The Brownings' Correspondence

FAIN: RQ-50110-04

Philip Kelley
Baylor University (Waco, TX 76798-7284)

Preparation of annotations for 445 letters making up volumes 15-18 of The Brownings' Correspondence covering the years 1848-1852 and published by Wedgestone Press.

The works and lives of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning had a profound influence on nineteenth-century literature and culture and continue to have a significant and lasting impact on world literature. Their poetry, published during their lifetimes, received intense scrutiny and much praise from the reading public and literary critics. Upon their deaths, and later with the publication of their love letters in 1899, public and scholarly attention increased. The story of their romantic courtship, marriage, and flight to Italy has been told and retold through books, plays, musicals, films, and television. Interest in Robert Browning's poetry has never waned. There are currently in progress three scholarly editions of his complete works. Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry has received increased focus in the last thirty years during which time there has been an explosion of scholarly articles and critical and biographical studies. Unfortunately, this interest and enthusiasm is greatly impeded in that a large part of the Brownings' literature - their correspondence - remains virtually inaccessible. Scattered in over 300 public and private collections, their letters represent one of the largest and most comprehensive bodies of literary and social commentary on the nineteenth century. The aim of The Brownings' Correspondence is to publish the complete text of all the Brownings' letters with full annotations, thereby making them accessible and understandable to a modern audience. Thus far, 14 volumes, of a projected 40, have been edited with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities. The present application requests three-year funding to edit a further four volumes of the edition, covering the years 1848-1852. During this period, the Brownings and their correspondents discuss a wide range of social, political, and cultural subjects, some of which include the revolutions sweeping through Europe, Italian unification, slavery, women's rights, education, and freedom of the press. The letters in these volumes also serve to illuminate the work of both poets: RB's Poems (1849) and Christmas-Eve and Easter Day (1950); EBB's Poems (1850) and Casa Guidi Windows (1851).

Media Coverage

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Review)
Author(s): Stone, Marjorie
Publication: Victorian Poetry
Date: 9/23/2011
Abstract: Vol. 44:3 (Fall 2006), pp. 322-324. Review essay.
URL: http://www.worldcat.org

Robert Browning (Review)
Author(s): Martens, Britta
Publication: Victorian Poetry
Date: 9/23/2011
Abstract: Vol. 44:3 (Fall 2006), pp. 332-333. Review essay.
URL: http://www.worldcat.org

The Brownings' Correspondence. Volume 15. (Review)
Author(s): Taylor, Beverly
Publication: Carlyle Studies Annual
Date: 9/23/2011
Abstract: Vol. 23 (2007), pp. 245-251.
URL: http://www.worldcat.org

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Review)
Author(s): Stone, Marjorie
Publication: Victorian Poetry
Date: 9/23/2011
Abstract: Vol. 46:3 (Fall 2008), pp. 310-313. Review essay.
URL: http://www.worldcat.org

Robert Browning (Review)
Author(s): Martens, Britta
Publication: Victorian Poetry
Date: 9/23/2011
Abstract: Vol. 46:3 (Fall 2008), pp. 329-300. Review essay.

A Survey of Work on Robert Browning 1996-2009 (Review)
Author(s): Martens, Britta
Publication: Journal of Browning Studies
Date: 9/23/2011
Abstract: Vol. 1 (February 2010), pp. 14-15.
URL: http://www.worldcat.org

Associated Products

The Brownings' Correspondence [vol. 15] (Book)
Title: The Brownings' Correspondence [vol. 15]
Author: Browning, Elizabeth Barrett
Author: Browning, Robert
Editor: Hagan, Edward
Editor: Kelley, Philip
Editor: Lewis, Scott
Abstract: January 1848–August 1849, Letters 2717–2812 Volume 15 sees the Brownings taking up permanent residence in Casa Guidi where on 9 March 1849 their only child, Pen, is born. His birth is seen as something of a miracle by both parents, especially in light of EBB’s fragile health. Amidst their joy comes news of the death of RB’s mother. The anguish that RB experiences as a result is described by his wife in letters to her sisters and Mary Russell Mitford. To distract him, EBB organizes a holiday to La Spezia, then Bagni di Lucca, where they later stay for the summer. While there, she presents RB with her Sonnets from the Portuguese. Meanwhile, RB’s first collected edition of his poetry, Poems (1849), is published by Chapman and Hall. EBB’s “Runaway Slave at Pilgrim’s Point” appears in the American anti-slavery annual The Liberty Bell. She sends “A Meditation in Tuscany” (later to become the first part of Casa Guidi Windows) to Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, but it is not published.
Year: 2005
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/brownings-correspondence-vol-15-january-1848-august-1849-letters-2717-2812/oclc/185377287&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat entry
Secondary URL: http://www.browningscorrespondence.com/
Secondary URL Description: The Brownings' Correspondence: An Online Edition
Access Model: Print volume offered for sale; open access available online.
Publisher: Wedgestone Press
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780911459302
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

The Brownings' Correspondence [vol. 16] (Book)
Title: The Brownings' Correspondence [vol. 16]
Author: Browning, Elizabeth Barrett
Author: Browning, Robert
Editor: Hagan, Edward
Editor: Kelley, Philip
Editor: Lewis, Scott
Abstract: September 1849–January 1851, Letters 2813–2900 Volume 16 opens with the Brownings continuing their summer stay at Bagni di Lucca. Shortly after their return to Florence in October, EBB suffers her third miscarriage. The Athenæum suggests EBB as a candidate for the poet laureateship, following the death of William Wordsworth in April. In the same month, EBB’s sister Henrietta marries and is immediately disowned by her father Edward Moulton-Barrett. Supporting documents printed in this volume contain revealing glimpses into his relationship with his children. In July EBB endures a fourth miscarriage, and RB takes her to Siena to convalesce. The letters document new friendships for the Brownings, including American writer Margaret Fuller and Isa Blagden, an Englishwoman of Eurasian heritage who will become an intimate of both poets. The Brownings publish important works during this period: RB’s Christmas-Eve and Easter-Day in April 1850 and EBB’s Poems (1850) in November. The many contemporary reviews of the two books appear in this volume.
Year: 2007
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/brownings-correspondence-vol-16-september-1849-january-1851-letters-2813-2900/oclc/234038143&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: Worldcat entry.
Secondary URL: http://www.browningscorrespondence.com/
Secondary URL Description: The Brownings' Correspondence: An Online Edition.
Access Model: Print volume offered for sale; open access available online.
Publisher: Wedgestone Press
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 9780911459326
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

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