The Letters of Matthew Arnold V. 4; 1871-1878 (Victorian Literature & Culture)

This is the fourth in a series of six volumes collecting together all the known letters of Matthew Arnold. In his writings, Arnold ranges from religion to literature; ""St Paul and Protestantism"" in 1870 is followed by ""Literature and Dogma, God and the Bible"", and ""Last Essays on Church and Religion"". These books have all more or less been forgotten, but in the 1870s they were an integral part of intellectual culture, as was ""Friendship's Garland"". Equally, the letters here contribute to chronicle Arnold's personal life in the characteristically intimate note of all his correspondence. Arnold loses a son, a brother and his mother (as well as his mother-in-law), and he moves seamlessly from the marvellous letters to his sister remaining at Fox How almost as of he had been writing all along not merely to an individual but also to a spiritual anchor, or even to his moral centre. Arnold travels to France, Switzerland and Italy, recording as always his incomparable impressions. He settles, finally, in Surrey, and poignantly says farewell to his youth in ""George Sand"".