The Browning Collections
Search Help for Browning Collections
The search fields are not case-sensitive, and they require no punctuation except periods with initials. Diacritical marks and ligatures should be entered as plain text: André as Andre; Athenæum as Athenaeum.
Date: Enter dates in the form of YYYYMMDD. Searches can also be made by year only (YYYY) and year and month only (YYYYMM). To create a range of dates fill in the fields both to the left and the right of the hyphen. Entering 1855 - 18550215 returns all entries from the start of 1855 through 15 February 1855. Entering 1855 - 1855 returns all entries with an 1855 date. The Date field applies to publications and only returns entries in the A, B, C, and M sections. To search for dates within inscriptions and on manuscripts, see Description below.
Name: Search this field for authors, editors, compilers, illustrators, etc. Enter surnames and given names in any order: Smith George and George Smith generate the same results. Entering Smith alone returns all Smiths. Entering George alone returns all Georges. A surname or given name that constitutes part of a longer name returns the longer name as well. The more words that are entered, the narrower the search results. The Brownings: For Elizabeth Barrett Browning, EBB or any combination of Browning, E.B. with or without the comma, and with one initial or both, will return all of her entries. For Robert Browning, RB or any combination of Browning, R. with or without the comma will return all of his entries. Remember to include periods with initals. To see a list of names click on the List button to the right of the Name field. To save typing, a name can be dragged and dropped from the list into the Name field.
Role: Click on the drop-down button to search by Author, Editor, Compiler, Illustrator, etc. Leaving the field blank returns all.
Title: Entering words in any order will return all titles containing those words (and forms of them). Entering love returns all titles containing “love”; this includes “Life and Love,” as well as “Loved One” and “A Lover’s Quarrel.” The more words that are entered, the narrower the search results. In the D and E sections, the Title field also includes a poem’s first line in addition to or in place of the title. In the search suggested above, love returns “Ah, Love, but a day,” as well as “My lovely dame! I see.”
Description: As in the Name and Title fields, entering words in any order will return all descriptions containing those words (and forms of them). The Description includes inscriptions, editorial comments, publication details, provenance, and cross-references to other entries. Many of the inscriptions and manuscripts contain significant dates. To see all such entries for the year 1845, simply enter 1845 in the field.
Entry Number: All entries are preceded by a number with a section letter prefix. This field is useful for tracing cross-references; enter the number as it appears. Entering only the letter prefix returns all entries in that section.
Current Location: Enter the form of the cue title found in the Current Locations list. To save typing, a cue title can be dragged and dropped from the list into the Current Location field.
Section: To search through one section only, select an option from the drop-down list. Leaving the field blank returns all.
Sorted by: When only one field is filled, the sort order defaults to Entry Number order except in the case of Date, Title, Name (which default to their own orders), and Role (which defaults to Name order). When more than one field has been filled, the sort order defaults to Entry Number order. To change a search result sort order, select an option from the drop-down list.