| Description | Letter, dated 15 January, from Tho[ma]s [Abel Brimage] Spratt, Clare Lodge, Tunbridge Wells and addressed to 'Mr Alma Tadema'. Having discussed his 'Cretan Venus' with Alma-Tadema at the Athenaeum, and having not been able to catch up with him since, either at the Wellington Hotel or through their mutual friend 'poor Siemens', he encourages him to call when he next visits the Hotel or Tunbridge Wells to see the original and other items of Greek sculpture that he has collected; he hopes that they may meet in the meantime at the [Athenaeum] Club.
The letter was found tipped in to a presentation copy of Spratt's book entitled, 'The Cretan Venus' [Tunbridge Wells: s. n., 1877] which was part of Alma-Tadema's library (transferred from the Library of the Victoria and Albert Museum to the University of Birmingham Main Library in 1947) and now held in the book collection of Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections, classmark r qp DF 177.V4. |
| Administrative History | Thomas Abel Brimage Spratt (1811-1888), naval officer and hydrographer, was the eldest son of Commander James Spratt and Jane (nee Brimage); he married Sophia Dear in 1844 and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1856. As a surveyor in the navy his work took him to the Mediterranean. In addition to 'The Cretan Venus', his published work includes 'Travels and researches in Crete' (London: John van Voorst, 1865) and scientific papers. Source: Laughton, J. K. 'Spratt, Thomas Abel Brimage (1811–1888).' Rev Andrew Lambert. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Ed. H. C. G. Matthew and Brian Harrison. Oxford: OUP, 2004. Online ed. Ed. Lawrence Goldman. Accessed 19 August 2011 http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/26175. |