Browning, Robert

This recording contains the voice of great English poet, Robert Browning (1812 - 1889). It was recorded in a dinner party given by Browning's friend the artist Rudolf Lehmann, on May 6th, 1889. Colonel Gouraud, the sales manager of Edison Talking machine, had brought with him a phonograph and each of the guests was invited to speak into it.

Robert Browning was a prolific Victorian-era poet and playwright. He is widely recognized as a master of dramatic monologue and psychological portraiture. Browning is perhaps best-known for a poem he didn’t value highly, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, a children's poem that is quite different from his other work. He is also known for his long form blank poem The Ring and the Book, the story of a Roman murder trial in 12 books.