ROSSETTI, Christina; HOUSMAN, Laurence (illus.).

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Goblin Market. First Housman edition, presentation copy, inscribed by Rossetti to her dear friend on the front blank, "Lisa Wilson with love from Christina G. Rossetti, December 1893." The friendship between Rossetti and Mary Louisa "Lisa" Wilson (1850-1934) began when Wilson wrote to Christina in gratitude "for all the loveliness of thought and exquisite pictures [her poetry] had filled [her] with" (Sandars, p. 254). They began a lengthy correspondence, which eventually led to their first meeting in 1885. In his memoirs, William Michael Rossetti commented: "One of the friends whom Christina saw with most satisfaction was Miss Lisa Wilson; a lady accomplished in verse and sketching who had been drawn to my sister by her poetry, and viewed her with deep affection and reverential regard" (p. 526). After attending Christina's private burial, Wilson wrote to William Michael that "such a friendship is only possible once in a lifetime" (D'Amico, p. 114). She remained a close friend to the family after Christina's death, continuing to meet with William Michael and his daughters.The relationship was one of mutual literary influence. Rossetti penned the poem "To My Fior-di-Lisa" for Wilson, the title drawing upon their affectionate association of Christina with the rose and Lisa with the lily. Wilson's Verses (1896) includes a section titled "Love Poems", that William Michael noted was "meant, as I surmised, for Christina as addressee" (D'Amico, p. 118). A contemporary review noted Wi

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