Born in Boston on February 27, 1837, Esther Frances Alexander, as she was christened, was known in childhood as Fanny. When she was sixteen, her prosperous family moved to Europe and settled at length in Florence. She was educated at home, and her extremely protective mother guided her studies and activities closely throughout her life. Young Fanny gained a reputation as a philanthropist among the people of Tuscany, from whom in turn she collected folk songs, tales, and customs. In 1882 she met John Ruskin, who was deeply impressed by a manuscript collection of ╥Roadside Songs of Tuscany╙ she had compiled and illustrated with drawings done in a fine and highly personal style. Ruskin bought the manuscript and another, publishing the second in 1883 as The Story of Ida, signed simply ╥Francesca.╙ The volume enjoyed several British and American editions. He edited and published Roadside Songs in 1884╨1885 and a third collection, Christ╒s Folk in the Apennines, in 1887╨1889. An intimate correspondence between Ruskin, Alexander and her mother continued for some years. After his death Francesca herself published Tuscan Songs, 1897, and The Hidden Servants and Other Very Old Stories Told Over, 1900. Blindness and ill health plagued her last years. She died in Florence on January 21, 1917.
&styl ` ! ¬ 5¬ 5¬ 7 !I 4 !I D !I ┤ !I ┬ !I Φ !I !I ó !I « !I ║ !I ≥ !I link `
