Letter from Ludwig Gruner to Dr. Ernst Becker announcing the dispatch of prints of two Raphael drawings, from the collection of Queen Marie of Saxony and the Mengs collection, and reporting that he has tracked down the drawing belonging to Count Riesch.

Gruner writes that he has sent Becker a parcel containing two new prints of the Massacre of the Innocents from Queen Marie's collection; he suggests that the Prince Consort choose one, and Gruner will take back the other if it is not required, as Queen Marie would like one. Also in the parcel are two prints from two different negatives of Cupid riding a dolphin from the Mengs collection; he thinks the one with the lighter background is the better one, but advises Becker to add both to the Prince's collection. He adds that he has at last been able to get hold of Count Riesch; but his Raphael pen drawing has long since been returned to the family's main collection at Reschwitz. Gruner hopes to see it soon, however, and will then ask permission to have it photographed, at Reschwitz if necessary. Gruner hopes to come to England towards the end of June, if the war does not make it more difficult to obtain leave. He asks Becker to convey the Prince's wishes to him. It is not clear whether the 'Mengs collection' referred to here belonged to Ismael Mengs (1688-1764), court painter in Dresden, or to his more famous son Anton Raphael Mengs (1728-1779), who seems to have lived mostly in Rome and Madrid. The war mentioned by Gruner was presumably the Italian war of 1859.