Love is Eternal.... when it is digitized

"How do I love thee? Let me count the ways." 573

On February 14, 2012, Baylor University and Wellesley College unveiled their own "labor of love" by publishing online a digital collection of 573 handwritten courtship letters from Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Robert Browning.? The love letters were written almost daily by the two poets during their courtship from January 1845 to September 1846. The Browning Letters Project?is also home?to 842 other letters written by or to the Brownings that have been digitized from the more than 2,800 letters stored at Baylor’s Armstrong Browning Library. After 10 years, the Project is still expanding their collection by partnering with other libraries to digitize their collections so that these magnificent works are made widely available to all.

My love of Victorian poetry first attracted me to this site in 2012 but it is the continued collaboration and growth of this digital transformation project that has intrigued me over the years. I am so thankful that I can access these letters with a click of a button instead of having to travel to multiple campuses to view or access research materials. Each partnership and collaboration brings unparalleled access to view the actual letters with their creases, ink smudges, crossouts, and most importantly, their heartfelt testament to enduring love.

As much as I love the ease and availability of the online library, I must confess that I still visit the Armstrong Browning Library so I can read under the glow of the stained-glass windows in one of the most architecturally stunning libraries of all time.