Chapter V: Letter IV: To the Editor of a Magazine

In my Memoir of Dante Rossetti (published in 1895) I have spoken of a very inefficient ballad which he wrote at the age of fifteen, named _William and Marie_, and of an illustration which he concocted for it. I possess a copy which he made of the ballad, followed by the letter here reproduced. I am not sure what was the magazine to which he forwarded the poem and its illustration, in the vain hope of getting published: should suppose it to be _Smallwood’s Magazine_, but for the fact that in that serial there were no illustrations. Possibly he sent the letter and its contents to one Editor after another, but I have no recollection of any such fact. From a reference which I saw in a literary review, 1898 or ’99, I infer that the ballad of _William and Marie_ has by this time been printed, in whole or in part, though without any authority from Rossetti’s representatives.

50 Charlotte Street, London.
[? 1843.]

Sir,

Should you consider the accompanying ballad not wholly unworthy
of a place in your magazine, you would highly oblige me by
inserting it. If it meet not with a favourable reception, and
should you answer me among your “Correspondents,” would you
favour me by doing so under the initials “A. B.” instead of my
real name.

I am, sir,
Yours etc. etc.
GABRIEL ROSSETTI.

P.S.--I have also executed the enclosed sketch, which is
intended, if considered sufficiently good, as a headpiece to the
ballad.