Bells and Pomegranates. Parts I - VIII

Bells and Pomegranates is the covering title for a series of plays and short dramatic poems published by Robert Browning between 1841 and 1846. The eight pamphlets comprise Pippa Passes (1841), King Victor and King Charles (1842), Dramatic Lyrics (1842), The Return of the Druses (1843), A Blot in the ‘Scutcheon (1843), Colombe's Birthday (1844), Dramatic Romances and Lyrics (1845), Luria (1846), and A Soul's Tragedy (1846). Modestly priced, they were intended to make his work available to a large audience at a time when a book was a luxury item. Cheap paperbacks were limited to reprints and penny dreadfuls, and the break with tradition was noted by several reviewers.

The series contains some of Browning's best-known work from his early career, including The Pied Piper of Hamelin (No. III) and How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix (No. VII). The seventh pamphlet had a lasting effect on Browning’s life after it won the admiration of Elizabeth Barrett, whose praise in verse began a correspondence that turned into one of the most famous marriages of the Victorian era.

This collection of pamphlets, each in its first edition, holds particular significance. Three of the booklets are inscribed to Reuben Browning, a clerk at Rothschild’s Bank and the poet’s favorite uncle. Sets seldom have more than two presentation numbers. The Buxton Forman-Pforzheimer copy had three presentation numbers but not all to the same recipient.

The first volume is signed with the name "Henry Morley," likely the editor and critic who corresponded with Browning and who contributed to Charles Dickens' Household Words and All the Year Round. A remarkable set in its original wraps. First editions of the fifth part are very rare, and three presentation copies together are extraordinarily scarce.