BROWNING, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861). Autograph letter jointly signed with initials by her and Robert Browning ('RB & EBB') to John Ruskin Casa Guidi, [Florence], 3 June [1859], 6 pages, 12mo (light browning).
BROWNING, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861). Autograph letter jointly signed with initials by her and Robert Browning ('RB & EBB') to John Ruskin Casa Guidi, [Florence], 3 June [1859], 6 pages, 12mo (light browning). Elizabeth has two pressing reasons for writing to Ruskin, then on a tour of Germany. One is to introduce the American artist, William Page (1811-1885), who had painted Robert's portrait in 1854, and was among the group of friends and acquaintances the Brownings had recently been seeing in Rome. 'An earnest, simple, noble artist and man, who carries his Christianity down from his deep heart to the point of his brush', he has a vision of art derived from Swedenborg and is recommended for the 'wonder of light and colour and space and breathable air, he puts into his Venus rising from the sea -- refused on the ground of nudity at the Paris Exhibition this summer'; he is also 'the painter of Robert's portrait which you praised for its Venetian colour, and criticised in other respects.' Secondly, Elizabeth offers fulsome thanks for Ruskin's public support of the Risorgimento , and expresses her outrage at Tennyson's anti-French 'Riflemen form!', 'What -- not even our poets with clean hands? Alfred Tennyson abetting Lord Derby? That to me was the heaviest blow of all.' She contrasts this with the tide of elation sweeping through Italy: 'there is a wonderful unanimity, calm, and resolution everywhere in Italy. All parties are broken up into the great national party. The feeling of the people is magnificent. The painful experience of ten years has born fruit in their souls ... And Louis Napoleon -- well, I think he is doing me credit -- and you dear Mr. Ruskin -- for you , too, held him in appreciation long ago', and ends with a plea for Ruskin not to believe the lies published in the Times concerning the lack of volunteers from Tuscany [though, in fact, the Times was correct, the number of Italian volunteers being only about 12,000 overall]. 'But Robert waits to take this letter....' A LETTER WRITTEN IS THE MIDST OF MOMENTOUS EVENTS AND IN THE FULL FLUSH OF ENTHUSIASM FOR LOUIS NAPOLEON'S SUCCESS. Elizabeth and Robert had arrived in Florence on 30 May to find the Grand Duke had fled, French troops were on the streets, and the end of Austrian domination was in sight. On 4 June, the day after her letter was written, the French and Piedmontese defeated the Austrians at Magenta. When France unexpectedly made peace with Austria on 11 July, Elizabeth suffered a nervous collapse and remained in bed for nearly three weeks. Published in F.G. Kenyon, The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (2 vols., 1897), II, p.315.
BROWNING, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861). Autograph letter jointly signed with initials by her and Robert Browning ('RB & EBB') to John Ruskin Casa Guidi, [Florence], 3 June [1859], 6 pages, 12mo (light browning).
BROWNING, Elizabeth Barrett (1806-1861). Autograph letter jointly signed with initials by her and Robert Browning ('RB & EBB') to John Ruskin Casa Guidi, [Florence], 3 June [1859], 6 pages, 12mo (light browning). Elizabeth has two pressing reasons for writing to Ruskin, then on a tour of Germany. One is to introduce the American artist, William Page (1811-1885), who had painted Robert's portrait in 1854, and was among the group of friends and acquaintances the Brownings had recently been seeing in Rome. 'An earnest, simple, noble artist and man, who carries his Christianity down from his deep heart to the point of his brush', he has a vision of art derived from Swedenborg and is recommended for the 'wonder of light and colour and space and breathable air, he puts into his Venus rising from the sea -- refused on the ground of nudity at the Paris Exhibition this summer'; he is also 'the painter of Robert's portrait which you praised for its Venetian colour, and criticised in other respects.' Secondly, Elizabeth offers fulsome thanks for Ruskin's public support of the Risorgimento , and expresses her outrage at Tennyson's anti-French 'Riflemen form!', 'What -- not even our poets with clean hands? Alfred Tennyson abetting Lord Derby? That to me was the heaviest blow of all.' She contrasts this with the tide of elation sweeping through Italy: 'there is a wonderful unanimity, calm, and resolution everywhere in Italy. All parties are broken up into the great national party. The feeling of the people is magnificent. The painful experience of ten years has born fruit in their souls ... And Louis Napoleon -- well, I think he is doing me credit -- and you dear Mr. Ruskin -- for you , too, held him in appreciation long ago', and ends with a plea for Ruskin not to believe the lies published in the Times concerning the lack of volunteers from Tuscany [though, in fact, the Times was correct, the number of Italian volunteers being only about 12,000 overall]. 'But Robert waits to take this letter....' A LETTER WRITTEN IS THE MIDST OF MOMENTOUS EVENTS AND IN THE FULL FLUSH OF ENTHUSIASM FOR LOUIS NAPOLEON'S SUCCESS. Elizabeth and Robert had arrived in Florence on 30 May to find the Grand Duke had fled, French troops were on the streets, and the end of Austrian domination was in sight. On 4 June, the day after her letter was written, the French and Piedmontese defeated the Austrians at Magenta. When France unexpectedly made peace with Austria on 11 July, Elizabeth suffered a nervous collapse and remained in bed for nearly three weeks. Published in F.G. Kenyon, The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning (2 vols., 1897), II, p.315.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
