Landlord Rampant

Dante Gabriel Rossetti

General Description

Date: 1853 July 13

Bibliography

◦ Surtees, A Catalogue Raisonné, vol. 1, 233 (appendix no. 3).

Scholarly Commentary

Introduction

“From the final page of a letter to W. Bell Scott written from the Red Horse Inn, Stratford on Avon, dated ‘13 July/53’” (Surtees, I. 233). The drawing illustrates the last sentence of the letter: “I expect on returning to London to find a certain amount of hair on end.” The drawing is a parody coat of arms for DGR's landlord, who is pictured with his hair standing on end, frantic to have his rent cheque, and saying: “My Stars!”. The mottto of the coat of arms, “I Bide my Time”, is taken from Walter Scott's The Bride of Lammermoor.

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