BROWNING, ROBERT

born May 7, 1812, London died Dec. 12, 1889, Venice major English poet of the Victorian age, noted for his mastery of dramatic monologue and psychological portraiture. His most noted work was The Ring and the Book (186869), the story of a Roman murder trial in 12 books. Additional reading Biographies of the poet include W. Hall Griffin, The Life of Robert Browning, completed and edited by Harry Christopher Minchin, 3rd ed. rev. and enlarged (1938, reprinted 1966), now rather dated; Maisie Ward, Robert Browning and His World, 2 vol. (196769); William Irvine and Park Honan, The Book, the Ring, & the Poet (1974); John Maynard, Browning's Youth (1977), which covers the period from his infancy up to his elopement with Elizabeth Barrett; and Donald Thomas, Robert Browning: A Life Within a Life (1982). Further details of his life and work are available in Philip Kelley and Ronald Hudson (eds.), The Brownings' Correspondence (1984 ), a collection of their entire surviving correspondence, projected to be completed in 40 volumes. Works of analysis and criticism include Boyd Litzinger and Donald Smalley (eds.), Browning: The Critical Heritage (1970), presenting in chronological order the most important reviews and studies of Browning by his contemporaries; Philip Drew, The Poetry of Browning: A Critical Introduction (1970); Eleanor Cook, Browning's Lyrics: An Exploration (1974); Robert Brainard Pearsall, Robert Browning (1974), a short introduction; Clyde de L. Ryals, Browning's Later Poetry, 18711889 (1975), and Becoming Browning: The Poems and Plays of Robert Browning, 18331846 (1983); Herbert F. Tucker, Jr., Browning's Beginnings: The Art of Disclosure (1980); and Constance W. Hassett, The Elusive Self in the Poetry of Robert Browning (1982).