Details

Subject(s)

• English poetry—19th century [Browse]
• Women poets, English—19th century [Browse]
• Boccaccio, Giovanni [Browse]
• Polidori, Gaetano [Browse]

Creator

• Princeton University. Library. Special Collections [Browse]
• Princeton University. Library. Special Collections [Browse]
• Rossetti, Christina Georgina [Browse]
• Rossetti, Christina Georgina [Browse]

Getty AAT genre

• Poems [Browse]
• Letters [Browse]

Compiled/​Created

circa 1850-1894

Restrictions note

Collection is open for research use.

Summary note

• Consists primarily of signed autograph manuscripts--over 50 letters and 19 poems--of Christina Georgina Rossetti (1830-1894), a poet and sister of Dante Gabriel and William Michael Rossetti.
• The collection consists primarily of signed, autograph manuscripts--42 letters and 19 poems--of Rossetti. Among the sonnets, lyrics, and spiritual verses are "Autumn," "A Discovery," "A Hopeless Case (Nydia)," "My Old Friends," "Ruin," "River Thames," and "Winter, A Christmas Carol." Addressees of the letters include William Bryant, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and her brother Dante Gabriel. All of the poems and most of the letters are undated. Other Rossetti material are a receipt (signed, autograph document, 1871) given to Roberts Brothers on the sale of Poems and a memo (1860) addressed to the editor of The Cornhill Magazine. There are four letters from her sister, Maria Francesca, addressed to Edith Bevir, and one letter to Christina from Jean Ingelow. In addition, there is an essay by MacKenzie Bell entitled "Christina Rossetti: A Criticism," with letters to Bell. A significant addition is a manuscript copy (56 pp., circa 1850), in Christina"s hand, of "The Life of Giovanni Boccaccio by Gaetano Polidori," an unpublished biography written by her grandfather, Gaetano Polidori. The cover bears a signed inscription by Polidori, dated 7 December 1852, presenting the manuscript to Francesca Rossetti, his daughter and mother of Christina. Included is a note (1898) by William Michael Rossetti explaining the family history behind the manuscript.

Publications about

The following sources were consulted during preparation of biographical note: Encyclopedia Britannica Online.

Statement on responsible collection description

Princeton University Library aims to describe library materials in a manner that is respectful to the individuals and communities who create, use, and are represented in the collections we manage. Read more...