The letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846

A selection of personal correspondence presents a consecutive series of letters between two literary figures during the early stages of a close intellectual and emotional relationship. The exchanges combine earnest literary criticism, mutual admiration of each other's poems, small practical details about missed meetings, and increasingly intimate disclosures. Editorial apparatus reproduces original punctuation and facsimiles, includes portraits, and preserves the letters in full while adding bracketed notes (mainly translations of Greek) and editorial remarks about legibility. A prefatory editorial statement explains the provenance of the papers and the decision to print them intact.