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Important autograph manuscript by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, comprising heavily revised working drafts of the eight poems published in her final lifetime collection, Poems Before Congress. The manuscript consists of 54 pages, 5 x 7.25, no place, circa 1860, written primarily in ink with seven pages in pencil, and is bound together with a first edition of Poems Before Congress (London: Chapman and Hall, 1860) in full red morocco gilt by Riviere & Son. Each manuscript leaf is tipped to a stub. A later manuscript title identifies the volume and notes the possible presence of “drafts of other poems which may be unpublished.”
The manuscript contains drafts of all eight poems appearing in Poems Before Congress: “Napoleon III in Italy,” “A Tale of Villafranca,” “Italy and the World,” “A Court Lady,” “Christmas Gifts,” “An August Voice,” “The Dance,” and “A Curse for a Nation.” Throughout, Browning extensively revises, deletes, and rewrites her verse, preserving a remarkable record of her compositional process as the poems moved toward publication.
Of particular interest are substantial textual differences between the manuscript and the published edition: the present text captures a work in progress. Browning's handwriting here is rapid and often difficult, dense with cancellations, interlinear insertions, and reworked stanzas, and the draft shows meaningful variation from the poems as ultimately published—a comparison of the manuscript text of "A Court Lady" against the printed version, for instance, shows Browning still shaping both language and meter at this stage. Each draft is titled in pencil at the head in an unknown hand.
Published in 1860, Poems Before Congress was Browning’s final book issued during her lifetime and one of her most politically charged works. Seven of the eight poems address the struggle for Italian independence and contemporary European politics, while “A Curse for a Nation” condemns American slavery. The collection proved controversial for both its political positions and Browning’s unapologetic engagement with public affairs, but it stands today as a major expression of her political and moral convictions.
In overall fine condition: the volume exhibits light marginal soiling and spotting to the manuscript leaves; the red morocco binding exhibits some rubbing and light edgewear.
Provenance: Property from the Library of the Col. Richard Gimbel Family, Sotheby's New York, June 18, 1987; the manuscript likely originates from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Notebooks (see Kelley & Coley D1423) sold as part of the Browning Collections, lot 140, Sotheby's May 2nd, 1914, purchased by London book dealer Francis Edwards, and hence broken and assembled as here.
An exceptionally important working manuscript from one of the foremost poets of the Victorian era, offering unusually direct insight into Browning’s creative process and the composition of her last book.
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