4747. RB to William Michael Rossetti
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 28, 162.
Siena, Villa Alberti, Marciano,
Sep. 22. [1860] [1]
My dear Rossetti,
Nothing will give my wife or myself more pleasure than to see you and Mr Lushington [2] —do take our best thanks for caring to come & see us. I am vexed to be away from Florence just when you visit it for the first time—but Siena is full of good things which you ought not to lose. We are about a mile & a half from the Railway Station—you must let me know when you mean to arrive & by what train. We will have a pleasant talk about friends.
Ever yours faithfully,
Robert Browning.
Go & see Mr Kirkup in Florence (at the foot of the old Bridge) [3] —he remembers and appretiates your Father, [4] and is one of the kindest and learnedest of men.
Publication: William Michael Rossetti, Ruskin: Rossetti: Preraphaelitism; Papers 1854 to 1862 (London, 1899), p. 247.
Manuscript: University of British Columbia.
1. Year provided by RB’s reference to Rossetti and Lushington’s impending visit (see letter 4752).
2. Vernon Lushington (1832–1912), friend of the Pre-Raphaelites, was a twin son of Stephen Lushington (1782–1873), an Admiralty court judge, and his wife, Sarah Grace (née Carr). He graduated from Cambridge in 1854 and was called to the bar three years later. He served as secretary to the Admiralty from 1869 to 1877 (see ODNB).
3. Seymour Kirkup is listed in the Brownings’ address book of this period (AB-4) at “Casa Caruana, Ponte Vecchio.”
4. Gabriele Pasquale Giuseppe Rossetti (1783–1854), Italian expatriate, was a Dante scholar and teacher of Italian at King’s College, London.
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