himself, who relates the story of how he came across the Yellow Book in the market and then giving a broad outline of the plot. The next two books give the views and gossip of the Roman public, apparently divided over which side to support in the famous case, who give differing accounts of the circumstances surrounding the case and the events which took place. Book 4 is spoken by a lawyer, Tertium Quid, who has no connection to the case but gives what he claims is a balanced, unbiased view of proceedings. Book 5 sees the start of the testimony from the trial, allowing the accused murderer Franceschini to give his side of the story, Book 6 is the young priest who was accused of being Pompilia's lover, and who asserts no adultery took place, that he simply tried to help Pompilia escape her abusive husband. Book 7 is the account of the dying Pompilia, mortally wounded but not killed in the attack. Books 8 and 9 consist of depositions by the two opposing trial lawyers, and are filled with legal bickering and discussion of minute pieces of evidence that may or may not be related to the case as a whole; these could be interpreted as representing Browning's somewhat humorous attacks on the convoluted English and European legal system. Book 10 is perhaps the best-known of the monologues in the poem, as Pope Innocent considers Franceschini's appeal against a wider backdrop of moral and theological questions, including well-wrought reflections on the nature of good and evil. However, the Pope ultimately rejects the Franceschini's plea. Book 11 is similarly well-regarded and features Franceschini in his cell the night before his execution, wherein he begs for his life and seems, at times, to lose his mind. Book 12 returns to the initial narrator's voice (which may not or may be Browning's), which chronicles the conclusion and implications of the trial, as well as the poem. Reception and reputation The Ring and the Book was, by some margin, the best-selling of all Browning's works during his lifetime. The depth of its philosophical, psychological, and spiritual insight is a step up from anything Browning produced before or after, and the poem was almost universally hailed as a work of genius, restoring the pioneering reputation among the first rank of English poets which Browning had lost with Sordello nearly thirty years previously. The