Dear Sir
I send the block I promised you for the end of this month.—I need not say I trust you will give peculiar care of the modelling of the flesh in which the lightest deviation from the drawing may destroy all anatomical correctness—I should with the execution the facsimiles throughout—nevertheless in passages where the ink has changed and the shading become spotty you will use your discretion about leaving the effects—in one or two places also thin lines will perhaps require splitting to make them grey—the white troubles are of course only corrections—not high lights.
dear sirs
Yours faithfully
Fred Leighton
"Monday.
"Dear Sirs,—Before starting for the Continent I write to tell you that you will, in a day or two, receive three wood cut drawings from me. I should have sent you a fourth which was also finished, and the best of the four (it represented the 'Escape of the Spies from the house of Rahab'); unfortunately at the last moment I spilt some Indian ink on the upper part of it, and shall have a very tedious day's work to restore it, when I return early in November. I am sorry for this as I rather pleased myself on this design. I shall be in Venice all September—a letter addressed to me, poste restante, in that town, will find me. I start in a few hours.
"In haste,
"Yours faithfully,
"Fred. Leighton."
Why Lord Leighton did not execute so many drawings for our "Bible" as he had originally intended, the following note will explain: