Bibliography - Burne-Jones, Sir Edward Coley
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Edward Burne-Jones, by Penelope Fitzgerald, published 1975 (320 pp., London: Michael Joseph)

Burne-Jones Talking: His Conversations, 1895-98, Preserved by His Studio Assistant Thomas Rooke, by Thomas Rooke and edited by Mary Lago, published 19 April 1982 (xi + 211 pp., London: John Murray Publishers Ltd, ISBN-10: 0719538912 & ISBN-13: 9780719538919) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

Edward Burne-Jones, by Penelope Fitzgerald, published 1997 (revised edition, Sutton Publishing, ISBN-10: 0750915625 & ISBN-13: 9780750915625) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

This biography traces Edward Burne-Jones's life and suggests a deeper understanding of his work. It tells of his beginnings as a solitary child in Birmingham, the only son of a not too successful picture-framer, and his formative years at Oxford where, with William Morris, he felt the powerful influence of Ruskin and the Pre-Raphaelites. In 1860 he married the 19-year-old Georgiana Macdonald. This book describes their life together, Georgie's constant loyalty throughout his periods of illness and his infatuations with striking young women, and his love for his children: he was a slave to his beautiful daughter, Margaret, and bewildered by his difficult son, Phil. But Burne-Jones was, in fact, a sympathetic man, and a great wit. This edition has been brought back into print to coincide with the centenary of Burne-Jones's death.

Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones 1833-1898, His Life and his House in Rottingdean, Sussex, by Ann Read and Valerie King, published 1998 accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Edward Burne-Jones, by Ann S. Dean, published 1 February 1998 (32 pp., Pitkin Publishing, ISBN-10: 0853728836 & ISBN-13: 9780853728832)

Burne-Jones, the Life and Works of Sir Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) , by Christopher Wood, published 25 May 1998 (160 pp., Weidenfeld & Nicholson, ISBN-10: 0297823450 & ISBN-13: 9780297823452) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

The centenary of Burne-Jones' death falls in 1998, and here the career of the greatest of all English romantic painters is reassesed. Throughout his lifelong association with William Morris and the Pre-Raphelites, Burne-Jones became one of the major figure in the late 19th-century art world. Here, for the first time in a quater of a century, his work and legacy will be restored to their rightful position as a major European artist.

Burne-Jones, by Christopher Wood, published 1999 (new edition of Weidenfeld & Nicholson book, 160 pp., London: Phoenix illustrated, ISBN-13: 9780753807279) accessible at: East Sussex Libraries

Edward Burne-Jones, by David Peters Corbett, published 2 July 2004 (80 pp., Tate Publishing, ISBN-10: 1854374354 & ISBN-13: 9781854374356) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Tutored by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, one of the founding members of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) was one of the leading artists in what is often referred to as the second generation of the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Inspired by medieval, classical and biblical themes, Burne-Jones's paintings of graceful women, angels, gods and heroes, often in pensive or sad poses or asleep are dreamlike, romantic and sentimental. He also designed mosaics, tapestries and stained-glass windows that can be seen in many English churches, including Christ Church, Oxford, and Birmingham Cathedral. This fascinating, scholarly study throws new light on the inspiration and working practices of this most romantic of artists.

A Profound Secret: May Gaskell, her daughter Amy, and Edward Burne-Jones, by Josceline Dimbleby, published 1 February 2005 (447 pp. + 8 pp. of plates, London: Black Swan, ISBN-10: 0552999814 & ISBN-13: 9780552999816) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries & East Sussex Libraries

A chance encounter with Andrew Lloyd Webber at a summer party sent Josceline Dimbleby on a quest to uncover a mystery in her own family's past. Her great-aunt Amy Gaskell was the subject of a beautiful dark portrait by the Pre-Raphaelite painter Edward Burne-Jones, but all that was known about Amy, according to family lore, was that she had 'died young of a broken heart'.
In her search, Josceline discovered a cache of unpublished letters from Burne-Jones to her great-grandmother May Gaskell, Amy's mother.They formed a passionate and prolific correspondence, of up to five letters a day, from the last six years of the painter's life. As she read, more and more questions were raised: why did Burne-Jones feel he had to protect May from an overwhelming sadness? What was the deep secret she had confided to him? And what was the tragic truth behind beautiful Amy's wayward, wandering life, her strange marriage and her unexplained early death?

Edward Burne-Jones: The Hidden Humorist, by John Christian, published 1 April 2011 (112 pp., British Museum Press, ISBN-10: 0714126756 & ISBN-13: 9780714126753) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

Edward Burne-Jones, member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood is renowned for his beautiful but usually melancholy evocations of a mythical, literary, ancient or medieval world, as well as his life-long friendship with William Morris. It will surprise many therefore to discover that he was a talented caricaturist and comic sketch artist. This charming book reveals a man brimming with imagination, a keen eye and impish sense of humour who took delight in drawing to amuse and entertain. His witty but affectionate caricatures of friends and family feature familiar faces, such as Morris and Dante Gabriel Rossetti, while his self-caricatures are endearingly self-deprecating. Accompanying these are enchanting sketches he created to illustrate letters and entertain children, and an introduction discussing the life and work of the artist in wider context. Beautifully illustrated with rarely published pieces from the large collection at the British Museum, this book provides an insight into another side of Burne-Jones and illuminates the personality and relationships of one of the most beloved English romantic painters.

The Last Pre-Raphaelite: Edward Burne-Jones and the Victorian Imagination, by Fiona MacCarthy, published 6 September 2012 (656 pp., Faber & Faber, ISBN-10: 0571228623 & ISBN-13: 9780571228621) accessible at: West Sussex Libraries

In this gripping book Fiona MacCarthy explores and re-evaluates his art and life - his battle against vicious public hostility, the romantic susceptibility to female beauty that would inspire his art and ruin his marriage, his ill health and depressive sensibility, the devastating rift with his great friend and collaborator William Morris as their views on art and politics diverged.
With new research and fresh historical perspective, The Last Pre-Raphaelite tells the extraordinary, dramatic story of Burne-Jones as an artist, a key figure in Victorian society and a peculiarly captivating man.

Edward Burne-Jones, by Penelope Fitzgerald, published 2014 (336 pp., HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., ISBN-10: 0007588224 & ISBN-13: 9780007588220)

Penelope Fitzgerald's delightful biography charts his life from humble beginnings in Birmingham as the son of an unsuccessful framer, through a transformative period at Oxford, where he met his close friend and collaborator William Morris, and on to the apprenticeship with Dante Gabriel Rossetti that would shape his artistic vision. His work harks back to an Arthurian England - an Arcadia that offered solace against the onset of the Industrial Revolution, and on a deeply personal level provided respite from his ever-present melancholia. This is an illuminating portrait of a fascinating figure - artistic genius, doting father, troubled husband - written with all Penelope Fitzgerald's characteristic sympathy and insight.