Record Number: 3865

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Letter H 49 (late November 1856) ?Mrs Brownings poem is the finest in the English language ? poem I mean ? (not drama) ? but it is a noble drama too ? ?

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

1856

Country:

Probably Britain, but the reader did travel to Europe on extended tours

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

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

John Ruskin

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

08 Feb 1819

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer and art critic

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Probably Britain, but the reader did travel to Europe on extended tours

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Title:

Aurora Leigh

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

3865

Source:

Print

Author:

John Ruskin

Editor:

Virginia Surtees

Title:

Sublime and InstructiveLetters from John Ruskin to Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford, Anna Blunden and Ellen Heaton

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1972

Vol:

n/a

Page:

194-5

Additional Comments:

From the editor?s footnote: ?Aurora Leigh had been recently published. In writing to Browning on Nov. 27th, Ruskin used nearly the same choice of words: ?I think Aurora Leigh the greatest poem in the English language? ? When lending his copy to a friend he wrote: ?I send Aurora at last. It is not marked ? no use marking ? unless one illuminated it ? line by line.?1 1(The Works of John Ruskin, Library Edition, ed. E.T. Cook and Alexander Wedderburn, 39 vols, George Allen, 1903-12, Volume 36, pp. 247-8)

Citation:

John Ruskin, Virginia Surtees (ed.), Sublime and InstructiveLetters from John Ruskin to Louisa, Marchioness of Waterford, Anna Blunden and Ellen Heaton (London, 1972), p. 194-5, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=3865, accessed: 25 April 2024

---

Additional Comments:

None