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"The Browning Cyclopaedia."

_SOME OPINIONS OF THE PRESS ON THE FIRST EDITION._


"Conscientious and painstaking,"--_The Times._

"Obviously a most painstaking work, and in many ways it is very well
done."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

"In many ways a serviceable book, and deserves to be widely bought."--_The
Speaker._

"A book of far-reaching research and careful industry... will make this
poet clearer, nearer, and dearer to every reader who systematically uses
his book."--_Scotsman._

"Dr. Berdoe is a safe and thoughtful guide; his work has evidently been a
labour of love, and bears many marks of patient research."--_Echo._

"Students of Browning will find it an invaluable aid."--_Graphic._

"A work suggestive of immense industry."--_Morning Post._

"Erudite and comprehensive."--_Glasgow Herald._

"As a companion to Browning's works the Cyclopaedia will be most valuable;
it is a laborious, if necessary, piece of work, conscientiously performed,
for which present and future readers and students of Browning ought to be
really grateful."--_Nottingham Daily Guardian._

"A monumental labour, and fitting company for the great compositions he
elucidates."--_Rock._

"It is very well that so patient and ubiquitous a reader as Dr. Berdoe
should have written this useful cyclopaedia, and cleared the meaning of
many a dark and doubtful passage of the poet."--_Black and White._

"It is not too much to say that Dr. Berdoe has earned the gratitude of
every reader of Browning, and has materially aided the study of English
literature in one of its ripest developments."--_British Weekly._

"Dr. Berdoe's Cyclopaedia should make all other handbooks
unnecessary."--_Star._

"We are happy to commend the volume to Browning students as the most
ambitious and useful in its class yet executed."--_Notes and Queries._

"A most learned and creditable piece of work. Not a difficulty is
shirked."--_Vanity Fair._

"A monument of industry and devotion. It has really faced difficulties, it
is conveniently arranged, and is well printed and bound."--_Bookman._

"A wonderful help."--_Gentlewoman._

"Can be strongly recommended as one for a favourite corner in one's
library."--_Whitehall Review._

"Exceedingly well done; its interest and usefulness, we think, may pass
without question."--_Publishers' Circular._

"In a singularly industrious and exhaustive manner he has set himself to
make clear the obscure and to accentuate the beautiful in Robert
Browning's poem... must have involved infinite labour and research. It
cannot be doubted that the book will be widely sought for and warmly
appreciated."--_Daily Telegraph._

"Dr. Berdoe tackles every allusion, every proper name, every phase of
thought, besides giving a most elaborate analysis of each poem. He has
produced what we might almost call a monumental work."--_Literary
Opinion._

"This cyclopaedia may certainly claim to be by a long way the most
efficient aid to the study of Browning that has been published, or is
likely to be published.... Lovers of Browning will prize it highly, and
all who wish to understand him will consult it with advantage."--_Baptist
Magazine._

"The work has evidently been one of love, and we doubt whether any one
could have been found better qualified to undertake it."--_Cambridge
Review._

"All readers of Browning will feel indebted to Dr. Berdoe for his
interesting accounts of the historical facts on which many of the dramas
are based, and also for his learned dissertations on 'The Ring and the
Book' and 'Sordello.'"--_British Medical Journal._

"The work is so well done that no one is likely to think of doing it over
again."--_The Critic_ (New York).

"This work reflects the greatest credit on Dr. Berdoe and on the Browning
Society, of which he is so distinguished a member,--it is simply
invaluable."--_The Hawk._

"The Cyclopaedia has at any rate brought his (Browning's) best work well
within the compass of all serious readers of intelligence--Browning made
easy."--_The Month._




THE BROWNING CYCLOPAEDIA.




By the Same Author.


=BROWNING'S MESSAGE TO HIS TIME. His Religion, Philosophy, and Science.=
With Portrait and Facsimile Letters. Second edition, price 2_s._ 6_d._


_OPINIONS OF THE PRESS._

"Full of admiration and sympathy."--_Saturday Review._

"Much that is helpful and suggestive."--_Scotsman._

"Should have a wide circulation, it is interesting and
stimulative."--_Literary World._

"It is the work of one who, having gained good himself, has made it his
endeavour to bring the same good within the reach of others, and, as such,
it deserves success."--_Cambridge Review._

"We have no hesitation in strongly recommending this little volume to any
who desire to understand the moral and mental attitude of Robert
Browning.... We are much obliged to Dr. Berdoe for his volume."--_Oxford
University Herald._

"Cannot fail to be of assistance to new readers."--_Morning Post._

"The work of a faithful and enthusiastic student is here."--_Nation._




    THE BROWNING CYCLOPAEDIA

    _A GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF THE WORKS_
    OF ROBERT BROWNING

    WITH
    Copious Explanatory Notes and References
    on all Difficult Passages


    BY EDWARD BERDOE

    LICENTIATE OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, EDINBURGH; MEMBER OF
    THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS, ENGLAND, ETC., ETC.

    _Author of "Browning's Message to his Time," "Browning as a Scientific
    Poet," etc., etc._


    LONDON: SWAN SONNENSCHEIN & CO. LTD.
    NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
    1897




    FIRST EDITION, _December, 1891_.
    SECOND EDITION, _March, 1892_.
    THIRD EDITION (Revised), _September, 1897_.




    I gratefully Dedicate these pages
    TO DR. F. J. FURNIVALL
    AND MISS E. H. HICKEY,
    THE FOUNDERS OF
    THE BROWNING SOCIETY.




PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.


The demand for a second edition of this work within three months of its
publication is a sufficient proof that such a book meets a want,
notwithstanding the many previous attempts of a more or less partial
character which have been made to explain Browning to "the general." With
the exception of certain superfine reviewers, to whom nothing is
obscure--except such things as they are asked to explain without previous
notice--every one admits that Browning requires more or less elucidation.
It is said by some that I have explained too much, but this might be said
of most commentaries, and certainly of every dictionary. It is difficult
to know precisely where to draw the line. If I am not to explain (say for
lady readers) what is meant by the phrase "_De te fabula narratur_," I
know not why any of the classical quotations should be translated. If
Browning is hard to understand, it must be on account of the obscurity of
his language, of his thought, or the purport of his verses; very often the
objection is made that the difficulty applies to all these. I have not
written for the "learned," but for the people at large. _The Manchester
Guardian_, in a kindly notice of my book, says "the error and marvel of
his book is the supposition that any <DW36> who can only be crutched by
it into an understanding of Browning will ever understand Browning at
all." There are many readers, however, who understand Browning a little,
and I hope that this book will enable them to understand him a great deal
more: though all <DW36>s cannot be turned into athletes, some undeveloped
persons may be helped to achieve feats of strength.

A word concerning my critics. No one can do me a greater service than by
pointing out mistakes and omissions in this work. I cannot hope to please
everybody, but I will do my best to make future editions