5127. RB to William Cornwallis Cartwright
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 30, 148–149.
19. Warwick Crescent,
Harrow Road.
[?November 1862] [1]
Dear Cartwright,
“J. Temple Leader, [2] Florence”—would do,—Fiesole might be added,—his Villa’s name, I forget—it is the largest there: [3] but the surest way will be to direct “care of
Sig: Carlo Brini, Banchiere,
via Rondinelli, 890. Bis”
you will so reach him at once, Brini being his Agent, Banker and man of business.
In great haste, yours affy
R Browning.
I put in Brini’s card, [4] by the way, because if ever any friend of yours wants a most liberal and deserving Banker, he is the man—poor Philipson’s old assistant & successor.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Northamptonshire Record Office.
1. Conjecturally dated by the stationery, which bears a watermark of 1862 and was used by RB from November 1862 to 19 April 1863.
2. John Temple Leader (1810–1903), politician and connoisseur, was the wealthy heir of a successful London merchant. He abandoned a promising political career and spent the last fifty years of his life in Tuscany, where he bought and restored property, including the ruins of Castle Vincigliata, which he rebuilt in the Gothic style.
3. Villa Pazzi, which Leader acquired in 1850. Located in Maiano, a village about halfway between Florence and Fiesole, it was later named Villa Temple Leader and is currently known as Villa di Maiano.
4. It reads: “Carlo Brini / Banchiere / Via Rondinelli Palazzo Pasquali / No. 890.Bis / Firenze.”
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