Poems Before Congress
- London: Chapman and Hall, 1860
London: Chapman and Hall, 1860. First Edition. Second impression, with the space after "different" on p.25. Octavo (20cm). Original red cloth, stamped in blind and titled in gilt; brown coated endpapers; viii, [2], 65, [3], 32pp; page listing Browning's works at rear, followed by 32-page publisher's catalogue dated February 1860. Straight and tight, spine darkened, spots of foxing to endpapers: Very Good.
Most of the collection deals with Italian politics. The book "provoked an outcry in England because reviewed assumed the thundering concluding poem, 'A Curse for a Nation', was the poet's curse on her own country (in fact, it was an anti-slavery poem first published in the 1856 issue of the abolitionist annual The Liberty Bell, as a curse on America)" (ODNB). BARNES A12.
Most of the collection deals with Italian politics. The book "provoked an outcry in England because reviewed assumed the thundering concluding poem, 'A Curse for a Nation', was the poet's curse on her own country (in fact, it was an anti-slavery poem first published in the 1856 issue of the abolitionist annual The Liberty Bell, as a curse on America)" (ODNB). BARNES A12.