3301. Robert S. Chilton to EBB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 20, 30.
Department of State, Washington,
December 18, 1853.
My dear Madam,
Wont you oblige two enthusiastic admirers of yours on this side of the great Atlantic (my wife & myself) [1] by transcribing for us, in some leisure moment, your exquisite sonnet commencing—
“I never gave a lock of hair away
To a man, dearest, except this to thee” &c [2]
and by asking for us, of Mr Browning, a m.s. copy of his little poem—“An incident at the Siege of Ratisbon”– [3]
“You know we French storm’d Ratisbon” &c [4]
I am personally well-known to Mr Wm Page (the Artist) & his excellent wife, & likewise to Mr Lowell,—with all of whom you are, I believe, somewhat acquainted. I mention this merely that you may be assured that by granting my request you will not throw away a kindness.
With the sincerest respect,
I remain, Madam,
Your very obedient servant,
R. S. Chilton
Mrs Elizabeth B. Browning,
Rome,
Italy.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: University of Virginia.
1. Robert S. Chilton (1822–1911) was born in Westfield, New Jersey, the fifth son and seventh child of George Chilton (1768–1836) and his wife Mary (née Smith, 1787–1858). He married on 12 May 1852 Mary Virginia (née Brent, 1833–1921). Chilton was the librarian at the U.S. Patent Office from 1849 to 1851. At the time of this letter he was a Clerk in the State Department. He later served as Chief of the Consular Bureau and U.S. Consul at Goderich, Ontario. In 1885 he published his Poems, which he dedicated to James Russell Lowell.
2. Cf. Sonnets from the Portuguese, 38, 1–2.
3. First published in Dramatic Lyrics (1842) as “Camp. (French.)” under the heading “Camp and Cloister,” it was retitled “Incident of the French Camp” in Poems (1849).
4. Cf. “Incident of the French Camp,” line 1.
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