Isabella M. Anderton was born at Lower Clapton, then almost a country village, near London, in October, 1858. She was educated at Priory House School, kept by her father, where boys and girls were taught together after the manner now followed by many American schools; for Mr. Anderton, who had thought much about the theories of his work, believed strongly in such co-education. Many of his pupils, it may be said in passing (for he has now been dead some years), have justified his belief, having achieved a good measure of distinction and fame.

After matriculating at London in 1877, she went to study German for a year at Cannstadt, where she contracted a close friendship with Frau Freiligrath, wife of the German patriot-poet, whose children had also formerly been at Priory House School.

Returning to Clapton in 1878, she taught for four years in her father’s school, till the weakness of her health, which she had overtaxed by the strenuousness of her work, made it imperative for her to take a rest. She therefore remained at home for a year, quietly attending lectures from Professors Burdon Sanderson and Ray Lankester, at University College.

In 1883 she went to Italy and lived for some years with a family at Genova, teaching the children and writing. Here she began those Italian studies which she pursued with such unfailing delight during the remainder of her life.

In 1887 she had another break-down, and with a friend, went up to the Apennines above Pistoia to recruit. Here, however—at Prunetta—her illness became so serious that, in response to a telegram, a brother and sister hurried out to her assistance. On their arrival a move was made to Cutigliano, where she slowly recovered strength. During this visit to the Pistoiese she came closely into touch with the peasants of the neighbourhood, studying their folk-lore and their ways of thought with keen and sympathetic interest. Her exceptional knowledge of Italian, and her instinct for the genius of the race, enabled her to go with a rare directness home to the minds and affections of her peasant-friends; and, of the literary results—The Tuscan Stories and Sketches here given—a considerable number were contributed to “Good Words.”

After this she left the family with whom she had been living, but remained in Genova, teaching and writing, till her marriage in October, 1890, to Rodolfo Debarbieri, when they removed to Florence, in which fascinating city the remainder of her life was spent, in the heart of its literary and artistic life. Here their only child, a son, was born in 1891; and in course of time it was arranged that this son should be sent to receive his education in England.

In 1899 she was appointed to the English Chair in the Istituto SS. Annunziata, where her work and influence over the pupils were highly valued by all, not only for their intellectual but also for their stimulating moral qualities.

In 1900 she had to undergo a serious operation, most skilfully performed by Professor Colzi of Florence. This, though successful for the time, seems to have left a legacy of evil, and in 1902 a further operation became necessary. She continued her work, however, bravely once more, writing on literary and artistic subjects with unfailing zest, and in June, 1904, seemed to her friends to have completely recovered her health and strength. But the final blow fell swiftly. In July illness seized her again, and carried her off in the December following, after terrible sufferings borne with a fortitude which one can hardly call other than heroic. No thanks can be adequate for the care and kindness of her friend Dr. Oscar Marchetti, who could not have done more for her had she been his own sister; nor for the whole-hearted devotion of her maid Paolina.

She was followed by a distinguished company of friends, fellow-professors, and artists, to the Protestant cemetery of the Allori, about a mile and a half outside the Porta Romana—a peaceful enclosure, with its solemn cypresses and weeping ashes, set like an island amid the sunny olive-clad hills she loved so well. Here, at the foot of an avenue of cypresses, she was laid to rest; and thus the sentiment of the prose-poem given in this volume seems to cling about her to the end.

Her command of Italian and knowledge of the literature were extraordinary; and in fact she was often taken during later years for an Italian, on one occasion asking a friend rather ruefully if it were true that she spoke English with an accent: and, by living with Italians of all classes, she obtained an understanding of their habits of thought and more intimate life that few foreigners possess. French and German, too, were at command, as well as Latin, and to a less extent Greek; one of her most valuable works being a study of the character of Virgil’s Dido, especially interesting as being from a woman’s point of view. It is much to be regretted that this cannot now be traced, or it would have been included here. She undertook for Senatore Domenico Comparetti the translation into English of his “Traditional Poetry of the Finns” (1898), and had many an interesting discussion with him as to the manner of its English presentment. At first he was rather inclined to resent her vigorous pruning of his elaborate periods, though in the end he saw that, though admissible in Italian, they were impossible in English. Indeed a few months ago he said with picturesque Italian politeness that he had come to prefer the translation to the original. This translation, with a preface by Mr. Andrew Lang, was published by Messrs. Longmans in 1898. For about ten years she was Florence correspondent to The Studio, her chief contributions being Pietro Fragiacomo (Oct. 1899): and Domenico Morelli (Nov. 1901). These articles she wrote, as was always her custom, under her maiden name.

Her work on literature and art gave her the keenest delight, as also did the beauty of the city of Florence and her friendship with some of its most interesting residents. The fascination too of the Tuscan hills and plains appealed deeply to her, as did the romance of Elba where she once went for a long holiday with her brother. Rome, Venice, Siena, and the varied beauties of Italy—perhaps these appealed to her the more poignantly that her physical wellbeing seemed gradually more precarious and elusive. Latterly it was a long war between her will and her weakness; between the vivida vis animi—the living force of her indomitable spirit—and the ineluctabile fatum—the fate whose grip none may escape. Yet with unquenched hope she struggled on, keeping for her friends a cheerful sunniness, and for those in need of help and comfort a well-spring of encouragement. If the motto she once adopted:—

Ad Augusta per Angusta,

was not realised in a material sense, it may stand, as inscribed on the marble in the Allori, as symbolical of a spiritual struggle and attainment.

The singular combination in her nature of English and Italian characteristics is well expressed in the beautiful words of her friend the poet Angiolo Orvieto, writing just after her death in the Florentine literary paper “Il Marzocco”:—

“Isabella M. Anderton.—È morta a Firenze, ove abitava da parecchi anni, la signora Isabella M. Anderton, elegante e dotta scrittrice di arte italiana su parecchie riviste inglesi tra le quali The Studio. Esperta della lingua e della letteratura nostra, fece inglesi con efficacia e fedeltÀ prose e poesie: e son degne di speciale ricordo le sue versioni dal Pascoli—di cui era ammiratrice ed amica—e la traduzione del Kalevala di Domenico Comparetti.—Venuta dall’Inghilterra in Italia, ella contemperÒ in una incantevole armonia le energiche virtÚ della sua stirpe e le grazie della nostra. Fu inglese nella operosa tenacia del volere, nella tempra metallica del carattere; italiana nell’elegante agilitÀ dello spirito, nella sensibilitÀ vivida e pronta, nella fantasia colorita. Fu donna nel senso piÙ delicato di questa parola e nel senso piÙ alto; e seppe mostrare alla sventura un volto sorridente. Insegnante valentissima, ebbe la cattedra di lingua inglese al Collegio dell’Annunziata e seppe cattivarsi l’affetto e la stima delle sue allieve, che ricorrevano a lei per consiglio ed aiuto anche dopo lasciata la scuola. Il Marzocco, che ne ebbe qualche volta la collaborazione, si unisce ai molti che in Firenze e fuori ne piangono la scomparsa.”

“There has passed away at Florence, where she had lived many years, Isabella M. Anderton, an elegant and learned writer on Italian art in several English reviews, among them The Studio. Well skilled in our language and literature, she turned both prose and verse into strong and faithful English: worthy of special mention being her versions of Pascoli—of whom she was an admirer and friend—and her translation of the Kalevala of Domenico Comparetti. An Englishwoman settled in Italy, she blended in an enchanting harmony the nervous energy of her race and the grace of ours. She was English in her energetic tenacity of will, finely tempered as a blade of steel; Italian in her agile grace of spirit, in her vivid and ready sensibility, in the glowing colours of her imagination. She was a woman in the truest and highest sense of the word; and knew how to meet adversity with a smiling face. A most excellent teacher, she held the Chair of English Letters at the Collegio dell’Annunziata, where she fairly captivated the affections and esteem of her pupils who went to her for counsel and advice after having left the school. The Marzocco, to which she was a contributor, joins with many in Florence and elsewhere in mourning her loss.”