Sonnets from the Portuguese

A Different Slant of Light The Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning This collection of poetry, written about 1960, was quite popular in the early 1900's. Hanscom worked on these illustrations from about 1906 until they were published in 1915. As in the Rubaiyat, both a sepia version and a tinted version of the book was published. Many of the illustrations for the Sonnets show the influence of her classical art training.
	This is the frontis for the Sonnets. It is paired with another photograph of the same nude child. The images were made in about 1906. This pose and another from the series were published in Photograms, one in 1906 and one in 1908. Hanscom hand-drew the border, as she did in so many other of her illustrations.
	This image and another similar to it illustrate the first sonnet. This photograph demonstrates how Hanscom used numerous negatives, painting to change the background, drawn images (the "borders"), and text to create her effect. This image was created about 1914 when she lived in Danville, CA. Her daughter's face appears in two of the faces at the top of the image. Click the picture to see a larger version, and to see an enlargement of the top faces.
	XXI This image was also created in Danville. The tree is in a number of other photographs, in some of which she posed her son. The live oak tree in the background is also in other photographs. The model for most of the Sonnets images was Ann Drayson. Nothing further is known about her.
	XXIV This photograph has an involved background painted in.
	XXXIII Hanscom drew the border, added the background probably from another negative with a great deal of added artwork.

A Different Slant of Light

The Sonnets from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning