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Robert Browning Collection: Box 4

Browning Box 4: (formerly Browning: Fitzgerald 1)
Papers donated by Mabel Purefoy Fitzgerald, physiologist and pathologist, grandchild of Mrs Fitzgerald ‘the Learned Lady’ with whom RB corresponded

Manuscript copy in the hand of Mrs E. Fitzgerald of RB’s poem ‘Thy Names’

Two photographs (214 x 141 mm) [modern copies of Browning album pictures], one of Mrs F. G. and the other of three young girls, marked ‘Miss Purefoy Fitzgerald’.  Both photographs were in an OUP envelope, postmarked 2 Dec [19]63.

Offprints and scholarly articles sent to Miss Mabel Purefoy Fitzgerald

Clipping of Park Honan’s book review of Edward C. McAleer’s 1966 book Learned Lady: Letters from Robert Browning to Mrs. Thomas Fitzgerald, 1876-1889, with Honan’s signed note ‘With my kindest regards and good wishes to Miss Fitzgerald, from her friend’.

Offprint in blue wrappers of Park Honan’s ‘The texts of fifteen fugitives by Robert Browning’, (repr. from Victorian Poetry, Vol. 5, No. 3, Autumn 1967), pp. 157-69, with a presentation note to Mrs Fitzgerald, signed by the author on the upper wrapper, dated ‘15 November 1967’. Envelope.

Bulletin of the New York Public Library (Vol. 71, number 2, February 1967) with a signed presentation note to Miss Fitzgerald from William S. Peterson, the author of the article ‘Outram vs Furnivall: Dissension within the Browning Society’, pp. 93-104.

John Bryson’s pamphlet Robert Browning, London: 1959, rev. 1963 (number 106 of the Writers and their Work series), pp. 43. Bryson’s presentation note to Miss Fitzgerald, signed and dated ‘9 January 1968’ appears on the half-title. Envelope.

Correspondence found grouped together in the box: six letters and a poem

ALS from EFG to PUREFOY. [n.p.], Wednesday 2. P. P.  EFG tells of recent friends’ visits and quotes from the song ‘A Health to the Outward Bound’. 1l.

ALS from EFG to KATIE [PUREFOY]. [n.p., n.d.].  EFG writes with news of shared friends.  1l.

Copy of the mid-thirteenth century song ‘Summer is ycumen in’ accompanied by a note in an another hand ‘written out by Geraldine F[itz]G[erald] for Mrs Browning for Millais picture [at?] the R. Academy’. 1l.  With envelope

Typed note, signed from Purefoy FITZGERALD to his aunt MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. Downfield West, Winchester, 16 Jun. [19]70. Fitzgerald returns a newspaper clipping from the Daily Telegraph to his aunt.  The clipping is of a letter to the editor from Mrs Elaine Baly concerning a newly discovered letter from RB to Miss Zimmerman, Baly asks who Miss Zimmerman may be.

Typed letter from KIT to MOLLY. 37 Kingsbury Street, Marlborough, 8 Dec. [19]69. Kit (descended from the second marriage of RB’s grandfather) admits scant knowledge of RB but offers to sort and write up Molly’s aunt’s papers [is Molly’s aunt Mabel PF?].  Kit’s father, a vicar, used to visit Fannie Barrett Browning in Hayward’s Heath; when she died Kit acquired red linen handkerchiefs embroidered with the letter B.  Kit is unsure whether these were RB’s or Pen’s but, ‘they were used as hankies rather than stored as relics, and have all now disintegrated’.

ALS from ELAINE BALY to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. 14 Oakhurst Avenue, East Barnet, 10 Jun. 1970. Mrs Baly (great-grand-daughter of RB’s uncle Reuben Browning) thanks Miss Fitzgerald for answering her letter in the Telegraph and for recommending Learned Lady.

ALS from WILLIAM H. CANNON to QUINN. 11 Fyfield Road, Oxford, [n.d. – after Mabel’s death in 1973?]. Cannon has sorted through the three boxes of papers left by Miss Fitzgerald and wants to know which are to be kept and which destroyed.

Correspondence found placed together in the Fitzgerald papers: 1878-1893. Four letters

ALS from ? to J. J. HOWARD. 14 Nov. 1878, 40 Finsbury Square. Concerning the title page of [?] book. 1l.

ALS from W. J. HARVEY to J. J. HOWARD. 15 Apr. 1893. Heathell, | Westbourne Grove, | Champion Hill, S. E., 15 Apr. 1893. Harvey tells Howard of a discovery at the University of Padua of an ‘“armorial monument” (in duplicate) of Harvey’ along with a drawing in gold and colours of the monument; would Howard like to make a facsimile of the drawing? 1l.

ALS from [EFG] to KATIE. 5 Jan. [18??]. 1l.

ALS from W. J. HARVEY to J. J. HOWARD. 23 Oct. 1883 .  1l.

Items previously kept inside a plastic folder in the box
ALS from G. P. IRnvoise to the REV. J. ELLIS. 48 Dover Street, Piccadilly, 27 Jun. 1839.  Letter to Harriet’s father after Harriet has communicated news of Henry’s death. 1l.

ALS from ???FG to HARRIET. North Hall, | Micheldever Station, | Hants, [n.d.]. A letter mourning the death of Henry [?]. 1l.

Manuscript copy in pencil of two verses [source unidentified]. 1l.

Manuscript listing statistics for the feeding of 100 poor from 13 Parishes in the Stow/Shalstone area;; to the verso details are given of the programme, costumes, guests and incidents at a masked Gala at Stow, Bucks. on 25 Feb. 1818.  Attendees included the Marquis and Marchioness of Buckingham, the Duke of Grafton, Duchess of Marlborough and Marquis of Blandford. 1l.

Together in a plastic envelope: transcripts of Browning letters and miscellaneous typed papers:

Typed Browning letter transcripts:

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 1 Jan 1872. 1 L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 21 Feb. 1872. 1L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 11 Mar. 1873. (2 copies) 2L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 12 Apr. 1873. (2 copies) 2L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 10 May 1873. 1L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 27 Sept. 1873. 1L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 10 Apr. 1874. 2L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. Villiers, 10 Oct. 1875. 10 Oct. 1875. 2L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 11 Jul. 1876. 2L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 22 Dec. 1876.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. Hotel Vriard, St. Pierre de Chartreuse, Isère. 10 Sep 1881. 5L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. W.C. [i.e. 19 Warwick Crescent], 24 Apr. 1883. 1L.

ROBERT BROWNING to ELIZABETH FITZGERALD. 19 Warwick Crescent, 7 May 1885. 1L.

PICKERING and SMITH to KEANE FITZGERALD. Staple Inn, 8 Dec. 1823. 2L.

Typed papers:

Transcript: typed extract headed ‘Now for my Grand daughter Mary 1887’ from E.F.G.’s book of Texts designated as a Mother’s Legacy to her Children. 1L.

Transcript: typed letter from ALBERT FLEMING to MRS FITZGERALD. Gray’s Inn, 31 Dec. 1889. 1L.

Two different transcripts of FANNY BROWNING’s letter to MRS FITZGERALD. 29 De Vere Gardens, 1 Jan. 1890. 2 L.

Transcript of ELIZABETH FITZGERALD’s annotations in William G. Kingsland’s 1890 publication, Robert Browning: Chief Poet of the Age; immediately below a transcript of ELIZABETH FITZGERALD’s obituary from the Athenaeum. 1L.

Transcript of H. W. HUSSEY’s letter to MRS FITZGERALD. Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club, Bembridge, [n.d]. 1L.

One handwritten copy (1L.) and two typescript copies (2L.) of EFG’s twenty-six-line poem: ‘Lines on her late accident written by Mrs Fitzgerald on 31st May 1899. [hand unidentified]

Transcript of ELIZABETH FITZGERALD’s obituary from the Annual Register for 1899. 1L.

Transcript: typed excerpt from Buckingham Express, from July 1899; Mrs Fitzgerald’s obituary. 3L.

Typed list of references to Shalstone in the Buckingham Express between 1871 and 1899. 4L.

Typed excerpts from De Vane’s Browning Handbook. 1L.

Typed excerpt about Shalstone from the 1927 edition of the Victoria County History for Buckinghamshire. 1L.

Typed genealogy of Edward Fitzgerald from Alfred McKinley Terhune’s biography (1947). 1L.

Together in a separate plastic envelope:

Typed copy of a letter from EDWARD C. McALEER to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue, New York, 7 Sep. 1961. 2L.  McAleer asks for information to help him with Learned Lady.

Typed letter, signed, from MAGGS BROS. LTD to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. 50 Berkeley Square, London, 29 Sep. 1961. 1L. Maggs has valued five Robert Browning ALS for Fitzgerald.

Typed letter, signed, from RONALD KUDSEN [?Knudsen] to MISS FITZGERALD.  24 Cavendish Mansions, Mill Lane, London, 19 May 1962. 1L. Ronald apologises for not having processed the photographs more quickly.

Typed letter, signed, from ANN SAUNDERS (archivist) to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. Central Public Library, Marylebone Road, London, 21 Feb. 1963. 1L. The house about which Professor McAleer was inquiring was pulled down in 1960.

Undated typed question sheet [from EDWARD C. McALEER] with autograph annotations by MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. [n.d., c. 1961-3?]. 1L.

Typed letter, signed, from EDWARD C. McALEER to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. Hunter College, 695 Park Avenue, New York, 12 Aug. 1963. 1L.  McAleer thanks Fitzgerald for her ‘observations on the notes’ and promises to send her a copy of the introduction soon.

Typed letter, signed from MARGOT M. SMITH to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. The Carl H. Pforzheimer Library, 16 Sep. 1963. 1L. Smith encloses McAleer’s introduction to Learned Lady for Fitzgerald’s attention.

ALS from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to COLONEL ?DAIN. 23 Feb. 1964. 1L.  Fitzgerald is grateful for the list of books.

ALS from J. BARCLAY to [MISS FITZGERALD]. 16 Leckford Road, Oxford, 10 Jun. 1964. 1L. Barclay identifies a plant from Fitzgerald’s description.

Typed draft of a letter (unsigned) with autograph corrections from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to EDWARD C. McALEER. 12 Crick Road, 24 Jul. 1964. 2L.  Accompanied by a typed (uncorrected) version of the first page of the letter on blue paper. 1L.

Typed [copy] of a letter from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to EDWARD C. McALEER. 12 Crick Road, Oxford, 18 Aug. 1965. 3L. Fitzgerald commiserates with McAleer about Harvard University Press’s cuts to his book, Learned Lady.*

Dismembered front cover of Robert Browning’s works with two front endpapers with the ownership inscription ‘Katherine L. Mackay, Christmas 1905’.

Loose papers:

Out of sequence (although what IS the sequence?!), folded typescripts with Mabel Purefoy Fitzgerald’s handwritten annotations/corrections/suggestions at various stages of the drafting of the Learned Lady. 130l. (Duplicate and triplicate copies of certain papers).

1 excerpt from the Directory of Berkshire (1L)

ALS from MARY BENNETT to [MABEL] PUREFOY FITZGERALD. Rock Cottage [...] Godalming, 19 June 1963.

Typed letter, signed with autograph emendations and additions, from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to EDWARD C. McALEER. [n.p.], 27 Aug. 1964.

Typed extract from a letter from EDWARD C. McALEER to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. New York, 22 Jul. 1965. 1L. With handwritten additions and alterations [by Fitzgerald?!]. With an un-annotated duplicate.

Typed letter (unsigned but with handwritten emendations) from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to EDWARD C. McALEER. 12 Crick Road, Oxford, 15 Aug. 1965. 2L. With an un-annotated duplicate and a further copy in which the annotated emendations are typed up and some additional emendation added by hand. (4L).

Typed [copy] of a letter from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to EDWARD C. McALEER. 12 Crick Road, Oxford, 18 Aug. 1965. 3L. Fitzgerald commiserates with McAleer about Harvard University Press’s cuts to his book, Learned Lady. duplicate of above* with a further duplicate of the first page of the letter (1L)

Typed letter, signed, with autograph emendations from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to J. Stevens Cox. [n.p.], 27 Sep. 1965. 1L.

[Copy of a?] typed letter (unsigned) from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to EDWARD C. McALEER. 12 Crick Road, Oxford, 18 Oct. 1965. 3L.

Copy of a typed letter from MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to LANDSCAPE VIEW PUBLISHERS. 12 Crick Road, 1 Nov. 1965. 1L.

Typed letter, signed, with autograph emendations from EDWARD C. McALEER to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. 208 East 70th Street, New York City, 17 Nov. 1965. 1L.  McAleer answer’s Purefoy’s questions about the galley proofs and updates her on his travel schedule.

Printed address card of Mrs R. Barrett Browning. [n.d.]. 1L.

Undated typed [copy of?] suggestions by MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD to EDWARD C. McALEER on emendations to the preface for his book Learned Lady. 1L.

Undated typed copy of Maisie Ward’s review of Learned Lady from Commonweal, 7 Oct. 1966. 2L.

Undated [but written in/after 1967] typed excerpts from reviews of Learned Lady. 1L.

Undated typed transcript of a letter ‘probably written in the early 1880s’ to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD from ANNE BOLTON. 14 Chilworth Street, Westbourne Terrace, Hyde Park, [n.d.]. 1L.

Typed letter, signed, from Philip Kelley to MABEL PUREFOY FITZGERALD. 163 Washington Road, Princeton, 14 Mar. 1972. 1L.

Typed notes of EFG’s annotations to Browning’s Dramatis Personae. [n.d., but made in or after 1893]. 1L.

Typed copies of obituaries of Mrs Fitzgerald (Mabel’s grandmother) from The Workmen’s Messenger, The Jewish Chronicle, Times, Buckingham Express, and Athenaeum. 9L.

Typed list of nineteen Robert Browning Collection books with four further titles added by hand in pencil. 2L.

Typed notes on the Browning and Barrett family histories and on G. R. Hudson’s collection of 172 Browning letters (incomplete – ends mid sentence). [n.d.]  1L.

Typed notes made from Gertrude Reese Hudson’s edition of Browning to his American Friends. [n.d.]. 1L.

Two photographs: one of the centenary of Elizabeth Barrett Browning centenary exhibition held at St Marylebone Central Public Library, May 31st-July 8th 1961. 

- Dr Claire Williams, February 2013.