The Armstrong Browning Library & Museum, formerly known as the Armstrong Browning Library, is located on the campus of

Baylor University Baylor University is a Private university, private Baptist research university in Waco, Texas, United States. It was chartered in 1845 by the last Congress of the Republic of Texas. Baylor is the oldest continuously operating university in Te ...

Waco Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 population of 146,608, making i ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

, United States. It is the home of the largest collections of works by English poets

Robert Browning Robert Browning (7 May 1812 – 12 December 1889) was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian literature, Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterization, dark humour, social commentar ...

and

Elizabeth Barrett Browning Elizabeth Barrett Browning (née Moulton-Barrett; 6 March 1806 – 29 June 1861) was an English poet of the Victorian era, popular in Britain and the United States during her lifetime and frequently anthologised after her death. Her work receiv ...

. Additionally it is thought to house the largest collection of secular

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

in the world.

History

The original collection of Browning works were donated to Baylor in 1918 by Dr. A.J. Armstrong. After the death of the Browning's only son

Robert Barrett Browning Robert Wiedeman Barrett Browning, known as Pen Browning, (9 March 1849 – 8 July 1912) was an English painter. His career was moderately successful, but he is better known as the son and heir of the celebrated English poets Robert Browning and ...

and subsequent sale of their collection, Dr. Armstrong obtained a list of the items sold and their purchasers, and attempted to acquire the memorabilia via donation or purchase. Dr. Armstrong's collection was originally housed in the Carroll Library. The Carroll Library was heavily damaged in a 1922 fire; none of the Browning works were lost, and a special room was subsequently built to house them. However, by 1925 the collection had outgrown the space. In 1943, Baylor President

Pat Neff Pat Morris Neff (November 26, 1871 – January 20, 1952) was an American politician and educator who served as the List of Governors of Texas, 28th governor of Texas from 1921 to 1925. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat ...

donated US$100,000 toward a new library. Construction on the library (which would also house the English department) began in 1948 and the finished structure (costing US$1.75 million) was dedicated in 1951. The building was significantly renovated in 1995 to house an even larger collection (by then the English department had relocated) and refurbished in 2012.

References

External links

Armstrong Browning Library webpageBaylor University website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong Browning Library and Museum University and college academic libraries in the United States Libraries in Waco, Texas Baylor University buildings and structures Library buildings completed in 1951 Tourist attractions in Waco, Texas Robert Browning Special collections libraries in the United States