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EXHIBITIONS

Free and open to the public
Monday through Friday: 9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Saturday: 10:00 am - 2:00 pm

The Armstrong Browning Library prepares two or three major exhibitions each year, drawn from its own collections of letters, manuscripts, books from the Brownings' personal library, and other rare materials housed in the Library.



Current Exhibitions

Opening February 12, 2009 and closing August 22, 2009

ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING
Her Diminutive Presence

Hankamer Treasure Room

George Stillman Hillard, a Boston travel author visiting in Florence, made these comments after meeting Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning in 1847:

Mrs. Browning is in many respects the correlative of her husband. As he is full of manly power, so she is a type of the most sensitive and delicate womanhood. She has been a great sufferer from ill health, and the marks of pain are stamped upon her person and manner. Her figure is slight, her countenance expressive of genius and sensibility, shaded by a veil of long brown locks, and her tremulous voice often flutters over her words, like the flame of a dying candle over the wick. I have never seen a human frame which seemed so nearly a transparent veil for a celestial and immortal spirit. . . . A union so complete as theirs--in which the mind has nothing to crave nor the heart to sign for--is cordial to behold and soothing to remember.

Study the items in this exhibit and become aware of the petite size of Elizabeth Barrett Browning. See the bronze sculpture of her frail hand clasped in the palm of her husband's, the tiny mitts she wore, her personal teapot, the miniature books she cherished, her fragile handwriting illustrated by her famous "How Do I Love Thee?" (Sonnet 43, Sonnets from the Portuguese)--along with the pencil and ink well she used to produce her poetry--all these things give emphasis to her diminutive presence.

Continuing Exhibitions

BROWNINGIANA
A sampling of memorabilia concerning the Brownings, their families, and closest friends is exhibited in the John Leddy-Jones Research Hall and the Hankamer Treasure Room. The display of these personal items adds a third dimension to the study of the Brownings' lives and works.

THE UNFORGETTABLE PROFESSOR ARMSTRONG
Memorable events in the life of the great founder of the Armstong Browning Library, A. J. Armstrong, are featured in this exhibit of photographs and memorabilia.

ROBERT BROWNING PORTRAIT GALLERY
The third-floor hallway is lined with 31 reproductions of paintings and photographs of Robert Browning from his early manhood through later likenesses of 1889.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS IN THE ABL GENERAL COLLECTION
A selection of current, non-rare books recently added to the collection indicates the depth of research materials available in the Armstrong Browning Library.