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IN RECENT YEARS Christina Rossetti's star has soared. Now,
as we have reached the centenary of her death, Rossetti
(1830-1894) is considered one of the major poets--not just
one of the major women poets--of the Victorian era. Leading
critics have demonstrated how studies of Rossetti's work,
her daily life, her relationships with the Pre-Raphaelites,
and her interactions with other women authors of the period
can help us understand the unique cultural situation of
Victorian women writers. When complete in four volumes, this
project will make available all of Rossetti's extant
letters, almost two-thirds of which have never been
published.
The letters in this second volume "expose a woman of
powerful intellect, complex emotions, unshakeable
convictions, and loving heart." Rossetti, forty-three years
old in 1874, is now an established poet with a strong
literary reputation among her contemporaries. But, as
Harrison points out in his introduction to the volume, "two
thirds of her life was over, and its losses were mounting."
The marriage of William Michael, the death of her sister,
Maria, Dante Gabriel's addiction to chloral and the illness
that led to his death in 1882, and the deaths of close
personal and family friends overshadow these years. Her own
affliction with Graves' disease contributed to her becoming
reclusive and a semi-invalid. She nonetheless continued to
work and publish.
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"At a time when the poetry of Victorian women is being
freshly evaluated, this much-needed, magisterial edition of
Christina Rossetti's letters sheds new light on the everyday
life of a writer all too often stereotyped as a recluse and
still seen by some in the shadow of her brothers. . . .
[Harrison's] sensitive grasp of Rossetti's genius
and his complete mastery of all facets of her professional
and private life are wonderfully reflected in his
introductions and annotations."--U. C. Knoepflmacher,
Princeton University
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