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Elizabeth Barrett Browning Autograph letter signed ( Ba. ), I have naturally a melancholy heart a merry mind...
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Elizabeth Barrett Browning Autograph letter signed ( Ba. ), I have naturally a melancholy heart a merry mind...
拍品描述：
Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Autograph letter signed ("Ba."), to her friend Julia Martin, [15 July 1846]
5 pages on 2 sheets, one folded written recto and verso (157 x 202 mm), signed (“Ba.”), dated "Wednesday" [15 July 1846]; three horizontal folds, tissue tape repair to a short split in fold, one or two stray spots, small rust stains on upper left of first page. [With]: envelope (101 x 156 mm), postmarked 7 July 1846, remnants of wax seal, addressed and with annotation in Barrett’s hand.
A glimpse into Elizabeth Barrett’s thoughts on marriage, just two months before her clandestine wedding to Robert Browning.
In 1845, Elizabeth Barrett seemed an unlikely candidate for courtship. Though the English poet had achieved great popularity, particularly with her 1844Poems, the 38-year-old had been confined to her father’s house, battling chronic illness. But that 10 January, a fated piece of fan mail sparked one of history’s most storied literary romances: famed poet and playwright Robert Browning professed his admiration for Barrett’s work, writing, “I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett.”
Barrett had been a fan of Browning’s poetry, too, recognizing him alongside William Wordsworth and Alfred, Lord Tennyson in her 1844 poem “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship.” Their mutual admiration developed through a series of nearly 600 letters, though it would be five months of correspondence before their first meeting in May of 1845. Their year-long letter writing and courtship, however, was shrouded in secrecy. Barrett’s father, Edward Moulton Barrett, would not permit any of his children to marry, hoping to keep his remaining family together after the death of his wife. Nevertheless, Barrett and Browning eloped on 12 September 1846, traveling to Italy soon after.
The present letter, written to her close friend Julia Martin in July 1846, illuminates Barrett’s ambivalence toward the institution of marriage — and her departures from the staunch opinions of her father — just two months before her life-changing decision to marry Browning.
“As for romance… [...] perhaps, we do not disagree to a great extent – You do not think for instance that marriage as it exists on all sides of us, is a better, happier, holier condition per se than a single life. You do not deny it to be an abomination, & not marriage in the right sense, at all. Well! Having such a fixed idea, it must be lawful to be ‘romantic,’ in order to the working of it out. [...] Of course I am talking quite generally on this word romantic – although if you like it I will talk particularly to say that of the two or three married women whom I have called happy in my life, you are one. It is the happiest condition, when attained—& highest too—who denies that? [...] I assure you it is a subject on which I have thought a good deal.”
When this letter was written, Martin was unaware of Barrett's secret courtship; in fact, it was not until an October letter, after the wedding had taken place, that Barrett informed Martin of the context of her earlier anguish. It is evident that Barrett had anticipated the forthcoming conflict with her father, as well as the ultimate disinheritance that followed. “Not one of his children will ever marry without a breach,” she wrote in the letter, “which we all know, though he probably does not" (Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Julia Martin, 22 October 1846). Perhaps it was because of this knowledge that Barrett hints at a deep uncertainty in her personal life in the present letter:
“Well — I write nonsense sometimes as if I had not a care in the world — and if you could see me through & through at this moment, you would wonder how I could write lightly at all,”she laments.“The truth of me is that I have naturally a melancholy heart & a merry mind, & that one mocks at the other. Before the year is at an end too, what with pleasure & pain & the extra glory of walking to Queen Ann’s Street, I may go mad perhaps like other people. Yet no —.”
Beyond its romantic value, the letter also captures Barrett’s daily experiences and her sharp perceptions of those around her. For instance, Barrett recounts a humorous interaction with a Mr. Bevan in which she attempts to dodge a lengthy conversation about ecclesiastical architecture but finds herself “up to the chin” in it. She also assesses potential matches for the other characters in her life, like “sweet, affectionate” Arabella, whose “prospects seem as bright as her eyes.”
When this letter last appeared in the auction rooms, it was dated 7 July 1846, based on the postmark on the accompanying envelope. However, the envelope may have been incorrectly matched with this letter. There are transcriptions of another 7 July 1846 letter from Barrett to Martin that include the annotations on this envelope; it is possible that this envelope was mistakenly joined with the present letter. After all, the envelope's annotations mention "Bummy," likely Arabella, whose "plans seem uncertain quite," but in the letter these problems appear already resolved: "she is much better since she has been here." This letter may have instead been written on Wednesday, 15 July 1846, dated by references to the encounter with Mr. Bevan found in two other letters. The first, a letter from Barrett to Robert Browning describing how she was "thrown headforemost into ecclesiastical architecture at the close of about three minutes," was postmarked 15 July 1846. In the other, written to her brother George Goodin Moulton-Barrett, Barrett congratulates him on his birthday, also 15 July, and explains that in the conversation with Mr. Bevan "there was no help — I was enfoncée."
The letter paints a rich portrait of Barrett’s internal qualms about marriage as she resolved to make her consequential choice just two months later.
A remarkable artifact of a literary love story.
REFERENCE:
Kelley and Hudson,The Brownings' Correspondence
Kintner,The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, 1845-1846
PROVENANCE:
Sotheby's London, 5 July 1977, lot 305 — Sotheby's London, 16 July 1984, lot 61
Autograph letter signed ("Ba."), to her friend Julia Martin, [15 July 1846]
5 pages on 2 sheets, one folded written recto and verso (157 x 202 mm), signed (“Ba.”), dated "Wednesday" [15 July 1846]; three horizontal folds, tissue tape repair to a short split in fold, one or two stray spots, small rust stains on upper left of first page. [With]: envelope (101 x 156 mm), postmarked 7 July 1846, remnants of wax seal, addressed and with annotation in Barrett’s hand.
A glimpse into Elizabeth Barrett’s thoughts on marriage, just two months before her clandestine wedding to Robert Browning.
In 1845, Elizabeth Barrett seemed an unlikely candidate for courtship. Though the English poet had achieved great popularity, particularly with her 1844Poems, the 38-year-old had been confined to her father’s house, battling chronic illness. But that 10 January, a fated piece of fan mail sparked one of history’s most storied literary romances: famed poet and playwright Robert Browning professed his admiration for Barrett’s work, writing, “I love your verses with all my heart, dear Miss Barrett.”
Barrett had been a fan of Browning’s poetry, too, recognizing him alongside William Wordsworth and Alfred, Lord Tennyson in her 1844 poem “Lady Geraldine’s Courtship.” Their mutual admiration developed through a series of nearly 600 letters, though it would be five months of correspondence before their first meeting in May of 1845. Their year-long letter writing and courtship, however, was shrouded in secrecy. Barrett’s father, Edward Moulton Barrett, would not permit any of his children to marry, hoping to keep his remaining family together after the death of his wife. Nevertheless, Barrett and Browning eloped on 12 September 1846, traveling to Italy soon after.
The present letter, written to her close friend Julia Martin in July 1846, illuminates Barrett’s ambivalence toward the institution of marriage — and her departures from the staunch opinions of her father — just two months before her life-changing decision to marry Browning.
“As for romance… [...] perhaps, we do not disagree to a great extent – You do not think for instance that marriage as it exists on all sides of us, is a better, happier, holier condition per se than a single life. You do not deny it to be an abomination, & not marriage in the right sense, at all. Well! Having such a fixed idea, it must be lawful to be ‘romantic,’ in order to the working of it out. [...] Of course I am talking quite generally on this word romantic – although if you like it I will talk particularly to say that of the two or three married women whom I have called happy in my life, you are one. It is the happiest condition, when attained—& highest too—who denies that? [...] I assure you it is a subject on which I have thought a good deal.”
When this letter was written, Martin was unaware of Barrett's secret courtship; in fact, it was not until an October letter, after the wedding had taken place, that Barrett informed Martin of the context of her earlier anguish. It is evident that Barrett had anticipated the forthcoming conflict with her father, as well as the ultimate disinheritance that followed. “Not one of his children will ever marry without a breach,” she wrote in the letter, “which we all know, though he probably does not" (Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Julia Martin, 22 October 1846). Perhaps it was because of this knowledge that Barrett hints at a deep uncertainty in her personal life in the present letter:
“Well — I write nonsense sometimes as if I had not a care in the world — and if you could see me through & through at this moment, you would wonder how I could write lightly at all,”she laments.“The truth of me is that I have naturally a melancholy heart & a merry mind, & that one mocks at the other. Before the year is at an end too, what with pleasure & pain & the extra glory of walking to Queen Ann’s Street, I may go mad perhaps like other people. Yet no —.”
Beyond its romantic value, the letter also captures Barrett’s daily experiences and her sharp perceptions of those around her. For instance, Barrett recounts a humorous interaction with a Mr. Bevan in which she attempts to dodge a lengthy conversation about ecclesiastical architecture but finds herself “up to the chin” in it. She also assesses potential matches for the other characters in her life, like “sweet, affectionate” Arabella, whose “prospects seem as bright as her eyes.”
When this letter last appeared in the auction rooms, it was dated 7 July 1846, based on the postmark on the accompanying envelope. However, the envelope may have been incorrectly matched with this letter. There are transcriptions of another 7 July 1846 letter from Barrett to Martin that include the annotations on this envelope; it is possible that this envelope was mistakenly joined with the present letter. After all, the envelope's annotations mention "Bummy," likely Arabella, whose "plans seem uncertain quite," but in the letter these problems appear already resolved: "she is much better since she has been here." This letter may have instead been written on Wednesday, 15 July 1846, dated by references to the encounter with Mr. Bevan found in two other letters. The first, a letter from Barrett to Robert Browning describing how she was "thrown headforemost into ecclesiastical architecture at the close of about three minutes," was postmarked 15 July 1846. In the other, written to her brother George Goodin Moulton-Barrett, Barrett congratulates him on his birthday, also 15 July, and explains that in the conversation with Mr. Bevan "there was no help — I was enfoncée."
The letter paints a rich portrait of Barrett’s internal qualms about marriage as she resolved to make her consequential choice just two months later.
A remarkable artifact of a literary love story.
REFERENCE:
Kelley and Hudson,The Brownings' Correspondence
Kintner,The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, 1845-1846
PROVENANCE:
Sotheby's London, 5 July 1977, lot 305 — Sotheby's London, 16 July 1984, lot 61