English: William Morris reading volume two of seven of the Earthly Paradise to Jane Morris, while she is sitting in a bath and drinking the second of seven glasses of a spa water lined up in front.
In the summer of 1869 concern for his wife's health led Morris to take her to try a 'cure' at the south German spa of Ems. Rossetti's drawing was enclosed in a letter of 21 July 1869 (Bryson and Troxell, letter 5) addressed to her in Cologne, en route for Ems, with the comment: "The accompanying cartoon will prepare you for the worst. - which ever that may be, the seven tumblers or the 7 volumes [of 'The Earthly Paradise', which Morris is reading to her]". (see references)