[Kenyon, J.]
Rhymed Plea for Tolerance. In Two Dialogues with a Prefatory Dialogue.
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Seller ID: 1843 London: Moxom, 1823. First edition (pp. xi, 149). Duodecimo (18 cm) in red half leather over marbled boards, five raised bands, gilt titles to spine; marbled endpapers, ribbon place marker. "A seasoned traveller and a lion of London society, [John] Kenyon (1774- 1856) made his home a mecca for the intelligentsia and for foreign travellers, especially Americans. Several names suggest the scope of his guest list: Charles Babbage, Charles Dickens, Benjamin Haydon, Charles Macready, Sir Anthony Panizzi, Bryan Procter, and Henry Crabb Robinson. A close friend of Elizabeth Barrett, his distant cousin, and of Robert Browning, Kenyon was influential in igniting their famous correspondence and courtship and supported their marriage. To Kenyon, Browning dedicated his Dramatic Romances and Lyrics. Failing to procure for Kenyon a copy of the picture of Andrea del Sarto and his Wife in the Pitti Palace, Browning wrote and sent to him from Florence the poem 'Andrea del Sarto'. When the Brownings visited England, Kenyon offered them his home and there in 1856 Elizabeth Barrett Browning finished 'Aurora Leigh' and dedicated it to Kenyon in grateful remembrance of a friendship 'far beyond the common uses of mere relationship and sympathy of mind' "(ODNB). As well, Kenyon was a familiar of the American literatti of the day and counted Emerson, Longfellow, Webster, and Lowell among his friends. Kenyon's choice of an anachronistic medium, rhymed verse, for the elucidation of his ethical and religious vews not withstanding, A Rhymed Plea for Tolerance, stands as an expression of the generous and open mind on the questions of the day for which he was noted. Tips worn; otherwise a fine copy. Price: $100.00 
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