A remarkable collection of love letters written by John Keats to Fanny Brawne will go on view at Sotheby’s before auction this June. Written during the final years of Keats’s life, the letters reveal the emotional intensity, vulnerability, and literary brilliance behind some of the greatest poetry in the English language — including the period surrounding works like “Bright Star” and the great odes of 1819.
Lost for decades after being stolen from the Whitney family estate and only recently recovered, these deeply personal manuscripts represent the most significant group of Keats letters to come to market since 1885. From declarations of overwhelming love to reflections on illness, mortality, and artistic legacy, the letters offer an extraordinary window into the mind of one of Romanticism’s most celebrated poets.
