The Brownings’ Correspondence, Volume 11

Volume 11 opens with EBB’s 34th letter to RB and closes with his 100th letter to her. With their correspondence dominating this volume, RB displaces Mary Russell Mitford as EBB’s principal correspondent. At the end of August 1845, EBB’s physician advises her to go to Italy for the sake of her health. Her father’s opposition, however, deters her from going. She grows closer to RB as a result, and they pledge their love to each other. During this period, EBB provides RB with critical notes on his Dramatic Lyrics and Romances (Bells and Pomegranates, No. VII), which appears in November 1845, and additional notes on Luria and A Soul’s Tragedy (Bells and Pomegranates, No. VIII), the following spring. All of these notes appear in an appendix to this volume. EBB publishes two pieces in The Christian Mother’s Magazine.