784. RB to Eliza Flower

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 5, 1.

New Cross, Hatcham, Surrey

Tuesday Morning. [ca. 1841] [1]

Dear Miss Flower,

I am very sorry for what must grieve Mr Fox: for myself, I beg him earnestly not to see me till his entire convenience, however pleased I shall be to receive the letter you promise on his part.

And how can I thank you enough for this good news—all this music I shall be so thoroughly gratified to hear? [2]

Ever yours faithfully,

Robert Browning.

Publication: Orr, p. 125.

Manuscript: Pierpont Morgan Library.

1. Mrs. Orr states that this letter, relating to Hymns and Anthems, was written “In the course of 1842” (Orr, p. 125). However, we feel that RB’s second paragraph anticipates publication, rather than being written afterwards; if this assumption is correct, the letter would have been written in 1841.

2. Hymns and Anthems, a compilation by Eliza Flower’s de facto guardian, W.J. Fox, was published in 1841.

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