Saturday, June 17, 2006

FLORENTINE LAURELS FOR ENGLAND'S ALMOST POET LAUREATE


On Monday 3 July 2006 the City of Florence will give two laurel wreaths, one to put on the Barrett Brownings' Casa Guidi in via Maggio, the other that they will formally lay on Elizabeth Barrett Browning's newly and beautifully restored tomb by Lord Leighton here in this Swiss-owned so-called 'English' Cemetery.



We invite you to come to the 'English' Cemetery for this ceremony at 6:00 p.m. In this way we pay honour to the great poetess, remembering her in the 200th year of her birth.

Then, on 5 July, at the Harold Acton Library of the British Institute on Lungarno Giucciardini, 9, we shall be reading Elizabeth Barrett Browning's Casa Guidi Windows from 3:00 p.m. to 5: p.m., followed by a visit to Casa Guidi in Via Maggio, Piazza San Felice, where it was written;



then, at 6:00 p.m., a lecture by myself on 'An Old Yellow Book: The Documents in the Case, The Death and Burial of Elizabeth Barrett Browning'. Again, all are welcome.

We invite you to adopt a tomb, research it, seek funds for its restoration, create a garden for it. We seek lavender, rosemary, oleanders, myrtles, irises, daffodils and roses to plant on the tombs. We invite you to share in our gardening, dead-heading the roses, making pot-pourri, having time for contemplation amongst the tombs and the books of this cemetery, this library.

We are now at 1165 signatures on the web at http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/471134975,
'That the Swiss-owned, so-called 'English' Cemetery in Florence be kept open, be restored and be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site', and with 1004 signatures in-house from our visitors, for a total of 2169 signatures. We have decided to keep them coming.

If you wish to donate to the Aureo Anello Association for the restoration of the 'English' Cemetery you can do so by a cheque made out to 'Aureo Anello' and posted to 'English' Cemetery, Piazzale Donatello 38, 50132 Florence, Italy; or through the Pay Pal 'Donate' button below, which can also be used for the CDs, hand-bound limited edition books and sculptures of Elizabeth and Robert's 'Clasped Hands':