3609. Adelaide Sartoris to RB

As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 21, 241–242.

[London]

Saturday– [?1 September] [1855] [1]

Dear Browning,—

Leighton[’]s address is 10 Maddox St– I could not answer you sooner for I have been at the Crystal Palace [2] all the day seeing little bits of Florence & Rome that made my heart ache [3] —give my love to Mrs Browning– I was very happy singing to you both last night–

A.S.

I added on a long piece to my letter to Hatty & begged her for all our loves & sakes to come away as soon as possible–

Address, on integral page: Robert Browning Esqr / 13 Dorset St / Portman Sqre.

Publication: None traced.

Manuscript: Yale University.

1. Conjecturally dated by reference to the fourth paragraph in letter 3607, in which EBB writes that the Brownings will spend “tomorrow evening” (31 August) at Mrs. Sartoris’s.

2. After the closing of the Great Exhibition of 1851, the Crystal Palace was acquired by a group of investors who had it dismantled then rebuilt at Sydenham, though with substantial alterations, using most of the original materials. It and the surrounding park opened for visitors on 10 June 1854. The palace remained one of the great sightseeing attractions in the London area until destroyed by fire in 1936.

3. Various courts in the Crystal Palace featured copies of art and architecture from Florence and Rome. These included the Roman Court, the Renaissance Court, and the Italian Court (see their specific chapters in Samuel Phillips, Crystal Palace: A Guide to the Palace & Park, 1854).

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