Letter from Victorian portrait painter Sir William Boxall, to Edward Cardwell, the Secretary of State for War (1871)
This letter captures a personal, exasperated moment between two prominent figures of the mid-Victorian cultural and political establishment, written at a time when both were under immense public pressure.
The document is an autograph letter signed by the eminent Victorian portrait painter and National Gallery Director, Sir William Boxall (1800–1879), addressed to Edward Cardwell (1813–1886), the Secretary of State for War.
The Transcription
My dear Cardwell
I am always the unlucky—I am engaged I am sorry to say on the 7th of July. What evil spirit have you brought back with you & some such demon seems to be in my way. I am anxious to see you & should be much pleased
if I knew at what hour you were likely to be found at the Oxford & Cambridge [Club].
Yours always truly,
W. Boxall
30 June, 1871
14 Albert Place
The Historical Context: 1871
Dated 30 June, 1871 points to a remarkably intense week for both men:
Edward Cardwell and the "Cardwell Reforms"
As the Secretary of State for War under Gladstone, Cardwell was in the absolute thick of his career-defining legislative battle in the summer of 1871. He was fighting to push through the Cardwell Reforms, which fundamentally modernized the British Army. Crucially, June and July of 1871 marked the climax of his bitter parliamentary war to abolish the purchase of military commissions (the practice where wealthy men simply bought officer ranks). The bill faced fierce resistance from the House of Lords and the military elite, making Cardwell one of the most heavily scrutinized men in England that month.
Sir William Boxall’s Major Triumph (and Stress)
For Boxall, 1871 was a year of immense professional milestone and personal strain. As the second Director of the National Gallery, he had just successfully negotiated the massive purchase of 77 Dutch and Flemish masterpieces from the Sir Robert Peel collection earlier that year (including Hobbema’s The Avenue, Middelharnis).
However, Boxall famously loathed the administrative warfare, public scrutiny, and politics of the directorship, battling severe depression and failing health. In fact, 1871 was the exact year Boxall first attempted to resign from the National Gallery because of this stress. The "evil spirit" and "demon" he jokingly blames for ruining their dinner plans speaks volumes to his exasperated state of mind at the time. (Despite his anxieties, he was knighted later that year).
Notable Details in the Letter
14 Albert Place: This was Boxall’s Kensington home studio address, where he lived and entertained fellow artists, writers (like his close friend William Wordsworth), and politicians.
The Oxford & Cambridge Club: Boxall suggests meeting at this historic Pall Mall club, a traditional stronghold for the Victorian intellectual elite, hoping to catch Cardwell away from the frantic halls of Parliament.
110mm x 190mm
Laid down; foxed and creased. 2 pages, front and back.
R1,500
