5280. RB to William Hepworth Dixon
As published in The Brownings’ Correspondence, 30, 297–298.
19. Warwick Crescent,
Upper Westbourne Terr: W.
Oct. 12. ’63.
My dear Sir, [1]
You will have been sure that my absence from London was the cause of such a delay in thanking you for the paper concerning the intended “Shakespeare Celebration,” [2] and your note appended thereto. What can I say but the plain truth in reply to your kindness?– Just this,—which I think I might not say, were the proofs of your success less apparent,—that my feeling goes another way—rightly or wrongly: and in such a matter the feeling is all. I honor yours heartily—and count upon your tolerating mine.
Believe me, dear Sir,
Faithfully yours
Robert Browning.
W. Hepworth Dixon Esq.
Publication: None traced.
Manuscript: Folger Shakespeare Library.
1. William Hepworth Dixon (1821–79), editor of The Athenæum (1853–69).
2. To commemorate the tercentenary of Shakespeare’s birth, 23 April 1864, the London-based National Shakespeare Committee was founded by James O. Halliwell (later Halliwell-Phillipps, 1820–89), its chief goal being a national monument in London. Dixon was secretary to the committee and its prime mover; the committee’s doings and membership were well covered by The Athenæum, including the initial announcement in the issue of 30 May 1863, no. 1857, p. 715. Despite an impressive list of names recruited for the cause, such as Alfred Tennyson and Charles Dickens (both of whom served as vice-presidents), the committee failed to raise enough money to support the project. “Its appeals for royal patronage were rebuffed; a request to have 23 April 1864 declared a bank holiday denied,” and “the chairmen struggled to elicit cohesive participation from a membership … numbered at over 400” (see Matthew Poland, “Commemorative Print: Serialized Monuments during the Shakespeare Tercentenary Debates,” Journal of Victorian Culture, 26, April 2021, 177).
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