Our projected forty-volume edition of The Brownings' Correspondence had its origin in our intention to collect data for a checklist of the letters of Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning. But as so much new material kept surfacing, we turned our thoughts increasingly towards a collected edition of their letters. Discussions between ourselves, and with various experts in the field, led us to announce in print, in 1963, our intention to undertake this project. The first four volumes, covering the years 1809 through 1841, are nearing completion.