The letters in this volume describe the most remarkable years in the life of one of the most eminent Victorians - the years during which Tennyson published In Memoriam , was married, and became Poet Laureate. His own letters are supported and illuminated by contemporary reviews and descriptions of Tennyson as public figure and private man. A valuable personal insight into the poet whose writings reflect so accurately the exact pitch of his age.
This third and final volume of The Letters of Alfred Lord Tennyson, the first collected edition, is notable for the light it throws on Tennyson's efforts as a dramatist and on his interactions with the leading theatre managers, actresses, and actors of the day, especially Henry Irving. The letters reveal his relations with many fellow-authors and literary men, both British and American. An important thread in the volume is his close association with Gladstone; and an extensive correspondence with the Australian, Sir Henry Parkes, reflects his continuing interest in the Empire. The volume ends with his death in 1892. To complete the edition a comprehensive index has been prepared, covering all three volumes.Previous volumes have been warmly praised by critics: