archives.nypl.org -- Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript material (original) (raw)

The Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript material in the Pforzheimer Collection consists of writings and correspondence. Among the writings are a presentation inscription in a copy of her The Battle of Marathon and two holograph poems: a fair copy of "The Dead Pan" and the fair copy of "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point" used by the printer of her Poems (1850) and annotated by Robert Browning. The twenty pieces of correspondence date between 1834 and 1857 and deal mostly with her personal and social life, including opinions on her contemporaries and their writings. Several letters written in 1844 and 1845 discuss the composition and reception of Poems (1844), the first collected edition of her poetry, and her ambitions as a poet. Correspondents include: Hugh Stuart Boyd, Greek scholar, and his wife, Ann Lowry Boyd; Sara Jane Cockayne-Cust (former married name Streatfeild, née Cookson); Ellen Heaton, art collector and philanthropist; Richard H. Horne, writer; Edward Moxon, publisher and poet; and Clementia Taylor, women's rights activist.

Biographical/historical information

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet of the Victorian era best known for her Sonnets from the Portuguese, a collection of forty-four love sonnets, and Aurora Leigh, her novel in verse. Her husband was Robert Browning.

Administrative information

Custodial history

This finding aid is for manuscript materials held by the Pforzheimer Collection that were created by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. These materials have been acquired throughout the history of the Collection, and are kept on-site at the New York Public Library, filed in acid-free paper envelopes.

Though Carl H. Pforzheimer (1879-1957) began to acquire printed works by Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1918, his first purchase of her manuscript material was not until 1922. At the 10 April 1922 sale of Edward K. Butler's library held at the American Art Association Pforzheimer acquired the fair copy of "The Runaway Slave at Pilgrim's Point" used by the printer of her Poems (1850) and annotated by Robert Browning. At Sotheby's later that same year he purchased the 10 April 1857 letter to an unidentified recipient.

Pforzheimer did not acquire Barrett Browning manuscripts again until John A. Spoor's library was auctioned off at the Parke-Bernet galleries in April 1939. At this sale he purchased the presentation copy of The Battle of Marathon which included the envelope addressed to Edward Moxon and postmarked 9 August 1844 and the 25 November 1844 letter addressed to Moxon. Pforzheimer's next and final Barrett Browning purchase came at Christie's in October 1953 when he acquired the 3 December 1844 letter to Richard H. Horne.

The remainder of the Collection's Barrett Browning manuscripts, including the ten letters to Sara Jane Cockayne-Cust and the fair copy of "The Dead Pan," were acquired between 1966 and 1970 under the auspices of the Pforzheimer Foundation, either at auction or directly through the dealers Bernard Quaritch and Maggs Bros.

The Collection has not acquired Barrett Browning manuscript material since moving to the New York Public Library in 1986. Because the Pforzheimer Collection collects actively, its holdings may grow in the future as items become available.

Processing information

Finding aid created by Timothy Gress in April 2024 using an earlier listing created by Charles Carter.

In addition to manuscript material created by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the Pforzheimer Collection holds a nearly comprehensive collection of first and early editions of her published work.

Also held is an extensive collection relating to Robert Browning, Barrett Browning's husband and fellow poet, including more than 170 manuscript items and a complete collection of his published work.

Additional Elizabeth Barrett Browning manuscript and printed material at the New York Public Library can be found in the George Arents Collection, The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, and in the Manuscripts and Archives Division.

Note

All of the items listed in Series I, Writings, have been described in The Browning Collections: A Reconstruction, compiled by Philip Kelley & Betty A. Coley (Armstrong Browning Library, 1984). The two holograph poems are described in volumes 1 and 2 of The Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, a scholarly edition edited by Marjorie Stone and Beverly Taylor (Pickering and Chatto, 2010). The titles given in Series I are those assigned by the above editors and are listed with reference. All of the items listed in Series II, Correspondence, have been published in The Brownings' Correspondence, edited by Philip Kelley et al., and are listed with reference. This scholarly edition provides accurate and complete transcriptions of all known letters written by and to Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning. The Brownings' Correspondence is available in a print edition and in a freely accessible digital edition at https://www.browningscorrespondence.com/