19th century British literature manuscript found in Texas

April 24th, 2010 - 3:07 am ICT by BNO News  

WACO, TEXAS (BNO NEWS) – A 19th century British hand-written manuscript was found in a Texas library, Baylor University said Friday.

A notebook written by Elizabeth Barrett Browning that contains the earliest known draft manuscript of “Sonnet Five” from her best-known work, Sonnets from the Portuguese, was found at Armstrong Browning Library at Baylor University.

In the notebook’s 100-plus pages, Elizabeth’s script, which was owned and composed by the famed poet from around 1839 to 1846, contains several works in draft form, including three previously unpublished poems, “The Gorse,” “The Repose,” and “An Ode to America.”

The notebook was transcribed by library director Rita S. Patteson, who deciphered the 170-year-old handwriting, found substantially different stanzas thought originally to be the conclusion of “An Ode to America,” but it was later proved to be a draft of one of Barrett Browning’s famous sonnets, “Sonnet Five.”

The early draft shows several words crossed out and rewritten, revealing how the sonnet began to take shape before it took its ultimate published.

Armstrong Browning Library, which opened in 1951, holds the world’s largest collection of material related to both Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning after Dr. A. J. Armstrong founded the library during his 40-year career at Baylor. He ultimately donated his personal Browning collection to Baylor in 1918.

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