Letter from Anna Mary Howitt, England, to Barbara Leigh Smith Bodichon, 1859 September : autograph manuscript signed.

Postscript at top of page asking Barbara to pardon her writing all of this when her mind is full of many more interesting things. Letter remarking on their meeting the previous day and describing how it brought them closer; describing how she now feels that they are even more than real sisters; describing how we all need human sympathy in life; comparing human love to wine; describing how Barbara and Alfred are "twin thoughts in my soul and heart"; expressing gratitude for Barbara's drawings; stating that "that shadow picture is a wonderful picture poem of part of my life, my shadow side - it was painted for me alone, given you from God to me as a lesson, a teaching, a commentary, a page of hieroglyphic - as is all true art"; expressing deep love for Barbara and asking her to have faith in her and her artwork; describing how for three years or more "I have hung bleeding upon a cross of artistic martyrdom"; discussing Alfred's depression and their financial circumstances; remarking on their potential plans to "enquire about the rooms"; sharing an excerpt from Alfred's diary; describing her feelings of awe regarding her marriage to Alfred. Postscript describing her family's astonishment at her revelation who authored Adam Bede.