New-York tribune., 1909-01-31
ruRISTIN4 ROSSETTI.
are of a Modest Figure an
Minor English Terse.

iStieIs, S15ossefTi nhlstrSt ted SVo, PIP xNli
4 y. s.eAiccih Charles serfbner's Sons
1 ,,:or, Rossetti is probably the most
1 II. 80 IN the annals Of literature. His
hoDs Cor him. historic. 1t is difficult to
ftanie inst how many books he has made
& So oh,.;oct oh-- of Dante Rossetu and his circle
4 8 tse $40. -,,rer is ali out of proportion TO the
4 s5i ln' ss.s,ce of that subject We are not
"a - AsI+ :, matters This activity of Mr. Will
H1e ~.,,t;'s has come TO possess a kind OF
s ID hO.-. -..,,stion. You cannot but read him.
,=s,,r guest he beat his breast.
TnF ez9not choose but hear
s.iu. Won listen. like three years
3 fee - tbis fraternal narrator hath his
1lS .,st have taken something like genius
4sL -, collection Of Christina Rossetti's
Pu' -,,,,o epistles together. They are fam
\ iolo :. ,be rarrowest sense Of the term
( F''e communications. touching lightly on
Il -. matters # fact, which a sister
b-ar1er. and which the latter ordi-
-'~ .u.-,ve as he would destroy a postal
| -,,;rr him that dinner viii be ready at
- T2ur M Rossetti annotates them
4 -sf,io,,s gravity. has them printed in ad-
..r1s and puts them into = stout bind
The thing is sublime
: ina Rossetti did not deserve TO be
this wav. Auuding, in one OF her let
-to world frequeuted by her brother, a
d s.sr-ibes as beautiful. delightful,
5 -s-,orahla' she goes on TO say that Il
-,u content n my shady Crevice-' II
: esi5 n ali courtesy and even in tender
z 1T shady creyiee in life was the one
Il .u,s,t for which she was precisely fitted.
lis ,--r.,f Thought 50 Speaking Of this crevice
-7-9 4 tsTl5 5fs he d.
= beinc 10 my certain knowledge the
al .ss;o-,ed ne and. she continues, in my
have nv small interests and small
O. = There is Christina RosSetti painted
- rte She was minor person doing minor
1E uttering q small strain Of delicate song,
va ing kindness 10 those about her, and receiv-
aT ,-rf due rnodesty the public or private ap-
Isl s.,a. won by her literary performances.
eIa had an. afectionate disposition. She must
'ora beep very gentle creature, and, in her
hi xsv. coupanionaHle- Such humor as she
lira ssas comes out in her letters IN mild little
-z- q have discovered charming fact
a02 v-tes in q note TO an amusing Russo
@geS q vii the Chinese have three words sig
l. death. SO % for the vulgar, pdHg for
Emperor, hut for The princes and such like,
E. ! an 50 pleased The reader is
--Esd contrast 10 that which prevails
1u-hcut the bulk Il her correspondence.
rsor ;ok herself. Il is T. be feared. rather too
1f a es.r Elsewhere her brother has told US
dis vas through some moral scrupulosity
-; - i ts gave Up tie theatre while she was still
ND teens. never reye-tlne 10 Il. We cannot
4 ap Vi The seasitiyeness which is indicated in a
Ehc # William Bell Seotts: Gabriel writes
a3o-I -t he mas done the best he has Yet accom-
nam ~ Il the Eden Bower and that il drove
ythl z an5 Christina ont of the room But II
-ese ply that she had not a broader temper
ebr, II more elastic way with her. Lady
kn03 n Jones speaks Of her as being gently
ze q tongue Pe-haIs # she had breathed
y y -g1 III. # she had been less self-centred.
- TT might never have appeared.
al as NJ. R0ssett makes no bones about al
T. 70 The matrimonial possibilities in his
SIDE ess a2Feer, one may be hardened for Won
In II L marriage would not perhaps have
"a "a L be- richer and broader development.
he mi rzusd James Collinson. the p-e-RaphaeIite
e 50v IL, teCaGse she shrank from marrying a
est Il Catholic Her brother records that she
: - OEe With Cayley, the translator Of Dante,
he rl2 Il Il I-oposal too, was rejected 'on some re
1ly Ia ground She seems 10 have lived to
ed 70 saE rar her family md a. irvaIf1isrr7
.ed-t II 80, 80
ing il -S- U n7I' 70 nave oelacLleo heTseh more
udde noe from ordinary mundane interests. 1t
the ar Ets difficult to make her ont h7,t i,ldging
erthu ~ -. = - - - =, ,.e--
The y .ls . Wei q -'oil tll'se letters
ne % ---Ses uat she F4s IN emotional rather
II Bud L Intellectual type. The letters give Us
III deS s-eifDg g1irnrsee IF r. -es47re ..T have
iation s-sa.s
May 1-ee 'o---'i-S q AIaF!D'IousnS
I'd iUb 3 shd correspondence," she says, ''noIni
hocht Bslhas, but involving much Duke; the