BARRETT BROWNING, ELIZABETH. MANUSCRIPT COPY OF THE POEM "THE KINGS GIFT," SIGNED

1 page, 8vo (5 x 7 5/8 in.; 127 x 193 mm). 27 lines, black ink on paper, signed ("Elizabeth Barrett Browning"), mounted on card; minor soiling, attempts made to remove paper from card.

A lovely manuscript copy of one of Barrett Browning's last poems.  "The King's Gift" focuses on Italian themes, which is unsurprising given that Elizabeth and her husband, the poet Robert Browning—after a private marriage at St. Marylebone Parish Church, and a honeymoon in Paris—moved to Italy in 1846, and the country became their home until her death in 1861. "The King's Gift" was published posthumously in Last Poems (1862), which had been edited by Robert Browning. 

Poems in Barrett Browning's hand are rare, with only five having been offered at auction in the last century.