Edward Perry Warren (January 8, 1860 – December 28, 1928), known as Ned Warren, was an American art collector and the author of works proposing an idealized view of
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
relationships. He is now best known as the former owner of the
Warren Cup
The Warren Cup is an ancient Greco-Roman silver drinking cup decorated in relief with two images of male same-sex acts. It was purchased by the British Museum for £1.8 million in 1999, the most expensive single purchase by the museum at that ...
in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
.
Biography
Warren was born on January 8, 1860, in Waltham, Massachusetts,
[''New York Times'']
"Edward Perry Warren," December 30, 1928
accessed October 27, 2011 one of five children born into a wealthy
Boston, Massachusetts, family. He was the son of
Samuel D. Warren Samuel D. Warren (1817-1888) was an American paper magnate and the founder of the S. D. Warren Paper Mill in Westbrook, Maine. Noted for his benevolence and paternalism, Warren built a commercial block adjacent to the mill which is named in his hon ...
(1817-1888), who founded the
Cumberland Paper Mills in Maine, and Susan Cornelia Clarke (1825-1901), the daughter of Dorus Clarke.
[Lewes District Council]
"The Story of Lewes House"
accessed October 27, 2011 He had four siblings:
Samuel Dennis Warren II (1852-1910), lawyer and businessman;
Henry Clarke Warren
Henry Clarke Warren (1854–1899) was an American scholar of Sanskrit and Pali. Warren along with Charles Rockwell Lanman founded the Harvard Oriental Series in 1891; on his death in 1899 he left $15000 towards its publication.
Life
He was th ...
(1854-1899), scholar of Sanskrit and Pali;
Cornelia Lyman Warren (1857-1921), philanthropist;
Fredrick Fiske Warren (1862-1938), political radical and utopist.
Ned Warren received his B.A. from
Harvard College
Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...
in 1883
and later studied at
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College is one of the oldest colleges at th ...
, earning his MPhil in Classics.
His academic interest was classical archeology. At Oxford he met archeologist
John Marshall
John Marshall (September 24, 1755July 6, 1835) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the fourth Chief Justice of the United States from 1801 until his death in 1835. He remains the longest-serving chief justice and fourth-longes ...
(1860–1928),
[BrightonOurStory]
Auguste Rodin/Edward Perry Warren," Issue 6, Summer 1999
, accessed October 27, 2011 with whom he formed a close and long-lasting relationship, though Marshall married in 1907, much to Warren's dismay.
Beginning in 1888, Warren made England his primary home. He and Marshall lived together at Lewes House, a large residence in
Lewes
Lewes () is the county town of East Sussex, England. It is the police and judicial centre for all of Sussex and is home to Sussex Police, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service, Lewes Crown Court and HMP Lewes. The civil parish is the centre of ...
,
East Sussex
East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...
, where they became the center of a circle of like-minded men interested in art and antiquities who ate together in a dining room overlooked by
Lucas Cranach Cranach is a German-language surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Augustin Cranach (1554–1595), German painter
*Hans Cranach (c. 1513–1537), German painter
*Lucas Cranach the Elder (c. 1472–1553), German artist
*Lucas Cranach th ...
's ''
Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
''—a gift of
Harold W. Parsons—now in the
Courtauld Institute of Art
The Courtauld Institute of Art (), commonly referred to as The Courtauld, is a self-governing college of the University of London specialising in the study of the history of art and conservation. It is among the most prestigious specialist coll ...
. One account said that "Warren's attempts to produce a supposedly Greek and virile way of living into his Sussex home" resulted in "a comic mixture of apparently monastic severity (no tea or soft chairs allowed) and lavish living."
Warren spent much of his time in Continental Europe collecting art works, many of which he donated to the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Museum of Fine Arts (often abbreviated as MFA Boston or MFA) is an art museum in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the 20th-largest art museum in the world, measured by public gallery area. It contains 8,161 paintings and more than 450,000 works ...
, assembling for that institution the "largest collection of erotic Greek vase paintings " in the U.S. He has been described as having "a taste for pornography" and was a "pioneer" in collecting it. His published works include ''A Defence of Uranian Love'' in three volumes, which proposes a type of same-sex relationship similar to that prevalent in Classical Greece, in which an older man would act as guide and lover to a younger man.
In 1900 Warren published ''The Prince who did not Exist'', a small edition art book from the
Merrymount Press
Merrymount Press was a printing press in Boston, Massachusetts, founded by Daniel Berkeley Updike in 1893. He was committed to creating books of superior quality and believed that books could be simply designed, yet beautiful. Upon his death in 1 ...
, "a most beautiful specimen of workmanship" according to the ''New York Times''.
Warren's oldest brother,
Samuel D. Warren II
Samuel Dennis Warren (1852 – February 18, 1910), also Samuel Dennis Warren II, was an American attorney from Boston, Massachusetts.
Biography
Warren was born in 1852. His father was also named Samuel D. Warren, known as S.D. Warren, who found ...
, had left law to work in managing the family's paper mills. He managed the family trust established in May 1889 with the legal assistance of
Louis D. Brandeis to benefit his father's widow and five children. Edward Warren challenged the family trust in 1906, claiming that Brandeis had structured it to benefit his law partner Samuel to the detriment of the other family members. The dispute ended with Samuel's suicide in 1910. The Warren Trust case became a point of contention during the 1916 Senate hearings on the confirmation of Brandeis to the
Supreme Court
A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, and it remains important for its explication of legal ethics and professional responsibility.
Warren purchased the Roman silver drinking vessel known as the
Warren Cup
The Warren Cup is an ancient Greco-Roman silver drinking cup decorated in relief with two images of male same-sex acts. It was purchased by the British Museum for £1.8 million in 1999, the most expensive single purchase by the museum at that ...
, now in the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...
, which he did not attempt to sell during his lifetime because of its explicit depiction of
homoerotic
Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...
scenes. He also commissioned a version of ''
The Kiss'' from
Auguste Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
, which he offered as a gift to the local council in Lewes. The council displayed it for two years before returning it as unsuitable for public display.
It is now in the
Tate Gallery
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
.
In 1911 Warren adopted a four-year-old boy, Travis. The child grew up at Lewes House and
Fewacres, calling Warren "Papa". He was the illegitimate son of the daughter of a Cornish vicar and a local squire. Warren told Lois Shaw, a relative and friend, "I think that I have found a boy to adopt, but shall not know till my return to England. He is of good birth and healthy. I am a little afraid of him, because he seems likely to be of some account and therefore troublesome." Warren later said, "If it is to be this boy, this handful, he must have a man about, to take after. I won't do: I know that. Harry
. Asa Thomas, Warren's secretarywould. He admires Harry, but Harry hates his tantrums. Harry, you see, is not keen on children. Neither am I." Travis Warren attended
Winchester College
Winchester College is a public school (fee-charging independent day and boarding school) in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was founded by William of Wykeham in 1382 and has existed in its present location ever since. It is the oldest of the ...
. He was not a good student, and he changed schools, going to
Tonbridge School
(God Giveth the Increase)
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding
, religion =
, president =
, head_label ...
.
Warren had a home, Fewacres, in Westbrook, Maine, near the paper mills of his father. Marshall had a home in Rome.. After the death of Mary Bliss Marshall in 1925, Marshall spent more time ever at Lewes House, where he died in 1928. John Marshall's will named Warren as his executor and beneficiary. Later that year, Warren became seriously ill and underwent surgery. He died in a London nursing home on December 28, 1928. His ashes were buried in the non-Catholic cemetery in
Bagni di Lucca
Bagni di Lucca (formerly Bagno a Corsena) is a comune of Tuscany, Italy, in the Province of Lucca with a population of about 6,100. The comune has 27 named frazioni (wards).
History
Bagni di Lucca has been known for its thermal springs since th ...
, Italy, a town that is known as a spa in Etruscan and Roman times. In the same tomb are buried John Marshall and the latter's wife, Mary.
According to Green, of all the men who gravitated around Warren, the most important was John Marshall.
John Fothergill, Warren's friend and biographer, reports that Warren composed the following epigraph: "Here lies Edward Perry Warren, friend to John Marshall ... the finest judge of Greek and Roman antiquities." He reported Marshall's death date but not his own.
J. D. Beazley said that "Warren always spoke of Marshall (over generously) as in a class much superior to himself as an archaeologist." According to Green, "the relationship was intellectually and emotionally unequal. But there was some reciprocity, as well as this one-sided adoration. Each called the other Puppy, and in their later years, according to Burdett and Goddard, they came to resemble each other, looking like twin Punchinellos walking arm in arm together."
In March 1928, Warren had already given Lewes House and its adjoining properties to H. Asa Thomas, who had begun as his secretary and become his business associate and friend; meanwhile, Fewacres and its adjoining properties went to Charles Murray West, his other secretary.
Both Thomas and West sold the properties a few years after Warren's death. Travis Warren inherited $3,000 a year managed by his guardians (Thomas and Burdett) up to the age of twenty-eight. From 28 to 32 years old he was to receive $20,000, and $200 a month, and his guardians could invest up to $30,000 on his behalf in a business. At the end of the trust, he was to receive $3,000 a year. Despite all this money, Travis was poor by the end of his life.
In 1935 a collection of Greek papyrus texts has been donated to
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince o ...
in
The Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, prompting the foundation of the ''Leids Papyrologisch Instituut''.
The disposition of Warren's estate was complicated by legal problems.
[Simon Swain, Stephen Harrison, S.J. Harrison, Jas Elsner, eds., ''Severan Culture'' (Cambridge University Press, 2007), xxi; R. Symonds, ''The Fox, the Bees, and the Pelican'' Worthies and Noteworthies of Corpus Christi College, Oxford (Oxford: Taafe, 1993] An auction of some 250 pieces of his furniture brought $38,885. The
Sackler Library
The Sackler Library holds a large portion of the classical, art historical, and archaeological works belonging to the University of Oxford, England.
History
The Sackler Library building was completed in 2001 and opened on 24 September of tha ...
at
Oxford University
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
holds the "Papers of E.P. Warren and John Marshall." Warren's will established the position of EP Warren
Praelector
A praelector is a traditional role at the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford. The role differs somewhat between the two ancient universities.
University of Cambridge
At Cambridge, a praelector is the fellow of a college who forma ...
at
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...
, and established restrictions, no longer maintained, that ensured the holder lived at or near the college and taught only men.
In 2013, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts determined that a bronze statuette it purchased from Warren in 1904 had been stolen from a French museum in 1901 and arranged for its return.
Select works
*''The Prince who did not Exist'' (1900)
*''The Wild Rose: A Volume of Poems'' (London and New York, David Nutt, enlarged edition 1913, original copyright 1909) published under the pseudonym Arthur Lyon Raile.
*''Classical and American Education'' (Oxford, B.H. Blackwell, 1918)
*''Alcmaeon, Hypermestra, Caeneus'' (Oxford: B.H. Blackwell, 1919)
*''A Tale of Pausanian Love'' (1927), under the pseudonym Arthur Lyon Raile
*''A Defence of Uranian Love'', 3 vols. (privately printed, 1928–30), under the pseudonym Arthur Lyon Raile
Works reissued
*''The Collected Works and Commissioned Biography of Edward Perry Warren'', in 2 vols., edited with an introduction and notes by Michael Matthew Kaylor (Brno, CZ: Masaryk University Press, 2013).
* ''A Defence of Uranian Love'', edited with an introduction and notes by Michael Matthew Kaylor (Kansas City, MO:
Valancourt Books
Valancourt Books is an independent American publishing house founded by James Jenkins and Ryan Cagle in 2005. The company specializes in "the rediscovery of rare, neglected, and out-of-print fiction," in particular gay titles and Gothic and horr ...
, 2009)
See also
*
Isabella Stewart Gardner
Isabella Stewart Gardner (April 14, 1840 – July 17, 1924) was a leading American art collector, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. She founded the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.
Gardner possessed an energetic intellectual cur ...
*
Uranian poets
References
Sources
* Osbert Burdett, E.H. Goddard, ''Edward Perry Warren: The Biography of a Connoisseur'' (London: Christophers, 1941)
* Martin Burgess Green, ''The Mount Vernon Street Warrens: A Boston Story, 1860-1910'' (NY: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1989)
* Matthew Kaylor, ''Secreted Desires: The Major Uranians: Hopkins, Pater and Wilde'' (Brno, CZ: Masaryk University Press, 2006)
* John Potvin, "''Askesis'' as Aesthetic Home: Edward Perry Warren, Lewes House, and the Ideal of Greek Love," ''Home Cultures'', vol. 8, number 1 (March 2011), 71-89
*David Sox, "Warren, Edward Perry (1860–1928)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (Oxford University Press, 2004)
online edition, May 2005 accessed 5 June 2006
* David Sox, ''Bachelors of Art: Edward Perry Warren & the Lewes House Brotherhood'', (Fourth Estate, 1991)
* Dyfri Williams, ''The Warren Cup''. British Museum Objects in Focus series. British Museum Press, 2006.
* K.A. Worp, "P.Warren (=Pap.Lug.Bat. 1)", ''Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists'', 47 (2010), 238–40, a short article identifying this Warren with the "E.P. Warren" behind the volume of papyri bearing his name.
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Edward Percy
American art collectors
American LGBT writers
1860 births
1928 deaths
Harvard College alumni
Alumni of New College, Oxford
LGBT rights activists from the United States
Uranians
LGBT people from Massachusetts
People from Waltham, Massachusetts
People from Lewes