PREFACE.
An attempt is made in this volume to tell the story of Browning's life, including, as part of it, a notice of his books, which may be regarded as the chief of "his acts and all that he did." I have tried to keep my reader in constant contact with Browning's mind and art, and thus a sense of the growth and development of his genius ought to form itself before the close.
The materials accessible for a biography, apart from Browning's published writings, are not copious.

He destroyed many letters; many, no doubt, are in private hands.

For some parts of his life I have been able to add little to what Mrs Orr tells.

But since her biography of Browning was published a good deal of interesting matter has appeared.

The publication of "The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning" has enabled me to construct a short, close-knit narrative of the incidents that led up to Browning's marriage.