5222. Sophia Landor to RB
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 30, 242.
Tachbrooke.
May 15th [1863] [1]
Dear Mr Browning
Thank you very much, on my Uncle Henry’s behalf as well as my own, for the letters from Italy, which are satisfactory beyond anything we cld have expected; my Uncle’s faculties seem to be restored almost to what they were before his illness: some loss of memory was apparent before & indeed is almost inevitable at his age: I am not surprised at the restoration of his bodily health, but I did not venture to hope the mind wld be so far restored; still, we must not reckon too much upon it. I thank you very much for sending Mr Twisleton’s letter, which shows that my Uncle is wonderfully little altered & I dare say at times is quite himself. Doubtless you know the true version of the rustication story. [2] A few years ago I wrote down some of the leading incidents of his early life, from the lips of his Brothers, whose memories at that time were perfectly clear; perhaps they will interest you some time. I received a very obliging answer from Made Romagnoli a day or two before your packet & wld have sent it to you, if it had contained anything new: it was accompanied by a short note from my Cousin, Walter Savage, confirming her account. I am thankful to say my Uncle Henry is now quite at ease about his Brother; your kind letter to him was most beneficial, & he has been much interested by the letter from Mr Twisleton; he is now in his usual health. It is fortunate the Pictures are forgotten among other things: Now you are certainly at liberty to dispose of them in any way you think & I sincerely wish you a comfortable riddance of them. Should you see our good friends in Montagu Square, [3] pray give my kind love to them. Accept my Uncle Henry’s best regards & believe me
Gratefully & sincerely Yrs
Sophia Landor
Address: Robert Browning Esqre / 19. Warwick Crescent / Upper Westbourne Terrace / London (W.).
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Yale University.
1. Year provided by postmark.
2. In 1794, his second year at Trinity College, Oxford, Landor was expelled for firing a gun in his rooms. The punishment of rustication was for two terms, but he never returned. See R.H. Super, Walter Savage Landor: A Biography (New York, 1954), pp. 18–21.
3. The John Forsters.
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