The Age of Imperialism reached its peak in the late nineteenth century. The British Empire was the foremost colonial power, and the keystone was India. However, even at its peak, the British Raj was beset by internal rivalries and fears of external threats. In 1875, British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli chose as viceroy Lord Robert Bulwer-Lytton, diplomat and poet, the son of an old friend, but someone with no Indian experience. Lytton accepted reluctantly—and never enjoyed it. He was under the thumb of the Secretary of State for India, the shrewd and ambitious Third Marquess of Salisbury, during most of his four years in India. During his viceroyalty, Lytton had to deal with shifting British policies, a major famine, the freedom-loving people of Afghanistan, an entrenched civil service, and a rising generation of patriotic Indians. In the 1880 elections, Disraeli’s Conservatives were defeated by Gladstone’s Liberals, and Lytton resigned.

The Colbeck collection was formed over half a century ago by the Bournemouth bookseller Norman Colbeck. Focusing primarily on British essayists and poets of the nineteenth century from the Romantic Movement through the Edwardian era, the collection features nearly 500 authors and lists over 13,000 works. Entries are alphabetically arranged by author with copious notes on the condition and binding of each copy. Nine appendices provide listings of selected periodicals, series publications, anthologies, yearbooks, and topical works.

Robert Browning's friendship for Isabella Blagden was almost as remarkable as was his love for Elizabeth Barrett. After Elizabeth's death (June 1861), Browning went to England to educate their son, but he hoped eventually to return to Italy, principally so that he might be near his friend "Isa." He asked her to write to him once a month on the twelfth, promising to answer her letter on the nineteenth. The fulfillment of this obligation resulted in a correspondence which is remarkable from the standpoint of continuity. Most collections of letters suffer from their fragmentary form; there are no continuing threads of interest which hold them together. Not so the letters which Browning wrote to Miss Blagden. They are not in the great English letter writing tradition, being obviously written for Isa rather than for posterity, but they are filled with the most intimate and interesting sort of gossip and informal exchanges of ideas which give them a character all their own. One hundred and fifty-four letters from Browning to Isabella Blagden are known to be in existence; all of them are included in the present volume, together with copious explanatory notes and an illuminating introduction. Edward C. McAleer has approached every detail of his editorial task with thoroughness, imagination, and skill. His notes will add immeasurably to the pleasure of reading the letters, in addition to making a substantial contribution to the world's knowledge of Browning and his associates.