LORD  BYRON  and  his  TIMES
Byron
Documents Biography Criticism
Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Bart.
Sir Francis Chantrey to Sir Robert Peel, 26 January 1838
INTRODUCTION & INDEXES
DOCUMENT INFORMATION
GO TO PAGE NUMBER:
Vol I Preface
Vol. I Contents.
Chapter I
Chapter II 1771-78
Chapter III 1778-83
Chapter IV 1783-86
Chapter V 1786-90
Chapter VI 1790-92
Chapter VII 1792-96
Chapter VIII 1796-97
Chapter IX 1798-99
Chapter X 1800-02
Chapter XI 1802-03
Chapter XII 1803-04
Vol. II Contents.
Chapter I 1804-05
Chapter II 1805
Chapter III 1806
Chapter IV 1806-08
Chapter V 1808
Chapter VI 1808-09
Chapter VII 1809-10
Chapter VIII 1810
Chapter IX 1810
Chapter X 1810-11
Chapter XI 1811
Chapter XII 1811-12
Vol. III Contents.
Chapter I 1812-13
Chapter II 1813
Chapter III 1814
Chapter IV 1814
Chapter V 1814
Chapter VI 1814
Chapter VII 1814
Chapter VIII 1814
Chapter IX 1814
Chapter X 1814-15
Chapter XI 1815
Chapter XII 1815
Vol III Appendix
Vol. IV Contents.
Chapter I 1816
Chapter II 1817
Chapter III 1817
Chapter IV 1818
Chapter V 1818
Chapter VI 1818
Chapter VII 1818-19
Chapter VIII 1819
Chapter IX 1819
Chapter X 1819
Chapter XI 1820
Chapter XII 1820
Vol. V Contents.
Chapter I 1820
Chapter II 1820-21
Chapter III 1821
Chapter IV 1821
Chapter V 1821
Chapter VI 1821
Chapter VII 1822
Chapter VIII 1822
Chapter IX 1822-23
Chapter X 1823
Chapter XI 1823
Chapter XII 1824
Chapter XIII 1824-25
Vol. VI Contents.
Chapter I 1825
Chapter II 1825
Chapter III 1825
Chapter IV 1825
Chapter V 1826
Chapter VI 1826
Chapter VII 1826
Chapter VIII 1826
Chapter IX 1826
Chapter X 1826
Chapter XI 1826
Vol. VII Contents.
Vol VII Preface
Chapter I 1826-27
Chapter II 1827
Chapter III 1828
Chapter IV 1828
Chapter V 1829
Chapter VI 1830
Chapter VII 1830-31
Chapter VIII 1831
Chapter IX 1831
Chapter X 1831-32
Chapter XI 1832
Chapter XII
Vol VII Appendix
Index
Creative Commons License

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.
Produced by CATH
 
“Belgrave Place, 26th January, 1838.
“Dear Sir Robert,

“I have much pleasure in complying with your
430 LIFE OF SIR WALTER SCOTT.  
request to note down such facts as remain on my memory concerning the bust of Sir Walter Scott which you have done me the honour to place in your collection at Drayton Manor.

“My admiration of Scott, as a poet and a man, induced me, in the year 1820, to ask him to sit to me for his bust—the only time I ever recollect having asked a similar favour from any one. He agreed; and I stipulated that he should breakfast with me always before his sittings and never come alone, nor bring more than three friends at once, and that they should all be good talkers. That he fulfilled the latter condition you may guess, when I tell you, that on one occasion, he came with Mr Croker, Mr Heber, and the late Lord Lyttleton. The marble bust produced from these sittings was moulded; and about forty-five casts were disposed of among the poet’s most ardent admirers. This was all I had to do with plaster casts. The Bust was pirated by Italians; and England and Scotland, and even the Colonies, were supplied with unpermitted and bad casts to the extent of thousands—in spite of the terror of an act of Parliament.

“I made a copy in marble from this Bust for the Duke of Wellington; it was sent to Apsley House in 1827, and it is the only duplicate of my Bust of Sir Walter that I ever executed in marble.

“I now come to your Bust of Scott. In the year 1828 I proposed to the poet to present the original marble as an Heir-Loom to Abbotsford, on condition that he would allow me sittings sufficient to finish another marble from the life for my own studio. To this proposal he acceded; and the Bust was sent to Abbotsford accordingly, with the following words inscribed on the back:—‘This Bust of Sir Walter Scott was made in 1820 by Francis Chantrey, and presented
CONCLUSION.431
by the sculptor to the poet, as a token of esteem, in 1828.’

“In the months of May and June in the same year, 1828, Sir Walter fulfilled his promise; and I finished, from his face, the marble bust now at Drayton Manor—a better sanctuary than my studio—else I had not parted with it. The expression is more serious than in the two former Busts, and the marks of age more than eight years deeper.

“I have now, I think, stated all that is worthy of remembering about the Bust, except that there need be no fear of piracy, for it has never been moulded. I have the honour to be, dear sir, your very sincere and faithful servant,

F. Chantrey.”