Publisher's Synopsis
Fanny Brawne was the fiancee of the English Romantic poet John Keats. The couple first met as neighbours in Hampstead in 1818 at the beginning of his brief period of intense creative activity, and she was soon to become his muse. They were secretly engaged in October 1819 but when Keats discovered he was suffering fron tuberculosis his condition limited their opportunities to meet, although their correspondence reveals their passionate devotion. In September 1820 he left for the warmer climate of Rome, with Fanny's mother agreeing to their marriage on his return, but he died there in February 1821 aged 25. Fanny came out of mourning in 1827 and in 1833, following the deaths of her brother and mother, moved to Boulogne where she met and married Louis Lindo with whom she had three children. In 1865 Fanny told her children about her time with Keats and entrusted to them the relics of her romance, including the letters Keats had written to her. After the deaths of both parents, the children decided to publish these letters in book form before auctioning them. The book was first published in 1878, edited and with an introduction by prominent literary figure and bibliographer Harry Buxton Forman, and aroused much interest in both England and America. The letters were sold in March 1885 for £543 17s.
