SECTION 3 – ROBERT AND ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
Renowned English poet Robert Browning (1812-1889) was largely self-taught. His extremely successful Dramatic Lyrics, which included “The Pied Piper of Hamlin,” appeared in 1842. He married Elizabeth Barrett in 1846. They made their home in Florence, Italy, where he wrote a series of dramatic monologues later published as Men and Women. He is considered one of the major poets of the Victorian period.
Scholar-artists Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning expressed their deep love for each other through their literary works. Elizabeth was the inspiration for the poetry of Robert Browning, especially in Men and Women, which he dedicated to her; her devotion to him is best expressed in Sonnets from the Portuguese.
By Robert Browning. London: Chapman and Hall, 1855.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning was the premier English poet, translator, and political thinker. Although weakened by a childhood injury, she began publishing in 1826. Her poetry was considered by contemporaries as some of the finest of all Victorian lyrical writings. Sonnets of the Portuguese, one of the most famous compilations of love poems of all time, is considered to be her best work.
New York: Arden Book Co., [c1937]. With illustrations by Fred A. Mayer in Art Nouveau style.
This type of design, typical of the Art Nouveau Movement of 1880-1914, is distinguished by curvilinear depictions and floral motifs.
The Letters of Queen Victoria, a Selection from Her Majesty’s Correspondence Between the Years 1837 and 1861: Published by Authority of His Majesty the King, Image of Queen Victoria, 1855., Longmans, Green, and Co., 1907
