Casa Guidi Windows : A Poem
London: chapman & Hall, 1851. First edition, first printing. Publishers blue cloth, blind stamped and spine title in gilt, variant binding with "London" gilt at spine foot. Inked name, period pencil annotations to front and rear endpapers, mild foxing throughout, hinges split, but holding strong, cloth moderately discolored, soiled, and worn. Overall a very good minus copy. Item #235238
Written from her home in Florence during the tumultuous years of the Italian Risorgimento, Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Casa Guidi Windows is a bold and impassioned poetic meditation on nationalism, revolution, and moral responsibility. Divided into two parts—before and after the failed 1848 uprising—Browning blends personal observation with political reflection, offering a rare Victorian engagement with contemporary European affairs. Both a love letter to Italy and a critique of complacency, this long poem stands as one of the 19th century’s most intellectually ambitious and historically grounded works of political verse.
All known first printing points present: correct measure of title page and p. 88 type of 11.7cm; p. 133 running title set normally.
[Barnes, A7].
Price: $175.00