Record Number: 7748

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I confess my surprise at your considering Miss Edgeworth & Miss Austen mistresses in pathos ? when the fault of both those excellent writers appears to me (if indeed that can be a fault which is so closely allied to the peculiarity of their excellencies) a defect in passion altogether, through their habit of considering life & humanity on the cold conventional side. "Persuasion", to be sure, has touching passages ? and Miss Edgeworth permits you to see, not unfrequently, that she can feel as well as teach, though she chooses to teach. I hope I do not ungratefully misprize the writings of Miss Edgeworth ? it wd be rank ingratitude if I did. They are excellent & admirable ? but I cannot say, poetical & passionate. The depths of the heart & the heights of Heaven have no part or lot in them ? and pastoral Nature is as utterly shut out. Still, after their kind, they are excellent; and I too shd be one-sided if I could not honor them aright [?] Woe be to me, if I pretended to misprize Miss Edgeworth!'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Until: 8 Mar 1843

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Elizabeth Barrett

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

6 Mar 1806

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Poet

Religion:

Evangelical Anglican

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

Also known as Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Mrs Robert Browning

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Maria Edgeworth

Title:

unknown

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

7748

Source:

Print

Author:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Editor:

Meredith B. Raymond

Title:

The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Mary Russell Mitford 1836-1854

Place of Publication:

Armstrong Browning Library of Baylor University, The Browning Institute, Wedgestone Press and Wellesley College

Date of Publication:

1983

Vol:

2

Page:

185

Additional Comments:

Second editor is Mary Rose Sullivan Letter from Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Mary Russell Mitford, 8 Mar 1843

Citation:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Meredith B. Raymond (ed.), The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Mary Russell Mitford 1836-1854, (Armstrong Browning Library of Baylor University, The Browning Institute, Wedgestone Press and Wellesley College, 1983), 2, p. 185, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=7748, accessed: 13 March 2025

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Additional Comments:

None