This volume in the 21st Century Oxford Authors series offers students and readers a comprehensive selection of the work of the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861). Accompanied by full scholarly apparatus, this authoritative edition enables students to study Barrett Browning's work within the rich context of her life and writing career. The revaluation of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's work by feminist scholars has made her an established author in university syllabuses in Britain and in America. Yet the reception of Barrett Browning as a writer within an explicitly female tradition has tended to limit the appreciation of her wider contribution to English literary culture in the nineteenth century, just as her popular image as a ringleted romantic heroine served sentimentally to eclipse her role as a literary pioneer. This edition complements or corrects these emphases by being the first edition dedicated to witnessing the progress and growth of the poet's creative direction--from her juvenilia through to her major achievements and beyond. The selection of works presented here appear in the order in which they were originally published, enabling students and readers to experience the contours of Barrett Browning's poetic career. Thus, following selections from published juvenilia, The Battle of Marathon (1820) and 'An Essay on Mind' and Other Poems (1826) and from 'Prometheus Bound' and Miscellaneous Poems (1833), there are more extensive selections from 'The Seraphim' and Other Poems (1838), from Poems 1844 and from Poems 1850 including the full text of Sonnets from the Portuguese. Substantial excerpts from Casa Guidi Windows (1851) is followed by the full text of Aurora Leigh (1857) and by selections from the posthumous Last Poems (1862). These individual sections are supplemented by careful selections (also chronologically ordered) from the correspondence, including the courtship letters with Robert Browning, and, where applicable, from poetry unpublished in the nineteenth century. Explanatory notes and commentary are included, to enhance the study, understanding, and enjoyment of these works, and the edition includes an Introduction to the life and works of Barrett Browning, and a Chronology. "There are a number of strengths to the volume, particularly in relation to teaching. The opening piece is a spirited essay by the fourteen-year-old Barrett, which is an excellent introduction to the precocious and vivacious young poet (again helping to counteract her somewhat mournful image)...there is a useful selection of letters providing a measure of context for Barrett Browning's poetry...manuscripts...may be useful in engaging students' interest in manuscripts and could be used to point them towards more comprehensive manuscript resources, such as the Armstrong Browning Library's digi- tal collection of the Browning letters. The prefaces and dedications are included, which reveal how Barrett Browning works to position herself as a poet in relation to the public. These are particularly interesting in relation to qualities which were supposed to characterize the poetess, such as modesty." --Clara Dawson, Notes and Queries "This volume is a comprehensive new edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry that will prove indispensable for students and established scholars alike. The book provides a thorough summary of Barrett Browning's literary achievements, together with useful biographical details. The edition is balanced in the sense that space and attention are given to Barrett Browning's early work and juvenilia...this valuable edition also offers a broad view of her literary achievements, enabling us to perceive how her poetic skill and thematic concerns developed from the earliest stages of her career, through her marriage to Robert Browning, up until her death in 1861...This volume is certain to enrich scholarship on Barrett Browning by offering an expanded view of the career and concerns of this truly great Victorian poet." --Sarah Parker, The Modern Language Review "This volume is a comprehensive new edition of Elizabeth Barrett Browning's poetry that will prove indispensable for students and established scholars alike. The book provides a thorough summary of Barrett Browning's literary achievements, together with useful biographical details. The edition is balanced in the sense that space and attention are given to Barrett Browning's early work and juvenilia...this valuable edition also offers a broad view of her literary achievements, enabling us to perceive how her poetic skill and thematic concerns developed from the earliest stages of her career, through her marriage to Robert Browning, up until her death in 1861...This volume is certain to enrich scholarship on Barrett Browning by offering an expanded view of the career and concerns of this truly great Victorian poet." --Sarah Parker, The Modern Language Review Josie Billington, Deputy Director, Centre for Research i