Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,414 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Poetry·Biographies·British Literature
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #30671.
The work is a biographical study of the poet‑couple Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, written by Lilian Whiting and first published in 1911. It opens with a vivid recollection of a Florentine stroll among orange trees and roses, where the author, accompanied by Robert Browning and his lifelong friend the Marchesa Peruzzi di’ Medici, records their “sparkling conversation” and the generous support of contemporary publishers. From this opening scene the narrative expands into a detailed, season‑by‑season chronicle of the Brownings’ lives, drawing on letters supplied by Smith, Elder & Co., the Macmillan and Houghton Mifflin houses, and private correspondents such as the Contessa Rucellai. The book promises a comprehensive portrait that intertwines personal reminiscences, literary achievements, and the cultural milieu of 19th‑century England and Italy.
Whiting’s voice is scholarly yet affectionate, employing the ornate prose typical of early‑20th‑century literary biography. The style blends factual exposition with lyrical description, reflecting the era’s reverence for its Victorian subjects. Readers who appreciate thorough research, rich contextual detail, and a narrative that celebrates both the artistic output and the intimate partnership of the Brownings will find this volume rewarding. It especially suits admirers of Victorian poetry, students of literary history, and those drawn to the interplay of love and creativity in a bygone age.
The opening · free to read
"Call up the buried Past again,"
and construct the story, from season to season, so far as might be, of that wonderful interlude of the wedded life of the poets.
Yet any formality of thanks to this house is almost lost sight of in the rush of memories of that long and mutually-trusting friendship between the late George Murray Smith, the former head of this firm, and Robert Browning, a friendship which was one of the choicest treasures in both their lives.
To The Macmillan Company, the publishers for both the first and the present Lord Tennyson; To Houghton Mifflin Company; to Messrs. Dodd, Mead, & Company; to The Cornhill Magazine (to which the writer is indebted for some data regarding Browning and Professor Masson); to each and all, acknowledgments are offered for their courtesy which has invested with added charm a work than which none was ever more completely a labor of love.
To Edith, Contessa Rucellai (nata Bronson), whose characteristically lovely kindness placed at the disposal of this volume a number of letters written by Robert Browning to her mother, Mrs. Arthur Bronson, special gratitude is offered.
"Poetry," said Mrs. Browning, "is its own exceeding great reward." Any effort, however remote its results from the ideal that haunted the writer, to interpret the lives of such transcendent genius and nobleness as those of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, must also be its own exceeding reward in leading to a passion of pursuit of all that is highest and holiest in the life that now is, and in that which is to come.
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
