Record Number: 19633
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Arabella Moulton-Barrett [sister], 12 January 1851: 'Now I am going to speak to you about those sonnets [...] The truth is that though they were written several years ago, I never showed them to Robert till last spring .. I felt shy about them altogether .. even to him. I had heard him express himself strongly against "personal" poetry & I shrank back. -- As to publishing them, it did not enter my head. But when Robert saw them, he was much touched & pleased -- & [...] could not consent, he said, that they should be lost to my volumes: so we agreed to slip them in under some sort of veil, & after much consideration chose the "Portugese" [goes on to explain reasons for choice]'.
Century:1800-1849, 1850-1899
Date:Between 1 Sep 1849 and 30 Apr 1850
Country:n/a
Timen/a
Place:city: Florence
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:7 May 1812
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Writer
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:n/a
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:sonnets ['from the Portugese']
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Manuscript: Unknown
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:19633
Source:n/a
Editor:Philip Kelley, Scott Lewis, Edward Hagan
Title:The Brownings' Correspondence
Place of Publication:Winfield
Date of Publication:2007
Vol:16
Page:263
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Philip Kelley, Scott Lewis, Edward Hagan (ed.), The Brownings' Correspondence, (Winfield, 2007), 16, p. 263, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=19633, accessed: 18 May 2024
Additional Comments:
Source eds. suggest that Robert Browning may in fact have seen the poems around the time of the Brownings' third wedding anniversary in September 1849; see p.265 n.11.
