The first edition for nearly forty years of new correspondence by Eugene Delacroix, the foremost French Romantic painter, this book presents over 200 letters in the original French, some two-thirds of which have not been previously published. The rest are not contained in earlier collections,but have been culled from a wide variety of scattered sources.The letters are addressed to people from every walk of life, many of whom are not represented in earlier editions: to domestic servants or artisans as well as to dealers and architects, state and city officials, famous musicians, writers, including Stendhal and George Sand, painters, editors, andtalented aristocrats. There are early love letters, some written in English, letters illuminating Delacroix's attitudes to politics, religion and patronage of the arts, and letters dealing with everyday matters such as house repairs and replies to invitations.The editor draws on his unrivalled knowledge ofthe artist to elucidate the contents and dates of many of the letters, with a Preface and Notes in English.