BIB_ID
402663
Accession number
MA 2148.43
Creator
Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, 1806-1861.
Display Date
[1852 February 28].
Credit line
Acquired from the University of Illinois, 1961.
Description
1 item (8 pages) ; 16 x 10.5 cm + envelope
Notes
Date of writing determined from postmarks and internal evidence. See the published editions of the correspondence, cited below, for additional information.
EBB gives the place of writing as "Avenue des Ch. Elysées 138."
Envelope with stamp and postmarks addressed to: "Angleterre/ George Goodin Moulton Barrett Esqre/ 50 Wimpole Street/ London."
The last part of the letter is written on the inside flap of the envelope, and part of the flap is missing (though the full text on that flap is recorded in the editions of the correspondence).
With fragments of a seal.
EBB gives the place of writing as "Avenue des Ch. Elysées 138."
Envelope with stamp and postmarks addressed to: "Angleterre/ George Goodin Moulton Barrett Esqre/ 50 Wimpole Street/ London."
The last part of the letter is written on the inside flap of the envelope, and part of the flap is missing (though the full text on that flap is recorded in the editions of the correspondence).
With fragments of a seal.
Provenance
Acquired from the University of Illinois, 1961.
Summary
Thanking George for sending a copy of Longfellow's poem "The Golden Legend"; criticizing the poem for being unoriginal ("Longfellow can do anything but be original") and a pale imitation of Robert Browning's poetry; sending news about Pen's health, particularly his nightime seizures ("a convulsive thrill through the body, with a gasp of breath, & sometimes a striking together of the teeth") which seem to be diminishing; responding to comments in George's letter to RB about the coup d'etat in France and arguing her case; discussing the limits on the freedom of the press; criticizing the English journals for their "invectives & exaggerations" and for their "denial of truth"; writing that she hears that Thackeray disapproves of the way the Examiner is covering the events; mentioning that the new secretary for foreign affairs, Lord Malmesbury, is said to be a personal friend of Louis Napoleon's and that the president is showing special attention to the English: "At the great ball at the Tuileries last Saturday, to which the Hedleys went, he walked through the rooms with the wife of the English ambassador on his arm"; telling him about her meetings with George Sand ("you should have seen the disdain with which she looked at my respirator"); asking after friends and promising letters to Arabella and Henrietta.
Catalog link
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