"Rome
is yet the capital of the
world. It is a city of palaces
and temples, more glorious
than those which any other
city contains, and of ruins
more glorious than they."
Percy Bysshe Shelley to
Thomas Love Peacock.
March 23 1819
Welcome
to the web site of the Keats-Shelley
House, Rome. Situated on
the Spanish Steps, the house
is part of Roman folklore.
For generations Piazza di
Spagna has been visited
by architects, painters,
musicians and poets who
all lodged here. Tobias
Smollett, George Eliot,
Goethe, Coleridge, Shelley,
Byron, the Brownings, Henry
James, Edith Wharton, Oscar
Wilde and Joyce were just
a few of the many who were
attracted and inspired by
the celebrated 'centro storico'.
The exterior of the House
is exactly as it was when
John Keats travelled to
Rome and spent what were
to be the last few months
of his life in a vain attempt
to stave off the inevitable
effects of consumption.
In addition to the extensive
collection of paintings,
objects and manuscripts
celebrating the lives of
Keats, Shelley and Byron,
and our comprehensive library
dedicated to the late British
Romantic Poets, our collection
includes a reliquary containing
a lock of Milton and Elizabeth
Barrett's hair, a manuscript
and poem by Oscar Wilde,
splendidly bound first editions
and letters by Wordsworth,
Robert Browning, Joseph
Severn, Charles and Mary
Cowden-Clarke.
Many thousands of people
visit every year in tribute
to Keats's genius, and that
of Percy Bysshe Shelley,
to whom the house is also
dedicated.
