provenance: Horace Walpole (1717-1797); Mary Berry (1763-1852); Lady Maria Theresa Lewis (née Villiers) (1803-1865); her son Sir Thomas Villiers Lister (1832-1902); thence by descent.

Lady Lewis' collection was initially formed through the amalgamation of two significant collections of letters: royal and political correspondence from that of her mother the Hon Theresa Villiers (1775-1856), and that of her close friend, the writer Mary Berry (1763–1852). Mary Berry's bequest included correspondence from Horace Walpole, most notably his correspondence with Thomas Chatterton and David Hume, hitherto thought lost, and three poems dedicated to her. To this inheritance Lady Lewis subsequently added her own correspondence and collection of autographs gathered through her wide circle of social, political and literary connections entertained at her home, Kent House, St James's. Not seen outside the family until now, the collection is a remarkable survival and tells the story of a family at the heart of English society. An intricate web of connections and alliances is revealed, bringing together the worlds of royalty and politics, the arts and literature. It is also a story of influential women both as collectors and as correspondents: Theresa Villiers as keeper of royal secrets, Mary Berry and her circle of intellectuals, and, importantly, Lady Lewis as collector and salonnière bringing them all together in one extraordinary collection.