Table of Contents
Introduction xv
Refined Love
Alexander Pope to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu 3
Samuel Johnson to Mrs. Thrale 5
Robert Burns to Ellison Begbie 7
Horace Walpole to the Two Misses Berry 9
Mary Wollstonecraft to Captain Gilbert Imlay 11
Maria Branwell to Patrick Brontë 12
Elizabeth B. Barrett to Robert Browning 13
Unrequited Love
Mary Queen of Scots to the Earl of Bothwell 21
Henry of Navarre to Henrietta D'Entragues 24
Marianna L'Aicaforada to Noel Bouton de Chamilly 24
Lady Mary Pierrepont to Edward Wortley Montagu 26
Alexander Pope to Teresa Blount 27
Lord Peterborough to Henrietta Howard 29
Samuel Johnson to Mrs. Thrale 31
George IV to Margaritta Rtzherbert 32
Mary Wollstonecraft to Captain Gilbert Imlay 33
Claire Clairmont to Lord Byron 34
Victor Hugo to Adèle Foucher 35
Prosper Mérimée to "Unknown" 41
Playful Love
George Farquhar to "Penelope" Oldfield 45
George Farquhar to "Penelope" Oldfield 46
Richard Steele to Mary Scurlock 48
Jonathan Swift to "Stella" (Esther Johnson) 49
Henrietta Howard to Lord Peterborough 50
Laurence Sterne to Lady P. 52
Robert Burns (Sylvander) to Mrs. Agnes McLehose (Clarinda) 54
Horace Walpole to the Two Misses Berry 55
Lord Nelson to Lady Emma Hamilton 56
Daniel Webster to Josephine Seaton 56
Reverential Love
Margery Brews to John Paston 61
Richard Calle to Margery Paston 62
Margaret of Valois to James, Lord of Chanvallon 66
Olivet Cromwell to His Wife, Elizabeth 68
Friedrich Klopstock to Meta Möller 68
Robert Burns to Ellison Begbie 69
Madame Charles (Julie Bouchaud de Hérettes) to Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine 71
Robert Browning to Elizabeth B. Barrett 74
Adoring Love
Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn 79
Margaret of Valois to James, Lord of Chanvallon 80
Henry of Navarre to Gabriella D'Estrées 82
Endymion Porter to His Wife, Olive 82
William Congreve to Mrs. Arabella Hunt 83
Lord Peterborough to Henrietta Howard 85
Dennis Diderot to Sophie Volland 86
Marquis de Lafayette to His Wife, Madame de Lafayette 87
Robert Burns to Ellison Begbie 89
Friedrich von Schiller to Charlotte von Lengenfeld 92
Napoleon Bonaparte to His Wife, Josephine 94
Ludwig van Beethoven to "Immortal Beloved" (Countess Theresa von Brunswick) 94
Bettina Brentano to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 96
Lord Byron to the Countess Guccioli 97
Edward Bulwer Lytton to Rosina Wheeler 99
Helmuth von Moltka to Mary Burt 103
Heinrich Heine to the "Fly" (Elise Krinitz) 107
Edgar Allan Poe to Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman 108
Claire to Victor Hugo 112
Married Love
Anne Winthrop to Her Husband, Adam Winthrop 117
Sir Walter Raleigh to His Wife, Lady Raleigh 118
Richard Steele to His Wife, Mary 119
Marquis de Lafayette to His Wife, Madame de Lafayette 123
Madame de Favras to Marquis de Favras 124
Lord Nelson to Lady Emma Hamilton 125
Leigh Hunt to His Betrothed, Marienne 126
Victor Hugo to Adèle Foucher 128
Helmuth von Moltke to Mary Burt 129
Nathaniel Hawthorne to His Wife, Sophia 130
Mark Twain (Samuel Langhorne Clemens) to His Wife, Livy 132
Loving Couples
Heloïse to Abelard 137
Abelard to Heloïse 139
Heloïse to Abelard 140
Abelard to Heloïse 143
Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn 145
Anne Boleyn to Henry VIII 146
Margaret of Valois to James, Lord of Chanvallon 148
James, Lord of Chanvallon, to Margaret of Valois 149
John Winthrop to Margaret Tyndal 150
Margaret Winthrop (née Margaret Tyndal) to John Winthrop 154
Charles I to Henrietta Maria 155
Henrietta Maria to Charles I 156
Count Königsmarck to Sophia Dorothea 158
Sophia Dorothea to Count Königsmarck 159
Hester Vanhomrigh to Jonathan Swift 161
Jonathan Swift to Hester Vanhomrigh 162
Lord Peterborough to Henrietta Howard 163
Henrietta Howard to Lord Peterborough 164
Lord Peterborough to Henrietta Howard 166
Henrietta Howard to Lord Peterborough 168
Margaritta Fitzherbert to George IV 170
George IV to Margaritta Fitzherbert 171
Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland, to Lady Grosvenor 173
Lady Grosvenor to Henry Frederick, Duke of Cumberland 175
Caroline von Linsingen to William IV 177
William IV to Caroline von Linsingen 179
Lady Caroline Lamb to Lord Byron 180
Lord Byron to Lady Caroline Lamb 182
Robert Browning to Elizabeth B. Barrett 184
Elizabeth B. Barrett to Robert Browning 186
Long-Distance Love
Henry VIII to Anne Boleyn 193
Katherine Parr to Henry VIII 194
Henry of Navarre to Corisande D'Andouins 196
Kate, Duchess of Buckingham, to Her Husband, George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham 196
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, to Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough 198
David Hume to Madame de Boufflers 198
Marquis de Lafayette to His Wife, Madame de Lafayette 200
Portia Adams to Her Husband, John Adams 201
Aaron Burr to His Wife, Theodosia 203
Mary Wollstonecraft to Captain Gilbert Imlay 205
Napoleon Bonaparte to His Wife, Josephine 206
Percy Shelley to Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin 209
Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin to Percy Shelley 210
Helmuth von Moltke to Mary Burt 210
Mad Love
Henry of Navarre to Gabriella D'Estrees 215
Thomas Otway to Elizabeth Barry 215
William Congreve to Mrs. Arabella Hunt 218
Richard Steele to Mary Scurlock 220
Alexander Pope to Lady Mary Wortley Montagu 221
Hester Vanhomrigh to Jonathan Swift 222
Madame de Favras to Marquis de Favras 223
The Duke of Sussex to Lady Augusta Murray 224
Napoleon Bonaparte to His Wife, Josephine 225
Laurence Sterne to Elizabeth Lumley 227
Prosper Mérimée to "Unknown" 228
Honoré de Balzac to Madame Hanska (Countess Evelina Rzewuska) 229
Heinrich Heine to the "Fly" (Elise Krinitz) 231
Edgar Allan Poe to Mrs. Sarah Helen Whitman 232
Bad Love
Catherine of Aragon to Henry VIII 241
Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple 242
Thomas Otway to Elizabeth Barry 243
William Congreve to Mrs. Arabella Hunt 244
George Farquhar to "Penelope" Oldfield 245
David Hume to Madame de Boufflers 247
Julia de L'Espinesse to M. de Guibert 249
Napoleon Bonaparte to His Wife, Josephine 250
Laurence Sterne to Elizabeth Lumley 252
George Sand to Alfred de Musset 254
Honoré de Balzac to Madame Hanska (Countess Evelina Rzewuska) 257
Love on the Rocks
James, Lord of Chanvallon, to Margaret of Valois 261
Henry of Navarre to Henrietta D'Entragues 262
Ebba Brahe to Gustavus Adolphus 263
George Farquhar to "Penelope" Oldfield 264
Lady Mary Pierrepont to Edward Wortley Montagu 265
Samuel Johnson to Mrs. Thrale 267
Mary Wollstonecraft to Captain Gilbert Imlay 268
Napoleon Bonaparte to His Ex-wife, Josephine 270
Josephine to Her Ex-husband, Napoleon Bonaparte 271
Lord Byron to Lady Byron 272
William Hazlitt to Sarah Walker 274
The World's Greatest Lover
The Love Letters of John Keats to Fanny Brawne 279
