Aurora Leigh, Dutch prose translation by Hélène Mercier

In October or November 1883, Hélène Mercier publishes the first Dutch translation of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s 1857 verse-novel, Aurora Leigh. Mercier translates in prose, deeming the poem’s spiritual and social purposes—especially in light of urgent reform questions in the Netherlands—more important than its poetic form. Her publisher, Tjeenk Willink, releases a second edition in 1894 and a third in 1906.